directly seeding in the soil

LAURBANFARMER · July 3, 2010

does anyone have experience planting seed directly in the soil? pitfalls? advantages?

RandyG · July 3, 2010

I have seen this done , and it can be successful. When I was growing up on the farm, we used to plant our seed in beds in the soil and pull and set them as bare root transplants. This used to be a common practice. I expect you are talking about planting them directly in place where you plan to grow the plants.

Advantages: Less work because of not needing to grow in containers and then transplant. Rapid growth and strong root system if growing conditions are good. You don't have to water them as often so you don't have to be at home as often to care for them as growing the young plants in containers.. Volunteer plants are a good example.

Disadvantages: Development of disease may be much faster if the disease causing organisms are present and conditions are conducive for disease development. Insects can be a problem. Weeds must be controlled. You will likely need more seed. Tomato is a long season crop so you need to be in an area with a long growing season.

There are probably other advantages and disadvantages depending on your location and growing situation. However, it can and has been done successfully.
Just remember that there is more than one way to skin a cat.

**carolyn137** · July 3, 2010

I agree with what RandyG said and here's an additional point.

Your avatar says L. A, which is either Los Angeles or Lower Alabama as one person uses it, but your gardening zone should be in the 9 region which means a long season and trouble getting plants to get through the very hot, and in the case of AL, also humid summers. many folks I know in zones 9 and 10 do two crops a year, a Spring one where they grow mostly long and midseason varieties and a Fall crop where they grow mainly short and midseason varieties.

I know that some large scale tomato growers in CA direct seed, but my concern would be with the home grower who is perhaps trying to grow varieties where access to seed may be limited and/or growing some varieties for which there would be no more seed available, which happens to be true in my case from time to time.

Depending on the soil temp when you direct seed you may not get the percent germination you would if starting the plants inside and depending on seed availability that could pose a problem.

But if you're growing varieties where seed is very available and it's fresh seed and the soil temps are Ok for good germination I don't see it as a problem. There's only one way to find out if it would work for you with your specific growing conditions.

LAURBANFARMER · July 3, 2010

thanks for your info,i live in socal and have almost a 7 month growing season.don't know why i have never considered this before.i am going to protect the seedlings with small window screen mesh cones so the bugs don.t get to them and have a test patch of 800 going now.thanks again,hope it works!

kath · July 3, 2010

Not sure how much help this is to you as I'm in se PA, but one year I decided at the last minute that I wanted tomatoes for canning because I had room in the garden when the peas were pulled out mid-June. It was too late to start seed and I was too cheap to buy 30 plants, so I scoured the leftover packet selections where I could find them for the earliest variety I could find. Found a packet of Rutgers Select for 10 cents, put them in the ground that day, watered when needed, and they produced a HUGE crop here in the fall without any problem.
Welcome to Tomatoville!

LAURBANFARMER · July 3, 2010

cool,something tells me that this is the way tomatoes should be started,in the soil that they will be grown in!

**mdvpc** · July 3, 2010

I do it all the time for my fall outside crop-When I pull my spring plants, I seed right into the potting soil in the containers.

heirloomdaddy · July 21, 2010

This is what I plan on doing next season. Or at least trying it. I love starting from seed but this will hopefully cut down on the hassle. The los angeles climate should be pretty darn forgiving.

hasshoes · July 21, 2010

I live in coastal New England (ie- often cold nights, windy etc) and was pulling up volunteers from last year and not really planning on planting any tomatoes this year after last years misery. :0) Long story short, I took a break from pulling when we got a drought towards the end of June. . .next thing I knew I had a three foot wide coyote plant by the 4th of July, already flowering. And I had a bacterial (couldda been soil) disease last year too.

The plant is about a month old now (as far as I know anyway :0) and it's nearing four feet wide, bushy, and has well over a hundred cherry maters.

And I didn't even spray it or tie it up until recently- I was planning on pulling it.

Go figure!!! :0) ;0)

July 3, 2010	#1
LAURBANFARMER Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: L.A. Posts: 3	directly seeding in the soil does anyone have experience planting seed directly in the soil? pitfalls? advantages?

July 3, 2010	#3
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	I agree with what RandyG said and here's an additional point. Your avatar says L. A, which is either Los Angeles or Lower Alabama as one person uses it, but your gardening zone should be in the 9 region which means a long season and trouble getting plants to get through the very hot, and in the case of AL, also humid summers. many folks I know in zones 9 and 10 do two crops a year, a Spring one where they grow mostly long and midseason varieties and a Fall crop where they grow mainly short and midseason varieties. I know that some large scale tomato growers in CA direct seed, but my concern would be with the home grower who is perhaps trying to grow varieties where access to seed may be limited and/or growing some varieties for which there would be no more seed available, which happens to be true in my case from time to time. Depending on the soil temp when you direct seed you may not get the percent germination you would if starting the plants inside and depending on seed availability that could pose a problem. But if you're growing varieties where seed is very available and it's fresh seed and the soil temps are Ok for good germination I don't see it as a problem. There's only one way to find out if it would work for you with your specific growing conditions. __________________ Carolyn

July 3, 2010	#4
LAURBANFARMER Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: L.A. Posts: 3	seeding directly thanks for your info,i live in socal and have almost a 7 month growing season.don't know why i have never considered this before.i am going to protect the seedlings with small window screen mesh cones so the bugs don.t get to them and have a test patch of 800 going now.thanks again,hope it works!

July 3, 2010	#7
mdvpc Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 4,386	I do it all the time for my fall outside crop-When I pull my spring plants, I seed right into the potting soil in the containers. __________________ Michael

July 21, 2010	#9
hasshoes Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: MT Posts: 438	I live in coastal New England (ie- often cold nights, windy etc) and was pulling up volunteers from last year and not really planning on planting any tomatoes this year after last years misery. :0) Long story short, I took a break from pulling when we got a drought towards the end of June. . .next thing I knew I had a three foot wide coyote plant by the 4th of July, already flowering. And I had a bacterial (couldda been soil) disease last year too. The plant is about a month old now (as far as I know anyway :0) and it's nearing four feet wide, bushy, and has well over a hundred cherry maters. And I didn't even spray it or tie it up until recently- I was planning on pulling it. Go figure!!! :0) ;0) __________________ Sara

July 3, 2010	#2
RandyG Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: western North Carolina Posts: 84	I have seen this done , and it can be successful. When I was growing up on the farm, we used to plant our seed in beds in the soil and pull and set them as bare root transplants. This used to be a common practice. I expect you are talking about planting them directly in place where you plan to grow the plants. Advantages: Less work because of not needing to grow in containers and then transplant. Rapid growth and strong root system if growing conditions are good. You don't have to water them as often so you don't have to be at home as often to care for them as growing the young plants in containers.. Volunteer plants are a good example. Disadvantages: Development of disease may be much faster if the disease causing organisms are present and conditions are conducive for disease development. Insects can be a problem. Weeds must be controlled. You will likely need more seed. Tomato is a long season crop so you need to be in an area with a long growing season. There are probably other advantages and disadvantages depending on your location and growing situation. However, it can and has been done successfully. Just remember that there is more than one way to skin a cat.

July 3, 2010	#5
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	Not sure how much help this is to you as I'm in se PA, but one year I decided at the last minute that I wanted tomatoes for canning because I had room in the garden when the peas were pulled out mid-June. It was too late to start seed and I was too cheap to buy 30 plants, so I scoured the leftover packet selections where I could find them for the earliest variety I could find. Found a packet of Rutgers Select for 10 cents, put them in the ground that day, watered when needed, and they produced a HUGE crop here in the fall without any problem. Welcome to Tomatoville!

July 21, 2010	#8
heirloomdaddy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Los Angeles Z10 Posts: 291	This is what I plan on doing next season. Or at least trying it. I love starting from seed but this will hopefully cut down on the hassle. The los angeles climate should be pretty darn forgiving.