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easportmom

When is it too late to start tomatoes inside?

easportmom
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

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  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.

  • 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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