A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum The Tomato Forum When to Plant

Is it best to plant plants or start from seed . when is best time for each .

Most of the lower states are starting their seeds now. If you plant from seeds you usually have many more variety options. If you rely on what your local nurseries have you have less to choose from. Here in Cal, I can plant outside now or very soon. I am not so sure about Alabama.

Hi, Paul. I'm in Georgia, and nows the time to get english peas, carrots, and such in the ground. I started tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants inside last week. Waiting on hubby to finish getting the garden evened out to put in the peas and carrots.

What part of Alabama are you in? I have family in the Sylacauga area.

Annette

I am in Massachusetts and we cannot plant tomatoes until after Memorial Day.

Here's a link to a planting schedule site. Scroll down the page and download the pdf file (at the bottom), which has a lot more information than the web page itself. The pdf is very specific, and based on last frost dates, but in reality you can do +/- a few weeks beyond the recommendations.

Paul, it's much easier to plant plants for me. If you have good light and room in your house starting the seeds indoors will work easier. I just don't have enough light.

It's true though that buying plants limits your variety. I can't find many fancy tomato plants around here so I have started some seeds for those this year. It's probably too late this year to order seeds, get them, get them started indoors and move outdoors.

As far as planting, I'm going to put out a squash and tomatoes this weekend. I'll be surprised if we have another frost here.

I put out radishes and lettuce about a month ago and had a salad last night.

I start all of my plants from seeds every year, and I end up with a better variety and much better quality plants. The plants from any local nursery are heathy but thin-stemmed and fragile. However, my great results are most likely because I use high quality soil, and I have very good lights. I suspect that using the same seeds with lower quality soil and typical fluorescent lights would not produce better results than a local nursery. We have a very short growing season in Pullman, WA with frequent strong winds, so it is critical to have well-developed sturdy plants when it is time to transplant. As an example, my Riesentraube tomato plants are barely more than 5 inches tall, and they already have 11" wide foliage and nearly 3/8" stems. In my opinion, if you have the space and are willing to spend the money on quality lighting, then you can always outperform the nurseries. This may be a different story in more tomato-friendly climates.

ONE HINT FOR growing EARLY TOMATOES, IS BUYING THE EARLIEST MATURITY DAYS.

SHORT growing SEASONS WILL BENEFIT FROM THAT .

I too start them inside.. I dont have hi class lighting, just small lights.
But i plant several different types .
Early ones usually 65 days to maturity.

Then a type that takes say 80 days

90 days .......what ever.. This also give me red tomatoes over a longer period.

I never buy store bought ones ..(Plants).
If you have a built in glass patio .....that is awesome for tomatoes.

My friend has a home made greenhouse, which she heats from the familys garage with a radiator.
Her kids built for her. It is adorable..