Ready? On your mark...get set...

[patandchickens]

This year, I'm waiting until mid-March. I started in Feb last year and had some really leggy tomatoes

I've had that problem in the past, but I've got a full spectrum bulb right over the tomatoes, and they look BEAUTIFUL. And then when I plant them, I bury them as deep as I can, and that seems to help. Starting seeds is part of my winter-therapy. I can't wait; it's bad for my mental health.

Interesting. How deep to you plant the seeds? They're already under plant lights... But planting depth is another thought.

You can't plant the *seeds* any deeper; what you do is plant the TRANSPLANTS deeper. Strip off all but the top 2-3 prs of leaves and plant them 'up to their necks'. On a slant, if you don't feel like digging that deep a hole They will root from the stem and produce healthier more vigorous more drought-resistant plants in the long run. I do this routinely, but it also does mean there is no such thing as too leggy a tomato (Although languishing indoors for too long won't improve their health or production and should still be avoided if possible).

You can only do this with things from the Solenaceae (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, potatoes) btw.

Pat

 

[me&thegals]

Well, that's what I thought, but I also learn something new every day Not this time, though, it turns out.

Last year, I simply planted too early. The tomatoes were beauties but still got a bit long before transplanting. Here's one that you all may not have done: To fit my eggshell tomato plants into my newspaper transplant cups, I had to twist and roll the long tomato stem over and around the rootball and up the sides of the transplant cup.

I lived on tenterhooks the first couple weeks after transplanting outdoors. I have a CSA business, and believe me people would NOT be happy without tomatoes. But, as described above, tomato stems are surely forgiving and must not have choked themselves on the ball-of-yarn rootball they had going under the soil

ETA: I did not know you could do that with eggplants and peppers, so I DID learn something new after all! By potatoes, I'm assuming you're talking about mounding up.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

As always, it's . . . . wait, wait, wait . . . until all of a sudden it is time to start and you can't work fast enough!

I've got most of my seeds (the most critical ones), I've got flats and mini-greenhouses and I never really tucked my starting lights away too well last year, so I pretty much have everything on hand. Just waiting . . . :/

vfem -- cool to see you've got lotus plants started. They look like they are coming along fine. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for them.