World's 🌎 Best way to grow HUGE Tomato Seedlings 🌱 

If you ain't doin it this way you are running behind. I had plants that I busted every branch except a side leaf. It grew into a jungle.

Put a marble or bottle cap in bottom cup to keep that small air space between the cups.

Hey Murdock, just came across this video and had to laugh when you said about digging up some lawn to grow some stuff... last year as I was chopping out another 10' of backyard lawn my neighbor leaned out her window and asked me if I was expanding my garden again... I said ABSOLUTELY- and I told her because "You can't eat grass".. New Sub & thanks for the hints with the Solo cups.

Used Murdock's method last year and grew the most incredible seedlings! It really works. I grew 15 different varieties and they all transplanted and took off with vigor. Saved all my red cups and will definitely repeat the process this year!! I used small stones in the bottom cup for separation. Thanks Murdock!!

All of my seeds germinated! My cups were shaped differently and difficult to offset so I used 2 paper clips on the rim of the outside cup….worked like a charm.

I've used this method in the past. Works wonders. One thing I recommend is to punch a hole in the side of the outer cup (maximum of 1" from bottom), so that the soil does not get water-logged. If the roots sit in water, it can start molding and that will kill your plants. Damping-off, I think. Adding a drainage hole (and keeping all the cups in a spill-tray) means your seedlings won't be over-watered or moldy. I like to start my seeds in soil blocks. This way I can ignore any seeds that don't sprout (toss the block) and only up-pot those that do sprout. This wastes less seeds in thinning. And you only need a little bit of starter mix for sprouting. You can then up-pot into compost and garden-soil or any potting mix. Soil-blocking means you save your seed-starting mix for starting seeds and not filling pots. That's what potting mix is for. (If you're going to transplant into the garden anyway... why not up-pot into amended garden soil?) Besides which, making soil blocks is kinda fun. Another reason for soil blocking is, when you up-pot seedlings into your SOLO cups, you can bury the stem a little bit. Anywho, I also recommend you put those cups into a 1020 tray for spillage. TIPS FOR THOSE SHORT ON SPACE: Start with soil blocks. They're small. Up-pot sprouts into 2" square cups and let them grow. Then up-pot into the SOLO cups and let them grow huge. (Ahem.) Do I actually do all that? Uh, nope. Two reasons. First, I'm lazy. Second, I live in southern California, so I don't really have to do all that. I direct-sowed handsful of tomato seeds directly into my garden last week (on the night of the full moon, in the first week of February) and when temps dip this week, it won't ever reach freezing. So, yeah, I'm lucky in garden weather. If you're not that lucky, you might want to take those steps. If you're lazy like me, I wish you luck, brethren and sistren.

Thank you, Murdock! New subscriber here. I had my first garden many years ago. We had a drought that year. But my favorite memory of it is when a shower finally came, (only one, not enough to save the garden) my husband and I were in the garden, and dirty.... quickly muddy. We ran, holding hands and laughing, back to the house. Then, a couple of years later, I tried tomato gardening in a container. Not having access to RU-vid, or other gardeners, another fail. Last year, with the help of RU-vid and many gardeners, I made a container garden, and my husband built me a raised garden bed. Finally, at 66 I am learning. We had a small harvest. This is year 2! Spring garden is planted, but I will be using your two cup method for my tomatoes. I learn something new every year. Thank you for creating these videos! God bless you, your family, and all gardeners and farmers. 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

The presentation style, the info, the easy listening voice, the focus on basics, I must say this was a great watch. Sage advice at the end. Excellent 😊🙋

Just wanted to say that I grew 40 tomato plants starting in early March this year. whole set up worked really well for me. I will do the same next year. Thank you! Ps, I almost never turned the lights out. Like Alaskan Summer.

Without seeing this....just started a double cup system on my tomatoes also. The inner cup is peat cup worh with the bottom cut off. Outer cup Solo with 3 weep holes about 3/16 diameter. That way when the plant is big enough, just pull out the peat cut and transplant into ground or container ...also allows the root release easily . Great video. ☝️

Been gardening for YEARS, and there always seems to be more to learn! Thanks for these brilliant tips! I can't believe how much root structure develops in a mere 30 days. This is DEFINITELY going to jump-start this year's crop!

This is brilliant! I usually end up with spindly tomato starts and their development is slow until it is warm enough to plant out.

I put composted sheep manure in a rain barrel and water my tomato plants and get very good results every year.

Love the cup in cup method. I usually use a clear cup on the inside so I can watch the roots grow

Every year will be my best year ever. I got a soil test kit and all 3 N P K were deficient. Which is amazing to me since I put cow manure in my bed every spring and put leaves, about 5 inches thick during the fall. In December I mix it all up. And I'm deficient. Smdh. So, got some amendments and some perlite and we'll see how I do this year.... my best year yet!

I've never grown anything from seed. This video was very informative and you gave me the confidence that I needed. I'm looking to possibly having the best tomatoes in the neighborhood. Thank you so much!

If you haven't already tied them, you should try some Cherokee Purple Tomatoes. They are super sweet and delicious. Your method worked to perfection for me last year, so I have more grow lights now and have expanded. I also have a biochar kiln and have added charged biochar to over half of my garden boxes. It seems to work as well as I had hoped. Thank You!!!

I have used the double cup method for a number of years. Am trying a system based on a clear outer cup so I can keep an eye on how much liquid has drained out of the inner. Your videos open a lot of doors regarding soil specs but here in New Zealand the selection is a bit limited so lots of compost. Thanks. Also like the video about Strawberries which can be very expensive in the stores.

I transplanted my babies into double cups a week ago, and they're already doing much better than last year. One change from your system? My cups wouldn't leave enough space between them, and I didn't want to wrap a bunch of tape, so I simply dropped a couple stones in the bottom to get the separation I needed. An added benefit is it creates a small reservoir for water to be used as needed. _(at least it seems like it will work like that)_

New to this double cup idea and was wondering about the roots when you remove the plants to place them into the garden.

Wow I was worried about finding trays to catch the water when I feed my indoor plants! This two cup method is a life saver! Thank you!

Well, I'm only short on three basic things; space, time and money, and, since I like yogurt and save the plastic containers, I'm using what I have on hand. I like both plain and Greek style and, fortunately, they come in containers with two slightly different tapers, although they both hold 32 once's of product. In the slightly narrower ones I've drilled three 1/2" holes through their bottoms and then rolled a few rubber bands up their sides to the protruding ridge located about 1/2" below the top. In the other containers I've drilled two 1/4" holes in their sides - one an inch above the bottom and another about an inch and a half above that - all with Forstener bits, which are normally used for drilling flat bottom holes in wood but which also, by their design, do a fairly good job in drilling clean holes in these a bit flexible plastic containers.. (Just squeeze the sides in a bit to get a better bite for the bit cutting edges. The container bottoms are already braced well enough.) If I get similar results with the roots as you do I'll know visually if the holes in the bottoms are large enough or if I have to "Upsize" for the next batch. We'll see. Thanks for all the informative tips and, yes, what with the unexplained and remarkable cluster of (almost Biblical like) food disasters occurring throughout the world like deadly and/or debilitating diseases in poultry, cattle, grain crops, and fires in processing plants & et cetera, we do need to become more self sufficient. I would add seed starting, potting and planting soil mixes, compost and seed preservation to the list of things to keep an eye on for their availability.

i love starting in cups, if i time things wrong, they have space to grow and im planting outside a nice sized plant. also i dont get hundreds of seedlings i dont need., i double cuped cause im in a dry climate and so they dont dry out while i harden them off outside. i didnt realize to let them root outside first cup!! You can put a little stone, pebble, in bottom of cup then it keeps space for water and roots.

30 days? That's AMAZING. _Even the seed packs say to start them 8 weeks before moving outside. I don't have room in my home for the dozen plants I want to start._

Plant one seed of each variety you want for the summer with cup in a cup. Take cuttings and put it in your favorite medium. Tomatoes are some of the easiest plants to clone.

My garden last year was the best I ever had. It only measured 7'x29'. I love swapping garden tips with people I grew a tomato that was 3 tomatoes in one. It got so heavy that I had built it a hammock. A bad storm hit, and it fell out of the hammock, and peeled itself off the stem. I've been researching anyone's tips on here that I can find. I catch rain water , in 55 gallon plastic barrels. Omg, I'm think I'm OCD!! I grew English cucumbers. Out of 7 plants, I gave over 300 away for free.my longest one was 44". And I have pictures!

I feed mine the Fish Emulsion.They Love it!!

I (thought I) just over-bought red cups so NOW I know what to do with them since I have plenty of tomato variety seeds. THANKS! (New sub because of this technique, the emphasis you placed on organic food, and the ease in which you made it.)

Thank you You are a great teacher. Keep up the great work.

Awesome! I'm going to try the double cup system. I will keep you updated on my progress! Thanks for sharing 🌱✨️

I've been using this double cup system for about 4 years now and it works really well.

Check the number on the bottom of the SOLO Cups, it should say "5" which means food safe and safe for plants.

It's true before I saw this video i planted 22 tomato plants and 3 of them were double cuped and are my biggest and healthiest and are my only double leaf ones so far. I started the seeds 3 weeks ago. Also they were the last ones to germinate. Thanks for this video!

I do this for just about every seed start. Works really well for peppers too!

I cut the bottoms out of the cup, then plant it directly in the ground or pots. It doesn't disturb the roots at all. Love this method....

Thank you for taking the time to explaining these Gardens tips . It so important to know that when give all these tips and skills to others. You ore helping them put a plate of food in someway on there table. That is such a Blessing that only God can pay back. MOST GARDENERS ONLY SHOW YOU THERE HARVEST. THEY DON'T GIVE SUCH KNOWLEDGE TO THRERE VIEWERS. Thank you again Sir. and may God continue to help you to this.

Great video! Tip: When setting the seedlings in your garden bed, Lay your long plants horizontally in the ground, bury the stem circa 3 inches deep, with just the last 3rd of the crown sticking up, that will create a huge root system. The entire buried portion of the stem will send out roots; we routinely get 9 foot tall plants that way. Just be sure the not hit the horizontal stem when driving in stakes,

My compliments Murdock ..... OUTSTANDING! First of all your tomato plants are absolutely beautiful and healthy looking. Stem thickness is awesome! Thanks for this video as I have been gardening for several years, but have always purchased plants from Bonnie, or big box stores and feed stores. Never grown my own plants from seed. Couple of questions: 1 Fertilizer: When, how much, and How do you apply. 2 Is that space blanket used and for seedlings and do you use a heating base? Tomball, Texas

I use clear cups with holes inside of red cups with no holes. The clear cup lets me check the roots regularly.

I plan to try this method, thank you for sharing. Another gardening channel suggested to sow the seeds in about half a solo cup full of soil so that you can add more soil to the cup as the plant grows (giving those hairs on the stem a place to root). Also how do you get the plant out of the Solo cup without damaging the roots if the root system has grown through the little holes in the bottom? Do you just cut the cup from around them?

I just planted 4 tomato and pepper seeds using your method. I took someone else's advice and put a marble in the bottom between the 2 cups. We'll see what happens.

I have the same setup, grow lights, mylar reflective foil, indoor care. They get the same size in about 40 days, with 12 hours per day of light (two shifts). But I don't buse two cups. Enough light, heat, and liquid fertilizer is all they need.

Nobody should be scared of growing the first time. My first time I got 10 bags of garden soil and 4 bags of manure compost and rented a rototiller mixed it all into some of my lawn area and everything grew like crazy and tasted great. I even direct planted the tomato seeds and I had tons of the best tomatoes I’ve ever had. But now I live at 9300 feet altitude and want to grow again the best I can up here so I’ll take any advice I can. Thing’s can still grow up here during our short 4 month summer but growing healthy plants from the beginning gives them a better chance here.

Your tomatoes look so healthy! Thanks for sharing your method.

Excellent idea! Not to mention up potting also stunts growth. This method is the perfect solution to no interruption getting started untill putting out in the garden, by then well established!

Hello Murdock, I just found your channel. Very interesting content. I have about 300 plants of various varieties growing myself. I do mine a little different, but the end result is what matters. I'm going to try your double cup method except I am going to use peat pots for the inner cup. Just plant the entire pot in the ground, no disturbing the roots.

I'm new so this might be seem obvious to others but how do you get the tomatoes out of top cup without breaking the roots growing through the inner cup? Does it matter if they break and if it does what percentage do I need to make sure stay intact? And finally, where can I find your soil mixture formula?

Sometimes I have trouble falling asleep. So I started planning my garden. Until one night, I come up with an idea, I had to get up and grab a pencil and paper, and write it down. It was 10:45 at night. I was so excited, that I almost called my Mom. I wasn't going to tell anyone, but here it is. Take an empty paper towel cardboard, and slice it in half.with paper tape, place carrot seeds 4inches appart.place the tape on the outside part of the roll along side of the edge where you cut it. Get some cheep sponges from the dollar store. Cut it in strips , and lay it inside the cardboard. Dig a long enough trench to lay it in the ground.cover with dirt. Water well enough to soak the sponges. You can grow more carrots this way if you have a small garden. I hope I didn't loose you. I lost my vision in my left eye. Sometimes I can't hit the right letters.

I use clakamus-coots soil recipe. Seed to harvest with water only. It's designed for cannabis which is also a heavy feeder so it works wonderful with tomatoes. Of course you can always top dress the mix every 90-120 days for years of production.

Perfect timing for me to see this video! Found you completely by accident and I've subscribed! Thanks so much for all this helpful stuff! Blessings to you and this awesome community you've built❣

I used to grow tomaotes from seed in the old tin soup cans ... as the can rusted, the iron made the most amazing tomato plants. Now, the cans are aluminum or some blend ... so they don't rust. Question: where do you get these specific red solo cups? The style I find has horizontal/circumferance ridges, not vertical as yours show. Thank you,

Question: could you use black cow as the compost in your soil mix? I already planted my tomatoes in seed trays but when I up pot them to solo cups I will try this method! Thank you!

This method is working very well for my tomato plants. Just like you have in the video. Thanks.

Did you try this method with decompostable paper cups inside and plastic cups outside? Wouldn't the transplanting moment be easier? It's always hard to get the roots out safely from planters, being that the healthier plants always have the most roots poking out from underneath.

Thank you for inspiring me God bless you ♡

Great looking mater plants! I have found using a 18oz solo/solo style cup as the inner cup and using a 16oz solo/solo style cup for the outer cup gives the perfect space 👍

I use clamshell containers to start my seeds and then pot up the tomatoes into Dutch Bros. largest cups . . . my tomatoes are about 2 feet tall. Blowing a fan on them to strengthen the stems more. Happy gardening!

Great video and tips. 💕 I've already started some of my tomatoes as well. Mainly cherry tomatoes. But definitely anxious to get spring on the way and hands in the ground!

Good video I'm getting a Jeff Goldblum vibe from you.😊

Just found your channel and subscribed. Checking out some of your older videos as well. Love your videos and tips. Thank you so much for your info. Looking forward to more of your content. God Bless you !this day and age is such vital info.

I've used the red cups for decades, but use only one red cup. I roll up a newspaper pot to place inside the cup. You just plant to the whole newspaper pot without any transplant shock.

Thank you for showing what happens with the double cup system. I am going to try this with my tomatoes and peppers. Thanks for sharing your wisdom!

Something I learned was to use CLEAR plastic cups. The light stimulates root growth. You end up with a great root system.

The "double cup method" is the reason for such growth? The expensive grow lights and Mylar from edge to edge couldn't have anything to do with that... could it?

Last year they legalized pot in Illinois. I don't need pot, just take me to the Farm and Home, and let me look at their seeds!!! Happy gardening everyone!!!

So you water from the top? Do you put them on the grow lights and the heat pad? Amazing method I love it

If you haven't tried them try German Johnson and Mortgage Lifter Tomatoes. Both are excellent heirloom tomatoes for both canning and slicing. Very heavy meat tomatoes and Mortgage Lifter Tomatoes are Huge hence the name because the man that created the variety claimed he was going to pay off his mortgage with those tomatoes. The German Johnson tomatoes were bred by Thomas Jefferson. They are a Reddish/ Pink tomato. They are a medium to large tomato that are very heavy with meat and tiny seeds. Very flavorful and my personal favorite.

Murdock, do you mix in your Dr Earth fertilizer with the soil or top dress them at a couple weeks?

Your method worked fantastically! My seedlings are large and healthy. Just waiting for the temp to warm up so that I can plant them in the garden. Best.

How to you get the roots out when transplanting outdoors without ripping them? When all those roots gather at the bottom. Im just curious I like this method.

I plan to use this method to grow this year.I was very Lucky last year with just a small garden.I'm totally hooked!

Beautiful plants! Question; how do you get the plants out of the cup without destroying the roots?

Use the regular red round solo cup for the soil and then use the square bottom red solo cups for the bottom. The square bottom cup automatically gives you about 1/2” space when you insert the soil cup in it without using marbles or stones😇

HI! This is a great video. I will be doing this next time. I wasn't happy with my seedlings growth. It was the first time I grew my own seedlings. Can you please tell me how you water them. Do you water them from the bottom? When you fertilize do you 1/4 or 1/2 strength and put that in the bottom of the outside cup? Do you grow all of your veggies using the double cup method? Thanks so much.

I'm defo bonna use this method, thanks for that lesson.

Maybe this has been covered already, but when you transplant and remove from the cup, how do you ensure the root system stays intact through the tiny holes, or does it matter if the roots get ripped off?

Do you cut the inside cup off, or rip the roots off when planting?

Thank you for the motivation early morning.. May god bless you too

So, what do you do about all the extra roots when you plant it outside?

Add in C02 enrichment and your grow would be improved magnificently.

What size cups are these 12 oz or 16 oz? thanks

I grow herbs and wheat grass like this. Hot-glue something to the bottom of the cup to create more space. I use LEGO or Jenga blocks.

Everyone is panicking about damaging those "delicate" little roots that are coming out the bottom of the cup. Unlike some plants that really do have sensitive root systems, tomatoes are pretty robust. Pinch off the extra roots, remove the plant from the cup and transplant it. For a tomato, removing the extra roots is no more stressful than pinching off a leaf or a broken branch.

Please hold camera still or put it on a stand. I’m seasick!😄 I use the double cup system, but with a clear cup on the outside. That way I can see how much water is in the bottom cup, without taking the inside one out, and I or my kids don’t accidentally overwater. Tomatoes are so easy to grow. I don’t even use a grow light. Just put them in a sunny window with full sun. When they’re ready to plant, cut off the bottom leaves and stick the plants way down in a hole to grow more roots from the stem. Easy!

That's fine if growing a handful of plants yesterday I did 1k tomatoes yes in little hole flats to start in 2 weeks they will go into 4 inch pots. Also did 1k bell peppers and 1k Italian sweet. Yes most will be for sale. Only need 200 of each for myself

Great idea, the only issue I see is pulling the plant out from the cups and damaging the Roots. I'd be opted to cut a large hole on the bottom. I'll have to give it a go this year.

The best method I have seen so far.

My tomatoes did pretty well last year. A few were a little skinny by the time I put them into the ground. I'll experiment with this method with a few of them this year. Thanks for the tips. Last year, I planted Heinz Classic Processor tomatoes.. best I've ever grown. Perfectly round, no cracks, and tons of fruit. They are determinate and grow to about 5 feet tall.

Thank you! God bless you and your family!!!

I have a question for you. No I use a little piece of wood and that works great too but when I started my seeds, I put water in the bottom of the cup and then the one with soil and the seed I put in top I had some pop, pop, and some nozzle, so that was probably way too wet I guess I don’t know so I just started over again today. I just made sure the soil was damp instead this time and then later on, always water and drip out.

Double cup might also provides a bit of insulation allowing temperature/moisture regulation around the roots? With the roots exposed to air the temps radically vary but insude tge cups not so much... #Kudos

Murdock, Thank you for this video! Worked out great for me last year. I am back to take notes for this year. Folks, this is great advice. take it all and watch how great your tomatoes grow. I had nine varieties last year. This year only the top three. January 15 is best time for me to start. Last year a month later. No fruit until late June.

Hello Murdock i've just subscribed to your channel after finding it very interesting. Am in Uganda (Africa) thank you for the interesting knowledge.

Your channel just popped up on my feed. Great video. I will check out your other videos.

Will be using the solo cup method starting next month. Would like to make your potting mix. I’m very rural and could use an idea on where you find the ingredients prices wouldn’t hurt my feelings either. I really appreciate your videos. Thanks

I started my tomatoes way to early last year. And I had to take them out of the solo cups. I used for some of them Chinese plastic take out containers.

THATS A STRONG START

Superbe vidéo bravo 👍 👍 👍 A bientôt 😊

Thank you nice vids I grew some Cherokee purple last summer, Plants did pretty good did set fruit But seemed tough to get them big and not to many would vine ripen, Started to, but pretty much stayed half ripe No blossom end rot , But summer heat was very high And had alot of chipmunks eating most from the bottom to stay hydrated,

Soil blocks are a similar method. Great ideas by the way🎉