seedlings & hydroponics experiment

Yep smart goats. LOL!!!!!
Well now If we would just get that much snow we would have caught up to what we usually have by now. Really we are only around 10" shy. from normal this year.
Got the plant stand in the kitchen, finaly getting things arranged. the lights hung back up.
Still have some cleaning up to take care of. It is a start though. Some of the sweet potatoes are starting to sprout, so I need to get some going. I want to be sure and have enough to take along to the RU. as well as for myself I have that order for those other sweet taders. I don't expect that to come in untill around the 10th of May. and as you know I have some of those promised. Guess I will have to have 3 seperate spots for the different varieties. It will be a good test, seeing which ones I like the best. I doubt that the flavor will differ. I'm thinking of the space used and the preformance of each variety.
Russ

Lena: yep, good to hear from you. We've got alot of new folks posting on several different threads. Hurry up and get back to your garden, especially those home-grown tomatoes!

Kent

Hello again, and Hi woofie :)

Wow look at all that snow!!! Our snow is all gone by now, just a few dirty leftover piles of rubble remain, in the corners of parking lots and on roadsides etc. No fun there. Im getting well used to the cold by now, my NZ summer tan is fading fast. Bangkok will be a nice climate shock, we spend a few days there before heading home.

Jeanette: I think I will have more tomatoes than I can cope with when I get back! Jarrod is welcome to eat whatever he can manage. Hes shared a few with some of our friends, and taken some to my elderly neighbour as I asked him to. Maybe he will give me a hand with some of the canning and preserving too... he is a chef by trade after all, well used to kitchen work. Heres hoping. The preserving season will go on until April. Ahhh cant wait to get home.

I brought some cute looking little mini romas at the supermarket last night, I just couldnt resist. What a disapointment. Bitter and dry with a nasty after taste. I didnt even pick up a 2nd. I generally dont buy tomatoes out of season. I mainly just eat my own as long as ive got them. I was quickly reminded why I grow my own seasonal vegetables, and stick to them. Imported out of season produce is so tasteless.

Kent: Im hurrying Im hurrying! Nice to hear from you too :)

Lena

Oh my Lena, you have me drooling for fresh tomatoes....and mine are all still in their seed packets. I have a feeling my tomatoes will be getting started a little earlier this year! :-)

I think I may start 3 or 4 tomatoes early too. Maybe even this next week. See how big I can get them. before putting them in the garden.
I plan to use a row cover this spring. and see if I can push a few plants a little.
Lena is just making us itch for fresh maters.
Russ

You know Russ, my sister has a greenhouse and she has a set date that she starts hers, a set date that she repots them, another for repotting again, and another for potting out in the garden. By the time she puts them in the garden they are still in gallon pots and have tomatoes on them. BUT, her gh is so full of huge tomatoes by that time that you can't get in there. She normally plants 40 or more.

But she does all of the things above at the same dates every year.

She tries all kinds, and each year she makes a note of the best of the new ones. Pretty soon she will have it pretty refined. She gives tomatoes away, makes so much sauce and cans a lot.

Jeanette

So, Jeanette, whereabouts does your sister live? Is she in our area?

Jeanette; I guess If I had a good green house, I would probably do pretty close to the same thing. Although I'm not too sure about letting them get that big, before putting them in the garden. I'm thinking they might suffer more of a shock and set back when they are that big.
But then I don't know that for sure.
I think all together, I had around 30 tomato plants. I really didn't count.
Anyway I just started a 6 pack tonight, with 3 of the box car willie, 3 Mule team, and three Giant beef.
I think I did in the cucumbers when I tried to transplant them.
I didn't use all the seeds though so I will try again. This time I will try starting them in their pots in the fish tank.
Russ

It doesn't seem to bother them Russ. It is still pretty cool and she puts Remay over them to keep the frost off. If you like sauces and pastes Marzanoes are really neat for that.

You too? I lost both of my cucumbers.

Yes, Woofie, my sister lives about 5 miles from me. She does heat her gh. In the winter tho she only has it warm enough to keep things from freezing. Then when she starts planting seeds, especially tomatoes, she turns it warmer.

Jeanette

It doesn't seem to bother them Russ. It is still pretty cool and she puts Remay over them to keep the frost off. If you like sauces and pastes Marzanoes are really neat for that.

You too? I lost both of my cucumbers.

Yes, Woofie, my sister lives about 5 miles from me. She does heat her gh. In the winter tho she only has it warm enough to keep things from freezing. Then when she starts planting seeds, especially tomatoes, she turns it warmer.

She has tons of tomatoes and in early July. She doesn't use strawbales tho. She really works her soil with a lot of manure etc.

Jeanette

I'm doing my tomatoes in earthboxes. I've had really good results with the tomatoes in EBs. Last year I put some in just regular containers and the others in EBs and the difference was truly amazing. Same varieties, too, and in the same area in the garden. I want to try the strawbales for morning glories and melons.

EBs are good Woofie. I used one one year and then gave it to my daughter. She liked it so well she bought a lot of them. Now, after 3 years I don't know if she uses them at all. I'll have to ask her.

Jeanette

Hmmm, if she's not using them, maybe we can negotiate?

I'll ask her. Jeanette

Jeanette;
Just for the fun of it, I am starting some of the tomato seeds that I saved.
So far 2 of the Giant Beef have sprouted. I think though that I will have to put ( plastic ) around my plant stand. as I am letting the room temp drop below 60 at night. I laid a thermometer on the kitty litter and it reads 80F. But the water in the starter tray isn't that warm. A couple of the sweet potatoes are starting to sprout but not with any vigor, due to the drop in temperature every night. If I put plastic around the plant stand , I will have a uniform temp and humidity. and they will really take off. that will give me two and a half months to start a bunch of the S/Ps for the IA RU. Just wanted to let you know that the tomato seeds are doing what they are supposed to do.
Let me know when you start yours, and how they do.
Russ

Russ, what are you starting your tomato seeds in? I have one that I started in potting mix in the nutrients that is doing good. But, I put a second one in there yesterday and it was too little. I should have waited until it was bigger. It might have gotten too cold for it last night 'cause it shriveled up. It looked good when I went to bed. But sure wasn't this morning.

I thought you were going to the city today. Or did you go and back already? How far is it? Did you get all your stuff?

Jeanette

Jeanette;
I was mistaken on today. It is tomorrow, that Barb has an appointment. So we will combine that with stocking up on groc. and hair cuts.
All in one trip. I hope to get some of the baked clay pellets too. I haven't checked in the City yet, that is on the list for tomorrow too.
If I don't find any I may try the small volcanic rock with some Perle lite.
I filled the day up with repairing part of the lift linkage on Garys snow blower. I used it yesterday as I wasn't able to get my skid loader started. The battery was clear dead. It took nearly all day to get it to charge up to full charge. It was to be warmer today, so I waited to put the battery back in. It fired right up. It should be all ready for the snow storm that is supposed to hit tomorrow. Discovered that that part had broken on his snow blower, so today I did a welding job. It is welded better now than the tack weld that was originally done.
I have one from you in the fish tank, that is just holding it's own. I still don't have a heater for it yet. That one is in a coarse oil dry, ( kitty litter)

The new ones are in potting soil with the six pac setting in water. in a flat tray. I have bottom heat for those. Was curious so just went in kitchen to check. I have tomatoes in 4 of the little cubes. So I took the cover off, as it was just some cling wrap and the tomatoes were touching it.
It isn't that far to the city, 25 miles. We just have to conserve as much as possible when it comes to having to fill the gas tank. One of our friends filled his pickup yesterday $70.00 and it wasn't even down to the 1/4 mark yet.

Russ

I sure hear you there Russ. It costs almost that to fill the Jeep. We are doing the same tomorrow. Haircuts, groceries, driver's license renewal, etc. But our "city" is 40 miles. We go in to "town" several times a week which is 14 miles but that is where we get the mail.

Your tomatoes sound good. Guess I had better get some more going since I killed all but one.

Jeanette