Sprouts!

[oddlyoddish]

Okay, so out of the two or three tomato seeds I planted, I've got one sprout (thus far) and it's about an inch tall with two leaves on it. It's been years and years since I last planted tomatoes, so I don't remember a lot of the basics. Sadly, they're my favorite fruit and I've been neglecting them so (-_-;)

Basic #1 I don't remember... When do I

Comments

[virginiadear]

Tomato seedlings were sprouted indoors and are still indoors? If so, I'm betting they're stretching for light. Can you give them more light?
And if those are the first two leaves you get when a seedling emerges from the seed, then no: don't transplant them yet. They need to have at least two *true* leaves before you set them out, and they also want to avoid "too cold" overnight temperatures.

Catnip is a member of the mint family and as near as I can tell, everything in the mint clan is all but indestructible. I'd let them "bush together" and Darwin it out amongst themselves, but the plant/s tolerating crowded conditions so I'd be surprised if they aren't *all* fit enough to survive and thrive. Even if only one catnip seedling survives initially, you may rest assured it will proliferate and you'll have plenty to share, even if it takes a little longer to get to that stage for harvest.
Catnip likes well-drained soil, will be happy in full sun or partial shade, requires no fertilizing except in the poorest of poor soils. You can transplant it and thin the plants to 20" (in every direction, because it can crowd out everything else in your garden.)

Out of curiosity, why would you not direct-seed?

[oddlyoddish]

The little pot that it's in is at an angle to get in more light when it's at a window, otherwise it's directly under my TLC light. And the leaves are the initial seedling leaves, so I'll keep them exactly where they are now x3 When it gets bigger, I've got a fairly large pot with dirt in it already that I can move it to.

Since it was my first time with catnip, and I wasn't sure how many seeds would actually survive and grow, I decided to toss in several. I've actually got two pots that I could move the catnip to if more starts springing up. Otherwise, they're pretty small right now, unless they're fast growers. The previously mentioned friend has two or three catnip plants growing fairly tall in one corner of her yard and they're within a foot of each other... Maybe that's due to it being just a few of them?

What do you mean about direct seed? O_o

[virginiadear]

Your catnip will sort itself out, one way or another. Believe it, and breathe easy! Your neighbor's catnip may have been been a denser clump and undergone a thinning. Catnip naturally wants to get to be about two to three feet tall and usually by the time it has reached its full height is has also produced more catnip; it makes flowers which produce seeds, but it also spreads by the roots.

"Direct seed" means to plant the seeds directly where you expect the plant to grow---the ground outdoors or a container outdoors or a container indoors---instead of starting them in one container and transplanting them to their final home. (I had got the impression you were going to transplant your catnip to a garden plot outdoors.)

Members of the mint family, which includes catnip, are very aggressive growers, meaning they grow fast, reproduce and spread easily and quickly once they get started, and they *can* be hard to keep within bounds. They tend to make a dense mat of vegetation, too; it might look at a glance as though it isn't, if you're seeing taller, more mature plants standing above the younger, shorter ones, but the roots will have created a very dense network below ground.
Before you put any of your catnip *in* the neighbor's yard, be sure he or she wants more catnip there---*even* if you are planning on leaving it in its container. It might be easiest to offer the catnip directly to your neighbor while the plant is or the plants are still in a small pot.