How many weeks before the last frost date should early tomato varieties be sown?

[Alyssa R]

Hello all!

I am looking into starting a tomato project for profit. I don't have much experience with gardening, but I want to give it my best shot. I am currently trying to get a good idea of a timeframe for this project (when to sow, transplant, sell, harvest, etc).

I am in a hardiness zone of 7, and my last frost date is approximately May 9th. I want to grow an heirloom variety called "fireworks", an indeterminate. It takes about 1-2 weeks to germinate, and 65 days to maturity.

I am planning on selling the plants 2 weeks after the last frost in order to harden off and ensure minimal loss. However, I'm not sure how old the plants should be/ how big they should be in order to sell. If I do the recommended 6-8 weeks before the last frost, they will be 8-9 weeks old at sale time. However, since they grow so quickly (65 days to maturity) I'm afraid they will be too big at sale, practically already being mature. I don't want to restrict the size of pots as it can stunt their growth, and I don't want to have to buy multiple large pots in order to accommodate them all (it will cost extra and I don't have room).


I'm hoping some of you may have some suggestions for me as to how many weeks before the frost date I should plant (with germination time and 2 weeks post last frost taken into account). I'm just not sure what to expect with the scale of their growth. Any info would be much appreciated!

 

[zigs]

We've already got tomato seedlings about 3 inches high as it's best to try to get them in before the blight comes and wipes the lot out so I'd get them sown now.

You'll need to keep them above 10c/50f or they'll stop growing.

If they get too leggy then you can plant them deep when you re pot them as they grow roots from the stems which make the plants stronger.

 

[Mr_Yan]

My last frost date is May 15-ish. I start peppers around March 15, and tomatoes around April 15. As you're in the US I will peg this to Mother's Day - I plant out peppers and tomatoes about Mother's Day weekend. Apparently the UK has a different Mother's Day date so be careful where you hear that info from.

My 2 cents. Selling them 2 weeks after last frost is the wrong time frame. Most people will have already bought by then.

 

[Meadowlark]

...I am planning on selling the plants 2 weeks after the last frost in order to harden off and ensure minimal loss.

If I'm buying tomato plants for transplanting, I'm looking to buy two-three weeks BEFORE last frost and for plants that are about 8 to 12 inches long. I want the option to go earlier than last frost date depending on weather forecasts.

This year's a good example of that here...last frost date Mid-March but long-range forecast shows no more frosts and very few nights below 50 deg F. Today the high was a record setting 88 deg. F here...already approaching too hot for good fruit set.

I don't know if others think that way, but you are potentially missing out on a huge share of the market by waiting until two weeks after frost date to sell.

Also, with the weather trends here the last three years or so, I'm going for transplanting tomatoes earlier than in the past. The trend has been very high temps earlier and to beat the heat and set the fruit you need that time in the ground.

If I waited until two weeks after last frost date, the last three years would have resulted in very poor tomato crop here...but things may be different in your area and for your growers.

 

[Alyssa R]

Thank you everyone for your input! I wasn't aware that most people usually buy transplants before the last frost, and I appreciate you sharing this knowledge with me. I will definitely have to reconfigure my timing. It can be very confusing with so many websites recommending different things (transplanting 2 weeks after last frost being one of them). And again, I value your insight and expertise on this and it will definitely help me be more successful!

Other than this, do you have any other advice for a beginner gardener/ growing tomatoes? Some of my biggest concerns secondary to timing is also setup (such as greenhouses, heat sources, lights, etc). I do want to keep everything at a relatively low price, but I still want to get good quality equipment. I have even heard of plastic greenhouses being used as a cheap option, but it seems to lack in quality and endurance. Any additional input would be helpful on these topics!

 

[gary350]

Hello all!

I am looking into starting a tomato project for profit. I don't have much experience with gardening, but I want to give it my best shot. I am currently trying to get a good idea of a timeframe for this project (when to sow, transplant, sell, harvest, etc).

I am in a hardiness zone of 7, and my last frost date is approximately May 9th. I want to grow an heirloom variety called "fireworks", an indeterminate. It takes about 1-2 weeks to germinate, and 65 days to maturity.

I am planning on selling the plants 2 weeks after the last frost in order to harden off and ensure minimal loss. However, I'm not sure how old the plants should be/ how big they should be in order to sell. If I do the recommended 6-8 weeks before the last frost, they will be 8-9 weeks old at sale time. However, since they grow so quickly (65 days to maturity) I'm afraid they will be too big at sale, practically already being mature. I don't want to restrict the size of pots as it can stunt their growth, and I don't want to have to buy multiple large pots in order to accommodate them all (it will cost extra and I don't have room).


I'm hoping some of you may have some suggestions for me as to how many weeks before the frost date I should plant (with germination time and 2 weeks post last frost taken into account). I'm just not sure what to expect with the scale of their growth. Any info would be much appreciated!

One year I grew about 2000 tomato plants from seeds. I takes a month for plants to be large enough to sell. I grew seeds in 6 pack plant trays on a 2 wheel utility trailer. Every morning I pulled the trailer out of the garage so plants could have real sunlight. Every evening I pushed the trailer back into the garage for the night. Plants need to be outside with real sunlight to harden off. TN weather after dark was below freezing every night but it warmed up to 45° to 55° every day. We are in zone 7a Nashville TN area.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

It won't help the seller knowing optimum timing if the buyers prefer a different time, I would say start sowing early and keep repeating. Offer the first as soon as possible, you will discover when people are ready to buy. Greenhouses sounds as though you are wanting to repeat, I would say try the first year before you splash out lots of money. If you restrict yourself just a bit you can get by with heatpads on windowsills to germinate and cold frames to harden off. Cold frames are a lot cheaper and more easily constructed than greenhouses, my first was a timber frame for walls and another frame wit polythene stretched over it to go on top, the wood came from skips, all I paid for was the poly and some screws and nails. I have a little 6'x8' plastic greenhouse, it works well, rattles when the wind blows a bit, but it was the cheapest I could find at about £300 a few years ago, that's quite a lot of tomato plants you would have to sell to make a profit. I know it is not how it would be, but think about 430 x 4'' pots to completely cover the floor and couldn't walk in, Three 4'x4' cold frames would give you the same area and you could walk round working on them.

 

[Tetters]

When it comes to greenhouses, I can tell you that the best option I've ever used are the timber built ones clad with tunnel polythene. I would never use ordinary plastic sheeting as it doesn't have the right qualities for growing plants successfully, and is not strong enough for the job anyway.
Timber frames are much more useful than metal ones as they are so much easier to fix extra constructions to. Polythene can be fastened easily with battens over the top - to each roof strut.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Got quite a big sheet of agricultural poly fairly cheaply. I was surprised it was not properly clear, still seems to work quite well.