Tomato growing diary 2016

[Small pumpkin]

I will be sowing this lot over the next few weeks / months ( can't remember what gets sown when)
black krim.
dancing with smurfs.
cherry.
kenilworth/King George.
Cyril's choice.
latah
black pineapple.
tumbling Tom red
tumbling yellow.
gardeners delighted
Shirley
Black Russian
pink Brandywine
sweet baby
sweetie.
heirloom ( pot luck).
Looking forward to growing this lot.

[Bal]

Gosh you lot are so early. I have a very dark house the only bit light enough to stop plants getting leggy is the hall. I will wait til end of Feb to start sowing. Will post the list when I'm near the seeds.

[Ryleh]

In the words of Lionel: hello, is it me your looking for?



Black Icicle on the right and Indigo Rose on the left

A lot of my Tom seedlings have popped up in the last 24 hours. So far off to a good start and I don't think there are any germination failures.

[Scarlet]

So far off to a good start and I don't think there are any germination failures.

They are getting too leggy. Get them out of the propagator, they need much more light and cooler growing conditions than what they've had so far.

You may need to sow those again if they carry on as they are. Don't sow all your seeds in February. March is early enough, it's a bit hit and miss sowing in February, not enough light and too much warmth indoors (radiators/hot rooms) gives leggy plants.

[jackarmy]

Yep, if you keep those id bury them deep in a 3 " pot now to give them a chance, it worked for me last year when i failed to check the ones in the airing cubord.
Im off into ozzy on the 24th so ill sow mine about two days before i go in and hope the mrs hasnt killed them in a week

[Lisasbolt]

Sorry but i think you will have to re-sow, they are very leggy and when so young it is very hard to counter that. Even if you plant them deeper they most likely will fall over before hand or it might rot.
Think of it as fun you get to plant more

[bario1]

I'm not sowing any toms till March, but this year it's:

Bush - Tumbler, Maskotka

Vine - Sungold, Galina

[Lisasbolt]

My are all sown, but might do a few more.

12/1;
Marmande,
Moneymaker,
Gardener´s delight,
Gold rush currant,
Red Pear,
Yellow Pear,
Red alert

20/1;
Alicante
Ailsa craig
Tamina
Incas F1
Red cherry
Beefsteak
Gold nuggat
Golden Sunburst
Principe borghese
Black cherry
Azoycha
Black Krim
Garden Peach
Brandywine black
Delicious
Currant sweet pea
Baby pink plum F1
Hillbilly
Big rainbow
Tomatoberry F1
Red zebra improved
Ukranian Purple
Black zebra cherry
Purple calabash
Cherokee purple
St pierre
Sunray

28/1;

100´s and 1000´s
dancing with smurfs ( thanks VSP)
Russian lemon (thanks VSP)
golden sunrise
the stripy stuffer
pomodoro ciliegia
big league
firecracker
tigerella

Re sowed on the 28th

Red pear
Yellow pear
Money maker
gardeners delight
my awesome self saved yellow
marmande
gold rush current

They were taking a long time to pop up but most have come up nicely now so didn't need to re sow

Most are up and growing on nicely

So thats 43, and my tomato seed box is out to find any more, oh dear

[Scoot]

In the words of Lionel: hello, is it me your looking for?

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Black Icicle on the right and Indigo Rose on the left

A lot of my Tom seedlings have popped up in the last 24 hours. So far off to a good start and I don't think there are any germination failures.

AS has been said, they look very leggy. It's down to them not getting enough light whilst getting a lot of heat.

I'd bin them and start again. Next time though, as soon as they have germinated, get the heat off them and onto the brightest window sill.

Everyone has little errors when it comes to gardening so get them sown again and in 7-10 days they'll be up.

[Ryleh]

They shot up over the course of 1 night from nothing but a pot of compost to the seedlings in the picture and the second I spotted them they were removed from the propagator.

I was planning on resowing some of those regardless but will keep a close eye on the current seedlings and if it comes to it I'll ditch them but I'm hoping not. They are currently sat under the grow lights getting all the light they need.

I guess I have nothing to lose by planting a new set and giving the 1st batch the chance to survive

[Scarlet]

I'd wait a several weeks before sowing anymore. They are really wet too which could cause you problems. Are the lights giving off heat?

[Ryleh]

All the moisture you can see in the pictures came from the condensation on the inside of the propagator lid when I removed it.

I'd have to report back about heat from the lights as I only constructed them this morning and they have been on a couple of hours but I'm at work so cant check. I would imagine a bit of heat though wouldnt expect a lot.

[Scarlet]

If they popped up overnight like that the germination temp was too high. The next lot you sow put somewhere cooler. If you are going to keep those, as Zjack has said you need to bury them upto their seed leaves. The stems w be much to weak to support any top growth.

[Jonnyt]

Why bin then?

I'd chop the tops off and plant as a cutting. Any sideshoots can also be done otherwise.

This is a valid way to get many plants from early sowings and is especially good with F1's as it saves a lot of cash.

[Ryleh]

Might be that the ambient room temperature was high enough that when combined with the propagator it was too high overall. I can reduce the room temperature and I'll take this first batch as a learning experience. Its my first year with these new propagators so things happened faster than I expected.