Tomatoes are up

Well, I'm officially into gardening mode for the season. It's been unseasonably warm this spring and my tulips, crocuses, and daffodils are getting close to putting out flowers already! I actually had to water them last night because they were drying out with the higher temperatures and full sun.
My pansies, petunias, tomatoes and basil are officially all up! The pansies and petunias are just a pair of tiny leaves and aren't much to look at, but they will get there. The basil is pretty small as well, but the tomatoes are really going for it!

Veggie starters: (Left to right) Green peppers, Basil, Jalapeno and yellow peppers, tomatoes.


I remembered that last year one of my biggest frustrations was getting my peppers acclimated to the sun. If you grow plants under grow lights you need to slowly adjust them to the sun or they will die immediately from the intense UV. I read on a gardening blog that as long as it's a bit above freezing, you can start putting your plants out for a little bit at a time so they begin to adjust early. If you start this really early, it makes the adjustment easier (or so they say). So last night I put the entire tray of veggie starters out for half an hour in the evening sun at around +12 degrees. There was a light breeze, which will also help to strengthen their stems. As you can see on the right of the photo, the tomato starters are doing well and will be getting their first true leaves soon. The pepper plants already have their first pair of true leaves well under way.
hopefully I can put them out for another half hour here and there over the weekend so that they start to develop a UV tolerance early on.