LOL!! That should have said 6th year...

I'm in zone 5, not zone 6, but almost all of my tomatoes have germinated. They are still tiny, not many have true leaves yet, but they are up. They were sown on March 5th in seed starting trays, and brought out to an unheated cold frame. They sprouted about a week ago. Sun Gold was the first up and Brandy Boy just came up yesterday.

I don't think you should take yours inside to sprout unless you are going to keep them inside. They sprout outside when the conditions are right. If you do bring them inside to sprout, you probably should harden them off before bringing them back out.

I have sprouts in Columbus zone 6 for several tomato varieties but no true leaves yet. My containers are on the patio in a sunny, sheltered spot. I wouldn't give up just yet.

Well I have not given up, but still no sprouts, of course it has done nothing but rain and get cold since I put this question up.. I hope it warms up soon, I have other people and well as my own tomato crops on the line here... LOL!!

ok, another 7 days gone by and I now have one little lonely sprout out of 24. I planted Black Seaman, Red Zebra and Black Cherry in early January, and here it is the 28th of April and only one sad looking little red zebra has shown it's head... I really hope the rest come thru soon. We have had so much rain it's crazy, and I'm beginning to wonder if they all rotted and I should sow some more...

If you need seeds, e-mail me. The only black i've got, though, is Black Krim. Lots of boxcar willie, and about 10 other varieties including Great White and Anna Russian, which is an early DTM. If you replant you can probably do it outside by now (in a container any way).

Caryl

I think you're right and your lack of sun and cooler nights are probably delaying your sprouting.

I've never tried wintersowing tomato seeds as early as January. I wonder if experiencing sub frost temps for a long time delays tomato germination even more(?)

I don't think I've read what you are using as containers. Are they milk jugs or are they clear plastic? I am wondering if using clear plastic would make a difference this spring in warming up the tomato seeds since we seem to have less bright sunshine than usual.

I have sprouted tomatoes inside and then taken them outside. If you do that, you must get them outside almost the minute you see that sprout break the surface. Otherwise, they quickly get leggy (within a couple days) and you start to lose the benefits of winter/spring sowing them. You also need to make sure they have some kind of protection (plastic baggie, milk jug, soda bottle, etc) when outside from getting too cold at night.

I'm using green 2 liter bottles for the 6th year now. I have always planted my seeds out in Jan with them and they have always been up by Mid April with me sending them to their new homes this week.. Folks just plant them out immediately and they do there thing faster then any store or inside started plants I have seen. But this year is a different story.. I have gotten calls asking about pick up arrangements and had to tell people still nothing,(hopefully due to the weather). And naturally, another week of rain and chill is here....I'm beginning to wonder if the sun is ever going to come out...( perhaps I should think about changing the tops over to clear ones...)

Mine just started to pop yesterday. Zone 5.

:)
Hang in there!