Getting Started on Tomatoes - Again
I can't believe how I've been dragging on getting my tomatoes started. Luckily they grow very fast in hot weather, so it's not like I'm not going to be able to get a nice crop or anything. I sowed a bunch in late February indoors in newspaper pots, then moved them to the front porch in March. Of course we had a not-unexpected frost...I bought in my spinach and green beans and some other starts but for some reason I left the tomatoes on the porch. I had the idea that since the seeds hadn't even sprouted yet that they would stay dormant until the weather warmed up; they wouldn't be affected by the frost. Wrong! Only a few sprouted when the weather turned and most of them died. I only have one lonely little tomato baby.
So I'm doing re-starting more tomato seeds tonight. I am doing heirloom big ones and the little tiny ones; I can't recall the exact names right now (I think the big ones I got are beefsteak). I guess I could just go get some tomato plants, but last year my mother-in-law and some other people I know bought plants and only ended up with a few tomatoes! While I had a ton. So I am just going to stick with growing them from seed. This is a pic of the very very last of the ones I had from last year, I had tomatoes up until fall, it was crazy!
Some interesting tomato info:
The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum (syn. Lycopersicon lycopersicum), formerly Lycopersicon esculentum) is a plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family, as are its close cousins tobacco, chili peppers, potato, and eggplant, is native to Central, South, and southern North America from Mexico to Peru. It is a perennial plant, often grown outdoors in temperate climates as an annual plant, typically reaching to 1–3 m (3 to 10 feet) in height, with a weak, woody stem that often vines over other plants.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato
So I'm doing re-starting more tomato seeds tonight. I am doing heirloom big ones and the little tiny ones; I can't recall the exact names right now (I think the big ones I got are beefsteak). I guess I could just go get some tomato plants, but last year my mother-in-law and some other people I know bought plants and only ended up with a few tomatoes! While I had a ton. So I am just going to stick with growing them from seed. This is a pic of the very very last of the ones I had from last year, I had tomatoes up until fall, it was crazy!
Some interesting tomato info:
The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum (syn. Lycopersicon lycopersicum), formerly Lycopersicon esculentum) is a plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family, as are its close cousins tobacco, chili peppers, potato, and eggplant, is native to Central, South, and southern North America from Mexico to Peru. It is a perennial plant, often grown outdoors in temperate climates as an annual plant, typically reaching to 1–3 m (3 to 10 feet) in height, with a weak, woody stem that often vines over other plants.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato
Labels: beefsteak tomatoes, garden plan, newspaper pots, tomatoes
posted by Trula at
10:34 AM
4 Comments:
So, how long is your growing season? Keep us posted on your late start tomatoes. If I was buying plants, I might go to a nursery where I knew they hadn't let them out all night in the cooler weather, and get the smaller plants, not the gallon ones w/ baby tomatoes on them.
We have a short spring here but a fairly long summer, then a short fall and long winter. Last summer I had tomatoes from June until September. They were tastiest in July and August but the September ones weren't bad at all.
I'm going to be replanting tomatoes too, even the indeterminent varieties have been somewhat confused by our weather this year. I've got lots of growth, but not many flowers or sets on some of the plants. I may concentrate on some grape or cherry tomatoes, as that's been the most productive plant. Still, nothing like a good slicing tomato...sigh.
Yes Nancy, the big tomatoes are soooooo good. But the cherry tomatoes are great too, and grow so quickly. Last summer it seemed to me like I would pick a plant clean and within a few days the same plant would be bursting with tomatoes again!
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