The Cook said:

This year I got a late start on my tomatoes. I started the bulk of
mine on 3/15 and a few more late arriving seeds on 3/27. I started
the first ones in the house with grow lights and the second ones in
the greenhouse. The first ones got leggy very fast and I moved them
to the greenhouse as soon as most of them germinated. They all went
outside as soon as it was warm enough. I set out the first block on
5/10 and the second one yesterday. The ones that I started in the
greenhouse look much better. Think I will bite the bullet and heat
the greenhouse next year and keep all of the tomatoes in it and not
try to start too early. Maybe slower germination but better looking
plants later.

I am betting that the later starting plants will be more successful
that the others. I remember reading somewhere that a healthy plant
resists insects better. I am guessing they also resist diseases
better.

Oh, yes, I agree that it doesn't pay to start too soon. Better to wait,
and have plants that are smaller but unstressed and never checked
in their growth. Which is one reason I'm happy with the LED lights,
as the plants avoid all the heat stress from the metal-halide lamp that
I used to use.

I started my plants on April 9 in Jiffy-9 peat pellets, transplanted
them into the 32-oz yogurt tubs on April 25 and took the tomato
plants outside for the first time on May 19, when our weather
finally broke mild again. After a few days of hardening off they
may get transplanted out. (Each year this depends on the way
the weather trends at the end of May.)

The peppers and eggplants won't be going out quite yet but they
can use the extra room under the lights now that the tomatoes are
outdoors.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Vegetables are like bombs packed tight with all kinds of important
nutrients..." --Largo Potter, Valkyria Chronicles

email valid but not regularly monitored