Does anyone know a weather internet site that I can go to that will give me moment by moment weather info in my area? My home page is supposed to do this but it has the high and lo instead and today I took the mean of the 2 and it was the low. I think I hurt some of my babies. Also; has anyone in my zone planted eggplant seeds and pepper seeds yet? How long from planting seeds on eggplants and peppers in seed starter kits to transferring to EBs?
joy
My tomatoes and questions here
Joy, have you tried this one? Near the bottom of the "current weather conditions" box on the top left, there is a link for weather history. At the bottom of that page is a list of the temps for the day. I think it is updated hourly.
This is for your city....
http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=32531
Thanks will try that one and install the themometer this morning, of course, there is frost on my car windows so it's cold today (groan).
joy
Glad to share the link. I saw where you were colder than me this morning. Pretty strange weather patterns.
Yes and the link works great, gives me hourly temps. The problem with this part of FL is we get thunderstorms that last for 3 days and weeks sometimes and we got a 3 dayer coming up. I don't know what to do, as can't put the plants out can I? Don't have enough lighting for them all inside either. I also overfertilized them, but think it might be ok, as I poured water in the trays right after I realized it. The ones that make it will be ready for anything this cruel world can throw at them as usual in my tomatoes' cases right? LOL Better be careful, I'll get arrested for tomato plant abuse soon.
joy
Joy,
I WSed my bell pepper seedlings on January 16th in milk jugs and kept them inside. They germinated in 9 days. Go look at the Bells and Eggplants thread I started here for the progress. My bell pepper seedlings are 8" as of last night. I've had them under my shop fluorescent light (only turned on at night from 6p-7a). I up potted about 2 weeks ago to16 oz. red solo cups, and am toying with starting to harden them off this weekend.
My plan is to set the cups in a sterilite container with a lid, drilled with drainage holes top and bottom. This way, I can easily move them all at once or cover the entire container over with blankets at night if the temps drop. Go find the thread and read!
I sowed seeds in milk jugs for 3 varieties of eggplants this past Saturday. The jugs are outside where they'll stay until the seedlings come up when it's hot enough. Which will be sooner than later, since the jugs will hold some heat from the sunshine.
Linda
Linda: Yes, I will definately have to take a look at that thread. I'm a bit timid to plant them yet; as they are fussier about the warmth than the tomatoes are, I was thinking next week though might be okay. I have 3 types of eggplants: FL Highbush, Black Beauty and Lavender Touch and only one pepper, Chocolate. The other peppers are coming from RH Shumways.
joy
IMO, the best weather site is http://www.intellicast.com
Here's Crestview's page Joy..... http://www.intellicast.com/Local/Weather.aspx?location=USFL0096
With it's interactive(wxMap), minute to minute storm monitoring, alert levels, etc. More than enough weather info than one would ever need.
During storms, I locate and zoom in on my house using the wxMap. Great way to see which storm cells are gonna affect me.
This message was edited Mar 5, 2010 12:43 PM
Ray: Thanks, some of my tomato babies are looking a bit dreary, I don't know if it was because I let them get too cold or because I overfertilized them. I mixed my fertilizer (1 T instead of 1 tsp), when I discovered what I had done I quickly added water to the tray; but about 10 are looking kind of sickly. I just got in from watering all my strawberries, onions and potatoes and was wondering when my potatoes will sprout. I cut the tubers, let them callous over, then planted them in smart pot containers on the 23rd of Feb and have not seen any sprouts yet? When does that happen? My first time with potatoes. LOL
I will be planting up 50 more tomatoes to add to the surviving ones I have now and some FL Highbush Eggplant, Black Beauty Eggplant and Lavender Touch Eggplant along with chocolate bell peppers next week though.
joy
How old are your tomato seedlings? I don't fertilize until around week 4-5, when they have at least their 3rd set of leaves(during potting up). Even then, I only lightly dust the tops of the 3" pots with granular 4-5-3 fert. I'm using potting soil and you are using coir. Two different requirements, so I'm probably not much help :) Just know, there will be casualties with seedlings no matter what you do. So if it's only a few plants, I wouldn't worry much about it. As the old saying goes about fertilizer usage...."Less is more".
Didn't you just pot up? If so, some plants will look a little droopy/grumpy for a bit after transplant. I lost 4 out of the first 72 transplants. They just weren't happy and they wanted to wilt, turn purple and die. I was glad :)
RE: Potatoes - They do take awhile to sprout. Mine took 2-3 weeks to pop through the ground....maybe even longer. Give'm some time....just don't keep them soggy.
Ray: Eeks, we are expecting 3 days of rain, so worried bout my potatoes, as far as my tomatoes, I am taking good advice that was given to me, and that is : if I leave them outside and it might rain, put a clear sterlite container punched with holes over them. I can weight the container down in case of severe thunder storms too.
Hopefully, I won't have too many bad mishaps, as I had wanted to plant at least 2 of each variety I planted in tomatoes, and I only have one good Mortgage Lifter left and one good Delicious left and 3 Beefsteak bushes. I'm hoping some of the so-so's perk up who knows right?
joy
Maybe you can set them under a table or something to prevent them from getting hit by the heavy rain? We are going to have the same weather down here starting right now. It is windy and wet today and expect the same tomorrow. I have Direct TV and just hit the active button and get my up to date forecast for five days.
TPlant: Finally, the days are now in the 70's and the nights no lower than 40!!!!! I'm going to start leaving the first wave outside starting tomorrow night, and the second wave is ready for under the lights except the Abraham Lincoln ones, they haven't all sprouted yet, just one????
The second of Bob's seed starter kits have a mixture of 3 types of eggplants, chocolate bell peppers and some more tomatoes and were only 3 days behind the ones I want to get under the lights. I'm rushing to get everything done around here for Spring. Ahhh, Spring is finally in the air!
joy
I put all of my heirloom tomatoes out on a beautiful day last Saturday and then the wind started. All of the leaves except for the top ones have been ripped off. They were staked in my EBs. I think they will still be OK and thankfully I have some extras. I never thought we'd see a spring like this one. it sure has kept us guessing.
Mine went out in the EB's as well. Ditto with the wind. They seem fine, and they are sure enjoying the sun. I found 14 varities of seeds I had misplaced. Maybe to late to even think about it, but I started some of each today. Heck, the seedlings in the 8 packs at HD wee tiny the other day. Mine wont be far behind.
Here is my weather forecast for the next 10 days:
Thurs showers and cloudy all day long
Friday the temps are 68 during the day, 41 evening
Saturday, the temps are 73 day; 52 night
Sunday we have Thunderstorms coming and 65 during the day with a 36 degree at night
Monday 65 during the day, 36 at night
Tues is 67 during the day, 45 at night; sunny all day long
Weds 70 during the day 47 at night and sunny all day long
Thursday 71 during the day with 48 at night
Friday we get showers with 72 during the day and 47 at night.
Now, our showers are really downpours here, my babies are out right now in the showers. But, later today, they are coming in because it will be showers all day and cloudy all day long. I will put them back out Friday morning where they will stay still Sunday, then I will rescue them from the thunderstorms and the chilly weather forecast for Sunday and Monday. Back out on Tuesday they go and then they will stay out til Thursday, then it depends on how well they have fared thus far as to if I leave them out in the showers forecast for the rest of the week.
Then I might plant them in the E bucket permanently after that.
joy
Me too! Even though I'm way down south we are having the "no gardening weather>" Constant rain today. I wanted to set the SBs with my melon seeds today but maybe tomorrow.
It's supposed to be rainy most the week. I went to Publix today to pick up my fresh ground horseradish for my corned beef, as all the other groceries have that smooth stuff, and you gotta have the fresh coarse ground, I passed the $12.99 tomato plants I've been hearing about on the way into the store, by the time I got home I was nearly in tears. The plants Publix had only needed bees, I mean them babies were 3 and 4 ft tall already. I came home stepped on the deck and told my babies, get growing or I'm swapping you out for them at Publix! Those bad boys had blooms already. But, I was told that since they had blooms they probably wouldn't do well, and the blooms would fall off as it is still not warm enough for them to produce tomatoes yet. Man, talk about up in your face though right?
joy
We have all been passing those plants. Besides big, they are so darned green. I told myself they had to be a generic, tasteless early variety and that I was not going to get 13 bucks worth of tomatoes. Part true, part not, but with the cool nights still, ours will produce just as soon. Yep, keep telling myself that. ;-)
garden glory: Makes ya want to cry doesn't it? I'm trying something new this year, it's called the gulf course treatment and it has a year guarantee, it's where there is a layer put down on the ground, you have to water it for it a week; but, it keeps any bugs that are in the ground from coming up out of the ground. I figure since my plants are all in containers, and most the bugs I have problems with are in the ground, I will have half the battle won. When that is done up goes my self staking system for my bucket rows and EB and GP platforms. Bob the Builder (me) has been a busy beaver lately. LOL I bought ten 1"x4"x16' pieces of weather treated lumber, to make 4 pieces that will be 2 1/2' wide x 16' long, after screwing them together with my drill, I will then attatch stakes, that I have taken 2 and screwed together to make one, and space about 4 on each side, then tie twine between the stakes, bingo automatic staking system for the maters, peppers and eggplants. I will be placing my buckets 2 ft apart in a row of 10 per row, making 4 rows for 40 buckets, and spacing 3 ft between rows for walking down each row.
joy
joy
My Publix had them also but some plants had the TYLCV virus or whatever you call it. I feel sorry for the people that already bought them. They were 3-4' high at least and must have been greenhouse raised. The good ones are big enough to produce tomatos in a month or so, so if need be I'd buy them but $14.00 ??? WOW!
TPlant: And they all seem to be one kind too. I got a variety this year, of course, my neighbor thinks that is hilarious everytime I say that as he says when it comes time to harvest them all, I won't know which is which anyways.
joy
I noticed they were not named? Don't even know what variety they were?
I have 22 varieties this year to go in my garden, I figure I will have about 3 of each. I am going to be building the self staking system for them this week and on Good Friday or thereabouts it should be safe to put them into the self watering buckets. Problem is, I'm growing corn also and need to figure out how far I need to keep the tomatoes from the corn, so I can decide where the staking system and tomatoes go.
We got some thunderstorms and chilly weather, so in the house came the maters for a day or two.
joy
Joy, since they are growing in separate containers. It really doesn't matters how close they are. Just as long as one isn't shading the other from sun.
Ray: most of mine are the beefsteak type, so they need room to branch out a bit, hence each plant will have at least 2 ft all way around the bucket. We aren't planting out in the containers here until after Good Friday, I might get anxious and try a few after this weekend, as I will have 60 to plant out, and the staking system will be done this weekend and if it gets chilly, I can throw a sheet or blanket over the staking system to cover the tomatoes up.
I am running out of compost tea bags though, just one left now, and I've been using them to expand my coir with, thinking about using some leftover black kow, like putting some in a stocking and bringing it to a boil and letting it steep like the tea bags instead????
joy
Oh Joy!! Don't do that as the stench will chase you into another county! LOL
TPlant: Yep, my daughter is ready to throw me out already, even though it's my house. LOL We are like the odd couple with her being Felix and me Oscar, I make a mess with the coir and my planting and she almost has a heart attack each time I pot my maters up in the house. I plant out 14 tomatoes this weekend in the ebuckets, my staking system should be done Sunday, will take pics and show everyone. This staking system will be permanent and will be reuseable year after year. I also have about 17 five gallon grow bags from Bob, that my coir came in and since they did well last Spring/Summer in the five gallon grow bags, I might plant any that don't get given away and wind up being extras in those five gallon grow bags. My Burpees order will be around the 31st through the 7th and my Shumway order on the 15th. Burpees is sending me 3 Big Pink's, 3 Portherhouse Beefsteaks', 3 SuperSteaks and 3 Health Kicks and of course from Shumways' I'm getting 16 brandywines and 16 bell peppers (4 varities). A friend is also giving me a Black Krim.
TPlant have you ever grown Pink Caspian before? It's supposed to be a lot like the Brandy wine; but the tomatoes are so heavy that the branches are pulled to the ground and sprawl else your fruit come off the branches? Any suggestions here?
joy
Nope! But that sounds like my type of a challenge and you know what? I have about a dozen of Bob's five gallon bags so I can grow extra if I'm up to it. Thanks Joy! I forgot all about those bags as they do work wonderfully. As good as an EB only one plant to the bag. TERRIFFFIIICCC!
TPlant: My tomatoes did really well in the bags last time, so I was elated when I realized how many I actually had when I realized how many tomatoes I had actually started. LOL I had gotten 20 of the 1020 trays that I was sitting my 1 gallon grow bags in so they could bottom feed and am using Bob's fertilizer to bottom feed them, just like I did last Spring/Summer. Now here is my thoughts, I have some specialty tomatoes coming from Burpees and Shumways, I can reserve some of the bags for them, use the same table I did last Spring and Summer, use the trays to bottom feed them Bob's fertilizer and also am working out a special staking system for them where I use the vine clips instead of the stakes, just gotta iron out the wrinkles. LOL
joy