Howdy,

Although I no longer set out plants from 5 gal containers into the garden, I recall they did very well indeed in terms of earliness, productivity and disease predominance.

Now I start in 72s and pot up once to 15s to harden off and set out. I start seeds on Valentine's Day, eight weeks before our last frost date. March 15-21 for us. I still get a good jump on disease and heat here in Tx and 4 inch pots are so much easier on me than 5 gal pots.

Now, eight to ten week old plants can be huge and opions differ on setting out flowering/setting plants. With indeterminates I've not seen any difference in the field. Once they get under the sun and get some leg room they just take off. Determinate types will be best if not potted on/set out beyond about eight weeks.

So it depends on how much trouble you'ld like to put yourself through. You too can experience the magic of managing 15 week old transplants in one gal containers and get your first ripe Stupice by April fool's day. Just start your seeds now. (smile)

I live in West Caldwell, New Jersey and have been planting early tomato plants for the last few years.

Planted seeds New Years Eve
60 days: First flower
90 days: First tomato (pea size)
100 days: 3+ foot tall in 1 gal pots, Planted outside (4/10/09)
150 days: First red tomato (5/31/09)

This is weather and variety dependent but I have seen this timeline for a few years in a row.

I would be interested in other people's results because data like this is hard to come by.

Good Luck,
Tom

In my experience, tomato germinates and grows quickly. I start my seeds on a south facing window, so I find that they will get leggy if I start the seeds too early. I find 6 weeks before transplant into the ground to be a fairly good time for me to start seeds here. Now peppers are a completely different story. They take forever to germinate and tend to grow slowly. So I usually start them a good 10 weeks before transplant.

Does any one have any experience with the optimal size of the plant when puting it in the groung, I just want to be sure I am not wasting my time and energy growing big plants with out a corresponding improvement in yield. Thanks

Optimal size for a transplant is often cited as 6-8" tall. Some prefer smaller and some larger but the average is in that range.

As to "corresponding improvement in yield" - larger plants does not necessarily correlate with increased yield. In fact younger, optimal transplants will often catch up and even surpass extra large transplants in both size and production rates because the optimal sized ones tolerate transplanting better.

Yield usually correlates with variety genetics and growing conditions. But given your short growing season, larger, older plants IF they survive the transplant process and the soil temps are warm enough to let them acclimate quickly, may give you some earlier production.

You may want to browse through some of the related discussions linked below.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Starting seeds early

I find that the larger the plant doesn't always make it an earlier production date. But I also find that the taller plants planted very deep will hold up better than a shorter one planted shallower. The have better root systems if planted deeper.

I like my transplants to be about 8-10" tall, which I achieve in 5 weeks in 3.5" pots under lights with no potting up. Last year the weather delayed transplanting by a week and my 6 week old plants were more like 14" tall. I had to plant these horizontally to accommodate the tall plants.

TomNJ

I like taller more older seedlings for the sheer fact I can plant them deeper. It seems to me the deeper their planted the better they do. I would say 8-10 week old seedlings @ 10-12 inches is ideal for me.

Damon

I still say put 3+ foot plants in the ground by tax day and you will get tomatoes starting Memorial day thru end of September. See the data I logged last year for 8 types of heirlooms below. Sorry for the size / quality, etc. It took me 2.5 hours to make the graph and upload it to the forum.

Good luck to all.

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Thanks for all the great information. Much Appreciated

600 plants! wow

You must have a big yard!

What type of heirloom gave you the earliest fruit?

In southern ontario larger seedlings = earlier fruit and more fruit.

Potted up yesterday from the seed sprouts to 2.5 inch x 3.5 inch deep black plastic. Have 102 plants and plan to keep half.

But I also find that the taller plants planted very deep will hold up better than a shorter one planted shallower. The have better root systems if planted deeper.

That works great during a drought but not during a wet season like the one that occurred last Spring and Summer in most of North America. Long plants can also be planted in a trenches which works much better in wet seasons. Too bad nobody can predict the weather months into the future.

Wouldn't we ALL like a crystal ball that works? For me, it doesn't matter if dry or wet, I have really good draining dirt. This is the reason that I always dig as deep as possible and plant.

Redhead,do you mind telling us which tomatos you plant and what zone you are in? I'm in Ohio, zone 6. I usually grow heirlooms too, and paste tomatos for sauce and salsa.
Thanks for the graph, great job, much appreciated!

Redheads,

When you put your 3+ foot plants in the ground by tax day, did you put them in a tunnel or hot house or something? What zone are you? I would like to try your method.

alicate,

I covered them with a big piece of plastic from tax day until May 9th. The biggest pain was opening the plastic in the morning and closing it for the night. Watching the weather forecast, I waited until the nighttime lows were in the mid 40's before removing the plastic for good. I had the soil covered in heavy duty landscape fabric. The plants sustained some damage be it from wind, heat scald, cold at night (when plastic opened in the wind, etc). But I figured the risk was worth it. Once the weather kicked in for good on May 10th the plants were very well established and took off.

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"Posted by readheads ---------
I live in West Caldwell, New Jersey and have been planting early tomato plants for the last few years. -- I would be interested in other people's results because data like this is hard to come by. Tom"

Tom,

I am in NY not far from you. Here is my system for 2/01 start.

Chceck out my video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzDqDBw_F54

dcarch

dcarch,

What is your timeline ?

Is the 2/01 start in the ground or seed start ??

I presume it is the seed start. Do you get your first tomato about June 30th ?

2/01 is starting seeds.

Depending on variety, you can get ripe tomatoes for Mother's Day using your way and my way in our zones.

dcarch