plant out

[UFXEFU]

Tomatoes grow in stages, so how old should a plant be in weeks for the final plant out in the garden?

[Worth1]

It isn't the age it is the size.
It also depends on what you think the plant can put up with.
I have had plants sprout right in the garden that did just as well as any I have taken care of and babied.

Worth

[Worth1]

To be more specific about 2 1/2 months old from the planting of the seed to plant out.
This would be under growing conditions where the plant is subjected to cold treatment.
Plant size from 12 to 18 inches tall healthy and bushy.

Worth

[Cole_Robbie]

My spring weather is all over the place, very unpredictable. The best timing for me comes when the planting correlates with the first warm weather.

[Ed of Somis]

In my little 3 years of very serious growing...I have noticed that rushing them into the ground does not usually have much benefit. That being said...I sure get anxious to get them planted out...

[UFXEFU]

Originally Posted by Worth1

To be more specific about 2 1/2 months old from the planting of the seed to plant out.
This would be under growing conditions where the plant is subjected to cold treatment.
Plant size from 12 to 18 inches tall healthy and bushy.

Worth

Last year I sowed seed February 1 and planted out April 4, and plants were about 12 inches tall. Plants did good considering all the rain we had. I guess I'll sow seed again February 1 and plan for a March 25 plant out depending on the weather. I have found that we normally do not have a frost after Easter, so I plant on Good Friday.

[Worth1]

If you can put up with them and have the ability you might consider trying to plant seed two weeks earlier.
This year I pushed it almost a month.
By the time I plant out they may be in 1/2 gallon pots.

Worth

[Gardeneer]

Last year I sowed mine on March 1st and took them out early April ( 7th ? = 38 days ) and after some hardening off started planting out around mid April. I planted out some late April and they were ~ 10"-12" tall. So in my experience 6 weeks is pretty good.
I will do the same this time around.

Gardenee

[carolyn137]

I think it really depends on where you are, what gardening zone you are and that type of info. You've received info from several in this thread that are from widely differening geographic areas.

I'm roughly in a zone 5 in upstate NY and when I was growing lots of plants, ye decades ago and many hundreds each year, the seedlings I put out at first were much too big and it took them a long time to adapt and settle in.

So what I aimed for was setting out seedlings in the 4-6 inch height range and since last frost was about May 15 and I also needed to harden them off which must be done, I aimed to set them out the first week of June. That didn't always happen b'c of weather, but an extra few days in their plastic homes didn't bother them at all.

Carolyn

[Ricky Shaw]

Good Friday can be from March 20, till April 23rd.

[UFXEFU]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

I think it really depends on where you are, what gardening zone you are and that type of info. You've received info from several in this thread that are from widely differening geographic areas.

I'm roughly in a zone 5 in upstate NY and when I was growing lots of plants, ye decades ago and many hundreds each year, the seedlings I put out at first were much too big and it took them a long time to adapt and settle in.

So what I aimed for was setting out seedlings in the 4-6 inch height range and since last frost was about May 15 and I also needed to harden them off which must be done, I aimed to set them out the first week of June. That didn't always happen b'c of weather, but an extra few days in their plastic homes didn't bother them at all.

Carolyn

I guess I was not very clear in my question. What I wanted to know was what size seedling should I plant for best overall results, not when to plant.

Carolyn, as always you answered my question. When I bought seedlings from from the feed store I would usually get 4-6 inch plants but had no way to know how old they were. Now that I'm sowing seed to get my seedlings it's a whole new ball game. Last year my seedlings were 10- 12 inches at 9 weeks at plant out.

I'm in zone 8a and the average last frost is March 10. Someone posted that Good Friday falls between March 20 and April 23. I plant out Good Friday....... Never lost plants to frost.