I focused heavily on my tomato plants this week. In order to have mature tomato plants when the weather is warm enough, it’s important to get those seeds in dirt now. Ideally, I would have planted the seeds in the beginning of March, but I have been playing catch up all winter.
How to Plant Tomato Seeds
Planting tomato seeds is a lot like planting most vegetable seeds. Here’s some of the information you’ll need to know:
| Seed Planting Date | Early March |
| Transplant Date | May 1 |
| Planting Depth | 1/4″ – 1/2″ |
| Germination Temp | 75-90 Degrees |
| Days to Germinate | 4-28 |
| Soil Moisture | Damp |
Prepare the Soil
I use 10×20 inch containers with separate compartments. Typically, my setup has 32 compartments in that 10×20 tray. The first thing you need to do is fill each slot with soil.
If you don’t bottom water your seeds, you should premoisten your soil.
Placing Tomato Seeds
After you’ve prepared your soil, you should place 1-4 seeds per container. You can use fewer if you have fewer. Tomato seeds germinate at a higher rate than many vegetables. For example, I planted about 100 roma tomato seeds and by the 5th day I had 67 seeds that have germinated.
Moral: I have way too many tomato plants this year.
Once you’ve placed the seeds, you need to bury them the required depth. Usually, that’s 1/4″ to 1/2″ deep, but it depends on the actual seeds.
Keep Them Warm. Keep Them Moist.
After you’ve planted the seeds, you need to keep them warm and moist until they’ve germinated. If you keep them consistently above 75 degrees in moist soil, they’ll sprout in 4-28 days.
It sounds easy, and usually it is. However, if your seeds don’t germinate in time, don’t get discouraged. Sometimes, your seeds are duds. Your odds of success decrease the older the seeds are and if you stored them poorly.
Summer Garden
I finally finished all of the raised garden beds for my summer garden. There are 5 different large garden beds in my backyard, each with their own plan.
As part of my summer garden plan, I transplanted all of my leafy greens and broccoli into the garden. These are cold tolerant plants that you can plant in mid-March.
I also went and bought a blueberry bush, two strawberry plants, and a rosemary bush. All of these plants are also cold tolerant. You might need to cover strawberries if it gets too cold though.
New Herbs and Flowers
It’s almost time to plant all my flowers outside, so I’ve planted the seeds for my foxglove, black king pansies, and rosemary. Once the last frost date passes, I’ll be planting these and a variety of wild flowers.
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