How many of them you have? Once, I did the same mistake and also had not enough light... They grew so tall that were not able to stay strait. But I had just 10 of them, so I bought big pots, soil and replanted them. I cut all bottom leaves to the first flower, placed the root ball on the top of big pot and spiraled their steams inside the pot. Then cover with soil to the top of the big pot. That was very tough to plants in the garden later, but they survived. Also, I found that temperature of 53-55 degrees slow tomatoes seedlings down and if you combine it with bright light and a fan to let the warmth of the light away, they may hold on for another month.

ok thank you! so basically if they start to flower but dont fruit theyll go by?

I often set them out in the garden with fruit! The only problem I see is size(space and light issue) and nutritions in the pot. If you will be able to keep up with their size, and provide nutritions in light and often fertilization they sure will survive. When planting them in the garden you will have to remove all grows bellow first flower or fruit, and spiral them in the soil. Do not worry about root ball is too tight - tomatoes grow new roots very fast from the steams you put in soil.

ok thank you! so basically if they start to flower but dont fruit theyll go by?

Most of the experienced tomato growers over on the Growing Tomatoes forum here will recommend removing any and all blooms as they appear and definitely remove any fruit until after the plants are established in the garden. There are a number of important reasons for doing this, most directed at maintaining the health and production of the plant. The loss of that first production is the price we pay for starting the plants far too early.

Does everyone follow that advise? Obviously no. What we do and what we should do are often 2 different things. :)

You might want to read some of the discussions about this question over on the Tomato forum here and then do your own experiment - remove from some and leave on a couple of others. See which works best for you..

Dave

If nighttime temperatures are the issue, put the tomatoes outdoors during the day, getting them gradually used to full sun. Bring them in at night. Keep transplanting into larger (but not TOO MUCH larger) containers with good drainage and well-aerated planting mix to help the plants concentrate on growing bigger rather than flowering and fruiting. One USDA extension in Texas recommends starting plants early and transplanting up to a gallon sized container before setting out because their hot weather sets in so fast in the spring.

Definitely agree with Dave about removing the blossoms. I always remove early blossoms after I have planted in the garden, until the plants have at least doubled (or more) in size. It definitely seems to improve production in the long run.

- Anne