How to Start Tomato Plants Indoors - to Boldly Grow What You Haven't Dared to Grow Before

As we begin to emerge from a long nasty winter here in the northeast, our thoughts drift to the warmth of the seasons to come. One of the most rewarding hobbies of summer is the home vegetable garden. The unending stream of seed catalogues arrive in the mail daily and fertilize our dreams for the upcoming growing season and bountiful harvest.

Probably a part of any gardener's daydream is a vision of many beautiful, mouth-watering, ripe tomatoes on the vine. It is this delicious fruit that is the mainstay of most home gardens. Whether the gardener grows only enough for fresh salads and sandwiches or enough to preserve for later use, everyone has their own favorite varieties. Besides the old reliable varieties that populate our gardens every season, there are many other kinds that come in assorted shapes, sizes, colors, and textures. From the tiny tasty Mexican cherry tomato to the pepper shaped Polish Linguisa to the huge Goliath and Mortgage Lifter heirloom, there are literally hundreds of varieties to choose from. Local nurseries usually carry only a handful of the most popular varieties so the best way to get to try many different varieties is to start your own plants from seed.

Starting your own tomato plants takes a little work but is well worth the effort. The first decision the gardener must make is what varieties they would like to try. A quick glance through the many seed catalogues is a good place to start but, unless you want thirty or more plants of each variety, not a good place to obtain all of your seeds. Make a list of the varieties you would like to try. There are many seed swap sites on the internet (such as gardenweb.com and seedswapper.com) where you can see what seeds other gardeners are looking for. Buy a packet or two of the popular seeds and start trading with other tomato lovers for the varieties you would like to try. Be sure to get an early start so that you will have your seeds in time to grow nice sturdy plants to put in your garden. Start your seeds indoors six to eight weeks before the last frost date in your area.

Now that you have your seeds in hand, it's time to get dirty! Buy some seed starting mix at your local nursery or garden store. Use any shallow container with good drainage and fill it with the mix to a depth of about two inches. The bottoms of half gallon milk cartons work good for this. Firm the mix, place your seeds on the surface, and sprinkle with enough additional material to cover the seeds. A good rule of thumb is to cover the seeds with the mix to a depth that is four times the thickness of the seed. Water thoroughly, cover the container with saran wrap, and place it under a light source for ten to twelve hours a day. In about seven days or so, the tomato seedlings will appear. As soon as you see the first seedlings emerge, remove the saran wrap. Leave the tiny plants in their container until the second set of leaves appear. When the plants are at this stage, it is time to transplant each one into its own container. Using plastic or peat six packs, individual peat pots, or even paper cups, fill the container of your choice with the potting mix, make a hole in the middle of the soil, and then gently remove a seedling from the seed starting flat and place it in the new container. Remove the lower leaves and plant the seedling deeper than it was growing in the starting flat. Gently firm the soil around the stem and water. Keep a light suspended over the plants for twelve hours a day. It is important to keep the light no more than two or three inches from the tops of the plants to regulate their growth and to keep them from becoming leggy. The goal is to have nice sturdy, stocky, plants when transplanting time arrives.

Happy Gardening!