I’m trying some torpedo onions (i’ve grown them in the past)…they look cool. Years ago i grew Alisia Craig onions and i had some very large onions…but i noticed they didn’t last long in storage so i stopped growing them.
I started my tomato seeds too…probably a hair early…oh well.
Tomatoes??? How are you going to keep up with them till May, or may be even June in your area? Or you have heated greenhouse? If I start mine in early March, and plant them out at the mid of May they will be about 1.5-2’ tall and flowering. (last several years like this.) Can’t imaging what another month will do to them 
. This year I am doing it in the beginning of April.
Its only about 16 plants…i have pots, soil, grow lights, a mental disorder…
I do have low tunnels that i use in the spring…
I want ripe June tomatoes…no more waiting until August.
The problem with lights when tomatoes get to 1-2’ long is the fact you need to have it from all sides, top light will not be enough. For artificial light be efficient it has to be few inches away from leaves. All leaves, not only very top ones. I usually set up portable greenhouse on the deck in middle of April with heater and night time insulated cover. This way early tomatoes like 4of July start producing in the end of June-beginning of July in zone 5. Other then that, I tried to start 2 determinate tomatoes in large pots in January, hoping to have ripe tomatoes in May. I had - exactly 2 of them. One on each plant, the rest from the cluster didn’t even develop. More flowers started to appear only when plants got to greenhouse. So I finally got good crop from them, but even later than from the ones I started fin March. And if it would be indeterminate tomatoes - I guess they would just be miserable. If you already have experience with June tomatoes in zone 4 - please, share!
To address the lighting issue, that is, to generate light from the sides, I glued reflective paper onto cardboard and hung it with paper clips from the shelf that supports the lights as shown in my photo above. I verified it with a light meter that the lumens were significantly increased in comparison to the levels without the reflective sides. So that is one idea you can try.
I choose an eary variety for my 1st tomatoes; seed them about now and xplant them up to qt pots - maybe just 3 b/c I don’t have room.
My earliest ever tomato was harvested 4/5/2014 (I know, sounds crazy, must have been a hot spring). Last year it was 5/15 (either cool spring or I got slack, LOL) and by 6/11 had harvested 2.5#. These are small early yellow tomatoes (not cherry tomatoes). I keep them in the pot in the sun until the ground warms up good so they aren’t shocked and stall after xplant which I have seen.
Haha we should start an ‘early tomato’ thread.
Oh, I didn’t mean to imply he could get tomatoes when I do. I just wanted to share some ideas I have used to get early tomatoes.
Just found spring picture taken April 28 2016 of the tomatoes started at the end of December 2015
. They are in the back right corner, It is Defiant, determinate tomato, they wouldn’t grow much bigger than this, may be just a little.I’ve had June tomatoes one year. It all depends on what spring does. Last year i probably could have had very early tomatoes. The trend right now is for mild…so who knows. We could see 80Fs in March again (i hope not). While its great to get early heat, that just wakes all the trees up and then April brings a freeze and game over.
I may or may not build a small greenhouse. If it gets mild here this month, i’ll go at it. Just need some 50Fs.
Do you happen to have any pictures of your set up from the year you had your June tomatoes, when they still indoor? I am curios to see how big they were and how you handled their lighting. May be I can improve mine and have June tomatoes too!
I know this is from way back in 2017, but it is relevant to me right now! Advice appreciated!
I started leeks indoors for the first time this year. They are in seed trays with other veggies in packs next to them. They grow twice as fast as the others do. When is it OK to start trimming them? They are only about 2 weeks old… is that too soon?
I want to keep them at roughly the same height as the other plants so the light remains at the proper distance from all the plants, if this is feasible.
I trimmed mine
Thank you!
