The beginning of April is the ideal time to start tomatoes seeds indoors. The plants thus obtained can be transplanted to the vegetable garden towards the end of May or the beginning of June, depending on the region.
You can produce your tomato plants with seeds purchased on the internet. You can also take the seeds from the heart of the tomatoes you bought at the supermarket and try to germinate them in potting soil. However, be aware that some seeds will not germinate due to a lack of sufficient maturity. In other cases, you are likely to get plants that produce different fruit than what you purchased.
To make transplanting easier, I suggest you place the seeds in a container made up of several small compartments. You can sow two to three seeds per compartment so that at least one plant forms; keep only one while cutting the others with scissors. The seeds must be placed at a depth of 15 mm (1/2 in) in a potting mix made of compost, sphagnum peat moss, and perlite. Then water the soil with lukewarm water.
Nearly 15 to 20 days after germination, when their first true leaves are well formed, transplant the young seedlings into pots 10 cm in diameter by burying their stem under the surface of the potting soil above the level of the cotyledons, which We will have taken care of cutting beforehand.
Tomato plants need plenty of light to grow and develop well. It is possible to install them near a south-facing window, but they will grow better if you take care to place them under LED lighting designed for plants for 12 to 14 hours a day. It is not necessary to purchase a fancy lighting system, you can simply purchase an LED bulb designed for plant growth online and screw it into a floor lamp.
Here is the description of some productive tomato cultivars, well adapted to our northern climate, which will work wonders in your vegetable garden.
Savignac
tomatoes cultivar was developed in the mid-20th century by Brother J. Armand Savignac, a Saint-Viateur cleric from Joliette. This is a very hardy variety well adapted to our northern climate producing an abundance of succulent pink fruits.
Siletz
The “Siletz” tomato is parthenocarpic, meaning it produces fruit without needing to be pollinated by bees and bumblebees. In a northern climate like ours, “Siletz” produces large, tasty red fruits in abundance and over a long period.
Sub Arctic Plenty
This very early cultivar is particularly well adapted to northern climates and the fruits it produces reach maturity after only 50 days! It gives excellent results both on the ground and in containers.
