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This article on when to plant tomato seeds indoors will show you how you can successfully start your own tomato plants and have them ready to transplant outdoors in your backyard garden or in containers on your balcony in time for the growing season. If you follow the important points laid out here prior to buying your seeds you will surely be rewarded with an amazing crop of delicious, healthy, tomatoes.

Tomato plants are heat loving sensitive plants that can easily be grown from seed with a little extra care and a few tomato growing secrets. With some planning and preparation, you can easily expect a favorable outcome with your tomato growing endeavors as long as you follow these vital points of when to plant tomato seeds indoors and to most people's amazement having a green thumb is not a prerequisite.

There are a few important details to consider when choosing the optimum time of actually planting your tomato seeds indoors, and if you continue to follow along I'll acquaint you with a few of these details of why they are important to your tomato growing plans.

Regardless, if you are a complete novice to starting your tomato seeds and growing your own plants or even if you are a seasoned gardener you may not be aware that tomatoes can be grown indoors all year long providing that you have the proper growing environment.

As a novice, to tomato growing or just the average person wanting to try a bit of gardening you may be thinking that it is enough of a challenge just growing a tomato plant purchased from a nursery let alone starting a plant from seed and hopefully getting it to grow and produce fruit. Growing tomatoes from seeds and knowing when to plant tomato seeds indoors is not a difficult task. it can be very easy and enjoyable as long as you follow a few basic gardening principles.

3 Important Points to Consider Before You Go Out and Buy Your Tomato Seeds

These three points will help you decide when to plant your tomato seeds indoors. Tomato seeds take 5-7 days to germinate and should normally be grown indoors for a time period of about 6-8 weeks before you relocate them outside. If you are like most backyard gardeners, your aim is to be eating your own vine ripened tomatoes as soon as possible. Tomatoes have a growing season of about 50 to 80 days in general, but it mostly depends on your location and the variety of tomato you choose to grow.

So Knowing This Here are a Few Points to Take Note Of

Variety or Type of Tomato:

There are over a thousand plus different varieties of tomatoes to choose from in gardening catalogs. Depending on if you want to eat freshly sliced tomatoes or cherry tomatoes in salads or maybe your plan is to can them, or freeze your surplus crop of tomatoes. Each variety of tomatoes will have their own specified number of frost free days. With tomatoes, this is called Days to Maturity ( this deals with the number of days from the time you plant your tomato seedlings out in the garden until the time the tomatoes are ripe and ready to pick) Knowing the specific variety will help you determine when to plant your seeds indoors.

Geographic Location:

Where you live, is another very important detail to consider when buying your tomato seeds and growing your tomatoes. Tomato plants need a number of months to reach maturity, and they are unable to bear the least amount of frost. Therefore, tomatoes as a rule are typically planted indoors, as seeds. Do you have a short growing season or a long growing season? By far, the most important date to be aware of for when to plant tomato seeds indoors is the expected date of the last frost. You will want to schedule planting your seedlings outdoors around two to three weeks after the normal last frost date for your local area. Refer to the Climate Zone Map or ask your regional gardening center,or a gardening neighbor for what they would suggest is the optimal time for you to transplant your tomato seedlings outdoors in your area.

Placement of Tomato Plants Outdoors:

Finally, you need to think about where you will transplant your tomato seedlings. If you will be growing them under cover in a greenhouse, then you have a little more control over your time period of when to plant your tomato seeds indoors as you will not have to worry about frost. But if you are planting them out in your garden bed and you want the delicious flavor of a plump, juicy, vine ripened tomato then that will affect the date of your initial planting.

Planning and preparation is the key to having a successful tomato growing experience. We all make mistakes in the beginning, so whether you are planting tomatoes out in the garden bed, in a greenhouse, or in containers on your patio these factors all play a part in your decision of when to plant tomato seeds indoors.

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