Tomatoes - what do I do with the seedlings?

[foxinsocks]

We have a small patio at the front and back of the house (no grass and 2 very small flower beds). I am not green-fingered by any stretch of the imagination but lately, we (that is me and the kids who are very enthusiastic about the garden!) got some tomato seeds. We put them in a tray (per instructions on the pack) and they have just sprouted into seedlings. However, I've just read the instructions and it says I need to put ONE seedling into a pot and let it grow. I've got about 12 of the bloody things - does that mean I should get 12 pots or is it possible to shove a few into one (or am I setting myself up to fail)?

The 2 small beds could take a few of them but the back patio is north facing and literally littered with slugs so I'm worried they would get zapped before they even grew. Also, if I have to pot them all, is it better to grow them inside? We have a lovely south facing reception room where lots of pots grow very well because it's so warm and sunny. I really would love them to work - the kids would be delighted. Thanks in advance for any help!

Tomatoes love it hot and sunny so forget about the north facing patio. You do not have to pot them all up. Pot up how many you like and you can murder the rest.

Thanks alux. I'm so crap at this gardening lark that when I saw 12 seedlings, I thought a miracle had occurred (was totally expecting it not to work!). So I'll plonk a few in some pots and stick them in the sunny room.

fox - tomatoes grow about 3 feet tall and spread out quite a lot - have you got room inside?

we grew them outside once - 2 per grow bag and they took up a lot of room. Also they need daily watering

I didn't realise they grew that big! If I put them outside (the south-facing front of the house) will the slugs eat them - do slugs like tomato plants? We are overrun with them here. Maybe if I keep one inside and put the rest outside and then hopefully, if the outside ones got chomped, the inside one would be OK. The kids love the watering bit so I wouldn't have to worry about that.

p.s. did wonder why the pot they supplied with the tomato seeds was so big!

have a look here

thanks - that's great. We haven't got a grow bag yet but looking at the 'grow tomatoes' bit, I see we are at point 2 (that's what our seedlings look like) so I'll go from there and then get the grow bag once they've got bigger.

Surprisingly, slugs seem to leave tomato plants alone. You could stick a few in the North bit when they're big enough and then ripen the tomatos off indoors - or make green tomato chutney.

thanks jangly - I'll certainly put some of them in the bed because I feel bad throwing them away now that they've actually grown (and I've just realised that dd and ds have counted them all!)

For future reference: This year I bought a tumbler variety of tomato to grow. can't remember exactly what it is called but 'tumbler' is a part of the name. they don't get very big and do really well in med sized pots. they will even grow in hanging baskets.