T-8 fluorescents to grow Tomato babies?

luigiwu · February 7, 2014

I am in NYC-Zone 6B and our last day of frost for spring is April 12th. (Am I reading the chart right - for 32degrees?)

This is my first time starting from seed - I was thinking of starting next weekend. In all I would be growing them for 8 weeks until April 12th. I was going with the wire restaurant shelving with four T-8 fluorescent tubes per shelf.

Will this be okay? Or will the plants be too leggy by the time I put them out after 8 weeks?

Father'sDaughter · February 8, 2014

Keep the lights very close to the plants and they should do fine. I use T8 shop lights that hang on chains from the shelve above so I can adjust the height of the lights as the plants grow. I usually move the light up about an inch or two each time the plants start touching the bulbs.

ScottinAtlanta · February 8, 2014

I think they will be fine. I like also to start a little early so that I can compensate with a second starting if there are germination problems. If you are using traded seed, you should always sow twice as much as you really need.

madddawg · February 8, 2014

Good advise there, even if you have to babysit them or another week or so, if you have a general idea of when you can plant, go with it, that's what do. but give them light and air movement in them mean time, if you can.

JamesL · February 8, 2014

Luigiwu,
I think you are too early. I am 15 to 20 miles east of you and I aim for May 1st to plant out every year. Weather has not cooperated the last 2 years. Planted out May 18 last year and May 12th the year before. I started seed at the beginning of March last year, which allowed extra time for grafting and cold treatment and I still could have waited another week.
We would need a really warm spring to ever make mid April.

Lighting - I have the exact same setup you are doing.

TomNJ · February 8, 2014

February sounds much too early to me to start tomato seeds in zone 6B. You can get frost above 32 degrees, and the "last frost date" is not accurate. I planted tomatoes for nearly 40 years in central NJ and never put them outside before May 10th, staying far away from the "last frost date" of April 20th and allowing the soil and night temperatures to warm a bit.

I also start tomato seedlings under T8 bulbs and my plants are a good 12" tall in five weeks and quite leggy in six weeks. Therefore I start my seed in the first week of April. YMMV.

TomNJ/VA

Tom A To · February 8, 2014

I wouldn't plant them and just let them grow without moving them around constantly. Move them around under the lights so that all of them get varying degrees of light and move them outside for a little while whenever possible to harden them as the weeks roll by. With exposure to natural UV and the mechanical sensation caused by moving them around (thigmomorphogenesis), your stems will be much more robust than if you barely touch them for 8 weeks.

luigiwu · February 13, 2014

This endless winter is killing me guys... I want to grow stuff! Thanks for the input.
I wish I had kept better weather records from the years past. I'm looking at this website and its telling me that 'Plant Maps Hardiness zone is 7a."
http://www.plantmaps.com/interactive...diness-map.php

JamesL · February 13, 2014

Definitely a rough go for the whole country this winter. Just finished digging out again. I hope we are done, I have no place to put any more snow.

FYI - I started seed for grafting March 9 last year. I am waiting until the 15th or 20th this year and that includes grafting time.
We are much warmer than Tom was in central NJ, and I don't think we would get frost after April 20, but it is still not worth going out that early unless we get a perfect 2 week forecast. And how often does that happen?
Shoot for May 1 but plan on not getting there!

saltmarsh · February 13, 2014

This is the planting calendar from All Things Plants. Just key in your zip code and see how you like its recommendations... Claud

http://allthingsplants.com/apps/calendar/

JamesL · February 13, 2014

Claud,
That's a good one.

This is a nice little spreadsheet if you use excel.
http://yougrowgirl.com/the-lazy-gard...tarting-chart/

amideutch · February 14, 2014

Way to early! Start your seeds no earlier that 01 March. Check out the link below. This will give you an idea as to how fast seedlings grow. I planted the seeds for the plants shown 3 April last year.

PS I will send you a PM this weekend on the info you requested.

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=27943

luigiwu · February 15, 2014

Thanks for all the help, guys!
Ami, you might even make a thread to show off your shelter. I am sure others would be interested too! :-)

greenthumbomaha · February 15, 2014

Question for Ami, sorry to boomerang the thread here. I went back and re-read your 2010 invaluable instructions for cold treatment, and the gotcha errors that DarJones contributed to the thread. Have you since observed any tomato varities that respond negatively to their chilly environment?

I have the insulation ripped out of the ceiling in my sitting room for remodel, and it may stay that way! I can always wear a sweater (or two) for the sake of horticulture.

Thanks, Lisa

ScottinAtlanta · February 16, 2014

I cold treat mine - leave them in an unheated room without heat pads after I pot them up. Average temps this year 40-50 degrees in the room. They grow more slowly, but seem just fine. As soon as I kick the heat up 2-3 weeks before planting out, they will take off. I actually sow seeds in late December, pot up in late January, cold treat in February, kick them up in March, plant out in third week of March. Ami seems to do the whole thing much faster than I do, but he knows much more than I do. His posts are among the most informative on this Forum.

February 7, 2014	#1
luigiwu Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: ny Posts: 1,219	T-8 fluorescents to grow Tomato babies? I am in NYC-Zone 6B and our last day of frost for spring is April 12th. (Am I reading the chart right - for 32degrees?) This is my first time starting from seed - I was thinking of starting next weekend. In all I would be growing them for 8 weeks until April 12th. I was going with the wire restaurant shelving with four T-8 fluorescent tubes per shelf. Will this be okay? Or will the plants be too leggy by the time I put them out after 8 weeks? Last edited by luigiwu; February 7, 2014 at 11:36 PM.

February 8, 2014	#4
madddawg Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Missouri Posts: 407	Good advise there, even if you have to babysit them or another week or so, if you have a general idea of when you can plant, go with it, that's what do. but give them light and air movement in them mean time, if you can. __________________ I grow a garden not just for the food I harvest, but for the creation of life itself. Johnny Cash

February 8, 2014	#7
Tom A To Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Pilot Hill, Ca. Posts: 307	I wouldn't plant them and just let them grow without moving them around constantly. Move them around under the lights so that all of them get varying degrees of light and move them outside for a little while whenever possible to harden them as the weeks roll by. With exposure to natural UV and the mechanical sensation caused by moving them around (thigmomorphogenesis), your stems will be much more robust than if you barely touch them for 8 weeks. __________________ -Dennis Audios, Tomatoville. Posted my final post and time to move on.

February 14, 2014	#12
amideutch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Germany 49°26"N 07°36"E Posts: 5,041	Way to early! Start your seeds no earlier that 01 March. Check out the link below. This will give you an idea as to how fast seedlings grow. I planted the seeds for the plants shown 3 April last year. PS I will send you a PM this weekend on the info you requested. http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=27943 __________________ Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘...Holy Crap .....What a ride!'

February 8, 2014	#2
Father'sDaughter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: MA/NH Border Posts: 4,919	Keep the lights very close to the plants and they should do fine. I use T8 shop lights that hang on chains from the shelve above so I can adjust the height of the lights as the plants grow. I usually move the light up about an inch or two each time the plants start touching the bulbs.

February 8, 2014	#3
ScottinAtlanta Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Atlanta, Georgia Posts: 2,593	I think they will be fine. I like also to start a little early so that I can compensate with a second starting if there are germination problems. If you are using traded seed, you should always sow twice as much as you really need.

February 8, 2014	#5
JamesL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 1,992	Luigiwu, I think you are too early. I am 15 to 20 miles east of you and I aim for May 1st to plant out every year. Weather has not cooperated the last 2 years. Planted out May 18 last year and May 12th the year before. I started seed at the beginning of March last year, which allowed extra time for grafting and cold treatment and I still could have waited another week. We would need a really warm spring to ever make mid April. Lighting - I have the exact same setup you are doing.

February 8, 2014	#6
TomNJ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2009 Location: Floyd VA Posts: 771	February sounds much too early to me to start tomato seeds in zone 6B. You can get frost above 32 degrees, and the "last frost date" is not accurate. I planted tomatoes for nearly 40 years in central NJ and never put them outside before May 10th, staying far away from the "last frost date" of April 20th and allowing the soil and night temperatures to warm a bit. I also start tomato seedlings under T8 bulbs and my plants are a good 12" tall in five weeks and quite leggy in six weeks. Therefore I start my seed in the first week of April. YMMV. TomNJ/VA

February 13, 2014	#8
luigiwu Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: ny Posts: 1,219	This endless winter is killing me guys... I want to grow stuff! Thanks for the input. I wish I had kept better weather records from the years past. I'm looking at this website and its telling me that 'Plant Maps Hardiness zone is 7a." http://www.plantmaps.com/interactive...diness-map.php

February 13, 2014	#10
saltmarsh Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: 2 miles south of Yoknapatawpha Zone 7b Posts: 662	This is the planting calendar from All Things Plants. Just key in your zip code and see how you like its recommendations... Claud http://allthingsplants.com/apps/calendar/

February 15, 2014	#13
luigiwu Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: ny Posts: 1,219	Thanks for all the help, guys! Ami, you might even make a thread to show off your shelter. I am sure others would be interested too! :-)

February 15, 2014	#14
greenthumbomaha Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Omaha Zone 5 Posts: 2,514	Question for Ami, sorry to boomerang the thread here. I went back and re-read your 2010 invaluable instructions for cold treatment, and the gotcha errors that DarJones contributed to the thread. Have you since observed any tomato varities that respond negatively to their chilly environment? I have the insulation ripped out of the ceiling in my sitting room for remodel, and it may stay that way! I can always wear a sweater (or two) for the sake of horticulture. Thanks, Lisa

February 16, 2014	#15
ScottinAtlanta Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Atlanta, Georgia Posts: 2,593	I cold treat mine - leave them in an unheated room without heat pads after I pot them up. Average temps this year 40-50 degrees in the room. They grow more slowly, but seem just fine. As soon as I kick the heat up 2-3 weeks before planting out, they will take off. I actually sow seeds in late December, pot up in late January, cold treat in February, kick them up in March, plant out in third week of March. Ami seems to do the whole thing much faster than I do, but he knows much more than I do. His posts are among the most informative on this Forum.