How to plant tomato seedlings 04/22/2010
 Today I want to show you how I plant tomatoes. I have said before that if you look close at the stems of seedlings you will see "hairs". These "hairs" if treated properly will turn into roots. That means you either plant it really deep, or on it's side...sort of. If you plant it on it's side, close to the surface, the Sun will heat the soil and cause the seedlings hair/roots to grow faster. The more roots, the more water it can take in and the more fruit it can accommodate. That is the theory, anyway.  First, dig a hole deep enough to accommodate the root ball. Plus about another inch or two.  Then you pinch off all but the very top 2-3 leaves.  I know it looks kind of naked...but it doesn't hurt them. I forget why you take them off...I am guessing so it doesn't rot the plant under the dirt.  Then, wrap a piece of newspaper around the stem, up close to the top.  Once the root ball is in the hole, dig a trench for the stalk and lay it in the trench.  I then took a handful of worm compost and put it in with the root ball.  Now cover it up with dirt. You want the paper ring to be half way in the dirt. The paper is to keep the cutworms from cutting your plant off at ground level. This is the best way I have found to grow tomatoes. Hope it works for you too. EGG CRATE STARTER CUPS 04/07/2010
 I decided to start some more seeds today. I wanted to have more plants in case the ones I have now get damaged. Besides, I thought maybe I could sell some plants later on. I also wanted to try starting seeds in these egg trays. The plan is to start them in here and transplant them into the cups later. This way, they won't take up so much room at the start. These egg cartons are full of my starter mix. I took a skewer and poked holes in the bottom of each cup so the water would drain out. Each 'cup' side is sitting in a 'lid' side. One lid was cut off and set under the cup side that is left. I also have them set in a bag covered box. This will make it easier to carry around and stops it from leaking water. Today I planted 24 beefsteaks, 12 pablano peppers, 12 jalapeno, 12 serrano, 12 yellow jubilee tomatoes, 8 fennel, and 12 polish linguisa tomatoes. Let's see how these work for starters. I just want as many tomatoes as I can get. It is my desire to be able to share them on many levels. As plants. As fruit. As food. ************************* SEEDLINGS PROGRESSING NICELY 04/03/2010
 During the day, as long as it is not too windy or cold, this is where my "seedlings" bask in the sun. My prized beefsteaks are on the right.  As you can see, they have grown a lot in 17 days. The beefsteaks are 17 inches now. The stalks are as big as pencils. All this makes me VERY happy.  These are the cherry tomatoes...at around 10 inches.  These are the paste tomatoes at around 8 inches. I think these are the most delicate tomato plants I have ever seen. The leaves are thinner. I am hoping they are prolific and makes great salsa. Looking back at my last post here, it seems they have grown very fast in 2 1/2 weeks. The beefsteaks seem to have doubled in size. This makes me very happy again...or still.  Then we have the peppers. They are really slow growing. I am so glad I started them early. But even most of them are around 6 inches. These are my new batches of hot pepper relish and salsa. My mouth is already watering. Two more weeks and in the ground they go. At least that is what the Farmer's Almanac says. Maybe by then, my beefsteaks will have blooms. Wouldn't that be nice? I am so excited. LOL. Just a reminder: These are not planted in dirt. They were started in peat moss, vermiculite, and perlite. After two weeks they got more of that mix with some worm castings thrown in, on top. I put 3-4 handfuls of castings in a jug and fill it with water. That is like feeding them vitamin water. I am hoping that it helps to keep the diseases down, and makes them grow like crazy. It is supposed to, anyway. I shall keep you posted. ********************** | ArchivesAugust 2010 CategoriesAll |
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