Zone 6b-ers, when do you plant your tomatoes outside?

kr222

15 years ago

Zone 6b-ers,

What date are you planning on planting your tomatoes outside?

Kim

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Comments (9)

wcthomas
15 years ago
I am borderline 6b/7a (central NJ) and I put my plants outside around May 10-15 depending on the 10 day forecast. If night time temperatures are forecast above say 45F for the foreseeable future, I'll plant when convenient in the above window, preferably right before a good rain.

TomNJ
aloha10
15 years ago
For many year, I always planted tomatoes, cukes, beans, and other warm wether crops on Memorial Day weekend here in coastal MA. In recent years, with a vast improvement in weather forecasting, they usually go in a week earlier. Just find AccuWeather on the web and check forecasts. Most home gardeners, I have found, generally plant too early.If in doubt, wait a week.
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The tradition is Memorial Day (that was original Memorial Day, May 30). Our official last frost is May 15, but we pretty much never have frost that late. But we can have very unsettled cool weather in May, and sometimes even into June. Tomato plants hate cold weather, so you plant them in very late May, but if it's chilly and rainy, you can wait longer. Lots of times there is beautiful weather in mid-May, and the garden centers are full of people buying all their tender annuals. They plant them and then and it's miserable and cold.
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I am in southern CT zone 6b here, and I am just about in the same boat with rocklandguy. My plants are nestled into trays inside a coldframe setup on my slate patio. I ventilate during the daytime to prevent excessive heat buildup and to allow some gentle breezes onto the plants, and I close it up overnight. It has been deceivingly warm here this past week or so, and like rockland guy I am tempted to sneak an "experiment" plant or two into the tomato beds just to see if it will make it to May 10 or 11 when I usually plant. When you have extra plants you may as well! I would say mine are pretty decently hardened off now due to having been incubated on my unheated porch etc. Nighttime temps are in the 40s reliably now, so I think we are in good shape unless we get snow or a freeze, which could happen. I would say we all have our fingers on the trigger here in zone 6, just waiting for the moment but being cautious at the same time.
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tn_veggie_gardner
15 years ago
May 12th...Farmer's Almanac Day
Soeur
15 years ago
Here in middle TN 6b, people usually put them in about May 1 to May 10.
fred6a
15 years ago
I'm on the border of 6b. Last year I tried the beginning of May. I had to protect the plants on cold nights. They did not do anything except turn dark, and did not start growing until the beginning of June. This year I will put them in Memorial Day weekend.
Fred
digdirt2
15 years ago
We start planting the last week in April, depending on the forecast and shift in wind direction. Otherwise the 1st week in May and usually have most all in by end of the second week in May.

Dave
timmy1
15 years ago
In in 6a may 20th-July 4th
llaz
15 years ago
Coastal Massachusetts - Memorial Day weekend. It's traditional and if there's one thing we love in this area it's tradition! It marks the seasons and makes you feel everything is good in the world.
catman529
15 years ago
Middle Tennessee borderline 6b/7a - I managed to get them out April 17th last year. This year I will probably let the ground warm up a bit more and plant them out at the end of April.

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Zone 6b-ers, when do you plant your tomatoes outside?

Comments (9)

wcthomas

aloha10

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tn_veggie_gardner

Soeur

fred6a

digdirt2

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