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. ********************** ONE WEEK ON FERTILIZER 03/18/2010
 I took pictures of my "Table plants" yesterday. These are my beefsteak's.  These are my Pepper plants...they take longer to sprout.  These are the Polish Linguisa tomatoes. Paste tomatoes. I am thinking...great salsa too. More meat, less seeds and juice.  These are the Super sweet 100's...for salads. I also like yellow pear tomatoes for salad. Maybe I will get a few volunteers from my East wing. I did not plant any...yet.  I put my hand in there for some sort of scale. My hands are wide, but have short fingers. You can see that the plant is pretty big.  This is what they looked like a week ago. That might even be the same plant. I forget cause I turn the tray a couple times a week to keep the plants growing straight. They want to grow toward the Sun. I guess that the worm poo is working! I need more worms! I need compost! I need more boxes ready to plant! Whatever is a Gal to do? Worms and dirt! Every Gals dream...LOL. ************************* FIVE DAYS 03/14/2010
 Here are my beefsteak tomatoes. Today.  They looked like this on Tuesday when I put the worm castings on top. Not bad for 5 days. TALKING POO...AGAIN! 03/09/2010
 What you see here is a five gallon bucket, 2/3 rds full of worm castings (poo). If you look in the right hand lower corner, you will see the much lighter in color...new bedding for my worms. I have been preparing the coconut coir for the worms by adding coffee grounds and egg shells. Coconut coir is the outside of coconuts that is ground up. Worms like to eat it. I extracted my worms one by one and relocated them to the new bed. I will be using the "poo" to mix with my starter pot mix to apply to the top of my cups of tomatoes. It is two weeks since I planted the seeds and they now need fertilizer. Plus, I read that using worm fertilizer on seedlings, helps the plants to be more disease resistant. Last year I had such a bad time with store bought plants I ended up with next to nothing. THAT is why I chose to start my own plants this year.  This is the new bedding. You can see a few worms, but they are camera shy. The dark spots are from the other bucket. I am hoping to have enough worms this year to be able to fertilize everything with them alone. Last year I made compost tea and it worked OK but not the way worm tea does. I want to save it for my tomatoes and if there is some left over then I will use it on the other veggies. Or I will get more worms. That would be ideal! I was told that using the worm tea on tomatoes, a Lady got 400 pounds per plant. I am not sure I believe that, but I could maybe 100 pounds per plant...maybe. I have 22 beefsteaks, 12 Polish Romas, and 7 cherry tomatoes, that adds up to a LOT of tomatoes! Come on worms!!! ********************* Easter Green 03/07/2010
 As you can see, I have lined these two beds with cardboard I have been saving. The idea behind this is...worms like to eat cardboard so let's feed the worms. Also the boards on my boxes don't' meet well so it should help keep the dirt in the boxes.  Then I put the chips on top. This will help with drainage and nutrients. Now some dirt and some compost and the beds will be ready to plant. I am so excited! It is also recycling...I just love being green! Speaking of green...  Look what is up in my East wing....Tulips!  AND...grape hyacinths! Easter is coming! EAST WING 03/04/2010
 This is the "East" wing of my gardens. Today I dug up the middle bed in this picture. It is now ready to plant. There are actually 4 beds in here. The two beds to the west are full of dirt. If you look at the post in the middle, you can see the orange tape blowing in the MIGHTY wind we are having today. This morning, before it got windy, I dug up the one bed, and staked and leveled the bed next to that one. I have one more bed in there to level and then I can fill them both with compost and yard scraps. Four beds here and five in my West wing. I have until the end of this month, which is when I want to be planting. I have six more beds to build and fence in...somehow. But I have enough to get started. I just went out to take pictures so I could post this and this is what I found...  Looks like SOME dog was messing around in here. Want to guess who THAT was?  So I raked it back again.  This is my gate...  This what it looks like closed. In this position, it is efficient at keeping the dogs out. Now I just need to remember to do this when I come out. I LOVE SPRING! 03/03/2010
 Today I would like to talk about my starter cups. The tomatoes are up!!! I have 20 beefsteak tomatoes up and 9 Polish Linguisa tomatoes up. I planted 24 and twelve, respectfully. I am now waiting on the peppers.  I can't help but think about (lust over) the thought of those beefsteak tomatoes on (or in) my BLT's, or tomato sauce, salads. They give me hope for the future. This tiny little sprout is what I have been waiting for. I have about 500 quart canning jars I am hoping to put a big dent in by canning up the little beauties that come from these sprouts. I read that if you blow a fan on these while they are small, it will help make the stalk strong. Get them ready for the big winds we get around here. If they are good enough...I hope to sell some, too. Maybe up on the highway would be a good place.  This is what my kitchen table looks like now. There are only 2 kinds of tomatoes and the rest are peppers. I want to grow my own peppers for my hot pepper relish. There are green, red yellow, orange, and purple sweet peppers and jalepenos, pablano, serrano, banana, and a couple more I can't remember right now. (Darn that some-timers disease!) I would gladly give up my table for a garden full of the best veggies around. I have a bunch of cups to fill up with dirt for other veggies. Then there are the ones I will plant directly in the ground. I can hardly wait. I LOVE SPRING! PLANTING CUPS 02/24/2010
Today I want to show you what I did with my paper starter pots/cups.  I have cut a 2 1/2 gallon water jug in half. I plan on using it to house my seed cups till they are ready to put in the soil. First I cut off the spigot, then followed the seam around with a sharp knife.  Here is my kitchen table pushed up against the slider door with different containers full of my cups. I believe there 130 cups now.  Looking at the side of the box, you can see this box has a sweet pepper mix, that was planted 2/23/10. These peppers are red, orange, white, purple, and yellow. I have an old plastic bag in the bottom of this water box. I have it folded over the top and tucked inside to keep the moisture in. Plus, being black I hope it keeps the heat in so the seeds germinate faster.  These are the heirloom paste tomatoes. Hopefully they will be good for salsa, also.  I used a skewer to make little wells in the cups....  I poured the seeds into a cup I could easily pick the seeds out of one by one.  One seed per cup, please. If the seed doesn't come up with the other seeds, plant the cup again.  Then cover the little seeds with the potting mix.  Mark the date and what is in the cups, on the side with a sharpie.  Another tomato that I love are these...Super Sweet 100's. They are thin skinned cherry tomatoes and they are so sweet! These seeds are pelleted...which means they are coated with starter food and rolled into balls so they are easier to start. We shall see. I have never planted pelleted seeds before.  Here they are. See how funny they look? Sort of like yogurt coated tiny, tiny sesame seeds.  I also dated the seed packs and folded the tops over. That way, when I go back a few weeks from now to start more of the same seeds, I can get them 2 weeks apart. Why would I need to plant more of the same seeds, you ask? Just in case I plant these and it freezes or I want to stagger plantings so I have what I want all summer long. I hope to keep it going gang busters all summer. A few other things....water the pots from the bottom...it keeps the seeds from being disturbed. Don't let them dry out. Being in the dark my help the seeds start faster as long as you keep an eye on when the plants come up. If you don't get the 'dark' off soon enough, the plants will be spindly. I also read that if you blow a small fan on your seedlings a portion of the day, it makes them sturdier. It is like the wind blowing so the stalks get thicker. We shall see.... I have only planted peppers and tomatoes so far. Next up...black beauty eggplant, melons, cantaloupe, and cucumbers. The rest (I think) can be planted directly in the dirt. Like lettuce, kale, spinach, swiss chard, carrots (different colors) and a bunch of other veggies. I hope. | ArchivesAugust 2010 CategoriesAll |
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