Tomato Trial: Getting Started

Review Growing Great Tomatoes before planting your seedlings.
Harden off your seedlings
- Hardening off means gradually acclimating plants to outdoor conditions for 4–7 days before transplanting.
- Start by placing the plants in a sheltered location like a covered patio. Then expose the young plants to an increasing number of hours of outdoor sunlight until they tolerate at least 6 hours of outdoor conditions.
When you plant your tomatoes, be sure they are clearly labeled.
Tip: Punch a hole in the plant tag and hang it on the tomato cage at eye level for easy reference.

Using SeedLinked

We will schedule a webinar to demonstrate SeedLinked and answer questions about how to use it.

Log into SeedLinked, either online or on the smartphone app. (Note that the app is great for reporting directly from the garden, but it's a bit easier to see and get familiar with the options by looking at the online version.)
Select this year's Master Gardener Tomato Trial.
Click the ‘Review’ button to enter planting dates or ratings.
- Enter the planting date: February 28. That's the date all of the seedlings were started.
- Enter the date when you transplant your seedling(s) into your garden or containers.
- Later in the season, enter the date you pick your first ripe tomato.
- Rate your plant and tomatoes on various criteria like blossom end rot or flavor.
- Upload photos and add comments.
Participate in the discussion forum
If your seedlings don't make it for some reason (we understand, we've all had plants die), you can click the icon marked 'Report failure' and optionally add a comment to explain what happened (irrigation failure, stem broke, early disease, etc.)
At the end of the season, we will prompt everyone to finish their reports and press ‘Submit my Reviews’/’Complete Trial’ to finalize and submit your results.

Once you’ve completed a trial you’ll be able to see results.

Have questions or comments? Email us