What do i do next with my seedlings?

[LovelyDear]

I've sewn lots of tomato seeds in a propagator on the window sill, and now they are about 4cm high. What do i do next? the packet doesn't tell me....

Once they've got one or two pairs of true leaves (not the original seed leaves) you can pot them on into 3 inch pots. If they have gone leggy ie. tall and thin you can pop them in and bury them up to their seed leaves as new roots will form on the stem and make them stronger. Pick them up carefully by the leaves .

Yes bury each one you want to keep ( you say you have sown lots - think carefully about how many big plants you want at this stage -I always sow too many and end up giving them away or throwing them away at this stage ) a little deeper in a bigger pot as this makes for better roots.

When you take them out, loosen the soil around the roots first so you don't yank them up by the leaves, IYSWIM, as otherwise the roots will break off. Sorry if this is very obvious, don't know how experienced you are. I am super clumsy and was inexperienced a few years ago and lost lots of seedlings this way.

thank you! so if i've got clumps of seedlings where the seeds were right next to each other do I need to get rid of all but one? they're so hair-like at the moment that i'll probably break their roots off if i do much touching.

also, i planted some romanesque cauli seeds, and they have rapidly become very tall thin shoots with only a pair of leaves. they're starting to fall over. when do i put them in pots? and for both, do the pots go outside or inside? i don't have a greenhouse but lots of sunny rooms.

If you don't have a greenhouse, then keep the pots inside until May. If it is nice you can put them outside during the day & bring them in at night.

I use something like a lolly stick, or even a pencil, to gently lever the seedlings from underneath while holding the leaves with the fingers of the other hand, and as everyone else advises, handling it all very carefully. Tugging them out of the compost is a big no-no.
It's sensible to let them put on a bit of growth so they're robust enough to cope with being handled.

Personally I'm not a big fan of the Gardeners' World presenting team (can't be doing with Toby'n'Alys), but this may be useful to watch nevertheless! www.bbc.co.uk/gardenersworld/video/dig_in/tomatoes_malvern.shtml

I too always sow far too many - I felt so guilty at just chucking the ones I didn't need that I put them on Freecycle last year - they were snapped up in seconds, so felt a warm glow of virtuousness!