I got overzealous and started my tomatoes about 2 weeks too early, lol, and this was the first year I used a fertilizer on my seedlings, so they grew even better. I shoot for Mother's Day to plant out my tomatoes, but it is unseasonably cold here lately, and the weather has been fluctuating oddly, so I feel like that may not happen/the week before might be too weird to harden them off during.
Is it too late to restart them indoors now? Or do these big mamas look okay to wait another 2 weeks? I'm so used to planting out my tomatoes late in the second week of May that deviating from that and doing it later feels weird! lol
Some of them, like the one I'm holding, seem a normal size that I think could still work, but some shot up to a foot+.
by LilyHammer0709
13 Comments
Those are fine. Plant the deep or trench them to bury some of the stem and they’ll take right off.
they sould be ok…you can always repot if they are root bound.
I dont think a few weeks is going to make much difference to them.
I would suggest you begin hardening them off now, even if you can’t plant them for several more weeks. A long, gradual, outdoor adjustment time works to their benefit. Just take them outside when it’s 50 F or warmer, and back in at night. Do it gradually of course, with all the usual precautions (shade instead of bright sun, etc.)
Those look great, just make sure they arent root bounded.
If those were mine I would just start putting them outside during the day above 45 and leave out when nights stay above 45. I’m assuming most days fit that in your area and I would forget about the grow lights.
Not sure when you started them but I shoot for 6 weeks under grow lights and don’t bother with having to pot up. I bet if you started some new ones today they’d be producing fruit at the same time as those big plants.
I want my plants short, stocky and ramping up with vigour. I believe the longer they are inside under grow lights and in pots, the greater the risk they get stressed and stall out. So, I find 6 week old plants do fine and are way easier to manage.
No worries, worst case you pot up. Mine are near same size and I have weeks to wait yet here in 4B
Weird weather indeed- 4th week in a row we’ve been unseasonably warm most of the week then on the chilly/cold side for the weekend. Getting a good solid rain at 40 degrees atm.
They’ll be fine. Use the 2 weeks to harden them off by getting g them outside in the sun for brief times etc.
Tomatoes will form adventitious roots along the stem and also at the leaf nodes. You’ve got a few options, and you don’t need to re start seeds.
Same # of plants: A few days before planting out, clip off the bottom few sets of leaves, then bury those nodes when you plant. It’s important to give those snips at the [nodes] a few days to scarify before burning them.
MOAR PLANTZ!!! snip the top halves off now, just above a leaf node. Let the suckers that form become your leader(s). Root the top halves in some water, transplant into pots when you see rootlets forming.
[edit typo]
How rootbound are they? Wondering if they’ll make it that long without potting them up.
I’m in the early club as well! (Hudson Valley)
I am not here to give advice, because I’m just wildly doing my own thing and probably throwing caution to the wind.
I have been hardening my plants off for weeks and I upotted all of them.
I actually planted half of my tomato stash outside two days ago because for the next ten days there is one nightly low of 40° and I just decided to experiment with some sacrifical plants. Thankfully I have a terraced garden with retaining wall blocks that retain the heat of the day so my garden doesn’t get that cold. I am still reserving a replacement stash in case my theory is an absolute bust, but so far they are looking happier outside.
Grow lights and fish fertilizer had my plants growing overly enthusiastically. First time I tried this approach and I was too successful. But I needed the February planting project this frigid winter to keep me mentally healthy.
My plants are massive and I fully plan on using all of them. But I also used soil from my outside garden and I had a collection of very large nursery pots from previously planted fruit trees. So the only thing its costing me is space.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with these. Trim off the lower leaves and plant deep.
Only two weeks until Mother’s Day, when most of the northern hemisphere is allowed to plant outdoors, you’re good
Remove some of the top leaves and plant them deep and then on cold nights get a bucket that goes over them to insulate the plant. I do this 10 minutes befor sunset and it works every time