Tomato Plants Now

Mine tomatoes finaly died when we went below 30 a couple weeks ago.
they were pretty much recovering in early October and even started fruiting again. but it got to cold to fast.
gonna try again and just hope it isn't so hot this time around.

Beleave it or not, I'll be having fresh tomatoes for Christmas dinner. They are kind of small but taste so good.

Now, how in the world did you do that? Has it been THAT warm, or was there fire involved?

I had four fall tomatoes that I kept covered the first few frosts. I had to be gone for a few days with a cold front coming in so I pulled all the mature tomatoes. I set them on a wire wrack in my old store building where it is dark and cool but will not get below freezing. They have gradually ripened. I'll get three or four a week. I've had enough to share with the kids and a few friends. What is surprizing is the taste llike they are fresh off the vine and not meally like the ones you buy in the store. I have probably forty or fifty left.

SUH-WEET!

Jim can those, I'll be making Mussel's Marinara tomorrow, then maybe some Creole Gumbo, I Love the Beefsteak's...for making homemade sauce...

Gymgirl; you mention changing tomato plants into a cool room. What good does that do if you use a light that puts heat down on the plants. I do not unstand how they would stay cool.

A brief answer the light doesn't put out that much heat. My example would be I keep my pepper and eggplant plants warm from the seed storage onward. Once they germinate the plants can be grown a little cooler but not a lot.

Tomato plants I put in my unheated garage under lights once they get their true leaves. It's about 50-60 degrees in there. It keeps the plants from getting leggy and they get a thicker stockier stem.

The ambient temp in the area where I grow my tomato plants isn't as high as the temp is where I grow peppers/eggplant, and the fluorescent lights don't make that much difference.

Nice Job 1lisac...I could use less leggy Beefsteak's... Thanks...

Thanks, 1Lisac! Been outta pocket today, gathering up seed-starting and gardening supplies via my HD gift cards!

Linda

Didn't mean to interrupt you but I figured you could fill in whatever I left out. I spent yesterday at Lowes with my gift cards. Bought some succulents that I really didn't need. Lol supposed to get cold tonight so I figured I might as well spend as much times as possible outside. I actually tossed Wildflower seeds so with a little rain maybe I'll get some blooms

I want to turn my desolate front garden (bad soil) into a wildflower and wild shrub garden. The garden is difficult for me to try and dig in so wildflowers will take the beauty to my front yard.

Hello, I am a newbie, Gymgirl, I just want to let you know I will be following and watching as you go. How far are the lights above the pots? Where do you buy your seeds ? What kind of soil should I get? Man I am full of questions, I hope you don't mind I am excited about getting started and finding a plae to teach me. I am in Zone 9 I live in Bradenton Florida. Thanks for all the info I have to get out today and gather supplies and play catch up. This site is wonderful!! Thank you. Susan

Hey, Susan, et all! Welcome Aboard!

Just an update and to answer some questions that have been posted:
►I bought seed starter and plug mix last weekend. Sunshine brand, but any good sterilized seed starter mix should work. A word of warning. I bought some kind of Professional Mix midway last season, and will never use it again -- gets hard as concrete...

►Because I'm into the "heat" thing, I did an unnecessary step. The seed starter mix could've been used "as is", but I wanted to heat it up. So, the night before sowing, I filled a 5-gallon bucket 2/3 full of the mix, poured about 2 gallons of hot water into the bucket, and covered it for the night. The mix soaked up the water, so I wouldn't have to do this in the morning and wait for it. Then, I followed my regular sterilizing process outlined in the link below. This was the unnecessary step, since the mix is already sterilized. But, I did it for the heat.

http://allthingsplants.com/blogs/entry/136/

►On Monday 01/02/12, I sowed 6 different varieties of seeds. I started with the tomato plants that have the longest DsTM (days to maturity from sowing seed), since they would be going out the earliest, and growing the longest time before fruiting.

►I totally forgot I was gonna start the seeds off in the 4" pots to avoid having to pot up all those seedlings, and sowed them in community flats! I sowed more sparingly, and spaced more evenly than I have in the past, so I wouldn't have a tangle of roots when I pot up, averaging no more than 25 seeds per tray.

►I used some cheapy, (99 cent store) aluminum bake pans that come with lids, and some kitty litter pans (also from the cheapy store...)

►I should've quickly reviewed my own blog, because I didn't tie up the ends of the bags like in the pic on the blog, so I've lost some of my built-up heat and humidity. And, I didn't put any vinyl labels inside to prop up the bags, so I have to keep propping them up (a pain).
But, they're sown, and we shall see how long it takes for them to declare. Last January they popped in 6 days...Will do better with the next wave of sowing...

►I placed the flats on the floor in the warm room as usual, and have had to crank up the heat a bit in the house to keep the ambient room temperature on the warm side (I have no clue as to how warm that room really is -- but, I've been sweating in the house...LOL!)

►I don't have the flats under the lights, yet. I put them under as soon as the first seedling pops. Some other growers start them out under the lights, and maybe I'll try an experiment with the second wave of seeds sown this weekend.

►I purchased all my tomato seeds from Tomato Growers Supply, except as noted. I'll be growing the following, based on my taste buds and my growing season:
►Kimberly
►Mule Team
►Eva Purple Ball
►Black Krim
►Costoluto Genovese (these were acquired from another DGer in a trade)
►Galina
►Perfect Purple
►Russian Rose
►Beauty (these were acquired from another DGer in a trade)
►Momotaro
►Sioux (NOT Super Sioux...)
►Virginia Sweets

SusanKC,
Thanks for the Weather Channel link. I've bookmarked it!

I continue to check the flats daily for any signs of "peeping".

Hugs!

Linda ^^_^^









This message was edited Jan 5, 2012 12:49 PM

This message was edited Jan 6, 2012 10:16 AM

GG..
" A word of warning. I bought some kind of Professional Mix midway last season, and will never use it again -- gets hard as concrete..."

I've been the victim of getting some of those bags. Ugh! Usually they are old bags that have been allowed to dry out, then they never seem to absorb water and when they do they crust up pretty badly. No fair. No fun.

You're growing a great list of tomatoes...I've tried most of them and grew some out a second time. Jealous here of your tomato starting already...will be weeks before I get that far.

By the way, since you are keeping good records now, "Days To Maturity" (DTM) varies with the type of plant. Normally plants that are started directly in the ground being the count (DTM) on the day seeded (or declared) while plants that are transplanted begin their DTM on the set-out date. With your records you may want to go with:
Date of sowing (followed by)
Date of emergence (or declared)
Date of up-potting
Date of transplant

Those little four extra notes will give an excellent record of not just the end result but of seed germination and growth.

Susan/suemomojojo, WELCOME to DG. I know your area well and used to know Bradenton like the back of my hand; now it has grown so much I'd get lost there. Parents still live in Bayshore, by the way. There are quite a few Florida growers here so be sure to quiz them on the best time for plant out in your area. Hope to see you around the site!

Shoe

Hey, Ubie!
Thanks for the tip!

Will go with the 4 points for the record-keeping, and start the DTM count from the set out date.

Also taking note of the watering/feeding schedule, and where in the yard I'm planting (sunlight patterns), and which (if any) buggies/pests I encounter and what I used as a combatant.

Linda

Sounds like a good game plan to me. Keep in mind your tree branches. I just got home from giving an estimate on a job for setting up gardens and such. They had plenty of sun now, with leaves off the trees, etc, but come growing season they'll be in the shade for sure. I think this is your first year in your new place, right? So study those trees...or do things go dormant in Texas?

Shoe

Here's my spot. It's at the south west corner of the yard. There's one "trash" tree left to come down.

better shot...

Horsehoe - Same here on it's still some weeks before we start tomatoes. Seed catalogs started showing up before Christmas. BTW - What are your favorite tomatoe?

GG - The plants look very healthy. What are you using for fertilizer?

We use a mix of some kind from a local garden center/green house. We've been buying it long enough that I don't actually know what it's called just what the bag looks like. They order it special and bag it under their name. We've never had any problems with it.

SusanKC,
I mix 9 spoons of MG Water Soluble Veggie Plant Food to 6.5 gallons of water, once a week. Then, I pour one gallon of the mix into each bucket, and water that in until I get runoff from the bottom.

I "feed weakly, weekly!"

Discovered that my MULE TEAM and BLACK KRIM seedlings have declared! Shoved 'em under the lights, immediately.

Linda

Nice looking bucket garden, GG!

If that is the southwest corner are those plants facing north?

Shoe (heading to my recliner for a snooze...back later)

Shoe,
That ladder is resting on the south fence. Not sure which way the bucket garden is facing...that fence behind the hoop runs 85' down the western boundary line.

Am I orienting the bed properly?

►When I got up this morning, the Russian Rose, Momotaro, and Virginia Sweet had popped! They're now under lights. Still waiting on the Perfect Purple.

►Seeding the remaining 6 tomato varieties and two sweet bell pepper varieties (Chinese Giant and Early Sunsation) over the weekend.

►And, have to set up the light kits in the "cool" room for after these have been potted up.

Good luck late, I am in Arlington and find growing tomatoes here pretty challenging.

well, I've got little sprouts from tomato seeds under a grow light, how tall should they get before I transplant them? I have 3" peat pots to transplant them into, then what? If I put them in a "cool room " I wont see them, and will forget about them.

The biggest one is about 2" tall and has two leaves that really look like a tomato plant. ( Planted it into a 3" pot a week ago.) This is pretty exciting!

Txcowgirl53,
It's not the height of your plants, but the number of "true" leaves they have.

Those first two little leaves are cotyledons (cottle LEE dons) or "nurse" leaves, that feed the seedling as it begins to grow the true leaves. The cotlyedons don't get counted in the sets of true leaves.

So, your target number of true leaves is 4, or two sets of leaves past the cotyledons. Once you've got two sets of true leaves, go ahead and pot 'em up.

From what I've learned on DG, peat pots are to a seedling what the iceberg was to the Titanic. The main complaints are 1) they dry out too fast and 2) the plant roots can't grow through the pot.

So, if you use them, be prepared
For frequent watering, and gently tear them open at the bottom before you transplant them.

Linda

GG I started with Peat Pot's they never breakdown in the Garden, three years ago I went to a Garden Emporium, in Philadelphia, and a Garden and Flower Show, they both showed me How to make Newspaper Seed Starter's...

I had a bad time with mold growing on mine. The peat pellets were fine, the peat pots weren't.

Interesting on the mold. We've used them a few times for flower seeds and not had any problems. We've also used the cow manure pots that are biodegradable. They worked okay also. We've talked about using the soil block makers but haven't moved towards using them yet.

Still like starting the seeds in the larger pots so that we don't have to spend our time repotting plants.

Thats why I never buy the peat pots. I always manage to rip them when they are moist, and they get mold fairly quickly.

More about damping-off fungus, for Cowgirl and anybody else...

The usual pattern when an itty-bitty seedling dies from damping-off fungus is, the stem suddenly develops a narrowing just a few millimeters above the soil line, like the proverbial "bottleneck." This narrowed-off portion may or may not also turn brown. Then the seedling topples over like a tree chopped at the base.

Alternately, the thinning may only be on one side of the little stem, in which case the seedling sort of curls over before it dies, and I think that's some kind of fungus too, but I'm not so sure.

If you ever find a seedling where all but a tiny portion of the base just up and disappears overnight, as if a miniature lumberjack had come along and harvested all the timber-- that's most likely mice, or insects such as the big cockroaches that like to set up shop in my greenhouse in the cooler times of the year.

If you start seedlings in any kind of covered tray, transparent or not, it's important that you remove the cover once the first seedlings are about half an inch tall or so. Too much humidity gives damping-off fungus just the environment it needs.

Frequent exposure to warm sunlight and dry air can help prevent damping-off fungus, or curb it once it has started.

Sprinkling the surface of your growing medium with finely-ground cinnamon is good for preventing and treating many soil-borne fungi.

One spring a few years back, I had a tray of pepper seedlings that developed a fuzzy gray mold over most of the surface of the potting soil. It didn't seem to be harming the seedlings-- yet-- but it looked awful and I sure did want to be rid of it. On the advice of gardening friends, I sprinkled it heavily with cinnamon, and at night when the greenhouse got cool I brought the tray inside to keep it warmer. The fungus went away in a couple of days.

That business about using potting "mix" instead of potting "soil" is sometimes a crucial distinction. Hyponex potting soil, for example, is horrible for starting seeds. It harbors fungus like nobody's business, and should only be used for mature plants.

The mold that developed on the peat pots didnt harm the seedlings at all. But that, and the above mentioned reasons were reason enough for me to not use them again. I havent had that problem with anyother container.

I started gardening last spring. To say it is addicting is just silly. I think hard drugs or alcohol would be less addicting! I am going to go with some heirloom black krims this season, in addition to the beefsteak and grape-size. I do not like raw tomatoes, but rest of the family including dog do!!

Oh yes, on the peat pots requiring frequent watering. No mold so far. I moved some to 3" plastic pots and they are doing better than the ones in the peat pots. I am totally hooked!! To see a plant from what was a tiny seed, it's awesome. Even more awesome will be eating the tomatoes!! I love raw tomatoes!!

Interesting on the cinnamon to prevent mold, it is useful for alot of things, besides cinnamon toast!

My poor tomatoe seedlings are sad. They sprouted very good. I had them seeded in Miracle Mix, but after they had their 2 baby leaves, I moved them next to a window in another room. They are not developing their first true leaves. So I have moved them back under the flouresent light in the warm room.Its been about 3 weeks since they sprouted, & they still don't have their true leaves. What am I doing wrong?

They probably are recovering from a little shock. Check to see if there was a draft near that window. Did you notice the leaves beginning to turn purple? Damp and drafty/cold will do it every time.

Now that you've moved them again, they're having to adjust again. Water them very moderately, and keep them warm for now.

Give them some time to decide if they want to live or die...

Linda

I'd keep them under lights even with true leaves and make sure they are warm.

The temperature of the soil or air is probably too low for the tomatoes. What we've seen is that the tomato development stops when the temps are too low.

I've been consolidating some growing information on veggies and flowers to get ready for this season. Here's what I have for tomatoes.

Germination temp (soil): 75 to 80 degF
Optimal growth temp: 60-70 degF
Minimum with stand temp: 45 degF

Comments: Water seedlings with a high phosphorus or fish emulsion fertilizer. Too much nitrogen causes rampant growth and possible fruit rot. Water evenly and consistently.