hi peter,this is my first year starting tomato and pepper plants by seed.I listened to a person I work with and was told to start the seeds in february, which I did.I started with heat mats and grow lights in a 2 ft.x 3 ft. portable greenhouse.problem is,I started them way too early.all 36 tomato plants are getting too large,(I think). they are about 12 inches tall already. I already transplanted them into the red solo cups.I still have the grow lights on them for about 14 hours a day.I usually don’t plant my garden until memorial day weekend.is there anything I can do to slow them down without hurting them?thank you,barry
Not much to be done about it now. Tomatoes don’t need to be started inside until the last week of March or so. Keep the lights going or even increase the hours . If you can cool the area off that will slow them down but stay above 55 degrees. A gentle breeze from and oscillating fan will also wiggle the stems making them sturdier. When they go into the garden, you can remove some leavers and bury the leggy stem (tomatoes are one of the few plants you can do this to) so that it will grow into a sturdier plant.