Tomatoes & Peppers: Got 'em planted!, 1 by Ozark

Ozark wrote:
For years now I've started my tomato and pepper seeds indoors on March 15 (today), with the seedlings to be transplanted into the garden 6 or 7 weeks later during the first week of May. Our average date of the last killing frost here is April 15.

I use Carolyn's seed-starting method, sowing seeds into damp Jiffy Mix and using no fertilizer. I cut the halves of foam egg cartons apart and super-glue the two halves onto a board for easy handling. There's a small drain hole in each egg cell. This gives me 24 cells on each board and I've planted one board with tomatoes and one with peppers this year. I don't mix tomatoes and peppers on the same board because tomatoes will come up first and need to be moved under lights before the peppers. I sow three seeds in each cell in a triangle pattern, so if they all come up I'll have 72 tomato seedlings and 72 pepper seedlings this season. I should actually get pretty close to that.

Yes, I know my O.C.D. is kicking in, but I number the egg cells and do a spreadsheet list of what's planted where. Works for me! Right after planting these boards go on top of the water heater in our furnace closet - the temperature stays at 76 to 78 degrees in there, so I've never needed to use heat mats.

This season my tomatoes are: Sweet Ozark Orange, Big Brandy Hybrid, Genuwine Hybrid, Rutgers (indeterminate), Sungold Hybrid, Ozark Pink Hybrid, and Big Beef Hybrid. Peppers are: Carmen, Italian Pepperoncini, Jimmy Nardello, TAM Jalapeno, Yummy Orange, Mariachi, Ljubov Dlan, Slonovo Uho, Kurtovska Kapija, Ekstaza, Holy Mole, and NuMex Joe E. Parker. For me, winter is over now and this is the first day of the new growing season!