Seedling Accident Advice
 

My tomato (and pepper) seedlings had an unfortunate accident. They were knocked off the shelf they were on and I don't think any are going to make it. I'm in Canada in zone 6b. It's only about 5 weeks before planting outside. It's too late to start more isn't it? I'm trying to find an online garden centre with something similar but I'm not finding anything that ships. Anyone know of a Canadian garden centre that will ship. The local garden centers might have a roma or san marzano but mine were Inciardi Paste and Andean. The peppers were albino white and poblano. Thanks.

You definitely can have tomato plants large enough to plant out in five weeks if you start the seeds today. The ones I planted on 4/5/24 are six to 8 inches tall already and would be bigger if I had thinned and repotted them. That's just a little over three weeks.

A heat mat will speed up germination. You could try pre-soaking the seeds as well. After they germinate, put them outside in the sun on warm days (but be sure to acclimate them to the sun first so you don't burn them). They'll grow much faster in the sun than indoors.

Are you sure the ones you have aren't going to survive? If the stems broke partially but not all the way through, just repot the plants with the broken part under the soil. If the stems broke completely, you can cut off the top part of the plant above the break, or cut off any suckers, and root them in water or potting mix.

Other ideas: do you have a farmer's market in the area, where vendors might sell tomato plants? Often they'll have heirlooms not carried by the big box stores. Also check whatever local social media you have, like NextDoor or Facebook marketplace or Craigslist. Around here, we have a lot of individuals selling vegetable plants online this time of year. Also look for fundraiser plant sales by schools or Master Gardener-type organizations. Those may have less-common varieties.

I think I'd try a combination of rescuing some of the damaged seedlings, planting some new seeds of Inciardi & Andean to be sure to have them, and buying some larger transplants of whatever you can find so you get some tomatoes earlier in the season.

I think it may be too late to start pepper seeds as they grow slower but I'm no pepper expert. I do think you could plant tomato seeds now and plant in 5-6 weeks. I have on occasion got my hands on some seeds of a variety I'd been interested in late in the game and started them anyway. I glanced through my notes and saw one that was started 44 days before plant out and to my recollection, it caught up with the others. I use a heat mat to speed germination. If I were in your shoes, I'd soak the seeds to jump start it a bit and then into cells with a heat mat going. I know I wouldn't be happy with any of the varieties available around where I live, so I'd rather just start over.

Good luck!

Jen

You could also try asking on a [URL="https://www.reddit.com/r/CanadianGarden/"]Canadian gardening reddit[/URL] about finding local seedling options.

I don't think it's too late for tomatoes either, and would start again right now. Maybe you could even rescue some of the fallen ones as they are quite resilient and might surprise you.

I would check out Facebooks Marketplace for seedling starts or visit the nurseries and big box stores early for the best choices of what's available, although you'll probably not find your favourites.

Good luck!

Thanks for the help. I replanted the seeds and a couple are even just poking out of the soil after just one week. Very excited. A couple of the ones that had the accident are hanging on so hopeful with those. Will keep you all posted. Again thanks for the help. Still going to look into Reddit and Facebook Marketplace as well.

Hello Montyb

The Lord has Blessed me with my Tomato Plant Sale this year. So If you Pay for Shipping I will send you as many Plants as I can get in a Box. These are the Tomato Plants I have many of
1. [url]https://www.angelfieldfarms.com/store/p226/Chesapeake/Heirloom/Tomato/2/Plants.html[/url]
2.[url]https://www.angelfieldfarms.com/store/p230/Hawaiian/Pineapple/Heirloom/Tomato/Plants/Free/Shipping.html[/url]
3.[url]https://www.angelfieldfarms.com/store/p18/2/Cherokee/Purple/Heirloom/Tomato/Plant.html[/url]

Maybe if you buy 1 it will cover the Shiping Cost
Farmer, Joyce Beggs

[QUOTE=MrsJustice;772471]Hello Montyb

The Lord has Blessed me with my Tomato Plant Sale this year. So If you Pay for Shipping I will send you as many Plants as I can get in a Box. These are the Tomato Plants I have many of
1. [url]https://www.angelfieldfarms.com/store/p226/Chesapeake/Heirloom/Tomato/2/Plants.html[/url]
2.[url]https://www.angelfieldfarms.com/store/p230/Hawaiian/Pineapple/Heirloom/Tomato/Plants/Free/Shipping.html[/url]
3.[url]https://www.angelfieldfarms.com/store/p18/2/Cherokee/Purple/Heirloom/Tomato/Plant.html[/url]

Maybe if you buy 1 it will cover the Shiping Cost
Farmer, Joyce Beggs[/QUOTE]Please do not take this as a slam: shipping live material across the border is extremely chancy. You could try something sneaky: declare it as books or spare parts, but if either side's plant inspection service thinks something's up, it will never get there.

Sorry.

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