Quote:
Originally Posted by kayrobbins
When the new UF tomato offerings got posted on Tomatoville they were overwhelmed with orders and sold out of all the seeds. My local extension office did not get their order filled so I will be giving them most of the seedlings I have started. More people will have a chance to experience them there than if I grow them here. I will keep one of each variety just to see what I think since I rarely grow hybrids.
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That's interesting and good to know; I asked on Facebook when the seeds would go out - I ordered on July 17 and they replied quickly that it was early this week. Yesterday I received a Thank You for my donation from UF, but no seeds. I doubt they would send the seeds and Thank you note separately.
It's not like I "NEEDED" those seeds (haha), and I've moved on to Fred Hempel's Kickstarter which has those really cool Orange Jazz tomatoes.
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RE: when to start in Fall - I started seeds at several times last year - from mid July to mid-Sept. I found that the earlier I started the seeds, the more the plant struggled. Note: I did go away for a week on Sept 1, so that didn't help anything growing at that time. (dilemma too much sun or put on porch and not enough sun)
Please correct my logic, but I always thought the ideal time to start is when the plant flowers when the night time temperatures are cool enough to support fruiting - <73 degrees. The thing is that I look at our average weather pattern and our night time low average is 74 degrees throughout the summer. But, even with HEAT varieties this year and last, it isn't cool enough. I don't think the problem is day time temperatures. It was a hot April and May but June/July were more normal hot. No days over 90 and I put shade over the plants in the early afternoon.
I know that most people sow seeds according to avg first frost - but we rarely get freezes - and I think I can deal with that much easier. So I choose the avg night time lows.
I do know that come October 15th, the weather is extremely pleasant throughout the day and the heat is finally over. On avg, there are some cooler evenings in late Sept and early Oct but it isn't consistent.
So if I want the plant to flower around Oct 1 (to catch some cooler evenings), when should I start the seeds?