Tomato Chronicles
After last year's success, Science Nerd and I ordered tomato seeds from Upper Canada Seeds again this year. We went with a few of same varieties as last year, and a few new ones for fun.1. Black Pear - black spicy flavor
2. Fireball - earliest in the garden
3. Green Zebra - green & yellow eye catcher
4. Isis Candy Cherry - multicolor
5. Moira - best seller
6. Quinte - dark red - for canning
7. Thai Pink Egg - prolific good taste
8. White Currant - cherry size -good flavor
I decided to plant the seeds a few weeks later than last year, hopefully avoiding the leggy seedlings I had last year. Ultimately I'm aiming for 6 -7 week old transplants as suggested on the UCS website. I planted the seeds on April 21st, 2 seeds per cubicle, put the cover on, and sat them on my old heating blanket as I did last year. Germination was quick (within a few days) and germination success rate varied among the different varieties, but at least a couple of each popped up, and in some cases more. One exception... only one Isis Candy germinated! I am going to have to be extra nurturing to that one. The White Currants are teeny tiny little plants, but look super strong and healthy. And I was happy to see the distinctive Black Pear leaves!One they germinated I removed the cover and lit them up with the nice grow light I bought last year, moving the light higher and higher as they grew. Once they had true leaves I repotted (May 12th - 3 weeks old). I think I waited a lot longer this year before re-potting than last year. They seemed stronger this year anyway, not sure if waiting made a difference.
I have to make a decision about applying fertilizer now. I did last year (a couple of applications of very dilute solution), but I've read that over fertilizing can cause leggy plants. They really don't look like they are struggling, and they did get some compost in with their potting soil when transplanted. I bought some Wegener's Organic Liquid from Lee Valley, which is supposed to be pretty conservative, so I think I'll give them one application of that and see how it goes.
Here's a quick pic of the current tomato set-up.
I've supplemented the grow light with 2 Philips Agro-Lite bulbs that I bought last year. These are incandescent bulbs, so they give off some heat, and I have to be careful not to get them too close to the plants. I'm not really even sure if these lights are any good - I may just buy another fluorescent set-up next year and be done with it.
posted by The Sauce at
11:13 AM
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