In the interest of science, and a degree of thread parody, I am sharing My Tomato-growing experiment
in 2008, I grew some tomatoes in my back yard. Ignoring all the instructions on the seed packet, I got reasonable results - not great, but reasonable
in 2009, i followed the packet instructions - to the letter - and got not one little tomato. however, 2009 was terrible weather, and almost all of my veg died, but my strawberries did very well
therefore, in 2010, I have started two sets of seeds - one following the 2008 method, one following the 2009 method
thus far, all the seeds have germinated. the "my own method" seeds have come up slower, but look stronger
I don't know where you live, but yeah, last year was a bad growing season for me, too. Tomatoes weren't great, and I think I managed one green pepper. Just one. Out of four plants. Beans were enough for one meal.
Next year, I'm going all out for a greenhouse.
I grew cloned Tomatoes, carrots and strawberrys at University.
Dead easy vegetables.
Which varity are you growing?
Huh, I had poor gardening last year too. Weird...
I've had pretty good luck sprouting tomato plants in both potting soil and those peat discs (available cheaper at Lowes or local gardening store). I start them in either an indoor "greenhouse" (last two years, also available cheaper at Lowes or local gardening store) or a foil baking pan (like for brownies) with transparent lid (this year). I keep the soil moist by adding water as needed and propping open the lid to allow some evaporation. Too much moisture and I get a fungus (despite sterilizing everything possible). This year I have them in the northern windowsill (don't have windows on the other three sides) with a small $25 heating pad under them. As soon as they sprout, I alternate between plain water and Miracle-Gro water-soluable plant food in solution. As the plants get larger, I construct a "wall" from duct tape and cut-up styrofoam meat trays that fits on the groove for the lid in the bottom growing tray, then capped with the transparent lid... this gives them another 5"-6" to grow and get more hardy before moving to the outside raised bed.
In the raised bed outside, I use plain old generic top soil mixed in with manure and slow-release fertilizer pellets. I water them each morning with the soaker hose until the soil won't hold anymore water. Make sure to water everyday to help prevent cracking in the tomatoes. I make a "tea" from crushed egg-shells in milk jugs for 24hrs or more and pour it on once a week for calcium. I also add any used coffee or tea grounds right on top of the soil. After 2 1/2-3 months, I add additional slow-release fertilizer in a small trench on one side of each row, then re-cover with soil.
I haven't had much luck with cheap grow lights indoors. I prefer the taste of heirloom tomatoes, but hybrid tomatoes with built-in resistance to fungus and other diseases are much more forgiving about growing conditions. I get all my tomato and pepper seeds from here.
Don't forget that Starbuck's is a fantastic source for used coffee grounds. Great natural fertilizer, lots of nitrogen. And free.
Don't forget that Starbuck's is a fantastic source for used coffee grounds. Great natural fertilizer, lots of nitrogen. And free.
+1 And I use them on my roses as well.
Yes, my tomatoes did poorly last year as well and my roses struggled. But my lawn looked great.
I love to takwe a tomato, apply just a pinch of salt to it and eating it like an apple.
Sure, it's a little messy, but it makes an awesome snack!
I love to take a tomato, apply just a pinch of salt to it and eating it like an apple.
Sure, it's a little messy, but it makes an awesome snack!
I prefer mine sliced with the lightest drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. And a chunk of good Wisconsin extra-sharp cheddar on the side. Mmmmm...
I love to takwe a tomato, apply just a pinch of salt to it and eating it like an apple.
Sure, it's a little messy, but it makes an awesome snack!
Fresh sliced tomato on white toast with butter and light salt. Yummy!
Beaten only by fresh sliced green pepper on white bread with soft cream cheese and light salt.
Nothing like home grown!
That's awesome. I find working the earth extremely satisfying. I have tried growing beans and cucurbits, without much success. If the plants don't get eaten up by bugs or mammals, they seem inevitably to get some kind of disease! I hope you have better success.
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I did experiments in Plant growing in 1993...I found that Yeast can be used to germinate pretty much any seed that will not germinate. It feeds off the protein coat of the seed causing it to germinate.
I did this in a selection of fifty growing tubes and found that it triggered germination of every seed including contamination seeds that I hadnt realized were in my supposedly sterile growing media...
I prefer mine sliced with the lightest drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. And a chunk of good Wisconsin extra-sharp cheddar on the side. Mmmmm...I love to take a tomato, apply just a pinch of salt to it and eating it like an apple.
Sure, it's a little messy, but it makes an awesome snack!
I'm a fan of Tilamook's sharp cheddar, and now I'm hungry.
Our ground is still too hard to plant yet.
That, and I have tried to grow tomatoes here for a number of years -- generally with pretty poor results. "High Desert" is no place for tomatoes to grow.
We used a 8'Wx4'Hx3'D clear top hot box for a couple of years with good results. We also got great jalapenos those years. They had lots of flavor but they were wicked hot too!