kawaiineko: You're on the right track keeping up with the weather & knowing that the plants can be aggravated when they're potted up, but that it helps them. I transplant mine either once or twice, depending upon start date. I start the seeds in whatever container (3 inch square pots this year with Pro Mix Seedling Mix) & keep them in there until they get rootbound (if using pellets or something smaller, transplant them earlier). At that point, in the past, i'd move them from the cell/pellet/etc. into 16-20 oz plastic cups which hopefully last until they go in their final homes. Trick is to only transplant when they get rootbound cuz it's much harder then to distrub them. They may very well still "stall" growth for a week or so after a potting up, but don't worry about this, they are growing where you can't see (roots) at that time. They'll take back off. Anyway, all this usually takes up about 2 months until they just have to go into their final homes. Hence, 2 months from last frost date here, which is the middle of February (ish). Hope this helps. :) - Steve

I read another post, perhaps on another site, that said newly ground coffee - applied heavily - will keep the slugs/snails at bay. The caffeine (needs to be fresh, not yet used) kills them as they slither through it. I'm on my way to Costco to get their cheapest bag of beans and try it out. I read in the same post that Sluggo kills beneficial bugs too. I used Sluggo last year and it worked well. I'll use it again if the coffee fails.

I definitely would not bother potting them up. For fertilizer you can use what you have, as long as it has nitrogen. Other natural fertilizer options include bloodmeal, fish emulsion, manure tea and worm casting tea. When transplanting them out, you'll want to clip off some of the lower leaves and trench them in good soil. Like missingtheobvious said, you'll want to start them in shade and very gradually expose them to direct sunlight. But you'll also want to keep them out of strong wind. Those big leaves are very soft and wind will chew them up, and stems can get crimped at the base seriously compromising the quality of the plant. Below is a link with a diagram on trenching leggy tomato seedlings. Here is a link that might be useful: Trenching Leggy Tomato Seedlings

When I transplant from pot to garden (theoretically I guess this could work for a large pot), I make a small pond berm to attempt to confine the water to the root zone. This seems to be a common practice. When you water after transplant you can trap the water to a small area and direct it at the root zone as opposed to it just dispersing on the surface. While a plan is good for the garden, you have to be ready to make adjustments on the fly(agility) and after setbacks. And you need to be a good observer. Except for those like Hudson, we are taking on everything Mother Nature will spring on us, plus consequences of our own bad judgement (aka learning experiences). I also have some engineering background, and my sisters genealogical research shows family roots across Western Europe, featuring Calvinists and Huguenots. It helps me to understand the hard work, self reliance, and efficiency as values on my great grand fathers farm. I think gardening appeals because it is challenging, and rewards self sufficiency and hard work. I have more cages to build. And I think I just saw my nemesis in the garden, the stink bug. I understand there are beneficial that look similar, so I will be confirming and then taking appropriate action.