Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Tomato and pepper seed start time 2023
The last official frost date for Zone 4 is May 15th while zone 3 is looking at about May 25th. That date is completely subject to the current weather!
I’m in zone 4b and we have yet to reach our first 50 degree day. (It was predicted but didn’t quite get there). The average first 50 degree day in my area is March 9th. At this point, let’s get those tomato and pepper seeds planted indoors!
These warm season veggies are some of the last to be planted in the garden. For zone 4, typically, you plant outdoors near the end of May. In Zone 3 then the beginning of June is generally safest. The best barometer is soil temperature. Your soil should be 60 to 70 degrees to plant tomatoes and peppers. You can pick up a thermometer for about $5 to $7 at your local nursery.
Now to the nitty gritty of seed starting. Use a sterile seed starting mix, for the first time I’m using Coast of Maine.
I’m also trying Jiffy peat pots in a tray. A heat mat will keep a nice steady temp of around 70 degrees. But that’s not my setup this year.
Once the seeds sprout, I’ll give my tomato and pepper plants 16 hours of light with a small, inexpensive LED shoplight. I paid about $5 for each of the LED lights you’ll see in the photo below.
You don’t need for fancy grow lights in the seed starting stage. Keep the light about 4 inches from the top. Once the plants are about 3 inches tall let a fan gently blow across the seedlings for an hour a day, this will give the stems strength.
Think about what type of tomatoes you want; romas, slicers, cherries and/or grape varieties. Peppers include Bell, hot, banana, Italian. Whichever you choose, be sure to follow the packet directions.
I’ll plant more but I had to fire up the snowblower and do some shoveling first…