best time to plant tomatoes

[Eden]

Hi there everyone!
just wondering when everybody else sows tomato seeds and with what success? I tried Jan one year and they were very drawn, tried Feb, they grew so far but the bad light and cold didn't do them any good. My father in law sows now, puts them in greenhouse all day then brings them in at night till weather and light is better. His tomatoes are grand! But I just can't be running in and out of house with seedlings, work and kids just don't permit it. So, what do you all do?

[momol]

I sow mine around mid march last year at the window sill and they do fine, no leggy problem and around late april, they went out ( after a week hardening). They fruit around mid summer but killed by blight ( different problem).

Cheers,
Momol

[Flummery]

I sow in March but still do the in and out thing. My greenhouse is not heated so the temperatures can still fall below freezing in April and May. I listen VERY carefully to the weather forecast (in case they say this only once!)

[smallblueplanet]

I'm with Flum, but perhaps give in and put the seeds in a bit earlier than March - but try not to!

Our greenhouse is down the garden path, but not too far and we fleece them up too later on.

[Cutecumber]

I sow tomatoes in March and keep them on a windowsill until they become impossible to manage. Then, it's in and out of the greenhouse daily according to the temperature. I work, so I have to be very careful with ventilation if day-time temps are variable.

We keep our greenhouse at a minimum of 5 degrees and I still wouldn't put young tomatoes out anywhere near this temperature. They quickly stop growing and go blue (well, who wouldn't) even at ten degrees.

I may molly-coddle mine compared to some, but I've not had a death as yet

[Matt.]

I sow seeds in mid Feb and leave them inside on a cool windowsill. They take a few weeks to emerge and then I pot on keeping the chosen ones inside on the same window sill (we're quite fortunate we have big windows). Only when they get to four inches high do I move them out to the greenhouse and plant in growbags.

They seem to do great and I've never bothered with moving them back inside for the night if it gets chilly. However, I only grow gardeners delight which is an outdoor type.

[JanieB]

I tried an experiment last year. I planted some beginning Feb, some end of Feb and the rest in March. By beginning of April they were all at the same stage so this year I will wait til March as it doesn't seem to make much difference in the long run.

I didn't have any 'matos tho as I failed to continue to look after them. Not like me at all but circumstances .

PS to myself - must do better.

[Alison]

March for me too although I sowed some in April as well last year and they we no later than the ones in March but it probably depends on the variety.

[veg4681]

My father in law sows now, puts them in greenhouse all day then brings them in at night till weather and light is better. His tomatoes are grand! But I just can't be running in and out of house with seedlings, work and kids just don't permit it. So, what do you all do?

After reading up on your father-in-law's tomato growing strategy, I might be tempted to do what he does you know bringing the plants in and out which I have the time for fortunately. In the past I've always been very slow and behind everyone else and my idea of summer is eating garden produces from May onwards, not bl**dy August as was the case last year. But I will no doubt have late sowings (late Feb - early Mar) as well like the majority of the Grapes here if only to prolong the fresh supply of tomatoes over a longer period.

[Hans Mum]

i look on here and watch for someone else in the same area sowing/planting whatever then do mine....

[littlegreenman]

Cheers for the comments, i was also wondering the best time, never grown tomatoes from seed before.

[Eden]

Wow, really suprised by so many replies saying March. I've always been too eager to get going and sowed much earlier, but they stopped growing and went blue also. Will do a March (early one though, can't hold out much longer!).Many thanks for the great advice!

[Beso]

I tried an experiment last year. I planted some beginning Feb, some end of Feb and the rest in March. By beginning of April they were all at the same stage so this year I will wait til March as it doesn't seem to make much difference in the long run.

I didn't have any 'matos tho as I failed to continue to look after them. Not like me at all but circumstances .

PS to myself - must do better.

Bit of an old thread but I sowed mine earlier than usual this year and they have been a bit of a disaster, maybe it was due to something else other than the early sowing though, ie over watering or keeping in small pots too long.

I don't know, everything was problematic maybe it was the compost.

However, I once did some calculations, based on temperature, length of day time and strength of sunlight etc.... and I work out that one week in july gave as much sunlight (ie growth) as the whole of April.

In other words I am pretty much confirming what you say, the gain from early planting is small, and indeed given all the problems it might bring, it is not worth it.

I shall be starting end of march next year, about 25th, but maybe even later.

Anyhow whatever the case my tomatoes have been a disaster this year!

Indeed healthy looking plants would be all I would ask for at the moment, forget the tomatoes. My garden looks like a plant disease unit.

I am so annoyed!!!

[Penellype]

My tomatoes are also looking a bit "ratty" - the choice is between being pot bound or being cold.

You are quite right about the light. I have solar panels on my house and they teach you a lot. For example the day before yesterday was a nice sunny day, and the panels generated 25kWh of electricity in one day. In January the best day was 4.4 kWh and in March it was 14kWh (both towards the end of the month). It is quite common for days in January and February to generate less than 1kWh all day. This is what plants are up against if you plant them early in the year, unless you can keep them under lights until late March or April. And that is without worrying about temperature, which is quite another problem!

I did an intereting experiment with some Shirley plants this year - quite unintentionally. I always try to overwinter a couple of plants on my sitting room windowsill, and I take side shoots off them to grow on, but I also plant some seeds. On 17th January I planted 2 seeds, and also 2 sideshoots. I also sowed more seeds on 22nd March (from the same packet). All of these plants were kept under growlights in the same room. By 6th April the new seedlings were already looking bigger and healthier than the ones sown in January (!) which had turned an unhealthy looking purplish colour despite being in a warm room. I gave up with these in despair and sent them to my friend's unheated greenhouse to take their chances.

The March sown seedlings are on the sitting room windowsill. They have 2 trusses of open flowers and some pea sized fruit, and are about 4ft tall. The 2 January sown plants have now recovered to form nice, sturdy plants and have been planted in grow beds. They are about 18 inches tall and the first flowers are jsut opening. The 2 sideshoots I planted in January are also on the sitting room windowsill. They have also been stopped at 2 flower trusses, one has struggled to set any fruit at all and the other has 3 tomatoes forming, the largest about the size of a golf ball.

I think the lesson from this is clear. It is possible to start tomatoes off early in the year, but later sown ones soon overtake them.