Oh, I didn't realize there was a FAQ! I guess the search function doesn't include those or else I just skipped over it.

And thank you for your answers! I'll head over to the FAQ for more details!

I've done some more reading and I think I'm either misunderstanding when I should start my seeds. I understand that tomatoes need 6-8 weeks and peppers need 8-10(12?) weeks, but I've checked 4 different (presumably reliable) sites for the best info about my last frost date and recommended plant out dates and there's a significant date range. I'm going to be overly detailed, in the hopes that someone can clarify.

As I mentioned in my post above, I checked the NOAA for their "average last spring freeze date" and looked for my city, which has a date of April 8. After looking at some other info, it occurred to me that that data might be from one of our airports and I live 20-30 miles from both, so I also checked the date they list for a city that's 20 miles south of me and that date is April 16.

When I checked the Farmer's Almanac site for my zip code, their info was for the airport closest to me and has a date of April 7 (50% probability). When I checked what they say for the city south of me, it comes back, not from that city, but the city/town closest to me from the east, and it says April 14th (50% probability).

When I check the PlantMaps site, it lists my average last frost as a date range, April 21-30.

When I check the PDF from the webgrowers site, their info, for 32 degrees, as April 7 (50%) and April 21 (10%).

Finally, when I check the "Dates to plant" on my state's extension site, the date range for peppers is May 10-30 and for tomatoes, May 10-20.

To me, there seems to be an extreme date range going on and I have no idea what date I should be looking at. I said in my first post that I had planned to plant on May 15, but that's the earliest that anyone I knew (all in this area) would plant and had no idea that you could potentially plant any earlier.

I don't want to risk starting too early and have the plants get too big and suffer before I can plant, but I also want to make sure I'm looking at the right stuff and understanding it correctly, so I don't start everything too late. I ordered my seeds a couple of days ago and am now worried that it will be too late by the time I receive them to get things going.

Also, I went ahead and got a heat mat. Best to have one and not need it than not have it and have problems.

First you are confusing your last frost date (which is always a range of dates of 10-15 days since that is how last frost has happened over an average of the past 10 years) with your plant out date. They are not the same thing. Plant out date is an average of 10 days to 2 weeks AFTER your last frost date so that the soil has time to warm up enough for the plants. Thus the plant out dates recommended by your local extension.

Second, you have to keep in mind that last frost dates are at best a very general guideline and require a great deal of flexibility in your planting schedule. So you use them as a target not an absolute and you plan to deal with any problems that arise. Sometimes that means you will need to cover plants if a late frost is predicted. Most of us monitor weather several times daily during spring planting. And you will need to have some extra back-up plants available in case some don't survive. OR you may have to keep transplants inside longer under the lights due to bad late weather so you will need to transplant them into larger containers.

Bottom line - spring planting is a crap shoot and comes with no guarantees so you plan accordingly.

So when choosing your seed starting date use the safest last frost date and add 2 weeks to it for plant out date Then count back and plan when to start most of your seeds but start a few seeds a week early in the hopes that the weather cooperates. That way you have more of your options covered.

I am a zone south of you in north central AR and my last frost date is April 15-30th. I use April 21st and plan to plant out May 1st to 10th. Peppers go out May 20th. Over 50 years of gardening I have hard freezes as late as May 15th and had years when it was already 80 degrees daily by April 1st. Never perfect but I know my plants will do much better if planted a little late than they will if planted out too early so better late than early.

Keep good records for a couple of years and learn to monitor your soil temps too and you'll begin to see the pattern for your garden. Hope this helps.

Dave.

Some places are not running off the last frost date to plant rather the date the soil should be warm enough for plants, like peppers and tomatoes, to thrive (as Dave pointed out above). They really don't like to be planted in cold soil. Plus LFD and plant out times are historical averages and we all know how weather can vary year to year.

So if you want to be safe look at the latest date and maybe you will be able to plant out, albeit smaller plants, sooner. Even so, some years you may still have to keep the plants inside until the soil warms up enough. It really is a crap shoot.

You also need to grow the plants to find out how fast they grow for YOU and your setup. I find tomatoes grow really fast so I aim for 6 weeks before my LFD so on a good year If the soil is warm I can plant out then but if it is a more 'normal' year I can plant out 2 weeks later.

Peppers are quite different and I am new to them as well this year. Depending on the type some (for people in a similar zone as me) get started in late Jan/early Feb and some around the beginning of March with the rest Mid March.

The best information you are going to get is going to be based on your experience. Every yard and garden is different. A quick example is my neighbour on the upwind side of the prevailing winds (way the frost blows in) will get frost in his garden and while I will get the same temperatures as he does, the trees that line my driveway stop the killing frost from forming on my plants. He gets mad because his tomatoes die and mine just sulk for a bit.

Good luck.

SCG

Excellent information, both of you! Since this will be my first year starting seeds, and the first year I'll be tracking data, things are going to be even more hit or miss, but that's ok. You'll never know unless you give it a try, right?

So I'm thinking I'll aim to put out the tomatoes on May 10th, the first recommended plant out date. I'm thinking that starting those seeds the week of March 22nd would work nicely, as that gives me 7 weeks and some wiggle room, in case the weather is bad. And I just remembered that I have some tomato seeds from last year, so I think I'll start one of those a bit earlier, just to play around with the light setup a bit.

As for peppers, I think I'll aim to plant out on May 24 and start the seeds the week of March 15. That gives me 10 weeks for them, with some wiggle room.

I think what was confusing me was that I was misunderstanding some posts and thought that people in my zone/region were planting these weeks before I normally thought was possible. I'm not at the point yet that I feel comfortable using row covers or other methods to protect them from a late frost, so I think I'll stick to plant out dates where I'm fairly confident that any significant frost risk has passed.

You are right that many of us do try to push the envelope when it comes to plant out some years and as you gain experience so will you. But when done do it with plants we can afford to lose and with covers and all sorts of jury-rigged set ups and more for fun than for actual gain. :)

Get some years of experience and some good journal noted under your belt first.

And just as everything doesn't get planted all at the same time not everything gets started at the same time too so there is always time to correct mistakes.

Dave

You're totally right, Digdirt2. While I'm not really a gardening novice, starting things from seed is totally new to me, so I'm reading and trying to learn as much as I can.

Did you get an answer about the bottom heat issue? Very beneficial,heat mats should be kept on 24/7 until the seeds have germinated, at which time the heat can be turned off. Bottom heat after germination can result in leggy, weak seedlings.

Keep in mind you can go to your local Library where they will have plenty of books to help get a good perspective on how to start gardening this way. I have a huge garden I start from seed every year. I learned from my German grandparents who where farms by profession. I live in illinios zone 5 and my "last frost date is similar to yours from the sound of it. My grandparents always sow they're seeds straight in the ground early June. I on the other hand follow thyre basic guidlines but take it a step further and start my seeds off in peat pellets in a humidity tray (for the first week or so before removing the lid) and grow them under a florescent grow light similar to what you have in mind. Everything mentioned can be bought at your local lowes, menards, or home depot. I usually plant mid june which is a week or two after when they do but then again mine have already been growing for about a month while they just sowed the seeds directly in the garden bed.

I wouldn't worry about potting up. I just wait until they have grown for a few weeks or so and are not so fragile before planting them. I would say playing with them out of ground after this, especially if your like me and have ALLOT of seedlings is more trouble than its worth. But if you want to go that far you would up pot when the root ball occupy s the entirty of a pot and begins to wrap around the outside of the soil against the pot. Also if you are going to grow them under a florescent light fixture you are going to need a bulb meant for growing plants, A normal bulb isn't going to work. I'm trying to keep things basic so you can play along but once you get the hange of it and become more educated there's allot you can do to boost this early stage (and the whole growing process for that matter). for example I use I also use soluble seaweed powder fertilizer(something like 1-1-16) to stratify my seeds and to dilute in the watering to help them get a vigorous root system before planting but I know what im doing and would wait to tinker if you are new. I would say to just follow either of these basic guidelines and you should be fine. if your in doubt you can test the water by just trying to grow one or two seeds to see how things go to use them as a test basis for what you might like to change when you actually grow them (if that's anything).

I just back to this and seen Dave responded while I was typing with the same info...lol.

Heat mats are a matter of personal preference and I personally prefer to use them. I will say that make sure you take the temperature of the soil as I have had mats in the past that cooked the seeds. If you can't thermostatically control it you may find putting a spacer, between the tray and mat can reduce the temperature, if needed.

I have no idea how much room you have but when I start a new type of plant and if seed isn't too expensive and I have room I like to start a couple a few weeks early. Then some on time and some a few weeks later. I then plant the best ones and compost the others.

Have fun with the new experience.

SCG

asm198.......It looks like you may be confusing last FREEZE date with last FROST date. I live in Tulsa and our avg. last freeze date is March 29, while our avg. last frost date is April 15. Most people try to plant about 2 weeks after the last FROST date. I've found, at least here in Tulsa, that waiting until the end of April to plant tomatoes can be too late, especially for late season tomatoes. It can just get too hot by late June and early July for ideal production around here. So I plant in early to mid-April, and am prepared to cover my small plants with frost/freeze protection if I need to. I work for the National Weather Service, so I do my best to forecast when I may need the protection. In my area, peppers tend to handle the summer heat better than tomatoes, so I plant them later (late April to early May). They typically need a little warmer soil temperatures to get started anyway.

Lee

I will agree with most of the advice, but reinforce the caveat that any projection is just that and not anywhere close to a hard and fast rule. I live in Northwest Arkansas and so am a bit cooler than Tulsa but a bit warmer than most of Missouri. The entire central part of this country is so highly variable from week to week this time of year that averages just aren't all that useful. In 2011 I had tomatoes in the ground April 1 because March had been dry and very warm, I was glad I did because that summer was brutal and all that grew well was okra and eggplant even with drip irrigation. Last year I didn't put them in the ground until mid May and even that may have been too early, okra and eggplant never really produced all summer. I had watermelon that I planted as seed May 15 get going and then just stall late in the month as temps dropped at the END of May. This year I plan to use low tunnels with Agribon and plant out the end of April, but that plan is just a plan...might not even need it but might need to keep it on until Memorial Day...who knows.

So , do like the other suggest and play it by ear. Hope for the best but plan for the worst and staggered planting never hurt any home grower.

Planting Tomatoes mid May and Peppers end of May is a pretty good plan regardless of your exact last frost date, which is really a crapshoot. Peppers and Eggplants should not go out until nighttime temps are stable, staying above 55. Tomatoes are a little hardier. No way to predict the weather 8+ weeks in advance. End of May is pretty safe for most (in the average US weather conditions) Planting 2 weeks after last frost is a bare minimum that is sure to hurt heat loving plants.