My Addiction

[mcsee]

This year I'm growing my old tomato seed in the hope of getting enough varieties of fresh seed, with somewhere about 40 varieties sown, so far.
I've always grown tomato seedlings at home, then for the last seven years I worked fulltime in a glasshouse at a college growing 2000+ tomato plants in a hydroponic set up, rotating two crops throughout the year. The seedlings in the photos are growing and will soon be sorted on what I'll keep and what I'll give away.

I guess there are worse addictions to have, don't you think.

This is half of them.

[Nicos]

Looking good!
Always lovely to have piccies of your opposite seasons...
Do tell us more about the hydroponics too!

Looking forward to hearing about your toms too -looks like you have a really good germination rate?

[mcsee]

Thanks Nicos. Most of my seed is over 8 years old, as I didn't really have the time while I was working to save seed, but this year that's changed, as you can see. Part of my tomato addiction I have is actually bagging the blossoms of the seed I save from, so I don't end up with any accidental crosses in seed I may use as swaps. In some varieties, I ended up with one or two seedlings in some varieties as I may have had limited seed to start with, but I'm happy with what I ended up with.

On the hydroponic side, it all started when I decided to get some qualifications in horticulture, as I grow our Australian Natives from cuttings and thought I might learn something from a year at study. To cut a long story short, I finished the year and got my Certificate in Production Horticulture (Vegies etc on a large scale) and the TAFE College I studied at, hired me to help grow their hydroponic vegetables, at the time it was Capsicums, Eggplants and Tomatoes, but after a couple of years went all tomatoes. We would start one crop in February and a second much larger crop in July. For a few years, I worked with trainees they hired and passed on my knowledge, even though it wasn't a teaching role. Last October I retired and moved 2 hours away from the tomatoes, but it is still something I have in my blood and truly enjoy doing. At the college, one crop was about 1000 plants, the other 2000 plants. Lots of hard hot hours each year and I learnt a lot working on my own about the way we grew tomatoes. Last week after a year away, I visited my old job and they would love me to go back, but I'm getting to the stage where I like growing at home better.

[Nicos]

Gosh!...what a wonderful experience
Sadly I'm a bit of a 'bodge it and survival of the fittest' lass, but I do enjoy seeing and hearing about the results from devoted gardeners.

[mcsee]

Hopefully this will work. Hydroponic tomatoes growing.

[mcsee]

Nicos - I'll PM you, OK :-)

[Nicos]

Wow and wow!

Did you ever casually pick a ripe tomato to put on your sandwich for lunch?
(Had to ask)

[Jay-ell]

I guess there are worse addictions to have, don't you think.

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That depends - do you wander down the street mumbling to yourself about geranium kisses, buffalo horns and green zebras?

Might impressive though.

[Squingy]

I could do that with curcubits for the rest of my life and be happy mcsee. Very nice setup.

[chillithyme]

Definitely a healthy addiction

[mcsee]

Funny thing working with the hydroponic tomatoes, was that I never ate them, mainly as I didn't like what we grew. lol