I finally found some tomato plants yesterday. I had to drive 30 miles to get them. Celebrity is not the variety I want but I will take what I can get.
I have been trying to get Beefsteak tomatoes to grow from seed since November but it is not working. Maybe the internal clock built into the seeds knows not to germinate in December.
With 80 degree weather already I might get lucky and have tomatoes by May.
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hendi_alex
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rainbowgardener
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If your seeds have been planted since Nov and haven't germinated, they aren't going to. It isn't a matter of "clock," the seeds probably rotted out. You can confirm this by trying to dig some up. I'm guessing you won't find any.
At this point, you are better off to start from plants. From seed to ripe tomatoes is pretty much four months. That puts you well into June, which in your climate means tomato production is shutting down from the heat.
As hendi said, if you put them on a heat mat and keep them damp but not wet, they should germinate quickly, I would say 4 -10 days (at any time of year). If it is two weeks, it is already time to give up on them and try again. It could be a problem with the seed or the set up.
At this point, you are better off to start from plants. From seed to ripe tomatoes is pretty much four months. That puts you well into June, which in your climate means tomato production is shutting down from the heat.
As hendi said, if you put them on a heat mat and keep them damp but not wet, they should germinate quickly, I would say 4 -10 days (at any time of year). If it is two weeks, it is already time to give up on them and try again. It could be a problem with the seed or the set up.
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Gary350
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The seed growing problem is more of a weather, temperature, low humidity and soil problem than a seed problem.
I remember in school learning that seeds have an enzyme that keep them from growing until they get wet. In TN I us to wash the tomato seeds from a fresh harvested tomato the stir seeds into the garden soil in 70 degree weather and they would be up in 2 days and 4" tall in 1 week. Humidity is very high 95% most of the time in TN so seeds in the soil do not dry out.
It is not that easy in AZ. Soil is a fine powder like kitchen flour. When the soil gets wet it seals off on the surface and holds water like a pond and the water does not soak into the soil. I bought 3 kinds of potting soil and mixed it 50/50 with the AZ soil. Seeds don't come up outside soil dries out too quick, I just can't keep up with watering the plants every 2 hours all day outside. I set the plant trays in a pan of water and they are too wet. A shallow pan of water dries up in a few hours. I bring the trays inside the house and keep them on a heating pad at bed time no plants yet but next morning plants are 1" tall spindly things. I take the baby plants outside and they die. I keep the plants inside they get stem rot and die. I have experimented over and over I have not discovered the correct way to grow seeds in pots in AZ.
No one sells plants in 6 pack trays in AZ. I asked why and was told, no one around here wants more than 1 or 2 plants and we make a better profit selling single plants for $3.50 each. All the potted plants are from Atlanta GA.
I remember in school learning that seeds have an enzyme that keep them from growing until they get wet. In TN I us to wash the tomato seeds from a fresh harvested tomato the stir seeds into the garden soil in 70 degree weather and they would be up in 2 days and 4" tall in 1 week. Humidity is very high 95% most of the time in TN so seeds in the soil do not dry out.
It is not that easy in AZ. Soil is a fine powder like kitchen flour. When the soil gets wet it seals off on the surface and holds water like a pond and the water does not soak into the soil. I bought 3 kinds of potting soil and mixed it 50/50 with the AZ soil. Seeds don't come up outside soil dries out too quick, I just can't keep up with watering the plants every 2 hours all day outside. I set the plant trays in a pan of water and they are too wet. A shallow pan of water dries up in a few hours. I bring the trays inside the house and keep them on a heating pad at bed time no plants yet but next morning plants are 1" tall spindly things. I take the baby plants outside and they die. I keep the plants inside they get stem rot and die. I have experimented over and over I have not discovered the correct way to grow seeds in pots in AZ.
No one sells plants in 6 pack trays in AZ. I asked why and was told, no one around here wants more than 1 or 2 plants and we make a better profit selling single plants for $3.50 each. All the potted plants are from Atlanta GA.
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rainbowgardener
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Tomatoes are one of the things that are not recommended to start outdoors (it even says so on the seed packet). If you start it indoors, in potting soil, under lights, on a heat mat, then it is irrelevant what the outdoor climate and soil are like at least until it is time to harden them off and transplant.
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hendi_alex
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When starting tomato seeds, I use a heat mat, but also place the small community pots of 4-5 seeds inside one of those clear rectangular rigid salad containers, the large ones that most bigger grocery stores carry. Any variation of the container would work, but I like the clear ones, because just a soon as the seeds start to germinate, a light can be placed right over the clear container. Anyway, as was posted in the previous response, if you create a micro climate for the seeds/seedlings, then it doesn't matter what the outside temperature is. When placing my plants outside, during the first warm days, the plants are always kept inside their clear boxes, sometimes with the lid slightly open, or they are placed inside a cold frame. It is very easy to keep the humidity elevated in either one of those situations. Oh yeah, we also have a clear plastic sweater box that works great for starting plants. It is about 12 inches by 16 inches by about six inches tall. It makes a perfect little climate controlled green house which has been used for several years. I generally move the plants from community pots into individual 2 inch pots, where they are then placed into the sweater box until they outgrow the top.