When to plant seeds

[PastorJeff]

Hi,

I'm sure that this question is answered elsewhere on this forum, but my searches bring up WAY too many posts for me to "weed" through.

I've always purchased my tomato plants from Home Depot or someplace similar. This year I'd like to give a try to growing my own from seed. In New Jersey, I usually try to put my plants outside around the middle of May. So, when do I need to plant the seeds to have good healthy plants by that time?

One of the reasons I've been hesitant to grow from seed is that I only want to end up with six plants, but I don't want all the same variety. But I guess it will still be more economical to buy seeds than plants!

-Jeff

[roper2008]

I would go with middle of March.

[ssi912]

depends on how you grow the seedlings, like, temperature, fertilizer, amount and type of light. i set plants in the garden mid to late march here, i have not even started seeds. will this sat. though. younger transplants do much better fro me here than older ones. good luck.

[recruiterg]

Jeff, post the varieties you are looking for in the Wanted Seed section (trade section). Many of us would be happy to send you a few seeds to get you started....especially a man of the cloth.

Pat

[roamwhereiwant2]

Pastor Jeff,

You could buy a packet of mixed heirloom seeds from Fedco. Or buy 4 or 5 different packets, use what you need and save the rest of the seed for another year. I guess I like Pat's suggestion best - post what you need because Tomatovillians are very kind about sharing seeds.

Yvonne

[dice]

6-8 weeks before plant out usually works.

[JoeP]

Originally Posted by dice

6-8 weeks before plant out usually works.

Not to hijack this thread, but to jump in on this line: Is there any benefit to starting earlier?

I started from seed first time last year and many mistakes later, my 6-8 week old seedlings were teeny tiny. I still got most to mature fruit - some even before much larger purchased starts. But I was wondering if, say for a later season tomato, would a 12 week old seedling be any more likely to set or ripen fruit any earlier than a 6-8 week old seedling?

The reason I ask is that the last two summers in the Pacific Northwest have been horrible for tomatoes. Only started my tomato patch 2 years ago and I'd like to have some success and hopefully someting more than just early varieties.

Feel free to move this post if it should be a seperate thread.

Thanks,
JoeP

[NisiNJ]

Pastor Jeff:

I live in NJ also, and my best seedlings are the ones I start last, usually the first day of April. The ones I start earlier end up too leggy.

Tomatoes do well with "winter sowing." Have you heard about it? It is explained at this website:


http://wintersown.org/wseo1/How_to_Winter_Sow.html

They will also send you free tomato seeds (for a SASE). After you have read the pages on the website, you take a little quiz. When you pass the (automated) quiz you will get a printout page which you include in your SASE.

My wintersown tomato seedlings are always stockier than the ones I start under lights, and they are already hardened off! I start them on March 1, they germinate (outside in their little covered containers) around April 1, I transplant them into individual 3" pots at the end of April and put them in the ground mid May.

[NisiNJ]

Joe P said "... would a 12 week old seedling be any more likely to set or ripen fruit any earlier than a 6-8 week old seedling?"

The late Bob Thomson in his book "The New Victory Garden" had a plan for getting tomatoes way earlier than usual. He sowed his main crop in April and transplanted them into his New England garden the third week in May. BUT he started a handful by the following schedule, which he said was "breaking all the rules."

Mid Feb: Start seeds in individual six-pack cells.

Mid March: Transplant each seedling to a 4" pot.

Mid April: Transplant each seedling into a gallon container. (With each transplanting bury some of the stem to form good root system.) Harden them off outside whenever the daytime temps are warm enough.

May 1: Plant in garden, surrounded in cages of concrete reinforcing wire, covered with clear plastic if necessary. Plants would be about 3 ft tall and in flower.

June 1: Eat first Early Girl tomato.

I'm not necessarily advocating this plan; just passing it along.

[dice]

would a 12 week old seedling be any more likely to set or ripen fruit any earlier than a 6-8 week old seedling?

People commonly do that in parts of Texas, for example, because they run
out of season with the mid-summer heat. Barkeater says he is going to
start earlier and put out bigger plants in Vermont, too, because early
frosts often close the season down before mid-season plants have
produced much.

When they get more than a foot tall, I find them inconvenient to work
with, so I generally do not do that. I do not have the space to keep
larger seedlings in good condition that long. They will produce earlier,
though. I have had plants that I grew over a winter in a south window
that were 3' tall at plant out. They produced a couple of weeks earlier
than they would have otherwise. (I once had my first fruit in June;
unfortunately it was a chance cross with Black Cherry that was a little
more tart than I like.)

[Alpinejs]

Maybe this is the thread to help with my problem. Due to such a short season
in the Canadian wilderness, I am planning to start about 90 plants here in
San Diego in my hoophouse. I will transport them in open bins in my
trailor. The trailor will have a heavy tarp cover with a 3 1/2 X 7' heavy plastic
window in it. Night heat will be with thick candles. I would like to arrive
with plants about 18" tall, put them in my Canada hoophouse and plant out
about mid May. I would like that 18" height by the 24th of April or so. I am thinking that I need to seed about March 1st to meet
those objectives. Thoughts or suggestions. So far my biggest concern is
the bouncing of the trailor. If I had more space here, I would start one
complete set about Feb. 15th and a back-up on the 1st of March. Maybe a
compromise and go for Feb. 22nd?

[rockhound]

Maybe some padding under the seed flats would help with the bouncing. I can't add much as I have never moved plants that distance. Seed co's do ship live plants in the mail tho, that has to be rough on them.

[Alpinejs]

Thanks, rockhound.......that is an encouraging thought all right!!

[dice]

Starting your seedlings in rockwool cubes might help with transportation
(no seed starting mix dislodging from the containers when you hit a
bump). They come in different sizes for seed-starting and hydroponic use.
They look artificial, but from my reading they are made from melted
basalt (so not much there in the way of synthetic chemicals).

A vendor description:
http://www.hydroponics.net/learn/rockwool.asp

What kind of prices to expect:
http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CG4Q8wIwAw