(No one has responded to my posts, so I thought I'd see if I had anything useful to respond to others that hadn't been answered)

My sources, and I follow them, say to start them indoors 6 weeks before the last frost date. (which means you're a bit late, but so is spring, I just sowed my babes today) Start them in wee beds, one per bed, keep sunlight or a heat lamp on them (watered and loved of course) until the sprouts are 2 inches tall - then transfer them, with care, into individual pots (not too big). Not sure how many times to transplant them if you're dealing with pots... I'm transfering my sprouts from the beds to the earth.

You are late for sowing them yourself indoors. Tomatoes are a full season plant that you want to be on time with to maximize your output before the first frost of Winter. Fear not, you should have a good local gardener's market, green house, or the like to buy tomatoe "starts". I suggest you find a local individual who is in the business of growing starts as their personal care and attention to the starts is what you will want. (Avoid tomatoes sitting outside of a large grocery store) You will want to check your starts for bugs and the formation of the roots for "rounding" before you buy them. To do this, take the plant out of the container and look at the soil ball; the roots should be finely threading through the entire ball holding it all together nicely; if the roots are wrapping around the root ball this is called "rounding" and can stunt the growth when you transplant them into your pots. A great thing about tomatoes is that they can be planted deeply into the soil and the hairs on the stem will actually become roots; the stronger roots system will develope a healthier plant. so clip off all but the top set of leaves and plant the entire tomatoe, even if you have to lay the stem down on its side. I water in all transplants, water agin when needed, then I let the soil get fully dry(under watchful eye) this forces the roots to shoot out in search of water and creates those fine root hairs I spoke of.

Tomatoes need a great soil to grow and have a good taste (supposedly?) in Pots, look into soil amendments and "capitol G" growing. There are other discussions going on potting tomatoes, particularly trying to determine the appropriate size of the container the toms need to veg (bloom) in. Rodales press for books, and your local extension service for local times for planting and soil details are great references. Good luck, Hope o hear fom you again. madmark