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| When is a good time to start tomatoes in zone 5-6. I'm anxious but is it to early? |
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- Posted by missingtheobvious Blue Ridge 7a (My Page) on Tue, Feb 26, 13 at 11:38
| USDA zones only tell your average winter low temperature. What's more important for planting tomatoes is to know when all frost danger is over, as well as when temperatures (air and soil) will be warm enough for your tomatoes to be happy outdoors. Then start your seeds 6-8 weeks before that. [And don't trust the big-box stores: they'll happily sell you tomato seedlings before your last frost danger.] |
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- Posted by kathyb912_IN 5a/5b (My Page) on Tue, Feb 26, 13 at 13:17
| Call your county's Extension office and ask them when your area's average last frost date is. (Google your county's name and "extension office" if you're not already familiar with your office.) Start your tomato seeds 3-4 weeks before this date. Expect to transplant your seedlings into the garden when they are 6-8 weeks old, or 3-4 weeks after the average last frost date. To give you a more specific example, I'm in west-central Indiana, which is likely similar in climate to northwest Ohio. Our average last frost date (50% chance of frost afterwards) here is around April 20, so I start my tomato seeds around March 20. Last summer (2012), I was able to transplant them into the garden on May 14, but if the weather hadn't cooperated, I could have kept them inside under the lights for another 2 weeks. Usually by Memorial Day, it's safe to transplant the most tender of plants here. You might need to push those dates back a week or so if your average frost date is different from mine, but that should give you an estimate to start with. Good luck! Kathy |
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- Posted by RyseRyse_2004 5 (My Page) on Tue, Feb 26, 13 at 17:31
| Start your seeds April 1st in 16 oz. clear beer cups with holes in the bottom (I use a cheapo soldering iron but a knife is fine.) Put about 2" of seed starting mix in the bottom, plant about 4 seeds to each cup and cover with saran wrap. Once they germinate, uncover and keep in a sunny window. Once the babies have their true leave and 2 real leaves, start back-filling with soil. Do this until the leaves reach the top. You will end up with super healthy seedlings with lots of roots (that you can see through the cups). Start hardening them off once the temps outdoors are in the 60's/70's. Just a few hours a day at first and then leave them all day and bring in at night. Once the temps outdoors are settled and the soil is warm (60 deg.) you are ready to plant. Soooo easy and no leggy plants. Also, no need for indoor lighting, etc. I've been doing it like this for about 20 years and it works! |
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