This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy. I’ve never helped with my Mom’s garden start to finish so I’m soo excited to make my thumb greener! I’m attempting to follow the process this year – start to finish. Here’s a look at planting tomatoes. Let me just say, Mom’s tomatoes are incredible. I especially love the “Bull’s Heart tomatoes” – she went to Ukraine to get the seeds! They are rare Russian heirloom tomatoes and are amazing – like no other I’ve ever tried – nothing is even a close second to these. I’ve been hinting at my mom to maybe sell her seeds. Start planting your tomatoes now! This articles shows how to get them sprouting and the first steps of planting sprouted seeds. I’ll be posting more on planting tomatoes as my parents make updates. I’d like to have the whole process on one sheet, but those of you who want to plant tomatoes this year, probably don’t want to wait till August to start! 🙂 GATHERING SEEDS FROM TOMATOES: 1. Scrape or squeeze seeds from your best ripened tomatoes – let them sit in some of their tomato juice for 4 to 5 days. They will start looking white/moldy. Place the seeds in a larger container – fill with water. The seeds will sink to the bottom, drain the water and repeat a couple of times until seeds are clean. Place seeds on a paper towel (NOT in the sun). Let seeds dry out completely and store them until planting season. for planting in Idaho: If you are planting tomatoes in a greenhouse, sprout seeds in End of February and you can plant your tomatoes in the greenhouse Mid-April. If you a planting out in the open, sprout seeds in End of March or early April, so you can plant your tomatoes in the ground in Mid-May (dates will vary based on whether the winter is lasting longer). SPROUTING SEEDS: Day 1: wrap tomato seeds in very wet cotton cloth. Place them in the sun. Day 2: put paper towel over the wet cloth to soak up excess moisture. Keep them moist until they sprout. PLANTING SPROUTS: As soon as the seeds have sprouted, fill a container 3/4 full with potting soil, spread sprouted seeds over the top and cover seeds with potting soil. Lightly water. Keep the pot in a sunny area and keep the seedlings lightly moist. Once each seedling grows 4 to 6 leaves, they can are replanted into individual 2 cup planters (poke holes in the bottom of planters for drainage).
