Starting tomato seed

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Smokin Okie

Master of the Pit
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Jun 27, 2018
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Oklahoma City
Does it really matter when you start plants from seed ?

Here in the middle of Oklahoma, I've always started my tomato seed about this time. Then I get the plants in the ground around the first of April. Depending upon 7 day weather forecast I might go as early as last week of March, while our average date of last freeze is April 7 .

Almost always, I get my first tomato to eat around Memorial Day.

The " Days to Maturity " on tomato seed packets means the number of days from the time a seedling is put in the ground. I've also planted nursery plants. But it seems no matter which, I get my first tomato in last week of May.

In past years, my largest problem with starting from seed at this time, is the plants get tall and leggy by mid March. They're difficult to deal with indoors and I don't like planting tall plants. I have to lay them in sideways.

Sooo, if I wait a couple more weeks, will it really matter as to when I get my first tomato ?

Also here in Oklahoma, my plants quit producing by the first or second week of July. It gets too hot for them to set fruit and the early blight takes the entire plant.

So as far as tomato production, I've got the month of June. If delaying planting seed means I get my first tomato mid June, its not gonna be a good year. But I can't see that it does.
 
If you delay the seed start it shouldn't delay the harvest. I don't like putting down leggy plants. They take a lot of plant energy to root the stems. Plus it puts the main root ball into either the next plant or into the walking path.
Consider staggering your start by 10 day intervals.
What tomatoes do you grow?
With your short growing season, I recommend determinate varieties for maximin yield.
Indeterminate are fine but will not be high yield.
 
Ohhh, I've grown almost entirely Big Beef for the past 10 to 15 years. I can't recall exactly when I started with all Big Beef. Before that I grew several other varieties including some determinants. I get good numbers, good flavor, right size tomato from Big Beef. Real happy with Big Beef.

That's interesting that a determinate could increase numbers. Not many people grow determinates here.

As far as extending the production period, the early blight is the real problem. The only way for me to defeat that is to rotate and my garden is too small. There is some type of heat treatment covering the garden with black plastic during the heat of the summer, but it gets varied results for the effort.

So I over plant. I defeat it with numbers. I just overwhelm it. If the blight doesn't get the plant, the summer temps shut them down till fall so I'm really not missing much.

I've always started my seed early. And I'm thinking I don't need to do that. I will find out this year. I'm thinking two weeks from now.
 
Maybe do both... start some now, some in two weeks. That way you're covered either way.

Ryan
 
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I start mine in January in 6 packs that I place on a Hot bed of fresh horse manure with a cold frame over them . The heat from the manure really helps with germination . I am in zone 9 so. that helps too . How early you get a tomato also depends on variety . Some mature sooner than others. Another way I get an early harvest is to transplant early , I take 5 gallon plastic water bottles and cut the bottoms out of them, Then I place them over the transplants and leave the lid off. On warmer days I tip the bottles over so they don't get to hot. These mini greenhouses work great . Too many varieties to choose from so whatever you like best . I like Better boy , Early Girl . San Marzano " For canning " Brandywine " Best Flavor " Champion and Cherokee purple . Another thing that I swear by is placing fish under the plants . We do a lot of ocean and freshwater fishing so the fertilizer is as natural as can be. Around the first of May I plant a few more seeds to transplant when ready so I can get another bumper crop after the first planting starts to peter out.
 
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You mentioned black plastic to cover the soil for heat . I think you will be better off using clear plastic for this purpose ! It's called solarization and you want to do it at the heat of summer for at least 6 weeks, Google it for an explanation !
 
Well, the horticulturists at Oklahoma State University advise this method. Weave a soaker hose under the plastic to supply moisture, then cover with black plastic. The black absorbs the heat. They don't say it will work absolutely, but it might.
I spoke with the UC Davis Professor about it and he said that the clear plastic provides more heat like a magnifying glass vs the black . I too thought that the black would work better but the info I got from him and the computer contradicted that ?? I have an area in my garden that has root knot nematodes and I did the solarization on them to reduce the infestation and it works for about 4 years and then I have to do it again . Methyl Bromide will kill them totally but it has been outlawed here . I has blight from my onions and it took care of that too.
 
I spoke with the UC Davis Professor about it and he said that the clear plastic provides more heat like a magnifying glass vs the black . I too thought that the black would work better but the info I got from him and the computer contradicted that ?? I have an area in my garden that has root knot nematodes and I did the solarization on them to reduce the infestation and it works for about 4 years and then I have to do it again . Methyl Bromide will kill them totally but it has been outlawed here . I has blight from my onions and it took care of that too.

I tried to delete that reply, upon second thought, you're right.

I've slept too many times since I investigated that method.
 
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Regarding early blight...what I've found that works for me is t-tape irrigation under woven ground cover and prune the bottom of the plants no less that 12 inches once they get about 3 feet tall. Oh, it'll eventually get them, but I've been able to extend the life of the tomatoes significantly using this method.

As for "leggy", I "mud" my tomatoes into the ground pretty deep (I use a post hole digger to plant), so that can take care of the leggy ones, but it's work!

Looks like I'm gonna miss out on a full-size garden this year...I still need to re-fenced (it's about 60'x80') and I simply have too many irons in the fire right now.

I'll still plant a few tomatoes in tubs around my porch, though...Cherokee Purples are something I look forward to every year!
 
Regarding early blight...what I've found that works for me is t-tape irrigation under woven ground cover and prune the bottom of the plants no less that 12 inches once they get about 3 feet tall. Oh, it'll eventually get them, but I've been able to extend the life of the tomatoes significantly using this method.

As for "leggy", I "mud" my tomatoes into the ground pretty deep (I use a post hole digger to plant), so that can take care of the leggy ones, but it's work!

Looks like I'm gonna miss out on a full-size garden this year...I still need to re-fenced (it's about 60'x80') and I simply have too many irons in the fire right now.

I'll still plant a few tomatoes in tubs around my porch, though...Cherokee Purples are something I look forward to every year!

I've tried my best to not let the plants touch the ground and keep them pruned so rain won't splash dirt on them. It might give them a little reprieve, but the blight always wins.

Couple of years ago I planted some Beefmaster plants that came from a nusery, who bought them from a grower in Kansas. And they held up relatively well against the blight. They also made some huge tomatoes but I prefer the Big Beef slicers.
 
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I love Big Beef as well. Brandywine is another great tom, but it doesn't do well in our heat/humidity (not for me, anyway).

I always grow Cherokee Purple, Amish Paste (although, IMO, it's not much of a paste tom...excellent slicer, though!), Celebrity (great production for canner/freezer), and at least one new-to-me slicer variety and cherry every year.

Tried one of the yellow toms year-before-last that was "supposed" to be fantastic...YUCK! Utterly flavorless!
 
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Solarization is a pretty good method to reduce pathogens.
Soil health and sanitization really helps, too.
I clean up and out all plant residue from my garden on a regular basis.
Once a plant shows signs of pathogen pressure, it goes away from the garden and NOT into the compost bin.
I use clean (no weed spray) grass clippings to cover all the soil which covers the soil laden spores to reduce the splash infestion.
Sherry SherryT SherryT has the best advice for reducing blight pressure. Stake your plants to grow higher so lower growth is easier to remove.
 
I think that blight-resistant strains are good but installing a soaker-hose watering system and keeping foilage cut to at least 12-15" from the ground has almost eliminated my blight issues.
 
Its not gonna matter if I reduce the blight or not. First week of July, temps here get above 70 at night and 95 in the daytime and the plants are gonna shut down. And the plants go out of the garden by the end of July. If I wanted a fall harvest, I just plant new plants. That's pretty much what most people do here. I plant a winter cover around Labor Day.

I trim the lower branches, I have a drip irrigation system, I mulch a large area under the plants with cottonseed hulls, I've been at this for at least 15 years. I've tried everything short of the sterilization which is a lot of trouble for uncertain results. The sure cure is rotation, but I can't do that. So I deal with the blight by planting a large number of plants. I get more than enough tomatoes, I'm giving them away by late July. That's not the problem.

The reason I started the thread is I question whether starting seed later is gonna produce fruit later. My limited experience says it doesn't matter. I've done this for a lot of years am really hesitant to make any changes because my past results have been so good. But as I said above, I'm don't like dealing the tall leggy plants and every year I tell myself I'm not gonna do this again.
 
Here's why the blight is not my primary concern here in Oklahoma. Vid should start with her discussing blossom drop.

 
The reason I started the thread is I question whether starting seed later is gonna produce fruit later. My limited experience says it doesn't matter. I've done this for a lot of years am really hesitant to make any changes because my past results have been so good. But as I said above, I'm don't like dealing the tall leggy plants and every year I tell myself I'm not gonna do this again.

Yeah, your thread got kinda de-railed...sorry about that!

I'm in east-central Alabama and know all-too-well about blossom drop...sustained high temps=sticky pollen=little/no pollination=blossom drop=no fruit.

Regarding leggy plants...how/where are you starting your seeds? I built a rack and installed a regular 4' fluorescent light fixture on each shelf (with a timer, on 16 hours a day) that I can raise/lower as needed and KEEP it "just" above the tops of the plants (no more than an inch or so). I also make sure there's enough air movement to gently "jostle" the plants as they grow...makes for sturdy stems and fuller growth. I've had very good results this way.

I start my seeds the middle of Feb and let them grow for about 6 - 7 weeks, so that means I'm planting just before mid-April...I usually get my first ripe fruit around the first week of July, sometimes a bit earlier/later. I've planted them at 5 - 6 weeks as well and get my my first ripe fruit about the same time.

I've fooled around with planting for late harvest a couple of times and finally had to admit to myself that by the time those go in the ground, I'm just plain, old SICK AND TIRED of fighting the bugs and weather by then.
 
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Yeah, your thread got kinda de-railed...sorry about that!

I'm in east-central Alabama and know all-too-well about blossom drop...sustained high temps=sticky pollen=little/no pollination=blossom drop=no fruit.

Regarding leggy plants...how/where are you starting your seeds? I built a rack and installed a regular 4' fluorescent light fixture on each shelf (with a timer, on 16 hours a day) that I can raise/lower as needed and KEEP it "just" above the tops of the plants (no more than an inch or so). I also make sure there's enough air movement to gently "jostle" the plants as they grow...makes for sturdy stems and fuller growth. I've had very good results this way.

I start my seeds the middle of Feb and let them grow for about 6 - 7 weeks, so that means I'm planting just before mid-April...I usually get my first ripe fruit around the first week of July, sometimes a bit earlier/later. I've planted them at 5 - 6 weeks as well and get my my first ripe fruit about the same time.

I've fooled around with planting for late harvest a couple of times and finally had to admit to myself that by the time those go in the ground, I'm just plain, old SICK AND TIRED of fighting the bugs and weather by then.

That's the truth. By late July I've had all the gardening I want.

I adjust my light also. I would prefer they get daylight. I keep them in a south facing bay window but due to my roof configuration, they don't get sun till mid morning.

I'm envious of these plants I see in the garden centers that are grown in a greenhouse, they're bushy with thick trunks and stalks. But it is what it is.
 
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That's the truth. By late July I've had all the gardening I want.

I adjust my light also. I would prefer they get daylight. I keep them in a south facing bay window but due to my roof configuration, they don't get sun till mid morning.

I'm envious of these plants I see in the garden centers that are grown in a greenhouse, they're bushy with thick trunks and stalks. But it is what it is.

It all depends on available space, time, and how far one is willing to go.

When we first moved out here 23 years ago and I got my first garden in (about half the size it is now), I tried to plant what seemed like every vegetable KNOWN to man all at the same time...HUGE mistake. One day about halfway through the season, I realized all I really wanted was corn, toms, summer squash, purple hull peas, okra, cucumbers, and bell/cayenne/jalapeno peppers...gardening got MUCH less stressful after that.

I tried to plant a fall garden a couple of times (cold weather crops...cabbage, broccoli, turnips/mustard, beets, etc), but was unsuccessful. Maybe I'll try again this fall...SURELY I'll have it re-fenced by then. 🙄
 
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