Now? This early? Awfully early to be starting tomatoes in your zone.

So if now it would be MUCH easier to start them indoors where the environment is much easier to control. No comparison. But by mid-March, the correct starting time, the weather would be far more likely to allow for cold frame starting and care.

Learn more about growing tomatoes from seed and how to use a cold frame from the the many discussions here that I linked below.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: FAQs and discussions on tomatoes and cold frames

oh no, I am just ordering seeds now. Had intentions of starting the tomatoes around mid to late february. I in in about zone 6b of WV. I think my last frost date is may 1 or 10th.
Thanks for the link.
Tammy

I've had a lot of success starting tomatoes in a cold frame. It's kind of a modified winter sowing.

I put the flats out in mid-March in a cold frame equipped with an automatic vent opener (it opens the lid if it gets too warm). I guess you could just monitor the temps and vent the lid manually on sunny days.

They will germinate when it is the right time. Think of volunteer tomato plants, they germinate without our help. Putting them in a cold frame gives them protection to start earlier than volunteers. Usually early April. After they have sprouted I do put a blanket on top and christmas lights inside if it's going to get much below freezing at night.

They will grow very slowly at first, way behind the indoor starts. The advantage is not having to deal with growing under lights and not having to harden them off. They are quite small by transplant time (May 15-30), but rapidly catch up to the indoor started plants.

By July they look the same as the indoor started plants and the tomato production is the same, although I think the winter sown plants themselves are hardier.

If you are going to start from seeds, I'd start them a few weeks early n risk it with a couple plants. You might get lucky n find that your last frost date comes early this year. If you are wrong, you are out about $.05 for the seeds.

Just remember to have a few backups in case frost does get your early ones.

If you have been growing plants on windowsills, you would like growing them under lights. Get a cheap shoplight from Lowes and two cheap 40 watt fluorescent bulbs. I have mine on metal shelves now but once I put them under the stairs in my dog's "place". It is cheap to do and if you like them you can invest in some nicer shelves and more lights. Make the cold frame too and grow your lettuce in it.

Thanks guys. i have started things many years ago under lights once. I have just been reading about the cold frames and trying to figure out how they fit in.

So can lettuces etc being grown in an unheated cold frame this time of year?

Tammy - first things first, lettuces, yes, you can grow them in a coldframe now. I have done this for years, no problem.

As for tomatoes, I am trying them this year in a coldframe. I plan to start them indoors around feb 1, and then transplant them into the coldframe around Mar 15, much earlier than my recommended safe day of May 1 (note, I am just east of you in zone 7A (N. VA) so you may want to adjust your schedule accordingly.

As for how the coldframe works, in daytime, its essentially a mini-greenhouse. As the sun streams in, I can achieve anywhere between 20-25 degrees over the outside temperature. This is fine now, but come late mar, early april as we sometimes reach 70+ degrees, the issue then is too much heat. In years past, I literally cooked my tender greens by neglecting to uncover them on warm days. Thus, as potterhead notes, its not a bad idea to get an automatic vent opener (it operates as temps cause a cylendar to expand and lift the lid).

My bigger concern now is nightime temps as I dont want it to get too much below 50 degrees at night and potentially stunt production. In lieu of christmas lights, I am using an adjustable spotlight, facing the ground with a 150 watt bulb on a timer. I dont know if this will work, but thusfar, I am able to achieve about 10 degrees over the nighttime temps, possibly more. That said, the 150 watt light seems awfully hot - im almost afraid to use it for fear it will set some mulch on fire!

Any event, these are my plans. But again as far as lettuce goes, go for it - just be sure to somehow vent it if necessary.