Every season, people ask us when we sow our tomatoes! So, for the benefit of everyone, let’s discuss it a bit as there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer.
Generally speaking, you can sow tomatoes anywhere from about 10 weeks to last frost up to 6 weeks before last frost. For us, that’s the latter half of March up to about mid-April. This decision, however, comes with consequences!
As tomatoes mature, they will require more and more vertical height. You can expect roughly a foot of height for every two weeks earlier you sow. For example, with earlier sows you can expect plants about 4-5 feet tall, whereas the later sows will be around 2-3 feet tall.
All this might sound fine. But, huge, vining plants are difficult to care for, we’ve broken more than a few tomato stems over our years. Big plants also require more watering, more soil and more space. Many indoor growing spaces, such as shelf systems, don’t accommodate large plants well. Come May, you’ll see the pressures and yet, your plants can’t go outside.
If you’re a beginner, we usually recommend targeting about 8 weeks to last frost as a good, medium starting point. This will throw you a bit of challenge, but won’t typically push you overboard.
There are some who sow tomatoes even earlier. We don’t generally recommend this as it often means caring for plants that are extremely large. They’re difficult to transplant without causing damage, even simply moving them around is risky.
As for what we do? We sow at 10 weeks to last frost, which for us, was last weekend. But, we can handle large plants with ease, both in our grow rooms and in our early season heated greenhouse. It works for us, but doesn’t work for everyone. So, that’s why we discuss the nuance!
