I’m up to 10 trays of tomato and pepper seedlings started so far and will do about 10 more trays tomorrow. My oldest plants are 4 to 5 inches tall. I also have some true potato seed and some coastal redwood seed started with about 25 plants emerged so far for the redwoods.
9 Likes
I’m trying Japanese trifele, a Chinese red, and a Russian variety this year along with my usual San marzano and hillbillies. also started a few wild cherry, which are my snack when I’m out working on the garden.
the late Feb starts are getting big. the trifele don’t seem to mind rough handling, my partner took care of these for a while and even up potted some and he is not cautious at all.
mid March, up potted
late March
starts not moved into bigger containers yet.
I’ve also got Siberian giant, early Willamette and a few black slicers, even though I don’t like those so much.
hard to get photos to scale here but the earliest ones are almost 9" tall.
what varieties do you grow? I like indeterminate best and mostly grow those, I like a trickle through the season. excepting the paste tomatoes which can be either, I just freeze those until I have enough to make a batch of sauce or salsa
1 Like
This year I only started 4 types: Pineapple, Paul Robeson, Hungarian Heart, and some unknown torpedo-like saved seed that were particularly juicy. Two years ago I tried all dwarf plants in an effort to not have to stake/cage them as much, but didn’t notice much of a difference.
I have 3 questions for all you tomato-growing experts, due to my experience that past few years which include these issues:
- a huge jungle of plants up to10 feet tall that became inpenatrable; I had to go in on hands and knees!
- Low fruit ratio to plant size
I not only stake or cage my tomato plants, but have to put some kind of fencing around them as we have deer that think our yard is their personal dining room.
So my questions for you:
- What type of tomato cage or staking do you find the most effective?
- Do you trim/top/cut back your tomato vines?
- What fertilizers or soil amendments do you find most effective for plant health and fruit production?
Thank you for sharing your expertise!
1 Like
Florida weave for training, wire cages are a good alternative. I never prune or cut back tomatoes. Fertilizer is nuanced by your soil type and climate. Generally, you need high P and high K and moderate N. I’ve had excellent results using rabbit and chicken manure. When you have too much vine and too little fruit, it almost always is because of too much nitrogen.
1 Like
I have two trays, started last month. They all are doing well and of course this time of year I’m dreading potting them up versus the temptation to plant out (I’ll err on the side of caution and wait until May). A lot are new to me as this is the first year I have a ton more space available to me so I went through my seeds to start things I’ve had but never tried. My tried and true include Sun Sugar, Big Beef, and Super Sweet 100. I also rely on a bunch of dwarf tomatoes (Rosella Purple is a favorite), but this year will be trying more of the bigger indeterminate heirlooms.
1 Like