Start Your Tomato Seedlings Now: Later is Better or Different Anyway.

Early blight is on my mind. One strategy I was reading about is using determinate type or early set tomatoes throughout the growing season. I am going to adopt this strategy. Early blight typically creeps in-in July. If I am lucky again, minimal damage. If I am unlucky lots of tomotoes are wiped out by mid August. I still get tomatoes and all that but my plants are gone.  Even If I don't get blight the August heat sometimes wears the plants down and they just die off.

Starting seedlings now or more realistically towards the end of June will give me young plants to put in the ground. Ill probably go with a later July planting of determinate tomatoes. My theory is they will have all of August to mature, miss the blight, have late August and mid Septemeber to set fruit. Frost will eventually kill them but blight time may have passed. All you need is a 60 day tomato. Tomato seed packs will say 55 days to 85 days maturity. That typically means once planted as a transplant. I'll see if I can time it right.  Another experiment.

Planting another round of cucumbers and squash in cups is also a good way to replace your bushes that burn out. The seedling will emerge quickly and can be ready to replace worn out plants in no time. I haven't done this really. I usually pack away all my seed starting stuff about now. This year, I am going to try-out this strategy.