Well it is an extraordinarily long time for hardening off and it will very likely trigger the need for another transplanting to keep them from getting rootbound. You'd be better off planting them early and covering/protecting them to avoid all the extra stress on them.

But if you have no other options I guess you'll have to but you'll need to do it very carefully as plants that old are less tolerant of the adjustments. Can't your lights be adjusted to accommodate them?

If they can't go into the ground for another 3 weeks then it sounds as if you started them far too early. Normally tomato plants only take 6-8 weeks prior to plant out time including hardening off.

Dave

And that's why records are important :-) I planted them 5 weeks ago, working with the 6-8 week timeframe (thinking 8 was better than 6). But, they are outperforming my expectations, so probably did do a week or so early.

I might be able to get them in the ground sooner. April 1st is our last frost date, so they can go in the ground very shortly if I get them hardened off. The problem is that spring is the busiest time at my work, so I always take a vacation to get everything in the ground. I really do make it more complicated than it might need to be - it won't take that long to get them in the ground - maybe I can do one night after work and get them in sooner than I was planning.

Thanks for the quick reply!

Jennie