I always commend await until all chances of rime are gone before planting love apple here in North Texas . tomato are extremely frost sensitive . Even if frost does n’t kill them , it can severely damage foliage . Planting early on is very risky .
Yet , some works Lycopersicon esculentum seedling as ahead of time as the third calendar week of February in North Texas so as to give them a headstart . Is planting tomatoes early a chic strategy or speculative error ?
Comparing planting times
This year , I design to conduct an experimentation by planting a few Lycopersicon esculentum plants during the third calendar week of February and protect if freeze imperil , and then set the rest after last frost when there is no longer menace of frost .
Experience tells me that planting before last frost does n’t actually give the plants any kind of advantage because they are produce in such cold temperatures and dirt , and there is a strong likeliness that a freeze will make severe damage even if plant are spread over . I also trust that expect to plant them later cave in them more time to acquire in protected conditions , thus giving them an advantage over earlier plant seedlings .
What the research says
enquiry shows that the age of a tomato plant at transplant issue .
A 2013 study found that seedlings with 7 - 8 leaves at transplanting produced 26 % more yield than love apple seedlings transplanted at 5 - 6 leaves , and that tomatoes get producing earlier when graft with at least 7 leaf .
This same study also base that older transplants get going to flower and fruit faster than younger transplant . love apple transplanted with 9 - 10 foliage flowered 8 - 12 day earlier than those with 5 - 6 leave and 3 - 4 day earlier than transplants with 7 - 8 leaves .
Researchers reason that transplant a tomato seedling in the beginning had no positive consequence on tomato yield proceeds , earliness , or fruit size .
What about temperature?
Not only are tomato transplantation untested / smaller when planted before the last frost , but they are establish when temperature are still very cold .
A study publish in the Journal of Plant and Soil find that love apple seedlings planted when atmosphere and filth temperature were below 50 degree had downhearted assiduousness of N , atomic number 19 and atomic number 12 among other nutrients , while later plantings had enough nutrition . When soil is cold , tomatoes ca n’t by rights take up nutrients as they grow . As a resolution , nutrient levels in the plant become very low .
What you should do
Because my number one priority is your success , I would never encourage you to found tomatoes before mid - March unless you have a good number of years spring up Lycopersicon esculentum under your belted ammunition , or you are unforced to risk the death of your tomato plant seedlings .
Action steps
Test results
I will update this mail at the ending of the give growing season to let you know how the early - planted tomato get along compared to later - planted tomatoes .
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Plant tomatoes at the perfect time
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Gent , M.P.N. Effect of planting date , ventilation system and soil temperature on growth and nutrition of Lycopersicon esculentum in gamey burrow . Plant Soil145 , 81–91 ( 1992 ) . https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00009544
Javanmardi , J. , Rahemi , M. , & Nasirzadeh , M. ( 2013 ) . Physiological and Reproductive Responses of Tomato and Pepper Transplants to Low - Temperature Conditioning . International Journal of Vegetable Science,19(3 ) , 294–310 . https://doi.org/10.1080/19315260.2012.726956
J. , Jankauskienė & Brazaitytė , Aušra & Bobinas , Ceslovas & Duchovskis , Pavelas . ( 2013 ) . result of transplant maturation stage on tomato productivity . Acta scientiarum Polonorum . Hortorum cultus = Ogrodnictwo . 12 . 143 - 152 .
Dufault RJ . 1998 . Vegetable organ transplant alimentation . HortTechnology . 8:515–523.https://doi.org/10.21273 / HORTTECH.8.4.515 .
Maynard , E. T. , Guan , W. , Langenhoven , P. , & Hoagland , L. ( 2024 ) . Tomato Seedling Performance in Commercial Organic Growing Media . HortTechnology,34(1 ) , 80 - 91 . Retrieved Jan 30 , 2025 , fromhttps://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH05244-23
