On Mar 4, 6:39 pm, General Schvantzkoph
wrote:
I'm going to plant tomatoes from seed this year rather than buy plants.
I'd also like to have them ready by the middle of July which is about 6
weeks earlier then usual (I live in Massachusetts). My plan is to start
them indoors in peat pots and then start transplanting in late April.
I'll put a few plants in the ground each week until the danger of frost
has passed, I figure I'll have a massive surplus of plants so I can
afford to waste some, if the earliest get killed I'll just replace them.
My question is how many weeks before I do my first planting should I
start the seeds? Should I stagger when I put the seeds in pots or can I
just let some of the plants stay in pots for an extra month?


As others have said, you might as well start all tomatoes now, then
starting mid-april put out some plants. Two things I suggest:

1) there are plenty of warm days before last frost. If you can arrange
so that you can take them out on sunny days (you can leave them out,
covered, if the night is not too cold), that would help. Inside, they
will develop weakly due to a lack of light. Outside, on my south-
exposed patio, they do well in April. In the last few years in
Michigan, they have needed to get back in the house only a few times a
month.
2) you should cover those in the ground on particularly cold nights. A
water bucket near them will help. No mulch around them, so the ground
can offer some thermal ballast, will also help. Mulch them in June
when the ground has warmed.