tomato plants from seeds

[gapeachy]

I live in Ga in zone 7, anyway I have never grew tomatoes from seeds I always buy started plants....I will plant my garden around toward the end of april do you think I have time to start some seed tomatoes? how long does it take to grow from seeds to about 6 inches?

 

[bid]

I would say go ahead and try it. You may not be able to transplant them into your garden until about the middle of May. If you figure 7-10 days for the seeds to germinate and then at least a month more to get them to a decent size for transplanting. I just transplanted some San Marzanos yesterday that are just over 4 weeks old from seed starting time and are about 4 inches right now with 3 sets of true leaves. You can never have too many plants IMO because of pests, weather, whatever. Good luck!

 

[vfem]

Yes, I was going to say go ahead and try. Its fine to get them started inside. They probably won't be large and strong enough to have outside by then. Plus you need to rotate them outside occasionally a few times to harden them off first. In your Zone, I would start tomato seedlings inside in Feburary.

 

[HEChicken]

I planted a few tomato seeds on Saturday. I was stunned to notice this morning that one of them has already started to show through the surface. I thought 7-10 days for germination but I guess this one was really ready to be planted.

 

[ducks4you]

You have 3 choices, start from seeds, plant outside from seeds, or buy from someone else. It's definitely not too late to start from seeds, because my growing season is shorter than yours and I'm starting my seeds this week, so, if we BOTH start from seeds this week, YOU will get a quicker harvest--you're WARMER than it is here.

 

[HunkieDorie23]

I think you could start them.

1. Soak them in warm water for an hour or two before you plant them. This will give them a little start.

2. Make sure you put your pots somewhere warm 70-75 degrees (don't bake them).

3. Once they develop they second set of true leaves, start to harden them slowing in the shade. With your temps it should only take a week to harden because you have decent night temps.

With soaking them and keeping the soil warm you can get your seeds to germinate in about 4-7 days. I always use warm tap water and it speeds up the germination. You can probably have them ready in about 4-5 weeks.

I started my tomatoes on 10 March and have been transplanting into bigger pots over the last week. I did a bunch yesterday. If I had your temps I could start to harden the first ones now but alas they will stay in the green house a bit longer.

 

[desertgirl]

I am in New Mexico-pretty decent growing season (and 7-ish), but this year I decided to grow from seed for the fun and variety. Mine are going like gangbusters-started inside as early as Feb with grow light on 12 hours per day, on a heating pad set at medium, soil kept moist, not wet.For the past week I have set them outside for a few hours (not really hardening, since it has been in the upper 60s with tons of sun!). I grow in a rasied bed,square foot garden, so they will never be completely on their own, so I figure this system should work.

Last week I decided to plant extra of everything so that I can share with friends and family. They are starting to sprout (5-7 days, average). Hope this helps!
I kept an obsessivly detailed journal-PM if you have any other questions!

Good luck to you!

 

[HunkieDorie23]

I am in New Mexico-pretty decent growing season (and 7-ish), but this year I decided to grow from seed for the fun and variety. Mine are going like gangbusters-started inside as early as Feb with grow light on 12 hours per day, on a heating pad set at medium, soil kept moist, not wet.For the past week I have set them outside for a few hours (not really hardening, since it has been in the upper 60s with tons of sun!). I grow in a rasied bed,square foot garden, so they will never be completely on their own, so I figure this system should work.

Last week I decided to plant extra of everything so that I can share with friends and family. They are starting to sprout (5-7 days, average). Hope this helps!
I kept an obsessivly detailed journal-PM if you have any other questions!

Good luck to you!

When you say heating pad on medium do you mean a real heating pad you would use for your back? Because I have thought of this but I was afraid I would burn up my plants.

 

[RedClayGardener]

I use a regular heating pad on my seeds set to low. The only problem is it shuts of after an hour for safety reasons. So you periodically have to come back and turn it on again. But I have always had good germination rates and I am not that good at remembering to turn the pad back on...

 

[4grandbabies]

I used an old heating pad on some of mine this year, I thought it worked quite well. I did have it on medium for a while and low part of the time.
I put my starts in a tray and bottom water. I always use warm water, and they seem to thrive on it.
I may have been in a hurry tho, they are strong and sturdy, but getting big pretty fast.