Suzanne D. wrote:
I live in southern Utah, zone 7 or 8.

I started tomatoes a little too early this year (it shouldn't have been
too early, but we had cold weather much longer than we usually do), and
by the time it was warm enough to put them outside, they were stressed
to the point where only about 6-8 out of 200+ made it.

So I started some new seeds a month ago. I planned to put the little
plants outside yesterday, but right before that I went out of town and
forgot to tell my husband to water them. I came home to find a hundred
tomato seedlings flat and dead in their little pellets.

I planted more seeds yesterday. They should be ready to put into the
ground in about a month. Am I just kidding myself, or do people
actually start tomatoes with success this late in the season? I should
say that in most years we don't get killing frosts until October or
later, so our growing season is in fact quite long. Last year, my
plants were about ten feet tall by the end of August, and really too
pooped to produce much by then, even though the weather was still very
hot for months afterward. So I am thinking that we might get tomatoes
much later than anyone else, but at least the plants will still be
healthy and producing at the end of the growing season.

Someone give me some encouragement!
--S.


You're better off direct-sowing them at this point rather than
starting them indoors. Did you sow them in pellets or just scatter
them in a half a milk carton (etc)? Put them out as soon as you
can, and protect them from direct sun for a day or two. As long as
you didn't plant a late-season variety you should be fine. The
volunteer tomatoes here usually almost catch up with the early
transplants.

Bob