I got a little behind in my plans for planting... Not only did I start a bit late on germination of the seeds, but I was stalled on getting some new pots to plant them in once ready. Anyway, based on how well into the autumn my plants were able to grow last year, I'm not terribly concerned about it. Next year will be different, though.
What caused me to start a bit late on the seedlings was that I hadn't make any provisions to get them started in cool weather. My "grow area" is near a window on the south side of my apartment. At night it gets a bit chilly over there during the winter and early spring. So, I ended up buying a heating mat. This made a huge difference and I was able to help my seedlings thrive in the early stages. I just wish I'd bought that mat a few weeks earlier. The mat is like 20" x 9" and cost about $20 shipped. Well worth it.
Also, I didn't get myself some seedling starter trays. As you can see below, I used styrofoam egg containers. Well, quite frankly these worked out terrific. I used the lid as a water reservoir, and with holes punched into all of the egg slots there was sufficient drainage and moisturizing of the medium. The seedling medium I used was actually intended for starting basil seeds. I'd bought a few of these on steep discount last year. It's like a solid puck that you pour water over, which then quickly swells into 10 times the volume. The tomato seeds seemed to do just fine with those.
Black Krim seedlings
I also started out some Sara's Galapagos tomato seeds. I wish I'd remembered to read up on them before I started. The germination rate is very low on these. I got about 75+ seeds in my pack, and only 6 actually germinated! Also, they take at least 2 weeks longer to sprout than your typical heirloom seeds. Here you can see just how small those cotyledon leaves are in comparison to the other varieties. I honestly didn't think these would make it:
Sara's Galapagos seedlings
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