When to start tomato seeds indoors

Q: When should I sow tomato seeds indoors?

A: Always check the seed packet. Most will tell you the number of weeks from sowing, to transplanting outdoors. As a very general rule of thumb, determine the date you plan to transplant your tomatoes outdoors in the garden and count back 6-8 weeks for your sowing date. For instance, I like to plant my tomatoes out Memorial Day weekend. This year it falls on May 25th. So my indoor sowing date will be the week of March 30th.

For slower to grow crops like peppers, eggplant, begonias, impatiens, I recommend counting back 10-12 weeks for your indoor sowing date.

For fast growing crops like cucumbers, squash and pumpkins, count back only 3 weeks. They are best transplanted outdoors when they have just 1 or 2 true leaves.

---

Read our Q & As with Keith Funk answering common Colorado gardening questions here. You can also hear him on the Garden Wise Radio Show