How to Start Tomato (or other) Seedlings

As the weather gets warmer, my gardening “chores” start happening. One of my “chores” is to get the tomato seedlings started. How I decide on that is always dependent on the last frost date, when will the soil warm up, and most importantly, the number of days till harvest!

Here in Kansas City, generally the last frost date is around the end of March. By the time we get to the end of April, our weather has warmed up considerably. Most of my tomato harvest dates run between 80-100 days. Based on my numbers I usually start my seedling indoors no later than the middle of March.

How you start your seeds is a matter of preference. For me, I pick a simple method...soak peat pots in water and add seeds! After the plants grow two or three leaves, I transplant them to an actual pot that contains a mix of organic starter soil, regular soil, and I add composted buffalo loam. Yes, you read that right...Buffalo loam!! (organic plant food of petrified ummm...you know....). Over the next several weeks, I will continue to increase the size of the growing pot as the plant size increases.

Starting and growing seedlings, to a "crazy about gardening"person like myself, is just another exciting step to warmer weather!! Can't wait!

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