Help I tried to

3 ladybugs 4/30/2010, 6:28 pm

I am in zone 6B and a couple of days ago I put my tomatoes and peppers outside to harden them. I had a cover on them at night but during the day I let them soak in the sun. Well now they are all brown.

Can I just plant the seed in the ground and expect it to grow now? What else should I do? :scratch: Thank you for your help!

**timwardell** 4/30/2010, 10:07 pm

Ugh... sorry to hear about the brown plants. That's too bad. You *could* plant a seed but it would add 6-8 weeks to the time until harvest so you may not see any tomatoes before it gets cold again this fall. I don't know your region so I can't say for sure. You might just want to go buy some transplants and put them in your SFG.

jerzyjen 4/30/2010, 10:25 pm

Just curious, do you know why they went brown? Too hot? Too cold? I'm in 6b and i'm hoping to avoid this problem myself. Unfortunatly i dont have any advice. Where are you located in NJ?

**camprn** 4/30/2010, 10:35 pm

I too have done this. My guess, most probably your plants suffered from sunburn. If you are past your last frost date, you could try seeding directly and have late summer tomatoes. Or buy some starts for earlier fruit. Good luck.

3 ladybugs 5/1/2010, 5:23 am

jerzyjen wrote:Just curious, do you know why they went brown? Too hot? Too cold? I'm in 6b and i'm hoping to avoid this problem myself. Unfortunatly i dont have any advice. Where are you located in NJ?

I am just north of you in Mercer county. It is so frustrating too because we got 6 varieties of hot peppers. My husband loves hot peppers so I thought this would be good. I guess I need to talk to him to figure out if he wants them earlier in the season or later. Sad

Thank you for your help everyone!

Shoda 5/1/2010, 10:44 am

I am so sorry! I have been there, done that! (except in my case it was my kid's morning glory seedlings I fried).

Sometimes this time of year you can get 4" vegetable starts at the garden store pretty cheap. You might want to purchase a few just to make sure you are covered. I am not sure about your zone - I am in 8b - but last year I started a tomato seeding inside in mid April and the plant was so far behind the others that it wasn't worth the bother. It didn't produce tomatoes until late August and then only a few (that the racoons got). The other nice thing about the purchased plants is that they are usually already used to being outside and don't need you to harden them before you plant.

Good luck

Ole Joe Clark 5/1/2010, 1:00 pm

When I put out tender plants such as tomato or peppers, I cover them with a 2 liter soft drink bottle with the bottom (and the cap) removed. This protects plants from wind and sun and keeps moisture around them. I think wind is more of a problem than sun, at least in my area. I have some tiny pepper plants now under these mini green houses, and it looks like they are about to start growing.

Leon

miinva 5/1/2010, 2:12 pm

I recommend checking out local farmer's markets for plants. We get our plants for $1.75 from a guy who hardens them off before selling them. We've had great luck with them Smile

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