I told a friend that I would like to grow some tomatoes from seed and
he told me that it is too late this year and that tomatoes are usually
started indoors 6 to 8 weeks prior to being planted outdoors. This
friend told me if I planted seed directly outdoors then tomatoes which
say they produce ripe fruit in 8 weeks will require 14 to 16 weeks.

Another friend tells me the plants will produce fruit in the same time
but the plants will just will not be as large or as productive. Who
is correct?

On Sat, 24 May 2003 15:59:58 -0400, Chuck Mercer
wrote:

I told a friend that I would like to grow some tomatoes from seed and
he told me that it is too late this year and that tomatoes are usually
started indoors 6 to 8 weeks prior to being planted outdoors. This
friend told me if I planted seed directly outdoors then tomatoes which
say they produce ripe fruit in 8 weeks will require 14 to 16 weeks.

Another friend tells me the plants will produce fruit in the same time
but the plants will just will not be as large or as productive. Who
is correct?

The first one.

Pat

On Sat, 24 May 2003 16:33:11 -0400, Pat Meadows
wrote:

On Sat, 24 May 2003 15:59:58 -0400, Chuck Mercer
wrote:

I told a friend that I would like to grow some tomatoes from seed and
he told me that it is too late this year and that tomatoes are usually
started indoors 6 to 8 weeks prior to being planted outdoors. This
friend told me if I planted seed directly outdoors then tomatoes which
say they produce ripe fruit in 8 weeks will require 14 to 16 weeks.

Another friend tells me the plants will produce fruit in the same time
but the plants will just will not be as large or as productive. Who
is correct?

The first one.

Pat

Shoots. Guess it is next year for me. sob

"Chuck Mercer" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 24 May 2003 16:33:11 -0400, Pat Meadows
wrote:

On Sat, 24 May 2003 15:59:58 -0400, Chuck Mercer
wrote:

I told a friend that I would like to grow some tomatoes from seed and
he told me that it is too late this year and that tomatoes are usually
started indoors 6 to 8 weeks prior to being planted outdoors. This
friend told me if I planted seed directly outdoors then tomatoes which
say they produce ripe fruit in 8 weeks will require 14 to 16 weeks.

Another friend tells me the plants will produce fruit in the same time
but the plants will just will not be as large or as productive. Who
is correct?

The first one.

Pat

Shoots. Guess it is next year for me. sob

Go get some plants from your local nursery or Home Depot.

Chuck Mercer wrote:

On Sat, 24 May 2003 16:33:11 -0400, Pat Meadows
wrote:

On Sat, 24 May 2003 15:59:58 -0400, Chuck Mercer
wrote:

I told a friend that I would like to grow some tomatoes from seed and
he told me that it is too late this year and that tomatoes are usually
started indoors 6 to 8 weeks prior to being planted outdoors. This
friend told me if I planted seed directly outdoors then tomatoes which
say they produce ripe fruit in 8 weeks will require 14 to 16 weeks.

Another friend tells me the plants will produce fruit in the same time
but the plants will just will not be as large or as productive. Who
is correct?

The first one.

Pat

Shoots. Guess it is next year for me. sob
go to any decent sized nursery and buy some transplants.
DiGiTAL_ViNYL (no email)

DigitalVinyl wrote:

Shoots. Guess it is next year for me. sob

go to any decent sized nursery and buy some transplants.
DiGiTAL_ViNYL (no email)

Yup. I can't grow from seeds anymore. Our cat eats 'em for "roughage"
I think. ;-) I always do transplants now and have good tomatos right
outside.

--
Steve

On Sat, 24 May 2003 15:59:58 -0400, Chuck Mercer
wrote:

I told a friend that I would like to grow some tomatoes from seed and
he told me that it is too late this year and that tomatoes are usually
started indoors 6 to 8 weeks prior to being planted outdoors. This
friend told me if I planted seed directly outdoors then tomatoes which
say they produce ripe fruit in 8 weeks will require 14 to 16 weeks.

To everything, there is a season. In temperate (such an odd term for
bitter winter cold and scorching summer heat) climates, tomato plants
will *grow* after "danger of frost" is past and the soil has warmed up
some. However, we generally try to get a jump on the season by
starting plants in warmer, sheltered environments. My 'volunteer'
plants from last year's dropped fruit are about 3" high now; the
greenhouse-started ones are 2' tall after 3 weeks outdoors. They all
take approx. the same time to mature and bear fruit. We start them
early (or buy plants) to have fruit as soon as possible.

It's not exactly "too late" if you have a long growing season. You
just won't be able to serve your own tomatoes at your 4th of July
picnic.

Steve Calvin wrote in message ...
DigitalVinyl wrote:

Shoots. Guess it is next year for me. sob

go to any decent sized nursery and buy some transplants.
DiGiTAL_ViNYL (no email)

Yup. I can't grow from seeds anymore. Our cat eats 'em for "roughage"
I think. ;-) I always do transplants now and have good tomatos right
outside.

I guess I will find out soon enough. Normally, I start all of my
seedlings inside and have them all in the ground by April 20 or so.
This year I wanted to try just a couple more varieties as an
afterthought so I germinated them outdoors in my big planter that
contains young carrot plants. They seem to be doing fine so far.
Will report back on how they produce. They were transplanted into the
garden on May 12. It is interesting to have plants all the way from
seedlings to over 3 feet tall but if the seedlings do produce, my crop
should be steady at least through September.

Lee Hall
Zone 6B

On Sun, 25 May 2003 00:57:46 GMT, Steve Calvin
wrote:

DigitalVinyl wrote:

Shoots. Guess it is next year for me. sob

go to any decent sized nursery and buy some transplants.
DiGiTAL_ViNYL (no email)

Yup. I can't grow from seeds anymore. Our cat eats 'em for "roughage"
I think. ;-) I always do transplants now and have good tomatos right
outside.

Our cat has not bothered the seedlings.

We had to put a piece of wooden lattice-work across the bay
window though: we have a wide bay window - the kind that
sticks out from the house and has one big window, plus two
smaller ones at an angle to it.

There's a window ledge that's about two feet wide. I never
could have plants there (cat and dogs), but now we've
blocked their access with a piece of wooden lattice-work.

Our cat is a large and heavy cat and a total non-climber,
this probably wouldn't work for cats who climb.

Pat

On Sun, 25 May 2003 00:23:34 GMT, "FDR"
wrote:

Go get some plants from your local nursery or Home Depot.

I have done this in previous years and ended up with plump, red, okay
tasting, boring tomatoes. My hope was that I could also try something
different, such as stupice or cherokee purple or one of the obscure
heirloom types. I will know next year. There are not any mail order
plant suppliers in my country that still have heirlooms and customs
does not permit importing plants that have any earth on them.

In article ,
says...
On Sun, 25 May 2003 00:23:34 GMT, "FDR"
wrote:

Go get some plants from your local nursery or Home Depot.

I have done this in previous years and ended up with plump, red, okay
tasting, boring tomatoes. My hope was that I could also try something
different, such as stupice or cherokee purple or one of the obscure
heirloom types. I will know next year. There are not any mail order
plant suppliers in my country that still have heirlooms and customs
does not permit importing plants that have any earth on them.

Do you have a farmer's market in your area? I've gotten Pineapple,
Mortgage Lifter, Homestead, Sungold, Mountain Pride, Principe Borghese,
and the more pedestrian/common Lemon Boy, Early Girl, and Celebrity from
mine. As well as a few others I'm probably forgetting.

--
Robin

(Trying out a new email system. This address *does* (well, "should")
work.)

On Sun, 25 May 2003 18:04:39 -0400, Robin
wrote:

Do you have a farmer's market in your area? I've gotten Pineapple,
Mortgage Lifter, Homestead, Sungold, Mountain Pride, Principe Borghese,
and the more pedestrian/common Lemon Boy, Early Girl, and Celebrity from
mine. As well as a few others I'm probably forgetting.

There is no large farmer's market anywhere close to me. The local
nursery has only the common types and the variety at the other stores,
I have come to realise, is fit only for weeping over. As you said,
Early Girl, Lemon Boy etc.

The problem is that I was blissfully unaware of what I was missing.
Now I think about those red, plump, globe shaped, boring tomatoes
still with eager anticipation, but I know that even better types
exist. This next year will pass as slowly as did the last year before
I could drink! I just hope the heirloom tomatoes are not as
disappointing as Molson's (I have since learned there are much better
beers than the common kinds, too).

writes:

It's not exactly "too late" if you have a long growing season. You
just won't be able to serve your own tomatoes at your 4th of July
picnic.

I smiled at this. Last year, I gave away volunteer tomato plants at the
4th of July picnic. They were most 6-8 inches tall then but produced a
good harvest for those who took them. I didn't serve tomato slices, but
served tomato plants. g

My favorite nursery is out of plants. Really! So now, my only option is
to start from seed those that I didn't get plants for, and am hoping those
that said it's too late to start from seed are mistaken for my area. I
will put the flats outside in the portable greenhouse, however, rather
than start in the house. I'll keep you posted after they start growing.
It seems as though it should work since this time last year, most of the
volunteers I gave away had not even appeared.

Glenna

Steve Calvin writes:

Yup. I can't grow from seeds anymore. Our cat eats 'em for "roughage"
I think. ;-) I always do transplants now and have good tomatos right
outside.

Another possibility is to grow some wheat -- many cats like the
tender wheat seedlings (around here, it's sold as "kitty grass" --
around $2.50 for a 3"-3.5" pot). Hopefully, they'll prefer the wheat
over the tomatoes.

[ However, I wouldn't let the wheat get above 6" or so. Cats seem to
go for the tender seedlings (3"-5"), but I don't know about anything
taller. ]

--
Darryl Okahata


DISCLAIMER: this message is the author's personal opinion and does not
constitute the support, opinion, or policy of Agilent Technologies, or
of the little green men that have been following him all day.

Chuck Mercer wrote:

On Sat, 24 May 2003 16:33:11 -0400, Pat Meadows
wrote:


On Sat, 24 May 2003 15:59:58 -0400, Chuck Mercer
wrote:


I told a friend that I would like to grow some tomatoes from seed and
he told me that it is too late this year and that tomatoes are usually
started indoors 6 to 8 weeks prior to being planted outdoors. This
friend told me if I planted seed directly outdoors then tomatoes which
say they produce ripe fruit in 8 weeks will require 14 to 16 weeks.

Another friend tells me the plants will produce fruit in the same time
but the plants will just will not be as large or as productive. Who
is correct?

The first one.

Pat


Shoots. Guess it is next year for me. sob

Where are you? Volunteer tomato seedlings are just starting to come up
here in southern Minnesota. If I let them go, they will try to catch up
with the plants I set out. I would get a small crop off of them, even up
here with such a short season.

Go ahead and plant some seeds; what have you got to lose?

My tomatillo seedlings are blooming already. They are about 5 or 6 weeks
old. If you are interested tomatillos, you could surely still get a crop
from seeds.

Best regards,
Bob