Manipulating Growth

OK, so I've taken the tops out of some of my tomato plants and you want to know if they're going to grow or not, so how do I know what to do. Firstly, I've been working with tomatoes for a long time, most of my knowledge is self taught, plus I did a year at TAFE getting a Certifate 3 in Production Horticulture and then 7 years growing semi commercial crops of tomatoes on a full time basis.

When you plan on manipulating your plants, the things you need to look at are - (a) Am I cutting where I need to (b) Are there leaf nodes or side shoots visible. Take a look at the photo below and you'll see the arrow where I've cut, plus the sideshoots (circled), so yes, I've cut in the right place. The plant shown in the photo will now grow both sideshoots and one will be selected to be a leader.

Tomatoes are forgiving plants and you can manipulate how they grow, if you take the time to look at the plant you're starting with. Always use a sterile knife when doing this, so you won't get infections in it in the future.

Foliage Problems

One of the hardest things when growing tomato plants, is diagnosing any foliage problems they may get at any time. This evening I had to choose what I thought was wrong with  6-8 of my plants, and I'm settled with "Physiological Leaf Roll", a non-virus related problem. Physiological Leaf Roll occurs in the home garden, more times than growers realise and I guess the only way to see if I've diagnosed them correctly is to wait a week or so.

This problem is caused when the tops are growing faster than what the roots can supply in food to the plant and is noticeable on stressed plants when there is a rolling inwards of the leaves. Would you know what to do, well it's probably easier for me, because I'm heartless when I need to make a decision as to what I'd do.

My action was to get out my pruning knife, then plant by plant, go for the jugular and whip off the top half of the plant, hopefully creating a balance where less top growth will bring these plants back into balance.

Hey, if I'm wrong - I'll just pull them out.

Pricked Out Seedlings

I know they only germinated last week, but if I don't prick them out now, the roots get too long to make it a simple task. These are my Australian Native Hibiscus trionum seedlings. I love these little plants and the flower is quite nice in the garden.

New Bags In Use

When you're 100% committed to what you do. Most tomato plants now have at least one bag on them. This is my process to save seed that's not cross pollinated.

Our Native Bee Venture

We didn't realise we had Native Bees in our garden until we spotted them recently and it wasn't until we visited our Nursery friend today that we were told Blue Banded bees also love tomato plants.
With the informative visit under our belt, we came away full of enthusiasm with plans on making some native bee houses. Before our visit, we didn't have a clue on what we needed or how to go about it, but now I'm sure we'll be sorted very soon.

Thanks for your help Cath.

New Seedling

I know that not all tomato plants have the same first leaves, but the new seedling that emerged is a bit different, similar to Russo Sicilian. It's a regular leaf, but might have been easier if it was a potato leaf. Anyway, I know what I sowed and lost, so the fruit will be what makes the final ID. There is also another seedling further up the garden bed, maybe I'll just pull it out.

In The Seed Tin

Things you do when you get bored and start to look at what you'll grow next year, you get out your tomato seed tin and pick out what is old seed and what you'd like to grow, just to get fresh seeds. The only thing with this was that I managed to get 72 varieties without trying that I didn't grow this season, with one or two exceptions. Seed packets range from one seed to lots, with some going back to 2007 and lots undated. A few stand outs I can see are - Polish Linguisa, German Johnson, Teton de Venus, Jersey Devil, Nyagous. - the list goes on.

Next year, the garden will be a lot smaller than this season, as I'll be planting native garden beds to help fill up a sizeable backyard.

Glue Toxicity Beaten

Don't ask, but I think it's safe to say that I've finally found a way around gluing flowers shut on Capsicums and Chillies and beating the Toxicity from the PVA Glues I've tried over time. My test flower didn't die due to glue toxicity and it's still closed, which I think is great, so I can really give it a good test soon.

My real test will come when I get flowers on my Orange Habanero Chilli, for this I'll make a Youtube of how to apply it to the flowers.

Today's Photos

My morning wander around the garden and I grabbed a couple of photos while there. The two Jade Numbat zucchini loading up with flowers, but no males as yet.

A look in the hothouse shows the glued flower is still doing good and best part is the glue is still holding the flower closed.

The Hibiscus trionum seedlings are doing great, with a few still germinating. Also, the cuttings of the Diggers Speedwell has a healthy new shoot.

Last but not least, I've taken a few tomato cuttings and have in water, as I want to pull a few plants that aren't growing as well as I'd like. Me being fussy is all, but I want some better plants and this way saves starting from seed. 

Marker Ribbon

One job that comes around when bagging blossoms, is to cut your marker ribbon so you have it on hand when you need it. After it's cut, it is easy to store so it's ready when you are.

Here's some I've just cut.

Self Sown

I threw the contents of my seed trays on the garden after all had been pricked out, but now something that could be a tomato has come up. I had about 8 varieties that never germinated, so could possibly be one of them. I'm not sure even if it is a tomato, the droopy cotyledons could very well be. More on this one in a few days.

Bagging Tomato Blossom

As an aid to the new growers who want to collect their own tomato seed, I'll try and give a brief run down on how I bag my tomato blossom to get the 'pure' fruit for seed saving, as doing it and writing about doing is not easy to explain in full. Assuming you have already got the organza bags, ribbon and tomato plants that are starting to flower, you're ready to start.

Working close to your plant, it is best to select the flower truss you want to fit the bag to.

Taking your marking ribbon, tie a running loop so it can be fitted to the stem of the truss. If you take each end of the ribbon, cross over and pass through 'twice', like the first part of doing a bow (as photo). Then slip over the truss and pull the ends until a loose fit on the stem. The idea with the running loop is, that when pulled to a loose fit around the stem, as the truss enlarges, the loop will slip open without strangling the truss and not come undone in the long process.
 

Take your organza bag and fold the top part back, so that everything above the pull string is back over the bag, this will give you a better fit on the stem when the bag is fitted.
 


Now the tricky part of the bagging process, to fit the bag over the unopened flowers, so that the bag fits onto the stem and the flowers are actually inside that part of the bag when the strings get pulled. Once the bag is pulled tight, grab each side of the bag and pull apart to give a more open area within the bag.
Now it's just a waiting game for the flower to set fruit, which will be noticeable when small tomatoes start forming inside the bag. When all the flowers have fruit, remove the bag. Here's a bag with fruit showing on some of the flower stems. Hopefully from your bag you'll get quite a few fruit to use for your seed. Just remember when the time comes that the fruit with the ribbon are the ones you are saving for seed.
After the bag comes off your truss should look similar to this.
 

Washing Instructions.

Remember if reusing the bags, that they actually hold quite a lot of pollen in the fibres and need to be washed to remove it. A tip for washing your bags is to use some Nappy San in a half bucket of warm/hot water, then add a squirt of Domestos to the water and it will assist with the Pollen release from the Organza. Don't soak the bags with any bleach as it will make them deteriorate. Rinse well then hang to dry.

The Important Bit - Tying Your Plants

I haven't touched on this bit, but tying your plants to the stake or cage, requires a soft flexible type tie and I think we found the right one for the job. We once bought a product at the cheap shops, a narrow width material in a roll. When it became hard to get you could get it at Bunning's for about triple the price.

Now if you want it, you can get similar at 'Cheap As Chips' for under $2.50 per small roll/ball. See the photo below and you'll see what I mean. It's not the best thing going, but it does the job.

Pruning Again

In what will become a regular job on the tomato plants, today saw them get some pruning done to help them grow and achieve decent air flow. After working with tomatoes for so long, I know how important it is, but I also know there are a lot of gardeners that don't prune. It's personal choice to let your plants run riot, or you can manage their growth and reap the rewards.

In this photo you'll see what I took off this side of the garden bed, all useless growth which is being wasted by the plants in supplying food to keep this growth alive, even though it's of no use to the plant.

Don't try this at home unless you know what you're doing. lol

After the pruning, I managed to take a side shoot from Arkashin, to get another plant for seed. This variety I only managed one seedling, which struggled to grow, so now this cutting will grow in water until new roots appear, then it can go into the garden.

What's Growing - Today

We had 12mm of rain late yesterday afternoon/evening and the garden looks a treat this morning, so I'll post a few photos of what's growing both in the garden and hothouse. The tomatoes have actually started to kick on with some plants looking great with some extra foliage on them.

Starting off with the two Jade Numbat zucchini's I have in a big pot, today sporting a huge female flower, with signs of other flower activity on the plant.

 

Then looking at the big garden bed with tomatoes, plus a photo of my MS starting to fruit up.

The smaller garden bed with tomatoes are doing well too, Duncan's is still growing well, as well as a few others hitting their straps and putting on growth.

Not forgetting what's inside the hothouse, this photo only shows part of what's growing in there on the right hand side, not the tomato plants in pots on the floor. I have a pot of Diggers Speedwell cutting down as well, as these will be planted in our front garden when they get big enough.

I've removed a Capsicum plant that was a magnet to aphids, as the last thing I need in the hothouse are unwanted bugs. In its place I've planted a tomato seedling from my neighbour, which he calls a Capsicum Tomato, so I have no idea on what it is going to be.

Bill Cane - A Man of His Time

Have you ever heard of a Plantsman/Nurseryman named Bill Cane. Bill was a well known local that lived in this district and a good friend of our friends here in town. Bill has been dead for quite some time, but his plants are still a reminder of his love of the Australian Native plants. The main photo in the header of Just Correas Facebook page, shows one of Bill's never released Correas, which I've affectionately named after him and is only grown between two of us in town. Other plants of Bill's are still around, a pink Hardenbergia, or what about a white form of Diggers Speedwell which is a beautiful plant which he collected from Mt Imlay, but everyone thinks there is only one colour. His most famous plant was Banksia canei.

My friend and Bill's, wrote a great story about Bill Cane, well worthy of a read if you get the time, you can find it here - http://www.bencruachan.org/bill_cane.htm

The true legacy of Bill Cane will never be fully known, as not all about him is in a book. Bill Cane and Jean Galbraith were great friends, Jean's work forms another story about the native plants in Victoria. A great lady of her time too.

Wiki also have a small insight into Bill Cane - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cane

bencruachan.org

Bill Cane, Australian Plant enthusiast

Glue Update

Checked on the glued flower tonight and there is no sign yet of any colour change which would indicate the toxicity is killing the flower, so good news there.

 Same photo

Using River Sand to Propagate With.

I got shown a spot where washed river sand accumulates before the shire remove it with a front end loader to keep the waterway open if we get rain. I know it's been a favourite with the early propagators and they mixed it with Peat Moss, but it's something that I seldom use. I've been thinking of trying it on some native cuttings I'll be doing soon.

Hibiscus trionum Seedlings

I'm lucky I have some seed saved from Hibiscus trionum that we grew in our Cranbourne garden. I sowed a few seeds on the weekend and they are now mostly up as of today.(photo)
I recently grew a tray of 30 tubes and ended up donating them to the local St Vinnies, which were a hit with the locals.

Organza Wedding Bags

Well, I finally got my 100X Organza Wedding Bags today, after receiving an email last Friday to say Australia Post had taken possession of them from the supplier in China. I found the company very efficient in their delivery (about 5 days) then the delivery went belly up when it arrived in Australia.

Anyway, I'm happy I bought them, even happier that I can start using them soon, with the tops on these only being 13mm, I can get away without getting the excess top removed on an overlocker. The first thing they need is a wash in warm soapy water to help soften them, but I can use them as is, if I need to.

Expectation and Reality

Ever notice on a Garden Forum or in a Garden Group how you always seem to be jealous of something a poster posts about doing in their garden with plants, or growing tomatoes or something different. In reality these are the third rate gardeners who rely on bluff and are the members who never post photos of their crop, or garden, as they're probably too ashamed to let anyone see it.

Think about it next time you feel like you're jealous of their posts, then ask them to post some photos, which will probably never happen, but it will prove a point. 

They're in your group, can you spot them.

Bags a Plenty

More blossom bags going on this morning, so I should have a good collection of bagged seed at the end of the season, especially with more bags arriving from China on Thursday.

Here's Korall and Totem with their bags.

 Korall with bags

Totem with bags

Rare #3

I've spoken so much about the rare Spanish tomato variety I'm growing, but although in reality it's just another tomato, I'm pinning all hopes of getting usable seed from it, that a third plant is growing in my hothouse. What started off as tiny cotyledons when I pricked them out has turned into a nice tomato plant and growing every day.

Testing The Glue

I have flowers opening on one of my Capsicum plants in the hothouse, so what better day to try out my recommended PVA Glue on some capsicum flowers to test the toxicity. What may not be toxic to humans is a different story when it comes to plants.

Anyway, I'll watch and see what happens to the flower once the glue has been on for a while.

Why glue the flowers shut you may ask. Well the answer is that like tomatoes, Capsicums and Chillies are self fertile and don't need an outside source to pollinate. What the glue on the flower does, is to stop cross pollination from occurring from a nearby plant of the same species and as the pollinated embryo emerges from the flower, splitting the glue it's past the stage where pollen from another source can change it.. The Capsicum family is renowned for cross pollinating, with the wind, or bees being the usual cause.

A Hard Day

It's been a hard day in the garden today, my babies are plum tuckered out.

Inside The Hothouse

Unfortunately, there isn't much in the hothouse at present, apart from 3X Capsicum/Chillies & 7X Tomato plants and a few Lettuces. I've found a Seed Merchant that stocks Debco Potting Mixes and have asked them to get me in 5X bags of Propagation Mix, then I'll start and do Native Cuttings. I'll have a go at growing some tubestock for a friend who has opened a small Nursery in Kongwak, which will give me something to do and maybe make some pocket money as I go.

Here's looking in from the doorway.

Six Years Ago

I had a Memory come up on Facebook today from six years ago, that being the photo of the tomato I first named Red Velvet because of the texture inside the cut fruit. After a while I had to change the name because a tomato of a similar name existed and it's sort of a no no to closely name a tomato after another one. Now the variety is called Village Red, for want of another name when you live in a Village (Note Blog Link Name). I'm actually regrowing the F2 of this plant again this year, which according to my way of thinking, should throw a red heart tomato, but we'll see.

Here's the photo of the cut fruit that showed on Facebook.

Pruning Tomato Plants Early

This is a job you should really have a go at doing, as it will help strengthen your plants.

At the moment, my Tomato plants are just forming their second flower truss, so they are still immature as far as plants go, but they still need some attention to excess leaves and sideshoots. This is where hygiene comes into growing tomato plants, well more on the maintenance side of things. If you do it right, you should have a nice sharp knife, I use a Metallo 7020, a bottle of Methylated Spirits and some Cotton Squares, with the squares becoming alcohol type wipes. As you cut leaves from plants, wipe the blade of your knife on the wet wipe so you are not spreading anything from one plant to another.

It doesn't take long before you can tidy up a heap of plants using a sharp knife, plus your not spreading anything as you do it. How simple is that.

Special Plants in The Patch

Among my tomato plants this year, are three plants I'll be keeping a watchful eye on. First one is the 'Giant' I got seeds from a Facebook Group for, the second one is from the same seed packet, but a Potato Leaf I've given a working name of Wandocka Giant and third but not least is one I got from a seed swap many years ago from a contact I had at the time.

The last one has a name, but it drew attention a few years ago when I posted the name online and got an email wanting to know where I got the seeds from, so it's just called 'Rare' for now.

 Giant

Wandocka Giant

Rare 

Birds in Your Garden

We have Blackbirds, Sparrows, Starlings, Mudlarks and a heap of other bird types, but most importantly we have Magpies. Our resident Magpie parents hatched and raised three babies this year and the babies spend a lot of time in my garden. They know it's safe here and because I talk to them, they aren't scared of me and act like small children in what antics they get up to each day. They love running through the tomato plants, often hiding beneath the foliage or laying down having a sleep. I don't mind them being here, as they're not destructive and they do have a go at picking up any bugs they see.

Here's a photo of them in the garden, doing what babies do best.

Growing Tomato Sideshoots in Water

I was once told by our friend Lomatia, this is what originated in the Italian 'Old Country' many years ago, one of two ways you can do it. Growing the sideshoots of your tomato plants is a sure fire way to increase your tomato plants with genetically identical plants. One way is to propagate them using a damp potting mix as media, described below is the second way I've done them, although I have observed that it's not as strong as in soil/potting mix, but the cuttings still grew fine.

In the photo below, I've used Grafting Pegs to hold the sideshoot to a bamboo stake, so when suspended in water, it will stay where you want it. Taking your sideshoot from the parent plant is best achieved using a sharp knife and where possible, cut it so no longer than 15cm in length. Using a jar, cup, or glass, place the sideshoot into the water and leave it undisturbed for a week or ten days where it can get ample light, but be out of the sun, or until a healthy lot of roots appear, then pot it up into a pot of moist potting mix and allow plenty of sunlight.