I'm going to plant tomatoes from seed this year rather than buy plants. I'd also like to have them ready by the middle of July which is about 6 weeks earlier then usual (I live in Massachusetts). My plan is to start them indoors in peat pots and then start transplanting in late April. I'll put a few plants in the ground each week until the danger of frost has passed, I figure I'll have a massive surplus of plants so I can afford to waste some, if the earliest get killed I'll just replace them. My question is how many weeks before I do my first planting should I start the seeds? Should I stagger when I put the seeds in pots or can I just let some of the plants stay in pots for an extra month?
BTW I've decided to do all heirlooms this year, mostly Russian varieties like the Paul Robeson (I couldn't resist this, I figured if I was going to plant Russian tomatoes they might as well be commie tomatoes), Orange Russian and the Alaska (Aljaska). Anyone have any experience with these varieties?