Are there any good tomato-growing apps?

March 19, 2025 11:04 PM

I'm being ambitious this year and attempting to start tomatoes from seeds. I have all the material, feeling good, seedlings started. But I would love an app that had daily reminders of the various tasks, especially once it's time to do weekly fertilizer etc. Are there any good guidance/companion/reminder sort of apps out there? I know about generic reminder/scheduling apps — I mean something especially for tomatoes.
posted by Charity Garfein to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

(I start many different vegetables from seed every year.)

There really just aren't enough tasks to require an app, which would make any such app questionable. And what tasks there are don't really lend themselves to an app which schedules things for you.

By far, the hardest thing about starting seedlings indoors is getting them enough light and warmth, which is just a matter of your set-up and not really a recurring task. After that, it's remembering to water them, but you should be watering them based on soil moisture rather than on a schedule. You might want to set up a calendar reminder to check them daily if you're afraid you might forget, but otherwise they just don't take a lot of babying.

As for fertilizing, most widely available potting and seed starting mixes already contain fertilizer. You don't want/need to add more fertilizer to those. If you're starting them in something else, then the instructions will be specific to the soil conditions and type of fertilizer you're using, which an app wouldn't really know. I never fertilize mine.

If this is your first time starting plants from seed it can seem pretty intimidating, but I promise you don't really need or want an app. There's really just not all that much to do. Maybe add a gentle breeze with a small desk fan on low after they've been sprouted a couple of weeks.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 1:13 AM on March 20 [6 favorites]

There probably isn't one JUST for tomatoes, but a general gardening app may suit. I've started one called Seedtime which has a decent range of features even at the free level.

What I really like is that it schedules things based on your location - that's really important, and it can calculate when it is warm enough to plant based on what you're growing. I have about 7 things I'm growing and it generated a whole schedule for all of it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:51 AM on March 20 [3 favorites]

Adding the clarifying note that I didn't create Seedtime myself - I should have said "I started USING Seedtime". (oops.)

Seedtime here - they have a desktop/web interface, and also a phone app.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:52 AM on March 20

I don't have an app suggestion but I will say that the only way to give tomatoes a strong start is by using gentle fans to encourage strong stems.

Also lights that are very close to the plants.
posted by aetg at 11:08 AM on March 20