Start them later than that? Yes. Say April 1st to 5th. And start with much smaller containers like cell packs - see the Growing from Seed forum here and the FAQ on this forum on How to grow tomatoes from seed.

You can never give them too much light 16 on and 8 off is ideal. But that is assuming proper light spectrum.

Pinching off blooms is not required but does no actual harm. Some do, some don't.

"Don't they set all their fruit at once?""

No, not in the way you mean. Determinates set fruit over several week period of time once transplanted to where they will grow. Once they reach full growth and the top bloom cluster sets the plant stops growing and focuses on setting and ripening fruit.

Dave

How warm do you keep your house or wherever your started the seeds? Warmer temps can cause seedlings to go leggy faster and earlier. I start my seeds on a heat mat but once they germinate I keep them in a room that holds around 60 degrees day and night. As long as the lights are close enough, they tend to stay nice and stocky. These tomato plants were all started 3/26 in peat pods and potted up 4/17, whereupon they went outside during the day in the bins to shelter from the wind as long as the temps were above 40. Now they are in day 2 of being out of the bins and getting some (though not full) wind and even though the porch roof blocks a couple hours of midday sun the plants are still not all that leggy.

4/17:

5/4:

Thanks, I do start mine in small cell pods. Then, moved them to five inch peat pods. I was hoping to plant those in the ground, but the tomatoes out grew them a few weeks ago. Perhaps I'm worrying too much about them being too big....? I seem to have good luck with indeterminate tomatoes, but not as much with determinate varieties. I wondered if starting them too early or growing them too large too fast would affect those.

It may be a little hot on the second floor where the plants are under all the lights. And I do have fans that I run on them. A few look a bit leggy, but not too bad. They were suffering for about a week and a half before I figured out what else to put them in, and repotted them yesterday. But in general, they are just huge. I had mine in pots maybe a little larger than those above and they weren't gonna make it.

I guess I can wait until April to start them, but I'm always itching every spring to get the veggies going.

If you have the space, you could grow some compact varieties in mid-Feb. Mine go into 2 gallon containers that are easy enough to put outside on warm days and bring inside if it gets cool. Not only that, but I get ripe tomatoes by mid-May! Some varieties that I grow are which do well in 2 gallon containers are:

Early Annie

Jagodka

Pipo

Russian Cherry

These are all red cherries that keep on producing until late summer.

Linda

Hah, I know the feeling. This year I waited longer than last year to start tomato seeds and I'm thinking I could have waited another week, easy. They are just about done with the 4.5" diameter pots. No blooms on any yet, though. My peppers, on the other hand, weren't started until 3/16 and the hot ones especially could have probably been started earlier. Live and learn.

I've done the huge plants route and it's kind of a pain because you end up digging an even bigger hole or trenching them, and if they're too big they don't take the transplant shock very well, but yours look fine in my opinion. Hopefully you can start hardening them off soon.

I got most of my pots for free from neighbors and family who had bought plants, so it pays to keep an on who's landscaping or gardening in your neighborhood. I got a dozen huge tree containers from the guy across the street that way. I'm using a couple for growing potatoes.