Nathaniel Reynolds

C.J., that sounds like an interesting experiment. What kind of containers do you use to keep them from growing all the way to the bottom?

Joe, I start them that early, but I pot up a couple times before they end up in the ground. Each time I bury the plant deeper to develop more roots. By the time I put them in the garden, I have 2-3 feet of stem I can bury. I usually try to keep them cool with plenty of sun in a south facing window to keep them from getting too leggy.

Edit: I like the idea of direct sowing because it's less work. If I continue with my current methods, I don't see how I can sustain it if I increase my production. I only have so many south facing windows in the house and my wife would not be thrilled with me getting grow lights in the basement. Not to mention that I would have to pay to run those lights all winter.

tel jetson wrote:I've seen plenty of tomatoes sprout where the previous year's tomatoes fell and rotted. so the seeds, at least, are relatively impervious to winter. suggests to me that planting time isn't particularly touchy and they'll come up when they're ready.

Ah, good point. I do remember seeing some volunteer tomatoes this past summer where I had planted last year.

First of all, hello! I've been listening to Paul for a couple months now and come here by way of listening to Jack Spirko.

Now, to the reason I'm posting:

I'm listening to episode 87 about replacing irrigation with permaculture. I just got to the part where Paul is talking about why you should not transplant. I've decided that I'm going to experiment with my tomatoes this year. My problem is I don't really know when to plant. I usually start my seeds indoors around mid January and then plant them out around Mother's Day here outside Chicago. I'll do some of my tomatoes like this but I'll direct sow some as well and see what happens, but when to plant the seeds out?