Mini-greenhouse setups make it a little easier to start tomatos inside

The goal date for planting tomatoes is in a couple of weeks now, and it’s getting pretty warm these days and so you might think you can just start your tomatoes outside. I personally recommend against this. Tomatoes are usually started inside, for a number of reasons, and only one of those is that you can get them started earlier.  The other reasons are:

1. Emerging tomato plants are very fragile and are often eaten by snails or other vermin, or fall victim to withering.

2. Gemination of tomato plants takes a warm temperature,  close to that inside the house (65 degrees) whereas if you try to start them outside you’re at the mercy of the elements. And if it freezes they’re dead.

3.  Having them inside gives you better scrutiny of the plants to watch for overwatering, drying out, or anything else that threatens your plants.

To start tomatoes indoors, first get the seeds and the planters. You can use anything to plant them in from Park Biodomes (my favorite) or Gurney Mini-Greenhouses to cut down-milk cartons or a baking tray full of dirt The only really important detail is to use soil free of germs and microbes. Usually this is accomplished by buying planting kits like the aforenoted, but occassionally the “old timers” will just dig up some garden dirt and sterilize it in the oven.  It takes 180 degrees for 30 minutes to kill the germs.

Once you’ve got your planters ready, plant the seeds in the medium according to directions on the package and keep warm and covered with celophane or mini-greenhouse cover 5-10 days until germination. Once the seeds are germinated, they will need light. The ideal would be to keep them under a skylight or perhaps a south-facing window.

It may be challenging to get them enough light. If they don’t get it, they become “leggy” or too-tall which can make them vulnerable to disease and unthrifty. Planting them extra deep once they get outside, so the dirt covers part of the tall stem, can correct this, but if the legginess gets too out of control the exposed stems may break or become diseased. Try to get the plants enough light. A lot of well-organized garderers use a grow light, if you don’t have one you can approximate the effect by carrying the plants outside to a protected spot, covered, on a warm day. Just bring them in at night to prevent freezing.

When the plants are big enough, about 4-6 weeks, you can begin hardening them off but putting them outside uncovered each day for a few hours, longer and longer each time.  This process takes about a week. When it’s time to plant in the ground, use inverted cut-off milk cartons to cover each plant in its place in the garden, or another similar protection sceme, to protect the young plants from bugs and the elements. With these “mini greenhouses” the tomatoes will get aclimated well and in a week or two you’ll be able to see that it’s time to remove them; the plants are outside and exstablished. 

Resources:

Video: How to Grow Tomatoes inlcudes instructions on sterilizing soil and how to get seeds to germinate

How do I start Tomatoes Inside?