Super newbie... tomato seeds or plants/sets?

Hello, my name is Catherine, and I'm a veggie newbie :) . I am in zone 8, and will be starting my veggie/herb raised bed garden this weekend (well, DH will be building the bed for me...hehe). My question is about tomatoes. I plan on growing a few things to start, one being Roma tomatoes (I love to make sauce). It seems as though there is quite a process for starting seeds. I am a little short on time currently, I have a 10 month old son. Since I am starting from bare nothing, should I just use little plants this year to keep from over-burdening myself? Or are they a waste of money? I have seeds already, and it appears I will need to start them in the next few weeks if I go that route. TY so much for your help!!

Wow. It sounds like you're already pretty busy. You may want to go for transplants. I'm going to grow from seed this year so I can have some different types but the transplants have worked really well for me in the past. Just be careful to get healthy plants.

Since you are new to veg gardening why don't you try a few seeds and several transplants. There is a world of knowledge to be gained from doing both.

Good Luck and Happy Gardening,

Jerry

Having young kids, I know how much work it can be. You can try seeds as others suggested..but get some transplants for back up. But if you feel pressed for time...get the transplants. You can buy small ones for pretty cheap. And Roma is one you'll find anywhere. Seeds become beneficial when you want a unique variety that you can't find elsewhere...or when you plant a whole lot of tomatoes.

However tomato seeds are soooo easy. You'll need light, soil and a pot...and water. Other than that, you're good to go!

Good luck!
Ruth

Seeds aren't that difficult, there's loads of informartion out there to help, or if you need personal advice just ask one of us. Keep in mind that seeds require 6-8 weeks lead time until transplant. Lets face it, you've already got the seeds so why not just wing it, win or lose. If something screws up you can always buy transplants at the garden center later if necessary.

Good luck and happy gardening!

Al

Definitely plants.

That is, if you have time and you have the seeds already, go ahead and grow the seeds for the experience, because the variety of tomatoes that you can get as plants is usually very limited, and someday you'll want to be able to choose from the huge variety available by seed. So it's probably worth it for the experience, and if you happen to come out of the process with some nice healthy transplants, yay!

But for this year? Definitely plan on plants at least as a contingency, because growing a tomato plant from a seed to nice big stocky transplant is a process that can fail in many ways. :)

Burnet

Id do both, that way you will get tomato earlier from your starter plants and seeds will give you fun and experience for growing other things from seeds, they are not difficult, just dont grow too many seeds in the one pot, about 6 of each variety will give you a good start, dont let the pot soil get too wet or you will cause the tiny seedlings to fall over and die, but once the seedlings get 2 sets of true leaves, you then transplant them into larger pots individually, (handle the tiny seedlings by their leaves not the stems or you will harm them and they will struggle) then wait till the seedlings are large enough to go outside into your new beds (with lots of added compost added to help hold moisture) you starter plants should be quite large by this time and you own grown ones will give you a longer season of delicious tomato's so good luck, have fun and enjoy. WeeNel.