Growing Your Own Tomato Plants From Seed

• Cool-weather Tomato Growing Basics
• What Variety of Tomato Should I Plant?
• Growing Your Own Tomato Plants From Seed (this page)
• The Best Tricks in Planting Tomatoes in Your Yard
• Frames, Houses and other Growing Helpers

This a commitment--you'll need to baby sit your tomato plants for two months. They're going to need attention several times per day and will need much room once they grow beyond the seedling stage. Buying stocky and vigorous tomato plants at the nursery is preferable but this is an alternative if they do not have the variety you need or if you wish to do it yourself.

Planting the Tomato Seed

Toward the end of January, fill a flat with a sterile peat-based potting mix. Place the seeds two inches apart and a quarter inch deep. Put the flat where it will be kept warm. When the plants appear, give them lots of light, up to sixteen hours per day, but no more. Overhead florescent lighting is suitable but hang them so they almost touch the plants.

Transplanting the Tomato Plant

When the tomato plants have their first set of true leaves each will need to be transplanted into a four-inch pot of its own. They will spend about four weeks here but do not allow them to get root bound, move them into gallon-size pots if there will be a delay before planting in the garden.