Since you already warmed the soil then it is your night time lows that will determine if they can be planted out now and if WOW will be enough protection. So what have they been and what is the forecast?

If the local greenhouse's plants are still that small and since they grow with with a target date in mind, I'm guessing they consider it still too early for planting out in your area. Why not ask them for advice?

Dave

Thanks so much for your response!

Nighttime temps are hovering between 42-48 degrees, and holding steady around there in the forecasts. The greenhouse I purchased the plants from had lots of really huge tomato plants, but just in the really common hybrid varieties. The varieties I wanted were the tiny ones. I did ask them, and they said the transplants would be fine to be put out with the Walls of Water. But even under the right temps/growing conditions, can plants just be to small to handle transplanting outside?

I have seen temps as low as 35 and slight sleet and snow and my plants have been making it rather easily. ive seen highs in the low to mid 80s. the soil is finally starting to warm up here in NC. Id wait another week before planting!

Lows below 45 are never recommended and consistent night temps in the mid-50s is preferred. Will the plants survive lower temps, probably but it can also stunt them even if it doesn't kill them, With WOWs on them they will likely be ok but there is a risk.

As to the size of the plants, while plants that small can be transplanted with no problems given ideal circumstances, your circumstances aren't ideal. I'm not sure I understand why you just didn't wait a bit until they were bigger and it was much closer to normal planting time but since you already bought them and you don't want to transplant them, which would be the normal recommendation, then I guess you really don't have much choice but to plant them out and hope for the best.

Dave

As far as why I purchased them, my local greenhouse had limited numbers available of the varieties I wanted, and I was led to believe it was better to purchase them locally then to mail order them. I also was told that Walls of Water would be sufficient to protect them at much lower temps than we are having now. I guess I was wrong!

How much longer do you think I could I let them grow in their current planting cells? (1"x3")

Every year I ask myself how I can get my plants outside sooner. I thought about hoop house, but no room. I thought about heater in the self watering container. I used WOW. I even looked at underground metal coil heater.

In the end I keep getting blossom drops the first few rounds. So it was not worth the stress to plant early to lose the lower fruits.

If I had to do it though, I would use cold frame or hoop house, but nothing else.

Why don't you want to pot them up to bigger pots for a couple of weeks?

I will re-pot them if that's what I need to do. I'll just need to go buy a bunch more stuff. Is just general potting mix okay to use?

Some big disposable drink cups will work, you don't need pots (just be sure to cut a lot of holes in the bottom). A potting mix (not soil, not MG Moisture Control) is fine, you don't need anything special. I just bought some Espoma Seed Starter mix (it's not really as fine as a seed starter, more like a potting mix that holds a little more moisture), can really recommend that as my plants took off right after potting up 2.5 weeks ago, they need to be repotted again. But if that's too pricey (I think it's normally about $15 for 8 quarts) you can go with a cheaper store brand without the beneficial bacteria and starter fertilizer.

I have some others started the same time that I waited to pot up (just this Monday) since I didn't want to leave too many trays for my dad to water while I was on vacation, I haven't seen any new growth in 3 days so I am hoping for the best as they seemed to go into suspended animation - didn't grow at all the 10 days we were gone, they were in tiny cells with Jiffy seed starter mix and I'm just hoping they aren't permanently stunted (though besides larger cells and the fertilizer, it could also be that the Espoma holds moisture better and the ones still in Jiffy may have gotten too dry while I was away). Don't want to see you have the same problem.

How many plants did you buy?

I say plant them out as long as you warm the soil first. Mine have been out in WOWs for weeks and we've had some really cold weather. Are they growing leaps and bounds? No, but they look fine and I have a blossom or two.

They probably aren't hardened off yet (ask the nursery) so I wouldn't risk it. I haven't tried WOWs but I just read something recently (from Cornell? I'd have to dig up the link) that said they don't really help with warming, only as wind breaks.

If they aren't hardened off, I'd pot them up in 16 oz cups with some mix with starter fertilizer, then a few days - week later start hardening them off, you can still use the WOWs if you already have them and nights are cold.

We usually plant out the last week of May (25-28th target) each year but lows are still averaging mid-high 40's then. The past 2 years it's been too cold and wet and I've waited til mid-June. Hope to get them out in May this year.

I was at Home Depot yesterday, they had some nice compact bushy dark green Bonnie plants (didn't look at tags) - they were the perfect size to set out, but it's way too early here. Last year they were selling tomatoes in March (when we had a heat wave - of course then we had 3 hard freezes the last week of April)!

Thanks so much for all of the advice! I really appreciate it! Hopefully in a few months I'll be posting photos of my thriving plants. Fingers crossed!

I put a thermometer in my WOWs to see if they do what they claim. On a 30 something degree sunny day it showed 70 something degrees. One thing they don't do is hold the heat through the night quite as well as promised. But, it hasn't been a major problem.

I've heard people complain that they can be a pain to work with, but have never heard of someone losing their plants.

I, and others, don't harden off our plants when they go into WOWs.

Do an experiment for learning from and for future reference. Plant a couple under the WOWs and save the rest back. That way you'll know next year what works best for you in your garden.

Dave

I just (think I) remembered where I read about WOWs only really being good as a windbreak. I believe it was in "How to Build Your Own Greenhouse" by Roger Marshall. I don't know how much he knows about tomatoes, the book talked about orchids a lot, and IMHO didn't really get enough into details about "how to" - it was more "things to consider" and "example designs".

Thanks Dave, I think I'll do that. I won't even really lose any, since they came three to a pack, and I was just going to share extras with the neighbors. Now I'll just consider some of them backup. Thanks for the good advice!

Dave gives good advice.
Figure out what works for you and have fun!