How many tomato seeds do you prefer to start? (ratio)
mlissca
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
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digdirt2
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Seed starting setup, how do you plug it all in?
Comments (6)RG, I agree with Cynthia and Karyn. Except that I use 32-watt Philips cool white T8 bulbs instead of the 40-watt T12 bulbs. The T8 bulbs are more efficient. "Should I buy another timer and 2 surge protector power strips? Is that too much power on one outlet? Should it be on a designated outlet?" Your circuit breakers will answer that question for you. However, the timer and the surge protector power strips draw a negligible amount of current by themselves. "...so I went to Wal-Mart and bought three plastic 5-shelf shelving units..." My recommendation would have been a chrome wire adjustable shelf cart from Northern Tool. I have three of these units, and I use two of them as plant stands. (The other is used for storage, especially kitchen storage by my wife.) Northern Tool has free shipping on these items during certain periods of the year, and I have timed all three purchases to take advantage of that. Incidentally, you can position the shelves anywhere you want (in one-inch increments) on the steel posts. The pictured unit shows the bottom shelf very high from the floor, but I put my bottom shelves in the lowest position, just an inch above the big casters. That gives me the maximum space for my plants and fluorescent lights. In the past I have had disappointing experiences with plastic shelves. They have rather low strength and rigidity, and have become very "sway-backed" under load over time. The chrome steel Northern Tool shelves are very strong, and are rated for 1000 pounds total with the rubber casters. The big roller bearing casters let you move the loaded unit very easily. That's handy when you want to temporarily move the unit to access plants on the far side. I mount four 2-bulb shop lights over each shelf, which puts eight T8 bulbs over each shelf. It is convenient to hang the shop-light chains from the wires of the shelf above. I overdrive my fluorescents, to get 50% more light per bulb, which gives me the light-equivalent of 12 bulbs per shelf. That lets me grow extra large plants before setting them into the garden. Our short Maine growing season needs all the head start it can get. MM...See Morehow do YOU start tomatoes
Comments (8)I start tomato plants in milk jugs left out on my back deck. Only had to bring in jugs 2 nights since sowing March 3. Now that I think about it the jugs did experience a night of freezing temps and I lost a seedling or two in a couple of the jugs but the stronger, healthier plants didn't miss a beat. I just potted up the seedlings into 16 oz solo cups this past weekend. Now the cups are in a plastic storage bin that I had hubby put drainage and vent holes. Our weather has been chilly(lows in the low 40s/high 30s at night), wet and dreary but the plants look great....See MoreCollecting Seeds How Many Do you Collect
Comments (6)That makes me feel so much better! I have a whole bowl of tomato seeds that I saved this year. And I was wondering as I was mushing the tomatoes and setting them to ferment (I had to use two quart jars to allow enough space for them to sink to the bottom)...Just how many seeds do I really need? And since I couldn't come up with a rational sounding answer, I decided to save as many as my furniture surfaces would allow, LOL! My entire living room is full of saucers full of seeds and my bedroom has corn hanging on the wall drying. Is that obsessive or what? I've got enough tomato seeds to supply every person in the county. Which I will probably share a lot of tomato seeds with neighbors and such. I've been trying to talk everybody into growing gardens again. Most of them used to grow a garden and they got so busy earning a living they let it go. Now with prices the way they are, I think people are reconsidering the importance of growing their own food supply. So, I've got patty pans, white spaghetti, tomato, cukes, watermelon, hot bananas and such drying all over the house. Steph...See MoreHow many tomatoes do you grow?
Comments (42)Here are most of what I have in my garden this year. Each name on the list is at least a slightly different strain, though the names may be similar, and represents 1 to 6 plants. My biggest problem is I have so many different types of tomatoes growing from crosses going back over a decade, in some cases, that I just don't have room for all of them. MOST of the crosses I have aren't even represented in this year's crop, because I can only work on a few dozen every year. Obviously, some of those I list here are also commercial hybrids, OP varieties or Heirlooms. I grow them either because I LIKE them, and I want something standard, or I want something to compare to what I am growing, to see how mine stack up. I generally do it that way every year. One problem I find in growing out the crosses is that sometimes you will go along with a 'new' strain that looks promising, growing it for several years, and then the next year it changes (as you bring out recessive traits) and takes a step back in color, size, flavor, or some other characteristic, and I need to go back to seeds from a previous year and try to again bring out the traits I liked. As you can see, among other things, this year I am emphasizing some EARLY strains and some cherry tomatoes, trying to see how they stack up. 4th of July Amber Sweet (a cherry I am developing) Andalusia H 4B1-2 (From tomatoes I got in Spain) ARGG Black Krim X Galinas red S4-G (in development) Black Krim X Galinas (Red H) (in development) Black Krim X Galinas Red 3B5-6 Black Magic (in development) Box Car Willie Brandy X Polish M5-S Brandy X Polish F3A H Brandy X Stupice Brandywine Cherry Brandywine OTV Brandywine X Kotlas Brandywine X Polish H. PL 5A3-4 Brandywine X Polish PL 5A7-8 Brandywine X Stupice Capitan H Cherokee Chocolate Cherokee Green Cherry Master (in development) Comandante Zero (in development) Dulcinea Med Red (in development) Dulcita Small Red F4 (Smaller seeds than Dulcinea) H 4A7-8 Early Goliath Early Wonder Galinas X Black Krim Yellow (in development) Galinas X Black Krim Yellow (strain #5) Garden H 4B5-6 Green Zebra Isis Candy Islas Canarias (from tomatoes I got in Spain) Kotlas Little Lucky Lucky Cross Lucky Cross Pink Marianas Cross F4 Lg Red Cherry Marianna's Peace More Capitan 1 5B5-6 New Black Plums (F3 growout) New Yellow Cherry Oh My Pink Heck (Medium) (in development) Orange H (in development) Orange Meaty medium sized tomato from Mariann's Peace and Jaune Flamme cross. Purple Russian Racimo de Espana (another one from Spain) RED Beef F3 Red H (in development) Red Large Beefy (in development) Rescue H 5B3-4 Rose Quartz Small Black Cherry (from 2010 cross) Sunfire? H Super Sweet 100s Super Sweet Yellow Pear (in development) Super Sweet Yellow Pear F3A (from 2012) Super Sweet Yellow Pear F3B (from 2012) Sweet Orange Golf Ball (from crosses I made) Sweet Yellow Gold F4 (From Galinas x Black Krim H 4A5-6) Yellow H (in development)...See Morekeith100_gw
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