I am in zone 7 and am waiting until May to plant my tomatoes. 45 is still too cold and it could very likely still freeze at night.

I won't be putting mine out till at least the middle of May, no matter how lovely the weather seems now. Among many factors, the soil has to warm up before you plant. And when you do plant those leggy guys, plant them good and deep! Good luck!

Way too early. Which garden zone in KS are you in? 5a, 5b, or 6a? When is your last frost date?

It is still too early for even zone 7 planting so I can't imagine that it would be safe to plant in KS. You have another 3-4 weeks to wait at least, maybe longer.

Dave

Do you have a lamp with a compact fluorescent bulb or a shop light? Your plants have stretched for light which will make them vunerable to wind.

When you do put them outside you have to protect them from the wind and sun and very gradually get them used to outdoor conditions. Some people use a gentle fan indoors on their seedlings; mostly those plants need more light.

I'm in zone 5 and have learned not to put my tomatoes or peppers in the garden until the very end of May. It sucks waiting so long but I've lost too many to freak frost.

As others have said those will have to be slowly hardened off before they will survive outside no matter the climate.

I am in southern CT (Zone 5b) and every window sill and my entire light rack is full - mostly peppers now. I plan to start hardening the peppers off later this week, but will have them in trays so I can bring them back inside if the night temps get below 40.
John A

I plan to start hardening the peppers off later this week,

With peppers? Wow. That is really pushing your luck! Night temps of no lower than 50, not 40, is the standard recommendation for tomatoes and tomatoes are far more tolerant of cool spring air and soil temps than peppers are.

Good luck.

Dave

Definitely get a better light source on those babies. 4' shop lights are a good bang for the buck. Agree that it's too early to set out, and they need to be hardened off first.

Potting up will take care of those long stems. Use a larger pot and place it so that the stem is covered with soil leaving only the top leaves above the soil. Roots will grow along the covered stem. Then put them closer to your light. It will look like you have started over again but you will have stronger plants to set out later. If you don't use a fan tweak the plants a few times each day to help build up stem strength.

Harden off slowly then you can take them outside and inside as temps indicate until you can plant them.