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Mid-Atlantic Gardening

When is it too late to start tomatoes inside?

16 years ago

I live in Annapolis. I ordered some heirloom seeds that got back ordered. They are shipping April 14th, which means I could probably get them started inside by the end of next week. I have grow lights that I keep on 16-18 hours a day. Will this be too late?? If so, will they keep until next spring?

Guidance greatly appreciated as this is the first year I am attempting from seed!

Can any of these seeds be directly sown?

BRANDYWINE TOMATO

GROUND CHERRY

TOMA VERDE - TOMATILLO

DOUBLE YIELD CUCUMBER

POLE LIMA BEAN

LONG PURPLE EGGPLANT

ITALIAN VEGETABLE MARROW SQUASH

GOLDEN SCALLOP SQUASH

ORANGE BELL PEPPER

ANCHO PEPPER

SCOTCH BONNET PEPPER

MULATO ISLENO PEPPER

BLACK HUNGARIAN PEPPER

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Comments (3)

nancymd2
16 years ago
Based upon my experience, it is not too late to start indoors. The tomatoes, eggplant and peppers will appreciate the warm indoor conditions. And with the extra light hours, you may be ahead than if you waited to direct sow. The squash, cucumber and beans can be planted outdoors directly in the next 2-4 weeks, depending on whether it stays warm or we have another cold spell. Mounding the soil around the squash and cucumbers will help.

After a couple of seasons, I'm sure you'll find tomatoes and other seeds that re-seed themselves.

Good luck!
maggiemd
16 years ago
Definitely cucumbers, beans, and squash can be directly seeded into the ground. In fact, I usually start a few of those indoors, 3 weeks ahead of last frost date (May 1st around here). When I put the cucumber, bean, and squash plants in the garden, I also plant some seeds farther along the row to sprout and be 3 weeks behind Â this staggers the harvest, and IÂve found the plants die before the season is out, so I continue adding seeds to replace them.

As for the tomatoes and peppers, you can get a decent size tomato plant in 3 weeks if you use a propagation (heating) mat and lots of light. If it were me, I'd start enough seeds for a few plants of each and then buy a couple plants that are bigger, and put them all in the garden maybe the first week in May -- conventional wisdom says plant tomatoes on Mothers Day :). The peppers will be smaller, but ultimately, everything grows outside when the soil gets warm (I use black landscaping fabric to get the soil warmer faster). Good source of propagation mat is Home Harvest Garden Supply on the web. I sent one to my brother in Gambrills and he had it in four days.
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You need to know your average date of last frost, first. Then you can follow guidance from Purdue, if it looks right to you: Time to Seed Before Last Frost 10 weeks cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower 10 weeks head lettuce 7 weeks tomato 7 weeks eggplant 7 weeks pepper 4 weeks cucumber 4 weeks melons 4 weeks squash I'm not in quite that much of a hurry to get any of the plants set out in my cool Spring part of the world. However, I'd give the peppers just about that much time for going out 2, or so, weeks after last frost. I've got the peppers, eggplant, onions, and snapdragons started - that's it. Steve Here is a link that might be useful: Starting Seeds Indoors, 4 page pdf
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Is it hot where you are? I am in 7b and we are rarely above 100 for more than, oh, 4 days in a summer. If you are looking at heirlooms, etc., watch out for days to maturation. Some of the heirloom ones can be long. I would stick with varieties you know will produce well and quickly in your location, rather than trying something new. I have planted starts of tomatoes in mid-June and had a crop. It was 25 years ago, so I can't remember how BIG a crop, but I remember being happy with it. We don't get frost till mid-November, though.
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I've been looking at HD ad Lowe's and reading up on different lights. there's a Philips 2 ft T12 "Natural Light" bulb that is 9,000 lumens and 5000k. Though I can't seem to find a really cheap fixture. There's a single light fixture for $13.98. Would only one of these bulbs work? I've got about 18 tomatoes and 10 peppers. How many lumens would I need for all these seedlings? Theres a Metalux fixture for $18 that holds two T8 bulbs and I could get two T8 bulbs that are 1,400 lumens and 3000k or 1,275 lumens and 6500k. There's also 4ft lights that I could actually get cheaper (fixture as low as $13 and 2 pack bulbs for less than $10 - those bulbs up to 2,900 lumens and 6500k), but I'm not sure about being able to dedicate 4 feet of horizontal space. But I know the light should be right over the seedlings so I might not have a choice?? How many bulbs do you think I need for the amount of seedlings I'm starting? Sorry about all the technical specifics on the lights. I know that the higher kevlin the better for seedlings so if I could get a better idea on the amount of lumens I'd need and how many bulbs (considering that people say that should be right over the seedlings) then I think I could know what's best to choose.
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No definitely not! I am just starting my annual and vegetable seeds this weekend and through April 15th. I live near the NH border. I put my plants out Memorial Day weekend. If you were planning to start perennials the earlier the better if you want them to bloom the first year. Usually they take two seasons to get established. Biggest mistake is people start them too early and the plants are leggy and weak by the time they put them out. Investigate the winter sowing if you don't have space inside.
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eibren
16 years ago
The main thing is to not put any of them, especially the tomatos, cucumbers and squash, out before it warms up and is safely beyond the frost date. You won't gain anything by it--cold weather really bothers those three and will affect later production even if it doesn't kill them.

Cukes and squash don't like to be transplanted, but the little peat pots (thin ones that disintegrate easily) will protect their fragile roots.

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