On Mar 24, 9:26*am, Bill R wrote:
A lot of us that read and post in this newsgroup grow tomatoes and a lot
of us start our own seeds. *I thought that I would start a discussion on
how you start and grow your own tomatoes.

I grow a lot of varieties that are not available as plants from the
local places that carry tomato plants. *I use a couple of different
methods to start them. *I like the "bio-dome houses" method that vendors
like Park Seeds sell. *I also use the "peat pellets" (like the Jiffy-7)
for the larger plants. *When I start seeds inside (in March) I place the
planter on "seeding heat pads". They really help in getting the seeds
started faster and result in a much higher germination rate than non
heated methods. *They also help the plants grow much faster.

After the seed are up about a week they are watered with a 20-20-20
plant food solution mixed at 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water. *I
generally don't put the tomato plants out in the garden until (at least)
the middle of May. *Before that I put them out on the porch during the
day (in the shade) to get them accustomed to the weather.

I use those 'clam shells' from the produce aisle. I put a paper towel
on the bottom so the soil doesn't all wash out, fill them with seed
starting mix and put them on the mat. I do the midseason varieties
first, in late February, then start the early varieties later. Each
clamshell gets a label. Next year, I plan to put the number of seeds
and date planted as well as the variety name. When they have their
second set of leaves, I transplant them into individual containers,
mostly 3-4". This year I'm also using 1 litre cardboard cream
cartons. They're free, they're tall so roots can grow down further,
and they pack together tightly. I cut the top off, fill it with a
container/vermiculite soil mix and transplant in the seedling, buried
up to its little neck to encourage root development. Usually I use a
fish emulsion fertilizer, but I had trouble finding it this year. I
bought one of those seedling starter blue fertilizer mixes. The NPK
is 10-52-10. I'm not sure I like it. I think it should have more
nitrogen.

They are under lights for now. I need to figure out a way to raise
the trays because they should be closer to the lights and I can't
adjust the shelves. As soon as the daytime temperature gets to be
about 10C, I will start putting the seedlings outside and taking them
in at night. I have a planter with a frame overtop with a rollout
cover of plastic sheeting. I am planning to try insulating the cover
with bubble wrap, and putting containers of water around the edge of
the planter as a heat source. I'll start leaving them out overnight,
covered, after a couple of weeks if the night time temperatures are
high enough. Then I'll do my transplants after everything has hardened
off, probably in late May or early June unless the plants are dwarves
or determinate varieties that do well in containers which will be
planted earlier. If we get snow in June or something ridiculous like
that, I can still bring them indoors. Kosy Kotes/walls of water go
around the ones planted in the ground as long as they fit inside. And
if they're in the ground, I put them right next to the house to keep
them warmer. The night time temperature is usually above 15C only
during July, and not reliably, which really affects growth and
production.
Dora
Zone 3a