First year growing tomatoes- results

11 years ago

I am excited to share these pictures of my best tomato plants. I know they need to get in the ground now, but it is still cold in northern NJ. Next, year I will definitely start plants later. Only plant I am worried about is the "Golden Nugget." It looks a bit leggy. I will make sure to plant it deep.

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gelatodave
Original Author
11 years ago
Yellow Pear
gelatodave
Original Author
11 years ago
Golden Nugget
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Some of mine came up rather sparsely so I waited until they got large enough to have some root mass, am too afraid to stick those tiny seedlings in the ground. Some surprise you they take to transplanting pretty readily, but with all the rain here, I'm glad I waited. I like sowing my own seeds because there are too many places to run around to looking for plants in the spring, despite my failures, plus I try to grow some varieties that I don't see in the nurseries and other sales outlets. Only if I stumble across something in the course of going for something else have I bought any, and the irony is what I've spent on seeds, I could have bought quite a few plants. I did order quite a few online, some are doing ok, and some not so good. I wanted to finish my planting out but we've had so much rain here, still, the ground is saturated, with more rain forecast. I set a deadline for July 1, hope I make it, not too much left to go, but what there is I spent a lot of time and effort on. Got 8 salvias in yesterday that I had transplanted from deli containers into oversize 6 packs, roots massed at the bottom, much better looking than the salvias I just stuck in the ground, the soil was just too wet to deal with and clay in that spot, usually I have to soak there before I can plant anything the ground is so hard. The rain last night doesn't seem to have hurt the salvia I did get in. I used my bulb planter, and it was hard to pack those soil mixed with clay gobs in, so I hope the rain last night got rid of some of the air pockets I surely left. Salvias did very well there last year or I wouldn't mess with that area. Sure glad I didn't plant 300 jugs like some did. I did enough for me this year until I see where I want to go with this, what is working the best, and what is still needed for fill ins. Still, it's so inspiring to see some of the results some of you have achieved.
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Good for you! It sounds like you're heading down the road to a long life of gardening :0) I do have a question for you, are you keeping a journal of your successes and what didn't do so wells? I've done this for my veggie garden and it sure helps you years down the road when you try to remember what variety of seed worked well for you and what didn't. I've found this especially helpful for tomatoes, because IMO their success depends on the type of soil you have. In my heavy clay 'Celebrity' does wonders for me, yet my mother and MIL say they don't do as well for them and have better luck with other varieties. Anyway, it's all trial and error and I'm glad your neighbor thinks you're a garden guru.......and in a couple more seasons, you will be ;0) Congrats, Laurie
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I suppose it is possible that your lights might have started it but that would be unusual assuming normal lights. But any damage that happens inside is only quickly magnified once the plants are exposed to full sun. And "shade for a couple of days" isn't fully hardening them off. At any rate, if you will move them out of the direct sun into a shady sheltered environment outside and protect them for winds (which can also damage leaves) for several more days they should recover and start putting out new growth. The badly damaged leaves will continue die and eventually fall off. I'd cut them off now to reduce stress on the plant. Coloring of the healthy leaves in the photo is anemic but that may be the camera effect. So what and how much have they been fed? They should be much darker green at that size. You are also going to want to see if they are rootbound in those small pots. Dave
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gelatodave
Original Author
11 years ago
Supersweet 100
gelatodave
Original Author
11 years ago
Brandywine
gelatodave
Original Author
11 years ago
Super Snow White
missingtheobvious
11 years ago
Lovely! You can be proud.
Raw_Nature
11 years ago
Very nice young grasshopper! What lights did you use? You have a fan of them? When you start them?

Thanks,
Joe
gelatodave
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks! I used Hydrofarm FLT24 2-Feet/4-Tube T5 light. No fan, but I brushed my hand through them everyday. Started in the 2nd week of March.
Sugi_C (Las Vegas, NV)
11 years ago
Looks fabulous, Gelato! First time, no less! :-D
Is it still cold in NJ? I was just telling my friend she picked an awesome month to visit NY.....guess not so much!

Grace
gin_gin
11 years ago
They look great! For the one that looks a little leggy, you can just plant it deep. You may have already heard this, but you should tear those peat pots off when you plant out.
edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
11 years ago
I agree, you appear to be a natural. I don't think mine ever looked that good, and I've been at it a while.
gelatodave
Original Author
11 years ago
Honestly, I couldn't have done it with out this forum. I followed a couple of simple rules, which I am sure you already know by now.

1. I planted "Botanical Interests" seeds. They were relatively inexpensive and I could't be happier with the results.

2. As soon as seedlings sprouted I put them under T5s for 18 hrs/day.

3. Did not over water.

4. Did not add fertilizer until true leaves emerged.

5. I didn't use a fan, which I regret, but I found by just slapping the stems everyday helped produce better root growth an vascularization.

6. I used 4" cow pots, which work great.

7. I use Fox Farm Ocean Soil

8. No heat mat

Now I am torn between using my plants that I grew from seed or using the 4 grafted tomatoes I ordered online which should be here any day now. Anyone have experience with g-tomatoes? Additionally, of the 6 tomato plants I posted. Which ones should I plant in my garden. I only have space for 4...
Raw_Nature
11 years ago
Fox farm, huh? good but expensive.. A fan does much more than beating them up, getting them stalky, it provides fresh co2, as well as reduce disease.. Also I wouldn't worry about a heat mat, I find them unnecessary, my seeds germinate in 2-3 days at room temp.. Yea, I swear by using big pots for the seedlings... You could probably cut the light down to 14-16 hours.. I plant my seedlings mid may, and the natural daylight is 14 hours, I try to keep them in rhythm, less jet lag and stress..

I would plant all them plants in the picture, it would be a shame wasting your time caring for them for nothing... Also the golden nugget is not leggy, some genes are just like that... How much was the grafts?

Keep up the good job,
Joe

Ps- just curious, what fertilizer did you use, fox farm?
Moorlord
11 years ago
This is my first time growing from seed and ive been using the fox farm ocean as well. Im pretty happy with it. I also mixed in extra perylite to help with drainage and ive been giving them small doses of fish emulsion once a week. I didnt think the price was too bad. I bought the 40qt (approximate) bags for around 12 bucks The peat pots have thier issues and i dont think i will use them again but im learning. For lights ive been using t8 daylight bulbs and keep a fan on them. Getting pretty excited about 3 weeks till they go in the ground.
t-bird
11 years ago
argh! so so jealous!

Still waiting on mine to "hatch" lol. put them into the paper towels saturday/sunday.

@:^(

First year growing tomatoes- results

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First year growing tomatoes- results

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