WinterSown. Org FAQs ~ You Can Germinate Tomatoes with Winter Sowing

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You can germinate tomatoes with Winter Sowing!

WinterSown tomatoes germinate at their own right time, they are planted out while small but soon catch-up and grow to their mature size. Fruiting is typically later than hothouse started tomatoes due to natural germination. WinterSown tomatoes crop well, and because WinterSown tomatoes are always in the fresh air they are at less risk for spreading diseases of wilt, fungus and blight that can be associated with hothouse tomato seedlings grown in close shoulder-to-shoulder conditions.

FAQs

Tomato SASE

Click on any thumbnail image to expand it.

Use a ball point pen or a pencil to stab a single hole into the bottom of a styrofoam cup.

Use the ball point pen to write the variety on the outside of the cup. Press deeply to scribe the letters. If the ink should fade the indentation can still be read.

Write the name, pressing deep.

Fill container with soil about an inch from the top. Sow seeds just under the soil surface.

A plate of tomato seeds.

Add soil and sow seeds 1/8" deep.

Cover with plastic wrap

secure with band or tape.

Punch an airhole into the plastic wrap so warmed air can vent out and melting snow and rain can seep inside and moisten the soil within.

Here are some containers, loaded with cups for easy carrying. They are ready to go outside for the winter.

Cover and add a ventilation hole.

Easy to move when in trays or pots.

Rows of tomato cups in a late winter thaw. The uniform appearance is appropriate for fundraising yard and garden sales or plant swaps. Having the variety name scribed into the styrofoam cup will prevent name mix-ups.

It's the middle of May. Many of the tomato plants have been given to friends and neighbors. The rest can be donated to senior citizen centers, youth groups, shelters and other worthy organizations.

Mid May and mostly transplanted.

Looking nice in late winter.

By the end of July the seedlings are robust and bushy plants. They are close to ripening their first fruits.

Lizzy, our ever-dutiful shephardess, watches over her

Buckets of bush tomatoes.

Ever alert! The tomato watchdog.

This preying mantid patrols the tomato garden looking for pesty bugs to eat for lunch.

A large garden bed with flowers

and tomato plants.

What's this?

Can you see the tomato plants?

It's easy to grow tomatoes in buckets. Just keep them well watered and lightly fed. Expect to add as much as two gallons of water daily to each container.

Heirloom tomatoes are yumyum in the tumtum!

Beautiful and Delicious!

There is no difference in
germination or growing conditions
for heirlooms and hybrids.

A tomato is a tomato is a tomato.

Big plants need
bigger buckets.

Transplanting Tomatoes

A tomato seedling under an open-top water bottle hotcap.

Please visit these photo galleries
for pictures and ideas!

Ripe Tomatoes

Green Tomatoes

Tomato Leaf Scans

Transplanting Tomatoes

Tip recommends these links for further study.

Tips for Growing Tomatoes in the North
by Linden Staciokas
northerngardening.com

Growing Tomatoes in a Cool Climate
humeseeds.com

Gardening in Western Washington ~ Frequently Asked Questions about Vegetables
by Mary Robson, Area Extension Agent
Washington State University, Western Washington

Growing Tomatoes, Peppers and Eggplants in Wisconsin (PDF)
by K.A. Delahaute, Horticultural Outreach Specialist, Integrated Pest Management Program
College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
University of Wiconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin

Growing Tomatoes (PDF)
Technical Review by Dr. David Kopsell, UNH Extension Vegetable Specialist
University of New Hampshire, Cooperative Extension

Growing Tomatoes in the Home Garden (PDF)
If Plants Could Talk~ A Gardening Television Series Fact Sheet FS678
by Stephen Reiners, Extension Specialist in Vegetable Crops and
by Peter J. Nitzsche, Morris County program Associate
Cook College, Rutgers, The State University

Growing Tomatoes in the Home Garden
by Marianne Riofrio
Ohio Online Fact Sheet Series # HYG-1624-92
College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
Ohio State University

Growing Cucumbers, Peppers, Squash and Tomatoes in Containers
by Pamela J. Bennett
Ohio Online Fact Sheet Series # HYG-1645-94
College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
Ohio State University

Growing Tomatoes for Home Use
by Larry Bass, Extension Horticultural Specialist
Horticultural Information Leaflet HIL-8107
North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
North Carolina State University

Tomatoes in the Florida Garden (HS508)
by James M, Stevens, Professor, Horticultural Sciences Department
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
University of Florida

How to Grow the Tomato and 115 Ways to Prepare it for the Table
by George W. Carver, M.S. in AGR.
Second Edition, August 1936
Tuskegee Institute, Alabama
Tuskegee Institute Press, 1936

Easy Gardening...Tomatoes
by Sam Cotner, Extension Horticulturalist
Texas Agriculture Extension Service
Texas A&M University System

Detailed Home Garden Info: Tomatoes
Southwest Gardening Information
MG Manual Reference Ch. 10, pp. 120 - 125
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
University of Arizona

Power Tomatoes ~ How to Grow More and Better Tomatoes
Agricultural Research Service
United States Department of Agriculture

Growing Tomatoes: Common Tomato Diseases ~ Symptoms and Management
Gardening: Vegetable Patch
About.com

Heirloom Tomatoes
Wikipedia.Org

How to Grow Tomatoes Organically
eHow.com

Heirloom Tomato Fact Sheet
by Melissa King
Gardening Australia
ABC.Net