I get asked all the time for advice on when the perfect time is to
plant tomatoes so I thought I would share with all of you what I've
learned. A lot of gardening sites will give you a specific date, like
May 5, but unfortunately it isn’t that easy. There are factors to take
into account such as are you planting tomatoes from seeds or are you
using purchased seedlings? What part of the country do you live in?
Are you planting short season or longer growing varieties? All of
these questions must be answered before you can decide on the best
time to plant tomatoes.

The first thing to remember is that tomatoes are very fragile and
thrive in warm weather. They need night time temperatures to stay at
least above 50 and should never, ever be exposed to frost. If the
plants do manage to survive a frosty night, the growth of your plant
will be slowed significantly. Tomatoes also need on average about 8-10
hours of direct sunlight per day. For most areas of the country, that
means you should plant your seeds in late spring or plant your
seedlings in early summer.

If you decide to grow your tomatoes from seeds rather than buying an
established plant from your local home improvement store, you will
need to check your locality’s weather patterns to determine the latest
expected frost dates for the area. You can check weather.com or the
Farmer’s Almanac for the information. Once you’ve determined the
correct date range, seeds should be started indoors approximately 6-8
weeks prior. Keep your seeds in a warm, well-lit place. Once the
plants reach 6in -8in tall and you’ve past the last expected frost
date, go ahead and plant them outdoors.

Most varieties of tomato plants will start producing fruit within
65-80 days. Therefore if you have a slow growing variety and you set
your plants out around May 10, you will be able to harvest around
early to mid-August. If you live in a Southern state, you could plant
tomato crops as late as August and still have a great harvest because
those states don’t fall below freezing until late November.

As you understand now, there is no one right answer for the best
planting times for tomatoes. Just remember that your plant needs night
time temperatures of at least fifty degrees and 8-10 hours of sunlight
per day. Once you’ve determined the constraints for your geographic
area, go ahead and plant as many “waves” of tomato crops as you want.

Just FYI - I found out all this information from an ebook I bought
at: simple-organic-gardening.com. It’s awesome if you’re new to
gardening.

In article
,
Erika Meissner wrote:

I get asked all the time for advice on when the perfect time is to
plant tomatoes so I thought I would share with all of you what I've
learned. A lot of gardening sites will give you a specific date, like
May 5, but unfortunately it isn¹t that easy. There are factors to take
into account such as are you planting tomatoes from seeds or are you
using purchased seedlings? What part of the country do you live in?
Are you planting short season or longer growing varieties? All of
these questions must be answered before you can decide on the best
time to plant tomatoes.
You could ask your nursery when to plant. If your plants froze, they'd
lose a customer. No mention here of row covers to protect seedlings.

The first thing to remember is that tomatoes are very fragile and
thrive in warm weather. They need night time temperatures to stay at
least above 50 and should never, ever be exposed to frost.

That's odd. My tomatoes were getting too big in the house so I put them
outside at mid-March. These were Gold Medal, Glacier, Striped German,
Koralic, Marmand, Brandywine, Blondkopfchen, Green Zebra, Hawiian
Pineapple, Stupice, Caspian Pink, and Yellow Pear. Avg. night time temp
for April was 40°F. Avg. daytime temp was 64°F, and by the beginning of
May the tomatoes were in flower, and a Stupice had set fruit. My
observations seem to be at cross purposes to your information.

If the
plants do manage to survive a frosty night, the growth of your plant
will be slowed significantly. Tomatoes also need on average about 8-10
hours of direct sunlight per day.
My tomatoes were getting 5-6 hr. of full sun, plus another 2-3hr. of
dappled sun.
For most areas of the country, that
means you should plant your seeds in late spring or plant your
seedlings in early summer.

If you decide to grow your tomatoes from seeds rather than buying an
established plant from your local home improvement store, you will
need to check your locality¹s weather patterns to determine the latest
expected frost dates for the area. You can check weather.com or the
Farmer¹s Almanac for the information. Once you¹ve determined the
correct date range, seeds should be started indoors approximately 6-8
weeks prior. Keep your seeds in a warm, well-lit place. Once the
plants reach 6in -8in tall and you¹ve past the last expected frost
date, go ahead and plant them outdoors.
You will need a source of sunlight for you plants to grow. They won't
grow on the shelf out of sunlight.

Most varieties of tomato plants will start producing fruit within
65-80 days. Therefore if you have a slow growing variety and you set
your plants out around May 10, you will be able to harvest around
early to mid-August. If you live in a Southern state, you could plant
tomato crops as late as August and still have a great harvest because
those states don¹t fall below freezing until late November.

As you understand now, there is no one right answer for the best
planting times for tomatoes. Just remember that your plant needs night
time temperatures of at least fifty degrees and 8-10 hours of sunlight
per day. Once you¹ve determined the constraints for your geographic
area, go ahead and plant as many ³waves² of tomato crops as you want.
Uh, don't need to plant waves of indeterminate tomatoes. They will keep
producing as long as they have warmth, sunlight, water, and nutrition.

Just FYI - I found out all this information from an ebook I bought
at: simple-organic-gardening.com. It¹s awesome if you¹re new to
gardening.
Let's see, you found out "there are factors to take
into account such as are you planting tomatoes from seeds or are you
using purchased seedlings? What part of the country do you live in?
Are you planting short season or longer growing varieties? All of
these questions must be answered before you can decide on the best
time to plant tomatoes." So you found out you need to learn what you are
doing before you do it. Is that right?

My suggestion is that until you learn more, just ask your nursery.

You found out not to let your tomatoes freeze. That's important but . .
.. duh.

You found out that "tomatoes also need on average about 8-10 hours of
direct sunlight per day." Really? I'm lucky around the Summer Solstice
to get 7 hr/day with 3 more hours of dappled or indirect sunlight. By
your figuring, I can't grow tomatoes.

You found, "Once the plants reach 6in -8in tall and you¹ve past the last
expected frost date, go ahead and plant them outdoors." If them "awesome
ebooks" knew about row covers, you could have planted in advance of the
last frost.

You found that "Most varieties of tomato plants will start producing
fruit within 65-80 days." :O)) There's a knee slapper for ya. What a
hoot.;O)) You "may" get tomatoes in 65-80 days, if you plant starts (not
seeds) in ideal situations, and have properly prepared the soil,
provided some type of support for the vines, and fed and watered them
correctly. What does your awesome ebook say about those requirements?

Hang around here kid, and we'll teach ya how to grow, whatever you want
to grow for free, but in the mean time you may want to go back to
simple-organic-gardening.com., and see if you can't get your money back.
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arn3lF5XSUg
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/HZinn_page.html

Bwaaaaaa ha ha ha ha! Good one Billy

Erika Meissner wrote:
snip

Just FYI - I found out all this information from an ebook I bought
at: simple-organic-gardening.com. It’s awesome if you’re new to
gardening.


Do you get all of your sales from yourself?

http://who.godaddy.com/WhoIs.aspx?do...rog_id=godaddy

Administrative Contact:
Meissner, Erika
M&C Holdings
215 W Lava Falls
Meridian, Idaho 83646
United States
208-310-9729

PS. I loved Billy's treatment of this spammer.

(Trim out google if you respond)

Jeff

LOL! Well played.