I'm in Zone 6 and my target starting date for seeds is late March. Last season was my first growing from seed (so no expert here), but I started mid-March last year and I wished I had waited a week or two. I planted mid May, which I plan to do again, but the plants were a little unweildy at that point. My observation was that they really take off when they are put in the ground, so it doesn't matter all that much how big they are when they go in.

In general, I think it's ideal to put a tomato plant in the ground when it's 7 to 8 weeks old.

I did start one Sophie's Choice a couple of weeks ago, but since that one only gets about 18 inches high, I plan to have it in a big pot in a sunny windowsill until May.

Well, I started tomatoes for my cousin's window garden on January 17. Oxheart probably will open its buds tomorrow or Monday, with a couple others following a few days later.

For my own garden, I decided to sow on March 25. I've been using May 20 as our average last frost date and hope to have plants in the ground by then. I'm trying Culligan water bottles for mini-cold frames this year, so I might see about planting just a little earlier.

Heading to the basement to look over the light/shelf situation...

Sowed ours on Feb 22.

Appx. one week to germinate,..... March and April cold hardening and having them lay in the tanning beds w/ their shades on,..... a week or so hardening off, puts them in the ground right around Mothers Day,... depending on the moon and the weather.

Sure, Why not. It is too early but is'nt gardening all about enhancing what nature provides.

So I seeded tomatoes 33 and 29 days ago. The Rutgers are 8" which are presently the tallest. I put the seedlings in the coldframe weather permitting or keep them under flouresent lighting.

Normally I start maters towards the end of March. We'll see if it pays off.

One "delay" for tomatoes started too early is to grow them cool (inside) after they've developed their true leaves (at around 55-70 degrees) with plenty of light. It slows down their rate of growth but keeps them healthy and is said to make the plants stockier and with more substantial root systems. Of course you can't just leave them growing cool for months and months, but a few weeks won't hurt.

Some people use this technique to produce stocky plants when it's time to set them out.

I've also made the mistake of starting too early in March and wind up transplanting the seedlings twice before putting them out...this year, though, I've moved my seed starting to the garage where it's much cooler so I will probably start in mid to late March, early April at the latest.

I think about starting on April 1st. My last frost date is around May 20. I do start a few plants in February for a few early tomatoes, but they are grown in larger pots.

Thanks for the input. I planted the cold hardy, determinate varieties today. Going to hold off planting the others for a few more weeks.

I started some 3-4 weeks ago. Last year, I didn't get any fruit 'til, maybe late August, so I started early. Would you believe, I only have a couple sprouts that popped up Friday or Saturday. I did have one pop up in the first week but it died. Maybe too cold on the back room.

I live near Columbia, MO. I started my Mom's toms (she lives in zone 6 southern MO) last weekend. I will start mine next weekend, usually somewhere around the 15th of March. Doesn't do any good here to sow earlier as its too wet or too cold for them until 2nd weekend in May for me (she plants hers the first weekend in May). I've tried the WOW and jugs, but all I get is disease-prone toms for the entire season. I still usually get a tomato by 4th (Sungold or Stupice). Hard to wait though.

I started some early varieties (Early Challenge & Early Girl) last weekend. I usually try to get them in around March 15th. I usually don't try to plant out prior to Mother's Day, but I have a couple of people that I raise plants for that want them earlier, so I am thinking I will try to start the rest tonight.

I sowed a couple hundred seeds last night, with the goal of having them ready to pla-nt about the first week of May.

Mike

I will be sowing my seeds in 2 weeks or so.

Dean

Northern Illinois here...

I started too late last year (got everything planted around April 10th)... So I'm aiming for the last week of March this time. We did have a late frost (after Mother's day) last year.

I have them staggered. I started about 2-3 weeks ago. I have 3 big boys, 3 cherries and 3 early girls that have more than two leaf and are all about 3 inches high. I also have some additional big boys, cherries, stupice, and moskovich that IÂm waiting to see some sprouts. Probably another week to 10 days is my guess. As far as the last frost it could be as late as late May. I think I started way too early but time will tell. That said I do have a patio enclosure that I plan to pot most of the ones that have already germinated. The patio usually runs about 20 - 30 degrees warmer during the day and retains the heat well during the night. I can also protect them from frost in April. We will have to see how the experiment works out.

We have had a couple days in the 50's. So the temp inside at the window, has been warmer. Now, almost everything is coming up.

Matthew

If you planted your tomatoes too early, growing them COOL is a way to slow them down, 55-65 degrees. Just make sure they have plenty of light though.

While I'm technicaly in Zone 6, I'm on the northern edge of it in SE PA. I sowed my seeds on Feb. 15th and now everything is sprouted and 2-3" tall. If the weather is warm enough, I'm going to try to get my plants in the ground a tad early around April 15th, and just try and protect them if it dips cold again...

I figured since the last two years were so bad with rain and cool temps that, maybe, just maybe, this year will have less rain with warmer temps, and maybe an early spring. If not, I'll just keep potting my plants up as long as I need to before I can get them in the ground. It's a gamble, but if I can get just a little more / earlier fruit, it'll be worth it to me.

Wow, Dickie - those are healthy looking winter tomato plants.

I figured since the last two years were so bad ... maybe, just maybe, this year will have less rain with warmer temps. LOL I'm keeping my fingers crossed too, homegardenpa!

I've been planting seeds in between batches of cookies. My husband's co-workers are always anxious to get the left over plants before I'm ready to plant. A few of them live significantly south of us so they can have the "too early" plants.

Been thinking it may be wise not to heat the sunroom this spring but grow indoor lettuce and keep the tomatoes chilly.

Jennifer

Zone 5 south of Dean. I do a NASA countdown 3-2-1 plant dem seeds. Green pepper seeds earlier on St. Patrick's Day.

I have found that starting seedlings indoors early produces big, frail plants that take a lot more effort to harden off. They also take up more space and lighting indoors (since they need to be potted up earlier).
I personally don't think it's worth it. The plants I used to start in March produced ripe fruit at the same time as those started the first week of April. What's the point?

I agree with you, euarto_gullible. Even indoor grown transplants that arenÂt leggy will be unproductive if theyÂre planted in cold wet soil too early. For the past two years, the first plants to fruit have been volunteers.

Almost everything I planted today was a dwarf that will be container grown. This may sound petty but the reason I plant other varieties early is to prevent future nagging. We have friends who would be disappointed if I didnÂt give them a few heirlooms to grow each season. But they want them well before they should be planted. I guess itÂs because they see tomato plants for sale in April. I also grow a few sacrificial plants at a family plot behind my grandparentÂs home. If I donÂt, my mother will never shut up. "I thought you grew tomatoes from seed? WhatÂs wrong? Your cousin had hers in the ground a week ago." When itÂs time to put in my "real" plants, I pull the sacrificials and hide them in the compost heap. ItÂs crazy I know, but itÂs better than listening to know-it-all family and friends! LOL
Jennifer

I started mine one week ago.

I will be starting mine on March 20th - usually try for St. Patrick's day here in Chicagoland but will be traveling - I did have an unusual hardening off method last year - on May 16th my neighbor's daughter pulled every plant out of the Cowpots I use for germination and direct planting into my garden - I discovered them wilted in the bottom of a 5 ga bucket that I was using for weeds - I planted them earlier than expected without a proper hardening off and the little suckers proved how tough tomatoes are...though I had no idea what I was putting into the hole until they produced a bumper crop. I do not recommend this method ;)

I planted my Big Boy seeds on March 5th here in Northern Illinois. I have a small set-up in my basement. Took a picture today and everything seems to be doing well. I hope to plant by Mothers Day.

Wow I hope you people aren't going by the Old Farmer's Almanac planting schedule!!! Their schedule is based on a FIFTY PERCENT CHANCE of frost, NOT the typical percent used by county extensions (which I think is closer to 90/10.)

I'm just up the I-90 from you (borderline zone 6) and typical time to start here is the first week of April. The Old Farmer's Almanic is recommending 2/26-3/12 for Buffalo (zone 6) and 3/4-3/19 with moon optimal 3/15-3/19 for Cleveland/Hopkins Intl. area. I would NEVER trust the 2/26-3/12 for Buffalo, and keep in mind the dates I posted for Cleveland, there's a 50% chance you will get a frost at Hopkins after 4/30. Proceed with caution, you don't really get a 2nd chance! We usually wait to plant out Memorial Day Weekend around here--nearly every year, a huge storm with high winds & hail or T-storms rolls thru about a week before.

Hope this helps.

My last frost date is around May 20, so I try to start on April 1 just so I have something to blame if problems arise.

I started most of mine on 3/25. I'm planting by moon phases, and the Farmers' Almanac said my next chance would be the middle of next month. So my choices were either too early or too late. I have no idea if moon phases work, but I need deadlines, or I'll just keep procrastinating. And moon phases give me a deadline. But I didn't get some planted until about 10 minutes after midnight, so those seeds are cursed, and will probably just rot in the ground:)

I read something about putting them in a cool spot, like anney mentioned, so I may try that. I added a link to some info about it. I read it quickly a couple times, but still can't figure out if it increases or decreases productivity. I assume it must increase, otherwise why bother? The people who wrote it weren't trying to slow things down. I think they were trying to improve greenhouse production. It also mentions an increased chance of damping off. But I think spraying with chamomile tea could help with that.

If I started too early, I'll probably try planting some early, and replace them if they get frozen. And I have some that supposedly have some frost tolerance, so maybe I'll get lucky.

Here is a link that might be useful: link to page with link to stuff about cold treatment

Last week at this time I was looking at 3/24 for planting out.(zone 7a SW Virginia) Fortunately I took one last look at the ten day forecast and picked up on last night's 30 degree frost. Now I'm Looking at 3/30 -3/31 as the weather looks good well into the first week of April.

No, because I haven't planted any seeds yet.

I have a small greenhouse that I now only use to start seeds, bulbs, rhizomes, etc for transplanting outdoors. "Only" because I can't afford to heat it throughout the year. For the same reason, I try to start as late as possible. I have settled on the first week in April and my tomatoes are about 18 inches high in 4 inch pot when I transplant them into the ground around May 2x.

Thanks for all the replies. The few I already started have their first set of true leaves. All were Canadian, short season, cold tolerant types. We're going camping soon, so it will be early next week before my second round gets planted. I may not grow any late season varieties this year. I have enough milk jugs to put them all outdoors for cold treatment.
Jennifer