When to plant tomatoes in the Leningrad Region, no matter how early or late

Can you tell me when to plant tomatoes in the Leningrad Region? This year I sowed seeds at the beginning of March, so they overgrown me. I kept it in the house on the windowsills. On the street, the heat came late and the seedlings had to be planted in the ground almost lying down, they were very high. And many bushes have disappeared, probably because of this. And if next season I take it to the greenhouse, and from there - to the beds, can I sow it at the same time? Or better later?

Even the most productive varieties of tomatoes will not bear much fruit if the seedling of the crop is weak. And for this it is important to sow seeds in a timely manner, but at the same time do not forget about the climatic features. Knowing when to plant tomatoes in the Leningrad region, you can speed up or extend the time of its cultivation and the very moment of planting in the ground. Cold spring, late warmth and return frosts can destroy seedlings planted too early. But it is also impossible to overexpose seedlings in a warm room. Tomatoes begin to stretch and become weaker, they tolerate transplanting worse, and this affects their yield. Late sowing will not be beneficial either, because in this case the tomatoes will not have time to get stronger. And early autumn frosts will not allow the fruits to ripen. How do you know when it's time to sow?

When to plant tomatoes in the Leningrad region with further growing in a greenhouse

Heated greenhouses - the pleasure is expensive and not everyone has them. Most often, such structures are heated naturally (by the sun). And they serve as an intermediate link in the chain "house / window sill - open ground". First, the seedlings are kept in the house, and when they get stronger and it gets a little warmer outside, they are taken out for a couple of weeks in a greenhouse heated by the sun. And from there they are planted in the beds after the frosts leave.

On average, it takes about 50 days from the moment of sowing the seeds to the picking of seedlings in the greenhouse. The timing of sowing directly depends on the conditions in which it will be kept at an early stage:

1. If we provide artificial supplementary lighting to the seedlings, then they will develop faster. This means that you can sow the seeds later, in mid-March.
2. If the lighting is only natural, without backlighting, the seedlings need more time to develop. Then the seeds are best sown in mid-February.

Seedlings are transplanted from the greenhouse into open ground in early June. Previously, it is not worth it, because in the Leningrad region even at this time there may still be frosts on the ground. You can also leave the tomatoes in the greenhouse altogether. But they will have to provide them with artificial watering and, necessarily, fresh air so that the plants do not overheat.

The timing of sowing seeds for planting seedlings directly into open ground

If there is no greenhouse at all as such - that's okay. You can keep tomatoes on the windowsills for the entire "seedling period", just provide them with lighting (southern windows or supplementary lighting). And after waiting for the warmth, immediately transplant the seedlings into open ground. Only haste in such a situation is not the best solution. With early sowing, the seedlings outgrow if weather conditions do not allow relocating them to the beds. The optimal dates for sowing do not come until the end of March or early April.

Tomatoes for the Leningrad Region