I know I started tomatoes late, but is this too late?

[RyNJ]

I'm getting so anxious because I'm pretty sure this is too late, but I need your advice to figure out what to do.

To make a dumb story short, I failed to start the seeds until April 17th. And, as I'm seeing that many people start their seeds in February or at least March, I'm wondering if I missed my mark?

To cheer myself up, having started them on the 17th puts my 6-week mark just past Memorial Day. With the way it's been unseasonably (extremely) cold, dank, and nasty, I probably wouldn't end up planting any tomatoes until Memorial Day at least. And here it doesn't really start cooling down until the end of September. Average first frost is mid-October. Ideally, that's at least 4 full months of growing time.

What do you think? Give up on them, or at least obtain some backup plants from a reputable grower?

[rainbowgardener]

Well, it is pretty much 4 months (plus or minus a little depending on variety and conditions) from planting a tomato seed to having a ripe tomato. So that puts you to mid-Aug, which means maybe two months of tomato production. If you don't mind nurturing your seedling/plant for four months in order to have two months of production, go for it. Otherwise, get some well started transplants from a good nursery (NOT big box) and try the seeds again next year.

[RyNJ]

Thank you for clarifying that. In that case I will get transplants, but I might as well keep around some seed starts and see where I can get with them. One seed type I picked up is an early-ripe that claims 45 days to maturity, so I'm definitely gonna see how those work!

[rainbowgardener]

Just be aware that the 45 days is usually counted from when you put the plant in the ground, not when you plant the seed. And it is best result under optimum conditions.

[Smallgardener]

I have often wondered what would happen if I just put the seed in the ground early and let mother nature do her thing. I have let volunteer maters go that have sprouted when my transplants are a foot tall. And it seems like the volunteer catches up.

[mattie g]

I have often wondered what would happen if I just put the seed in the ground early and let mother nature do her thing. I have let volunteer maters go that have sprouted when my transplants are a foot tall. And it seems like the volunteer catches up.

I had a volunteer Roma last year that caught up...and then some! It was pretty amazing, actually.

This year I put down some homemade compost in a little dill/cilantro patch I planted, and I have probably ten volunteer tomato seedlings starting to put on their first true leaves in that area! I'm racking my brain trying to come up with a place to possibly transplant a couple of them. I'm really curious as to what kind of tomatoes they are!

[gixxerific]

I'm dropping tomatoes this weekends but I am different.

[rainbowgardener]

Yes but you have also been planting tomato seeds for a couple of months already! Not to mention growing some indoors all winter....

[jal_ut]

Well, I am going to find put. I have some tomatoes that are just now coming up from seed. Yes, I will plant them out very soon. I have a hard time here because of the short season. I must grow varieties that claim short days to maturity. Sometimes they make it, sometimes they don't. Quite often we end up covering the tomato patch to get them to mature without freezing. We usually have June, July and August without frost, but no guarantee. Plant 90 day or less varieties and hope. Have fun.

[Bobberman]

I plant tomatoes till the middle of july because my plants grow in the boxes so they loose little time! Plant them deep and go to sleep! Ya when you plant late plant them deep since the ground is warmer and dryer! Try the funnel method I mentioned and you will be impressed with the results!