When to plant tomatoes for seedlings in 2022 for a greenhouse and open ground at home

A large number of different factors influence the receipt of a high-quality and large harvest of any vegetable crop: climatic conditions and weather in the growing areas, acid-base balance and soil composition, timely and high-quality implementation of agrotechnical care procedures. As well as the timing of sowing seeds and transplanting plants into vegetable beds. When to plant tomatoes for seedlings - you will learn about this from the review of our article.

Tomatoes are among the leaders among garden crops. It is customary for gardeners to grow these vegetables using seedlings. Healthy and strong seedlings are the key to obtaining high yields of tomatoes. It is important to approach the process of sowing tomato seeds responsibly and take into account all the nuances.

How to calculate the time for sowing tomatoes?

The start of sowing depends on the growing region, agronomic timing, and favorable days for the Moon to pass its phases. Thanks to the lunar calendar, you can find out the best dates. Agronomist specialists give their recommendations on sowing seeds in each region of our country. You can also calculate your own planting dates yourself.

When planting tomato seeds on seedlings, important factors are taken into account:

climate features of the growing region;
place for transplanting bushes: greenhouse structure or open bed. Transplantation into a greenhouse is carried out 10-20 days earlier;
time of growing seedlings, their biological age at the time of transplanting to the garden bed.

It is important to know the optimal sowing time! When to plant seeds for tomato seedlings? If sowing takes place too early, the seedlings may outgrow and their adaptation will be more difficult, which will affect the ripening time and quality of the harvest.

If you are late with planting, then in a short summer you may not wait for most of the harvest, because the fruits will not have time to ripen.

In the middle regions, tomatoes are transplanted into open ground in the 1st decade of June, when there is no risk that frost will return. Tomatoes are planted in greenhouses and hotbeds under film in the first ten days of May. In the southern regions, plants are transplanted 15-20 days earlier than the specified dates.

Taking into account the duration of ripening (from seedling emergence to technical maturity), tomato varieties are divided into:

ultra-early - 75-90 days;
early - 85-95 days;
mid-early - 95-105 days;
mid-season - 100-110 days;
late - 110-140 days.

Taking into account the time from the moment of technical maturity of the variety to the time of planting tomato seedlings in the ground, their age should be:

for early and ultra-early varieties 40-50 days;
for mid-season bushes 50-65 days;
for seedlings of late varieties 60-75 days.

When calculating the days when you need to plant tomatoes for seedlings, do not forget to add 5-10 days that are needed for the seeds to germinate. According to calculations, it turns out that for middle regions the optimal dates for planting tomato seeds are March 1-15.

You can calculate when to plant seeds using simple mathematics, taking into account:

processing of seed material, its germination (0-3 days);
time of appearance of seedlings (4-10 days);
restoration of plants after the 1st picking (5-8 days);
plant age (average 50-60 days).

We get: 59-81 days, i.e., on average, the time to grow seedlings is from 2 months.

How to choose the time to transplant tomatoes into open ground in 2022

Transplanting tomatoes into the garden is preceded by a hardening procedure. It is extremely necessary for plants that are accustomed to a mild indoor climate and constant care. No matter how hard you try, you will not be able to provide care similar to that at home. This means that the plants need to be gradually accustomed to the harsher conditions of the garden.

The procedure is carried out over several days with a gradual increase in the time that the seedlings spend outside the house. They usually start with 15-30 minutes. It all depends on what state the plants are in at a particular moment. Ideally, hardening ends with all seedlings spending the night outside.

Thus, we can conclude that the time for transplanting tomatoes into the garden should be determined according to the prevailing weather conditions.

Tomatoes are a heat-loving crop that does not tolerate frost. Therefore, by the time of planting, warm weather should have settled, the soil should have warmed up and the threat of return frosts should have passed.

In our country, similar weather finally arrives at the end of May - beginning of June. Summer residents in the South begin disembarking a little earlier, but beyond the Volga there is no need to rush to transfer. It is better to postpone it to the first ten days of summer.

In addition to weather conditions, the seedlings themselves must be ready for transplanting into the garden. Plants must be healthy, without signs of disease, with 8-10 true leaves and preferably with at least one ovary.

ON A NOTE. Even if the temperature is high and the warmth comes ahead of schedule, after planting the tomatoes need to be covered with old buckets or spunbond overnight.

Optimal agronomic timing of sowing tomato seeds

The key rule is that you need to sow tomatoes for seedlings 2 months before the time of transplanting into the ground. First, you need to sow those tomatoes that you plan to further grow in greenhouse structures (greenhouse, greenhouse, structure under film).

Table 1.1 – Dates for planting tomato seeds for greenhouses

Region	Sowing date for seedlings	Time to plant bushes in the greenhouse	Time to plant seedlings under film cover
Siberia and Far East	March 20 – 30	May 20 - 31	1 – 15 June
Ural	March 20 – 30	10 – 22 May	May 20 – June 10
Moscow region, Center and North-West	10 – 20 March	10 – 20 May	May 20 – June 10
Volga region. Belarus	1 – 10 March	1 – 15 May	10 – 31 May
North Caucasus, Kuban	January 20 - 31	March 20 – April 10	1 – 10 April

When to plant tomato seedlings for open ground? Seedlings are transplanted into open beds 2 weeks later than into greenhouses. Therefore, sowing is carried out with a time interval of 15 days after sowing tomatoes for greenhouse structures.

Table 1.2 – Dates for planting tomato seeds for open ground

Region	Seed sowing dates	Dates for transplanting seedlings into beds
Siberia and Far East	1 – 10 April	10 – 20 June
Ural	1 – 10 April	1 – 10 June
Center and North-West	March 20 - 31	1 – 10 June
Volga region, Belarus	10 – 20 March	May 20 – June 10
Kuban, North Caucasus	1 - 10 February	April 15 – 30

On a package of tomato seeds, the description indicates the varieties: indeterminate and determinate. The main difference is in the size of an adult bush.

Determinate varieties that produce early harvests stop growing after the formation of 3-5 flower clusters. All the fruits that started on the shoot have time to ripen.

Indeterminate tomatoes grow up to 1.5-2 m in height, requiring fixation to a support and weekly pinching. They are more productive, but the ripening of the fruits is uneven and later. Seeds of such varieties are sown 15 days earlier than determinate varieties. Suitable for those gardeners who need ripened fruits during August-October.

Indeterminate and determinate varieties: when should you plant tomatoes?

Table 1.3 – Time for sowing tomatoes Western Siberia, middle regions

Culture	Sowing dates	Transfer dates	Plant age	Harvest dates
Determinate tomatoes	March 20 – April 10	Greenhouses: May 1 - May 15 Open ground: May 25 - June 10	35 – 40 days	Greenhouses: from July 20 Open ground: from August 15
Indeterminate tomatoes	March 20 – April 10	Greenhouses: May 1 - May 15 Open ground: May 25 - June 10	60 days	Greenhouses: from July 20 Open ground: from August 15

Astronomical timing for sowing tomato seeds for seedlings

Planting tomatoes at the right time for the plant is important for a good harvest of fruit. Tomato seeds are most often planted between February and the end of March. But sowing dates are influenced by many factors. Starting from the weather conditions of the growing region and ending with the variety of seeds.

When grown in the south, gardeners begin sowing crops starting at the end of January. While vegetable growers in Siberia begin sowing work only in mid-March.

Conscientious manufacturers of planting material indicate detailed and truthful information on the seed packaging. You can study it and, based on this, calculate your deadlines, taking into account the weather and the recommended time. When to plant tomatoes for seedlings in 2022?

Table 1.4 – Favorable days for sowing tomatoes in 2022 (lunar calendar)

Month	Favorable days	Prohibited days
January	6, 7, 11, 12, 16, 17, 25, 26	1, 2, 3, 18
February	3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 22, 23	1, 2, 16
March	6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 29, 30, 31	1, 2, 3, 18
April	3, 4, 8, 9, 17, 18, 26, 27	1, 2, 16, 29, 30
May	1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 15, 23, 24, 27, 28	16, 29 — 31

The timing of sowing tomato seeds depends on the area in which you live and the weather conditions in the spring. Therefore, you need to monitor the forecasts of weather forecasters in your region.

Seedlings should be planted in open ground only in established warm weather, when the night temperature does not fall below +15 °C, and during the day - at least +18 °C. If the temperature is lower, the plants stop growing.

Early ripening varieties are sown later, because their ripening period is shorter. If you do not plan to use additional lighting when growing seedlings, then you should not rush into sowing. Pre-sowing seed treatment also affects the timing. If they were previously soaked and germinated, then shoots will appear 3-8 days earlier.

Having waited for the optimal time when it is better to plant tomatoes as seedlings, they proceed to sowing work. Let's consider the main stages.

conclusions

Growing tomato seedlings from seeds is a long and labor-intensive process. It is necessary to sow grains in winter and spring, and plant young plants in open ground or a greenhouse only at the end of May or beginning of June.

All these months, tomato seedlings must be properly cared for, ensuring growing conditions, watering regime, daylight hours and fertilizing.

At first it may seem difficult, but with experience you will understand when to sow seeds, how to plant and transplant correctly.

Preparing the soil mixture

To obtain healthy tomato bushes, you need soil with an optimal composition and structure. You can buy ready-made soil mixture at any gardening store. But more often, gardeners prepare the seedling soil themselves. They prepare it 5-8 days before sowing.

Advice from gardeners with experience! When preparing the soil mixture, add soil from the bed where you plan to plant the tomato seedlings. This allows plants to adapt to new conditions at an early stage and reduce their stress to a minimum.

Soil mixture recipes:

turf soil, garden soil, peat, mullein. Component ratio 1:1:4:0.25;
peat, garden soil, steamed sawdust, mullein. Component ratio 3:1:1:0.5.

To increase fertility, 10 kg of soil mixtures are supplemented with 3 liters of sand, 1 g of potassium chloride, 3 g of superphosphate, and 10 g of ammonium nitrate.

The purchased soil should also be prepared:

carry out disinfection;
mix purchased soil with garden soil in a 1:1 ratio;
if the substrate has a slightly acidic pH, then add 1 tbsp per 10 liters of soil. l. dolomite flour.

Information! When you plant tomato seedlings at home, any substrate must be disinfected using one of the methods convenient for you.

Selecting a container for sowing

Before planting in open ground, seedlings need to choose a convenient and comfortable “home” in which they can grow and develop.

The most convenient and popular containers:

Pots (cups) made of peat. Their advantage is that the seedling is transplanted into the ground along with a container, which will also serve as fertilizer;
Peat tablets. Soaked and compressed peat, which is surrounded by special material. Very popular among gardeners, because seedlings are grown without picking plants;
Plastic cups. An equally popular option, you can use this container several times;
Boxes, containers made of wood or plastic.

Seedling diseases

To get healthy seedlings, you need to carefully monitor their condition. If suddenly the leaves begin to turn yellow or wither, become covered with spots, etc., then this indicates that the seedlings are sick and measures need to be taken to save them. What diseases affect tomatoes at the seedling stage? They can be divided into two groups – infectious and non-infectious.

Infectious

Tomato plants and fruits with bacterial diseases become covered in places with a sticky coating and begin to rot. This is how they differ from non-infectious ones.

Blackleg

Symptoms of the disease - the lower part of the seedlings becomes thinner and becomes dark, almost black. The disease can affect a significant part of the seedlings in the planting box, so the seeds should not be sown very densely.

For prevention, phytosporin is used, which is periodically sprayed on seedlings throughout the growing season. If the first signs of the disease appear, then it is necessary to urgently remove the diseased specimens, thin out the seedlings, if they are planted densely and very carefully so as not to get on the stem, sprinkle the soil with sifted ash.

Septoria

More often it appears on adult seedlings ready for planting in the ground. Small grayish-white spots with a black border appear on the leaf blade.

The disease can occur due to poorly steamed soil, from where pathogens spread to plants. If signs of disease appear, spray with Previkur-Energy.

Late blight

This disease most often affects adult tomatoes in open ground, but it can also affect seedlings in a room if the humidity is very high - about 85-90%. It appears on the leaves in the form of brown or light brown spots, which subsequently dry out and the leaf dies completely. A very dangerous disease that can completely destroy all seedlings if it is not dealt with. As mentioned above, for prevention, plants are sprayed with a solution of phytosporin. But only for prevention. If the disease has fully manifested itself, it needs to be dealt with by more radical means. The same Previkur-Energy, or similar drugs will help get rid of late blight.

Non-infectious

Non-infectious diseases are often caused by violations of the rules for caring for seedlings or disruption of plant development for physiological reasons. This mainly happens due to a violation of the regularity of watering, when the dry soil in the cups is then watered abundantly. Too sudden temperature changes, as well as too high or low temperatures can also cause seedlings to become sick.

Sunburn

They arise from direct sunlight on the leaves of seedlings. In addition, splashes on the leaves due to careless watering can focus sunlight and cause burns in the form of small white spots.

Oedema

It appears as swellings on leaves, shoots or trunks. Occurs due to excessive watering and non-compliance with its regularity. The plant is not able to absorb a large amount of water at once and the vessels experience increased pressure, which swells the leaf from the inside.

Curling leaves

It may appear due to a deficiency of nutrients. In this case, you need to start feeding the seedlings with small doses of fertilizer.

How to prepare seeds for sowing?

If you have purchased seeds, then it is up to you to decide whether to carry out pre-sowing treatment or not. Producers who value their reputation sell seed material already prepared for planting. And gardeners can only sow it. But many of those who have been growing tomato seedlings for many years still recommend preparing any seeds: disinfecting and germinating.

Therefore, when calculating the timing of when to plant tomato seedlings for greenhouses, they add time for germination.

Pre-sowing preparation:

Disinfection is carried out as follows:

the seed is wrapped in gauze or cloth;
The seeds are immersed in a dark manganese solution for 30 minutes;
then they are taken out of the solution, washed and dried;

Germination. Carried out before sowing:

Place tomato seeds in pre-moistened gauze and cover with the edges;
place them in a plastic bag that can be placed on a saucer;
Place the container in any warm (+25-28 °C) place. The gauze should not dry out, so its condition must be monitored;
After 3-4 days, seedlings will appear. This means it's time to start sowing in the ground.

Planting options

The sowing pattern depends on the choice of container. Let's look at how to plant in separate and common containers in more detail.

Planting in a container:

At the bottom of the box, lay out a 1.5 cm drainage layer of small pebbles or expanded clay;
The prepared soil mixture is poured on top and moistened abundantly;
When the moisture is absorbed, make grooves 1 cm deep. The distance between rows is 3 cm;
Place tomato seeds in the recesses, spaced 2 cm apart from each other. Sprinkle a 1 cm layer of soil mixture on top;
The crops are moistened with a spray bottle, covered with film and transferred to a bright place. The temperature before emergence is +20-24 °C.

When choosing the dates to plant tomato seedlings at home, take into account that the seedlings will need additional lighting, since they still do not have enough natural light in March and April.

Consider planting in cups:

Several holes are made at the bottom of the cups so that moisture does not remain in the soil mixture. When using peat containers, this is not necessary;
Drainage is made from small pebbles and eggshells. Cover the top with soil mixture and water with settled water;
Make a hole in the ground to a depth of 1-1.5 cm. Place 2 seeds in each hole. Water from a spray bottle.

Place all the cups in a box or container and cover the top with film. Place in a well-lit place where the temperature before emergence will be +20-24 °C.

Tomato varieties for greenhouses

The success of growing vegetables and the amount of mature harvest depends on how well the variety is chosen. The best ones for planting are:

Alliance F1, Sweet Bunch, Miracle of the Earth, Pink Raisins - early;
Nevsky, Bull's Heart, Blagovest - mid-season;
King, Mikado, Sevruga - large-fruited.

Excellent varieties for planting in a greenhouse are also:

Eagle Heart;
Koenigsberg;
Abakan pink;
Chio-chio-san;
Yablonka Russia;
Monomakh's hat;
Golden Kupala.

In the north it is better to plant early varieties of tomatoes, in the south - late ones. Mid-season varieties are suitable for central Russia.

Plant care

Quality care determines what bushes you will plant in the beds. The care procedures are simple, but they must be followed in order to get a good fruit harvest in the summer.

Often gardeners plant pepper and tomato seeds at approximately the same time in order to care for 2 crops at once. But the timing of when to plant pepper and tomato seedlings in the ground is different. In addition, pepper is more heat-loving; even when caring for it, it needs a daytime temperature of +26-28 °C, and a night temperature of +20-24 °C.

Key points in caring for tomato seedlings:

Ventilation. Every day, open the film for 15-25 minutes and ventilate the crops. Droplets of condensation must be removed;
When the shoots appear, the film is not removed, but is removed for a longer period of time within 3 days, giving the sprouts the opportunity to adapt to the surrounding temperature;
Watering the seedlings is carried out strictly at the root using a syringe. The water needs to be settled, 2 °C warmer than the air in the room;
The temperature for the first shoots is reduced to 15-16 °C. After 7 days, it is raised again to 19-22 °C during the daytime and to +15-17 °C at night;
Lighting. Tomato seedlings need at least 14 hours of daylight. For additional lighting, LED devices and phytolamps are used;
Fertilizer application. Young plants are fed only after picking.

How and when to pick plants?

For beginners - how to plant tomato seedlings at home and carry out picking, let's take a closer look at transplanting. When 2-3 true leaves are formed on the seedling, make the 1st pick. If each tomato seed was planted in a peat tablet or in a glass, then picking is not carried out. Therefore, it is better for beginners in gardening to purchase such containers for sowing and plant seeds in them at first.

Experts advise when picking to be guided by the following scheme:

In a common container, the plants are irrigated abundantly. Prepare larger containers. At this stage, each seedling can be planted in a separate cup;
Using an ordinary teaspoon, remove the seedling from the soil along with a lump of earth;
The center spine will be visible. It must be pruned, at least by 1 cm. Thanks to this, after adaptation to the new place, the roots will begin to grow to the sides;
Immerse the seedling in the new soil mixture up to the cotyledon leaves. The soil around the stem is carefully compacted with your finger.

The seedlings are not watered for the first 4 days. Place the containers in a dimly lit place for adaptation for 3-4 days.

When should you plant tomato seedlings at home to get a good harvest? We described the sowing dates in detail above in the article. But it is also important to know the favorable time for picking plants.

Table 1.5 – Dates for picking tomato seedlings in 2022

Favorable days
March	3-8, 11-16, 21-22, 25-26, 29-30
April	3-4, 8-14, 18, 21-22, 26-27
May	1-2, 5-11, 19-20, 23-24, 27-28

Fertilizer application after picking:

After 7 days, add the 1st fertilizing: a solution of nitroammofoska (dilute according to the instructions for the drug);
After another 7 days, add a second fertilizer of the same composition;
4 days before planting in a greenhouse or garden bed, feed the plants for the 3rd time with a superphosphate solution (according to the instructions).

Tomato seeds have sprouted, what to do next?

After 1-1.5 weeks, the first shoots will appear. After this, the containers with seedlings need to be moved to a slightly cooler place for several days. If while waiting for shoots the temperature should be about 25 degrees, then after the first shoots appear - 18 degrees.

When all the seedlings appear (3-4 days), you need to take containers with seedlings and move them to a warm, well-lit place, where they will stay all the time, until the moment you plant them in a permanent place in the garden.

After the seedlings have 3 true leaves, a dive is carried out. After picking, the seedlings can be fed twice. Fertilizer application interval is 14 days.

When the weather is good outside, you need to start preparing the seedlings for transplanting. They carry out another feeding, and then begin hardening.

When can you plant tomato seedlings in the garden?

When growing seedlings at home, an important issue is the timing of their planting in the garden. After all, every gardener has had a situation: the seedlings have grown, “require” more space for further growth, and it is very cold outside. And planting plants in the garden at this moment means deliberately destroying them.

That is why you should not rush with very early sowings.

It is better to plant small bushes in the ground, which will “catch up” and outstrip the development of overgrown plants that require long-term adaptation to new conditions.

We discussed in the article when to plant tomato seedlings for a greenhouse. Now let’s look at the conditions for when to transplant it into a greenhouse. For planting in greenhouse beds, each tomato bush should have up to 9 true leaves, and its height should be 20-30 cm. If the greenhouse is heated, that’s great. After all, in case of return frosts, you can heat it. If the greenhouse is not heated, have a heater ready just in case. It may be needed if planting is carried out earlier than the agronomic dates indicated in the table.

Larisa Nikolaevna Shirko

A gardener with extensive experience ready to answer the most difficult questions

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Tomato seedlings should be planted in the beds at a time when, according to forecasts, no return frosts are expected. The air should warm up to +16 °C during the day. And the soil should warm up to at least +10 °C before planting. Otherwise, the plants will “sit” in place for a long time. Before transplanting, water the plants so that the soil lump does not crumble. The bushes are placed vertically in the hole and sprinkled with soil until the first true leaves appear. If the plants are very tall, then they are buried deeper; you can plant them “lying down.”

When to plant cherry tomatoes and other varieties? You can look at the dates in the lunar calendar or calculate them yourself.

Seed manufacturers also indicate on the packaging the sowing time for a given variety. 50-60 days after the seedlings appear, the grown plants are transplanted into the garden bed.