30 day seedlings - Are they ok?

[Stvrob]

Also, a grower at higher latitudes can grow tomatoes all summer long. You might want to plan on getting as many tomatoes as possible before June, or whenever it is that it gets too hot. For me, it's possible to keep my plants alive thru the summer, but they won't really set much fruit, and at some point, I will get sick of trying and retreat to the AC. You may be slightly better, as you won't have to deal with the humidity, but still, your high temps will be much higher than mine.

[KarenO]

Let them grow a bit more. I would not put seedlings that size outside just yet. Your two week plan is pretty standard.
KO

[Stvrob]

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenda...+USNV0049:1:US

[Sun City Linda]

I have posted this previously: I put mine outside the day the pop. I live in SoCal and generally have mild sunny Winters. I do bring them back inside a night until night time temps warm up a bit, into the 40s.

[MarcH.]

Haha here's the mixed bag!

So torn. Hmmm.

Pretty much 99% of the days here are sunny. If they did start going out in the sun wouldn't they take off and outgrow their pots?

[Sun City Linda]

I would guess in Vegas the push is on to beat the heat and get them planted out as soon as possible. What are you, a month away? I say give those babies some sunshine!

[Stvrob]

Originally Posted by MarcH.

Haha here's the mixed bag!

So torn. Hmmm.

Pretty much 99% of the days here are sunny. If they did start going out in the sun wouldn't they take off and outgrow their pots?

What would be so bad if they did? You could pop them in 1 gal nursery containers, or roll the dice and put them in the ground, or put some in the ground. When is it going to get to 100˚? I would think you want to be harvesting most of your tomatoes before those days start.

All my plants are out in the warm sunshine right now. When I pull them in tonight, I'll stick them under light for a few hours before putting them to bed.

[kath]

You could experiment and put half out...watch what happens, take notes and it'll help you decide how to do it next season.

[MarcH.]

Originally Posted by Stvrob

What would be so bad if they did? You could pop them in 1 gal nursery containers, or roll the dice and put them in the ground, or put some in the ground. When is it going to get to 100˚? I would think you want to be harvesting most of your tomatoes before those days start.

All my plants are out in the warm sunshine right now. When I pull them in tonight, I'll stick them under light for a few hours before putting them to bed.

This is Vegas after all right? Maybe I'll roll the dice haha.

Looks like June's avg temp is 99 degrees. May is 89 degrees. I know there is only like a 40 day harvest time around here for tomatoes before the inferno begins. Will get them rolling.

So I need to toss em in the shade outside first right?

[MarcH.]

Looks like its really windy today so will put them out tomorrow.

[FLRedHeart]

Las Vegas! Time is not a luxury there and tomatoes are going to quit in late June or July! Put them out every day now, and if they were safe at night your posted forecast for the next ten days looked beautiful to me, just protect from breezes and don't let them dry out. But being in Las Vegas, it's probably a good idea to cover your bets ;-) like kath says, but I'd stack the deck in favor of more outside provided you could keep an eye on them.

[KarenO]

Whether it be now or later, you still need to carefully harden them off. Small seedlings with small roots in clay pots will dry up to a sunburnt crisp rapidly in the sun. I urge caution and a very gradual exposure.
strong ultra violet light, heat, wind, birds, rodents, insects, those are the potential downsides you need to be careful of.
Best wishes, for a lot of great tomatoes

KarenO

[Stvrob]

Everyday the sun gets higher in the sky and more intense. The longer you wait to harden them, the more succulent growth there will be that grew under lights only. February sun is perfect for hardening seedlings.

[MarcH.]

Originally Posted by KarenO

Whether it be now or later, you still need to carefully harden them off. Small seedlings with small roots in clay pots will dry up to a sunburnt crisp rapidly in the sun. I urge caution and a very gradual exposure.
strong ultra violet light, heat, wind, birds, rodents, insects, those are the potential downsides you need to be careful of.
Best wishes, for a lot of great tomatoes

KarenO

And bunnies! I have 3 resident bunnies in my yard currently. I spend a lot of time building barriers around my little garden.

About the clay pots. One of my seedlings is in an old cottage cheese container, it seems to hardly ever need to be watered. The clay pot seedlings seem to dry out a lot quicker. Are clay pots regarded as no-nos for seedlings in the future? I was gonna go the solo cup route but heard a lot about them tipping over a lot.

[Stvrob]

Clay pots do need a lot more water. Maybe set them in a tray and keep a 1/2 inch of water in the bottom all the time they are in the sun. The upside is that the extra evaporation keeps the soil cooler.