Tomatoes Started From Seeds! - Now Saving For EBs =)

Happy New Year, everyone! I started my tomato seeds last night, and here's my list. I'm so excited because this is my first year starting tomatoes from seeds (2nd year growing them). From growing four (4) heirloom varieties last year, my list now is up to thirty-four (34). These are the ones from seeds, and the rest are coming from Laurel's and a few (gifts) from Territorial Seed Co.

1. Aunt Ruby’s German Green
2. Black Zebra
3. Climbing Trip-L-Crop
4. Copia
5. Cherokee Chocolate
6. Dixie Golden Giant
7. Giant Belgium
8. Mortgage Lifter
9. Nyagous
10. Kellogg’s Breakfast
11. Paul Robeson
12. Sprite

I think EBs make great Valentine's Day presents =).

I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Sincerely,

Annapet

This message was edited Jan 11, 2009 2:44 PM

Moonglow: Me thinks you will have some tomatoes this Spring/Summer. LOL
joy112854

Looks like it, Joy. We have been having unusually warm winter days, almost spring-like. 47.14% germination rate already. I plan on growing two (2) each.

Moonglow: I have so many different kinds of tomatoes to plant this year. Am looking forward to it.
joy112854

Moonglow, You have some interesting varieties. Your are going to have a lot of fun.

Here is a list of what I seeded today:

Pepper Seed - Marconi Red
Pepper Seed - Shepard’s Ramshorn
Pepper Seed - Fooled You Jalapeño
Pepper Seed - Tam Jalapeño
Pepper Seed - Sweet Tollie’s

Broccoli - Green Goliath
Hybrid Broccoli, Green Magic F1

Basil

Tomato Seed - Red Short Vine BHN-444 F1
Tomato Seed - Sweet 100
Tomato Seed - Amish Paste
Tomato Seed - Arkansas Traveler
Tomato Seed - Chocolate Cherry
Tomato Seed - Roma
Tomato Seed - Treated Porter Improved
Tomato Seed - Brandysweet Plumb
Tomato Seed - Health Kick Tomato
Tomato Seed - Opalka
Tomato Seed - JD’s Special C-Tex
Tomato Seed - Mountain Glory
Tomato Seed - Chappy XLRed 2007
Tomato Seed - Park’s Glory Great Red
Tomato Seed - Top Gun Sm Bush Big Red
Tomato Seed - Chello Yellow/Gold ¾” Rd Chry
Tomato Seed - Sugar Lump Gardener’s Dlight
Tomato Seed - Indian Stripe 2008
Tomato Seed - Brenda Jean Red Chrry 2006


Joy,

Yesterday when I hydrated my Jiffy peat pellet seed starter kits, I remembered your saying how the seed grew mold. I followed the directions, but I noticed after I drained out the excess water that there were still sparkling water spots embedded throughout the expanded peat pellets. They also seemed soggy looking. With a pair of large tweezers I opened the netting around the top per the instructions and gently fluffed the peat a little. Rather than planting immediately I decided to leave the top off and wait until today to plant. That was a right decision because today the peat was just right for planting. I am still going to keep an eye on the plastic cover and if too much water droplets accumulate I'm going to vent it to let some of that moisture evaporate.

Texasrock: Yes, unfortunately, only about 8 of the cabbages made it when I smuggled them down in my luggage to Mike. I won't use peat pellets again, not if I'm depending on having veggies. I intend to use nothing but Bob's coconut coir seed starting kit and the Park's Bio Dome kit, if it ever gets here, still haven't received it yet; and getting mighty nervous about that. Looks like you are planting your share of tomatoes too this year. LOL

I ordered some stuff that is on back order from Jung's, my bunch onion plants - red candy apples and my 3 dwarf canna lucifer bulbs and my coneflower white swan seeds are on backorder. I know nothing about onions, since they are a bunch, what does that mean? Do they go right into the EB?
joy112854

I think of bunching or green onions as either multiplying or not, but neither are grown for the bulbs. My grandfather and my parents had multiplying onion in the garden. They were slender and white that grew together in clusters. They were not held together with an outer skin like garlic. Also, these are not the ones that form tiny bulblets at the top of a bloom stem.

There are also some non-bulbing onions that grow stand alone which are harvested as slender white onions about the size of your finger. After they are pulled they are put together in small bunched and held with a rubber band, thus the "bunching onions".

I can see no reason they would [edit to add "not"] grow in your EBs. Onions are heavy nitrogen feeders.

This message was edited Jan 15, 2009 9:14 AM

Texasrockgarden: So; I should or shouldn't plant the onions in the EBs? And what does that mean heavy nitrogen users, does that mean I should use Colorburst plant fertilizer, like I do with corn, it's 15-30-15.
I heard there were 50-75 in a bunch, how many EBs will I need for that many?
joy112854

I should have said , "I can see no reason why they would not grow in your EBs." I left out the "not". My bad.

Understand that I own no EBs nor have I ever grown anything in them. Maybe BocoBob or Tplant can offer some advise about growing the bunching onions in an EB or some other container.

If I were to grow non-multiplying green onions in a container, I would plant then about 1 & 1/2" inches apart in all directions and make sure they were well fed, but don't over do it, else, you will burn them.

If I were to grow multiplying green onions in a container, I would plant then about 3" inches apart in all directions because they multiply from the base or roots and then make sure they were well fed, but again, don't over do it, else, you will burn them.

I understand the EBs have fertilizer applied in a strip either down the center or along one side. It may not be a good idea to plant on top of that strip for fear of burning the roots of your plants. Maybe BocoBob and Tplant can offer some advise on how to plant bunching onions in a container.

I am growing bulbing Granex onions I bought as plants in 2 EB's planted in three rows 3 inches apart and not using the plastic mulch cover. I am top spraying water/nutrient with 2 Aqua Turret sprayers connected to micro tubing.

BocaBob

moonglow....In 2007, I compared Nyagous with Carbon and Noire De Crimée. 3 plants of each. Nyagous was much more productive than the other two. Of about 30 cultivars that year, nyagous outproduced all others. Very uniform, blemish-free fruit too:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/163420/

2007 was the best year for growing tomatoes in CT in a long time. Sunny days and temps around 80 in late May and early June bulked up the foliage. . Dry weather minimized disease. Cooler temps at the end of June and early July led to great fruit set. Then it was dry and in the low 80s in August for ripening. I wonder if black tomatoes do not develop taste under those cirumstances as all three of mine were bland.

Read many reviews of these cultivars and I do not see anyone else saying this. Everyone likes them. I'm convinced if 2007 weather was not the factor, something else specific to my garden led to a great crop but little taste. I should have tried them again in 2008 but got sidetracked into new cultivars. Maybe this year and nyagous will be the one.

2007 worked out well in the end as the three black tomatoes were wonderful roasted--better than the others. Roasting brought out the flavor.

Boca Bob: So; I can plant the onions in 3 rows and 3 inches apart in the EB? Where would I put the fertilizer and should I use the same fertilizer I'm using for my corn, or the 13-13-13 or some 10-10-10?
joy112854

Hello, everyone! Thanks for coming by.

David_Paul, I remember your photo of "Nyagous" and comment on my blog. Your photo is the inspiration behind growing "Nyagous" this year in my garden. I'm especially excited now that as of yesterday, I'm 4 of 5 on that variety.

I have to read up on when to remove the dome and put the tray under lights. I'm afraid my seedlings will get leggy.

texasrockgarden, looking forward to your photos. I'm tomato-crazy ~ planning on starting another tray this weekend.

BocaBob, I have not used my EB cover either. My "Brandywine" and "Black Ethiopian" were planted late, and will probably survive the winter. We shall see.

Have a great day!

moonglow...several people posted "Nyagous" was a good market tomato and, it being my first year growing more than a few plants and wanting something reliable, I tried it and they proved to be correct. Hope your experience is the same as all ours!

joy112854

Placing the fertilizer strip in that situation might be alittle tricky. That's why I use my water soluble fert. If you want to use the 10-10-10, then you need to only plant two rows and place the fert strip down the middle.

BocaBob

Bob: Thanks, you'll never believe this one, I was given a Gurney's Seed catalogue today that was delivered to my dad's house, he has passed away, so I called and they allowed me to use the coupon instead, it was a free $20 coupon, no strings attatched, I got all kinds of good veggie seeds coming.
joy112854

4 days till I meet you

Bob: February dear not January, I wish, and not a moment too soon either, as my Park's Bio Domes still haven't gotten in, they said they will be here next week though? (sweat sweat), glad I got your seed starting kit as it will get a good workout looks like.

Go to Parks website and check out the growin bags they have, they hang up and one has 10 holes, the other has 5 holes, I got a set of each coming this week, I was thinking coconut coir in them? And then possibly planting spinach, lettuce, baby tomatoes in them? Maybe even some peas or beans? Go check them out and let me know what you think ok? I haven't quite figured out where I'm gonna hang them yet though and they come in sets of 4, so that'd be 8 bags. This garden is getting bigger and bigger as we approach Spring planting doesn't it?
joy112854

It looks like they might work. Let us all know.

Heatwave II tomato plants in my seed starting kit.

BocaBob

Bob: I will, I think I will plant spinach, lettuce, pea pods, cherry type tomatoes in them and beans. Although I think the spinach and lettuce would probably do pretty well in your lay flat grow bag instead, hmmm. Nice looking startings there
joy112854

BocaBob, those are great-looking indeed.

I received my seed-starting kit from Gardener's.

http://www.gardeners.com/Seedstarting-System/SeedstartingKits_Cat,35-657,default,cp.html

I'm really psyched to start more seeds. Peppers this time.

Moonglow: I bought the APS 40 and 60 from them, I am really looking forward to using Boca Bob's starting kit though, it really looks fabulous and my Park's Bio Dome is still not here yet.
joy112854

I canceled my order from Parks because they couldn't guarantee that it would be here in time for me to start my seeds on Feb 9th. :-(

Hi, Susan. That's too bad. I don't know enough to recommend any other thing except for things at Gardener's.

Joy, we're just the Poster Girls for Gardener's, aren't we? I should put my Coco Coir order by mid-Feb.

I was so excited to go home to check on my seed tray. They will go under lights this weekend.

77.14% germination already.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Annapet

MoonGlow: Yes I love them at Gardener's Supply. One of my favorite companies to order from, Park's is good too, and although the seed starters are on backorder (since November), I know I will be one of the ones they rush it out to. It's not entirely their fault they have none to supply, they are as anxious to get them in so they can mail them out as we are to get them. Seems the one unit is slow in coming. I'm not planting til the middle of February anyways, so I got a little time to sweat it out right? LOL
joy112854

Just to let everybody know, I now can ship the 5 kg blocks of Coconut Coir from the following cities in the US :

Vancouver, WA
Ontario, CA
Livermore, CA
Nashville, TN

and of course Southern Florida.

Always trying to help save on the shipping costs for us DGers

BocaBpb

BocaBob, that is great news to me! Thank you so much! Livermore is just across the pond from me, less than an hour away.

Annapet