I live in Berkeley, CA and the temperature usually stays above about 45 degrees through winter. I've read that there are certain varieties of tomato that can be grown in my area during winter but couldn't get a sense of how practical or easy it is.

Can I just plant seeds in my planters? Is there any hope of growing tomatoes from seed outside in winter? Any varieties that will do better than others? We don't have a lot of extra room inside to grow seedlings so I was hoping to skip that step if possible.

Tomatoes are sensitive to the slightest frost, and so if there is a cold portion of the air that is below 32 degrees, the plants will be damaged. In my own back yard, the temperature varies greatly from one part of the yard to another, but none of it ever gets frost. Although I seldom get temps below 50 degrees in the winter in West Los Angeles, it has gotten below 40 degrees a couple of times in the past five years.

If you do want to grow tomatoes outside, it is best to put them in an area where you can protect them from a cold wind, which can be below freezing even if the ambient temperature is 40 degrees. I've had the best luck with cherry tomatoes, and they made tomatoes for me throughout the winter, although they were a bit smaller in December - the more light they get the better. Mine were volunteers, and so they planted themselves. If you have extra seeds, it won't hurt to try planting them. Mine seemed to grow from old tomatoes.

I have a laser thermometer which will instantly tell me the temperature in any part of the yard. They are inexpensive, and you might want to get one, to help identify cold spots in your yard.

I read that Jan/Feb have a low of 42 degrees but I'm in the flat area and only about half a mile from the water-- there's also an apartment building on one side of our lot that shields some wind so I rounded up to 45 degrees (maybe wishful thinking). I didn't really think about having cold pockets in our yard though... which there certainly are.

If you are growing just a few plants, you can always cover them when the lows drop below 35F.

It is worth experimenting, I think. Worst comes to worse you lose a plant.

Peter1142 - the planters are in the middle of my yard with no shade from trees so I'd guess they would get direct sunlight from about 9 am to 3:30 pm.

I think what I'm hearing is that it's not completely crazy so I'll probably give it a shot and cover them if it's going to be especially cold.

If you were to germinate in an aquarium tank, you could do it all outside, have perfect germination temps, and have all the light your seedlings would need.

If you start them in your bed outside, keep a light, sheer piece of fabric or floating row cover handy to protect them during the cooler nights and they should be fine.

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No very promising. Even if the lows stay above 40F, with that kind of day temperatures for an extended period tomato plants won't do much. But you can try and experiment.

I would try a plant out , some time in late Feb. This way hopefully warmer temperatures ( day highs in 70s) will arrive.

You have perfect weather for cool crops :

Seysonn

I caved and planted a few seeds indoors and hope to transplant them in mid to late January. I know that's still a little too early, but I've decided my backyard is quite a bit warmer than the temps on the weather websites. Last Saturday the weather websites said it was about 55 degrees--but in my backyard it had to be more like 70.

Either way I'll probably get some more seeds going in about a month just in case the current ones don't make it.

Good luck and keep posting on progress.

Seysonn

I used those Jiffy pods... are those decent for germination or just a gimick? I was encouraged that the broccoli appeared so quickly but now I'm confused that there isn't action from anything else. I have the tray sitting on top of the microwave and our heater is always set to a minimum of 66 degrees and it is usually more like 70+ inside. From everything I've read it sounds like that should be warm enough.

I also planted several beet seeds directly outdoors 7 days ago and those are already taking off.

Do I just need to be more patient?

Other than low temperature, the two main suspects in slow germination of tomato seeds are: 1) seeds covered too deep; 2) mix which is not adequately moistened.

I've used peat pellets and various brands of seed-starting mix, and haven't had difficulty with either (though I try to avoid MG mix and dislike Jiffy's mix).