I planted Candy onions in plug trays and Walla Walla Sweets in a broadcast method, the way I have always done them. We will see which does better when it comes to transplanting.
I also seeded some Lisanthus, Lobelia, Crytal Palace and Blue Wings, pink Brugmansia, snapdragons and several varieties of Impatiens, including the uber expensive rosebud type.
Tomatoes in picture: Black Prince, White Queen, Aussie, Gold Medal, Black Truffle, Costoluto Fiorentino and others.
Whether you call them “Heritage” or “Heirloom”, these are still the varieites you will want to grow for taste. Heirlooms come from seed that has been handed down for generations in a particular region or area, and hand-selected by gardeners for a special trait.
Heirloom vegetables are open-pollinated, which means they’re non-hybrid and pollinated by insects or wind without human intervention. How experts define heirlooms can vary, but typically they are at least 50 years old, and often are pre-WWII varieties.
In addition, they tend to remain stable in their characteristics from one year to the next. What that means to you is that you can can save the seeds and if they don’t cross pollinate they will come true. Your “Aunt Ruby’s German Green” tomato seed will produce an “Aunt Ruby’s German Green” next year. Tomatoes are self pollinating and if you want to be relatively sure they haven’t “crossed the road” bag the flowers after you hand pollinate them or plant them away from other tomatoes. Remember that wind, bees and other things can pollinate the flowers. too
Many gardeners …to be continued
Indeterminate tomatoes can grow very tall although not as big as the one at Epcot Center. I’ve seen pictures of a twenty foot tomato plant but I believe it was grown somewhere warm in the south. Indeterminates will grow continuously unless killed by frost or disease.
The world’s largest tomato tree was grown in the experimental greenhouse at Walt Disney World Resort. It produced over 32,000 tomatoes in the first 16 months after it was planted, and holds the record for the most tomatoes in a single year, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Huang, from Shenyang, China, discovered the plants in Beijing, China, and after meeting with scientists responsible for those plants he brought the seeds to Epcot. The plant’s single vine grows tens of thousands of golf ball-sized tomatoes which are harvested and served at restaurants across Walt Disney World Resort. According to what I’ve read, It is grown conventionally in a container not hydroponically. Remember too, that it is grown in a greenhouse with constant attention and lots of fertilizer, most likely beyond the scope of the home gardener, even with a greenhouse.
Flea Beetles, A common problem this time of year. It has come to my attention that they are afoot. If your leaves have what looks like little shot holes you might/probably have flea beetles. They seem to attack the lower leaves first. Here is a link ot a site that gives you good information as to what they looks like, how they overwinter and what to do about it.
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05592.html
flea beetle damage
Today was an extremely windy day. Not cold or rainy but the trees were flying high. After church, we opened at 1 pm. A slow day, customer wise which surprised us since it was a weekend. I need to change my website verbiage to reflect that all the varieties are ready to be rehomed with the exception of a couple of tomatoes. I love getting repeat customers, they are so excited to pick out new flavors and colors. I like to think of it like a theme park for tomato lovers! Tomorrows another day.
Took me almost four days but they have been relocated to their own little patch of heaven, a 3.5 inch pot! Better yet, I got the website up and updated with all of my 2013 varieties, all 161 of them. My peppers have been updated too, 41 varieties. If you are interested in tomatoes and peppers, check it out. There is a lot of info on how to plant them and grow them to great heights. Plus, you will be amazed how many kinds and colors there are.
the website address is: http://www.thetomatolady.com
After an initial watering from the top, we bottom water so as not to encourage damping off. They will wick it up from the bottom getting right to where it needs to go – the roots.
This is a shelving rack with ordinary fluorescent lights hovering just above flats full of tomato plants. The lights need to be close to provide light and warmth otherwise the plants will get leggy
When growing for your home garden, start seeds 8 weeks prior to the last frost date. Always use sterile seed starting mix and sterile pots. Buy them new every year or sterilize used pots with a 10% bleach solution. Sometimes I run mine through the dishwasher on the top rack and toss a little bleach in before I start the wash cycle (damping off can be a real problem if you don’t.)
Place the seeds on top of the medium; cover with about 1/4” inch of mix and press down with your hands to smooth. Sprinkle with water from a “gentle” watering can to avoid washing the seeds away. I then fill my flats with hot water until they start floating, they will absorb this.
Put them in a warm place. Mine go under ordinary fluorescent lights, about an inch away from the flats, in the dining room. The heat from the lights keep it warm. (You can use bottom heat such as a heating mat or the top of refrigerator if you like.) Bottom water as needed, don’t let them dry out. In about a week you should start to see germination. Grow them under the lights until you see the first true leaves, a pair of true leaves. Transplant into larger pots.
Peppers seem to take forever to germinate, sometimes as much as 3 weeks. Tomatoes can be up as early as 4 days from planting.
Key points for maximum success:
sterile seed starting mix
sterile pots
warm location for germination
water from the bottom
good ventilation
These basic instructions work for just about every seed you want to start in pots to get a jump on the season. I will post more on starting different kinds of seeds and their needs in other posts so stay tuned.
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Notes From The Tomato Lady 