Moving Tomato Plants

Today was sort out day here and the last 150 tomato plants came out of the hothouse and are hardening off. The lot that were on the path hardening off have now relocated to the back of the house and the new lot have taken their spot under the shade cloth. One thing that did come out of the plant relocation today was that when I was putting the plants in the trays, the Brandywine Pink had a ring-in, a regular leaf plant, so it looks like I'll grow it out just to see if it is a pink, or something else.

I'm now down to one cold frame which holds the Goji Berry seedlings and a few smaller chili plants, while the hothouse now contains only the plants I have potted up to grow in either the garden or pots in the hothouse itself.

I've booked a stall at the local Market for Sunday and hopefully a huge quantity of the tomato plants will get sold off, well that's the plan but there are other plant stalls booked, so not sure what type of plants they'll sell but a bit of competition is good fun.

It's a good opportunity for anyone to buy "different" varieties even just to save seeds as a lot of the ones I have came from USA and with the new Quarantine Laws, no more tomato seed can be imported into Australia by the small grower.

Food for thought.

Goji Update

The Goji Berries have started to get new growth and the earlier sowing has now got leaves hanging out over the tops of the 2" tubes. They seemed to enjoy their drink of Seasol last week and are looking good.

Here's a couple of the bigger ones.

Like Chalk and Cheese

"Like Chalk and Cheese"

These tomato plants carry the same name tag on their pots and they may look like similar to the untrained eye, but these tomatoes are all quite different even though they're from the same seed packet. Last year these became the focal point of what seemed to be a 'mutant' line of fruit coming from these mysterious Cuor di Bue tomato seeds with so much variation in the fruit.

But to the trained eye three different types will come from these plants, with unbelievable variation in their fruiting, like -

• A red heart tomato as big as a tennis ball, heavily ribbed.
• A small red heart almost a miniature Cuor di Bue
• A burgundy egg shaped tomato with some striping more noticeable while in the unripe lead up to changing colour, looking more Green Zebra like than anything colour wise before the change.

This year, mainly due to the oddity factor of last season, I'm growing 4 plants from the original seed packet in an effort to see what I get this time. It's amazing that variations show up at an early stage in their foliage in either colour or leaf shape.

Interesting times ahead - I certainly hope so.

Tomato Day

It seemed to end up being a busy afternoon as I decided it was time to harden off the bigger of the tomato plants and had to try and sort them into trays of the same types. I've still got a lot that are just too small to go out yet and they'll spend a few more weeks in the warmth of the hothouse and cold frame.

It's surprising to see how much the plants I've potted up into 140mm pots have grown in the last week, some almost look as if they'd be quite at home in the garden, but I won't be rushing it this year. When I get enough room in the hothouse, I'll remove the racking down one side and pot up into 30cm pots the likes of Little Heart and Lime Green Salad which I'll be growing some of each in the hothouse.

This afternoon all seedlings, inside and out of the hothouse received a drink of Seasol as a tonic just to help them cope on the 'outside'.

In the hothouse

I decided to pot up all the tomatoes I plan on growing in the garden this year into 140mm pots, to enable me to hold off from planting at my usual time if the need arose, so yesterday and today I did some and they look quite good although I'm only about 2/3rds of the way done at this stage.

Amongst the multitude of plants I found that I had four compact seedlings of Polar Star sitting at the front of a tray in the hothouse, so these got potted up, then when I checked my database I was supposed to have seven plants and when located the other three they turned out to be different for some reason. Mix ups with tomato seed is always on the cards, just look at the Cuor di Bue that turned out throwing 'mutant' strains of fruit in both shape and colour, hence where the little heart tomato origins are. I've decided to keep the four 'compact' plants and get rid of the other three as I don't want years of stress growing them out.

The Cuor di Bue mentioned above threw fruit with unusual shape, ribs & colour last year so I'm growing four plants this year to see what turns up. I have also got three plants of the tomato 'Little Heart' to grow on and see if there's any improvement in shape as they had superb flavour, so fingers crossed I get good results again.

I have the majority of the plants for the bigger tomatoes almost up to a size where they can come out and be hardened off.

With the other items I'm growing, the cucumbers have not grown as planned and the Goji's are starting to hit their straps with lots of new growth and may get sold off at Christmas if they get some size to them.

Here's my grow list for this season, with some multiples- Black Cherry

Black Russian

Casey's Stripey

Cebrino

Cherokee Purple

Country Orange

Cuor di Bue

D-3

Greek Witness

Grosse Lisse

Grub's Mystery Green

Kotlas

Lime Green Salad

Little Heart

Micro Tom

Monomakh's Hat

Nicoleta

Papa Misco

Picardy

Polar Star

Prairie Fire

Raff

Rainy's Maltese

Red Cloud

Red Robin

Siberian

Siletz

Sprite

Tigerella

Tiny Tim

Totem

UK2000

Vodar

Window Box Roma

Just Like Winter

It was like a wintery blast that roared through our area today with gale force winds and rain, all this while I have 100+ tomato plants under the shade cloth of the fernery which I'm attempting to harden off for a few days. Although out of the wind, these plants are feeling the difference from being all warm and snug in the hothouse, but they'll pull through O.K. and will rest in the sunshine when it next appears.

These plants are the smaller/ornamental types including the likes of Siberian, Window Box Roma, Tiny Tim, Red Robin and the worlds smallest tomato plant Micro Tom. In the following weeks, the bigger varieties will make their appearance in the fernery for the crucial hardening off period of three to five days. Once they get through this period they should be tough enough to survive in the garden without too much attention.

Goji Day

I could call today Goji Berry Day, as I seem to have accumulated a lot of them here it would seem, although it certainly didn't look like there were anywhere that many growing in the seedling tray when I first looked. I rounded off the total number of tubes done to 200 and every one of them still looks like it's healthy and standing erect, so we'll see how they go.

Here they are, minus a few still in the hothouse:-

Another Day

Warm, sunny and windy, not the sort of day to be moving tomato plants around the yard but these jobs have to be done when the plants reach an ultimate height so they harden off and sit in the sun for the last week prior to sale. Varieties like Siletz, Siberian, Sprite, Praire Fire and Window Box Roma were the first to be left out in the shade along with more Chillies, Zucchini's and Cucumbers. The interior of the hothouse is now devoid of the numerous pots of seedlings taking up the walkway between the growing stands. By the end of September all the seedlings will be out ready to either plant here in the garden or to sell on, both will be a good feeling.

This year we will be growing extra tomato plants so seed collection can occur with these smaller hard to get varieties, as importing from USA will no longer be allowed and seed will become harder to get for these varieties.

We will attempt to grow our Zucchini's and our Lebanese Cucumber plants from indivdual 58 litre tubs, while the Sikkim Cucumber finds a spot amongst the Natives in the back yard.

Here are some 'Black Jack' Zucchini plants which we're growing again this year.

Making Some Room

With the different plant types being grown here this year, I'll have to start thinking of moving some around, hardening off others because I'm rapidly running out of space. In the coming days I'll start and harden off some of the smaller tomato types in order to claim the room in the cold frame for others taking up aisle space in the hothouse. These smaller tomatoes can harden off under shade cloth for a few days then they'll be put out to soak up the sun and hopefully put on more size. I have placed an Ice cream stick in a lot of the seedlings pots for the ones I want to keep for my own garden, so this will help locating them when the time comes.

Today the Marketmore Cucumbers went out with some Corno di Toro sweet peppers and will be the first to start the hardening off process.

Here's the Marketmore Cucumbers.

Finally done.

Well, after 6 long weeks I've finally manged to pot up the last tomato seedlings today after losing a lot with the cold August we encountered this year. Along with the tomatoes, I have potted up 48 Goji Berry seedlings into 2" tubes, they were growing in the seed trays with the tomatoes and as the tomatoes have finished, the Goji's had to find a new home.

I've now managed to get suitable tomato plant numbers again for my sales and it will be interesting to see if I can get rid of them quickly, as I don't want them here for any longer than needed.

Here's a tray of seedling Goji's.

A Look At What's Growing.

The tomato seedlings I have growing at present are starting to get some size now after sitting through a cold gloomy August, which did them no favours with very little growth noted. I've resown quite a few tomato seedlings to make up for some of the 100+ I'd lost in the cold, these are doing fine now and will be potted up next week.

In Cold frame#1 I have the small varieties of tomato seedlings which are now mostly ready to be sold on, remembering that these are only small growing plants, when fully grown. It's interesting to note that some of these smaller plants are actually starting to flower now and could have fruit showing when they leave here.

While in Cold frame#2 the Chillies and Peppers are doing well. Here are some of the Corno di Toro also ready to be sold, but will have to wait a few more weeks yet.

In the hothouse the Cucumber & Zucchini seeds have germinated and will be put out in the colder air soon to slow their growth so they'll be at a good size at the end of the third week in September when they'll be collected by those growing them.

Waking Up Old Tomato Seeds #2

Yesterday I removed the tomato seeds from the tomato pulp/juice after leaving it soak for 49 hours, then rinsed and sowed them. I also mixed a bleach solution containing 27.5% of household bleach in water and soaked the remaining seeds for 30 minutes, rinsed and sowed them alongside the others. I'd expect that if any germination will occur, it should happen within the next 4-5 day period. I will however leave them until the last seedlings are taken from the heat pad in about a fortnight.

As I've said ..... Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Waking Up Old Tomato Seeds #1

I've been trying to germinate some tomato seeds I had given to me from Romania for over a month with no success, so I've decided to explore two other avenues. Today I purchased a Roma tomato from the Market and squeezed the juice & pulp into a strainer and removed the seeds. Into the juice/pulp I have added the seeds I want to try and wake up, which I'll soak for 48 hours, then sow.

The second avenue is to make up a weak bleach solution of 27.5% and soak the remaining seeds in it for 30 minutes, then sow.

I'll record what happens, (if anything) and post here with any news.

What's Growing??

Up until now I haven't really had a firm list on what we'll grow in the garden here this coming season, but we'll probably be including some Peppers, Chillies, Cucumbers, Zucchini and of course the Tomatoes.

For the Peppers/Chillies we're going with Corno de Toro, Sweet Temptation and Jimmy Nardello, plus one 'select' type.

The Cucumbers look easy at this stage with Marketmore, Lebanese and the new Sikkim variety shown in an earlier posting. The Zucchini's are easy as we only ever grow one variety, that being 'Black Jack', which I've started today, but not on the heat mat. I'll now add a few 'Kiwano' to my list in this section, otherwise known as Horned Melons, they can be eaten as a Cucumber when green, or as a Melon when ripe (yellow).

Tomato varieties this year have been a bit more difficult, with the following looking most likely the ones to make the cut.

Black Cherry
Cebrino
Cherokee Purple
Cuor di Bue - Mutants
Greek Witness
Grosse Lisse
Grub's Mystery Green
Kotlas
Lime Green Salad
Little Heart
Nicoleta
Papa Misco
Raff
Red Cloud
UK2000

More on the Goji Berry seeds.

With a bit of luck, I've managed to successfully germinate a few Goji Berry seedlings, so now to plant more seed and see what the germination rate is like for them. I'm hoping it should be O.K. and give good results, but time will tell. Here are some seed I've just extracted from the dried fruit.

Going Goji

Last Thursday I sowed some seeds we took from a dried Goji Berry in the hope we can germinate a couple here. The fruit although dried, is quite palatable and from all accounts, the bush grows to size (3m) quite quickly and is in full fruit production after the third year. Probably a little on the large size for our yard and will probably see them grown in our neighbours yard. I will expect to see these seedlings in a day or so, one week from sowing.

Nothing ventured ......

Great Germination & New Varieties

These are the tomato seeds I named Greek Witness with the help of Raymondo, the same ones that resembled charcoal when I first got them. Well, I have sown two lots of seeds this season from the ones in the photo and I have achieved exceptionally high germination, considering the colour of the seed. With the growing season still over a month away, I can't wait to get a few of these plants in the ground.

This year I'm also trialing seed for another unknown tomato found growing in the Italian vegetable gardens of Cobram, a river town in Northern Victoria where two of my sisters live. This one is thanks to 'Papa Misco' who sent me the seed, which will also become their name in lieu of a variety name.

From the street markets of Barcelona in Spain, comes Cebrino and also Raff tomatoes that will make their debut with me this year as well, thanks to a fellow tomato grower in Bendigo. Cebrino is an egg tomato almost black in colour, while Raff is a green shouldered Red.

Newcomer

Here's something that doesn't get grown all that much, even with being classified as an Heirloom variety. This is the Sikkim Cucumber originating in The Himalaya's and Nepal and is quite rare to see in a backyard garden. The unusual skin pattern of the fruit, looks more like an animal skin than a cucumber. I was trying to work out germination times on cucumbers, so planted one seed on the heat pad, the resulting seedling germinated after just two days.

Keeping Track

I'm now using a database to record the tomatoes, chillies, zucchini's and cucumbers that pass through the hothouse and cold frames. New seedlings are added at pot on time and any losses are recorded and adjusted accordingly.
Hopefully this system works when we start selling the seedlings as it's a good record to keep track on quantities of each variety.

Tomatoes - A Full House

All being well I should have a bumper crop of tomato seedlings, with better than average germination on most varieties. Pricking out while small doesn't seem to effect the plants and are soon standing again after a drink. Nicoleta should be good this year and will be the backbone of our crop in the garden, along with UK2000, Little Heart, Kotlas and a few others. The smaller/determinate and ornamental tomatoes are starting to look good, with their compact growth starting to appear and fill out in the pot. The Chillies, Capsicums and Peppers are getting a repot and will now be sporting new 3"tubes instead of their white foam coffee cups.

It's now a waiting game as everything will be potted up tomorrow, so then I can move onto the next step and germinate the Cucumber and Zucchini crop that will be added to the plant sale.

It's Started

With the tomato seedlings getting some size to them, I decided to prick some of the taller ones out today as they could easily become leggy if left too long. First there was a matter of making some room in the hothouse, so I had to relocate about 12 dozen of the smaller growing tomato plants to one of the two cold frames. Tomorrow will be the chillies, capsicums & peppers turn as they are currently taking up half the available space in the hothouse.
So far, I'm up to having about 120 of the tomato plants done, but it's been a slow process and tomorrow will see the majority of them in individual foam cups.

Towards the end of August, I'll start some Cucumber seed in the hope of having them ready for planting out sometime in early October. The list to date comprises Marketmore and Lebanese Cucumbers, some of which will be grown on a trellis due to space restrictions.

It's Raining

Last week we hooked up another 1000 litre caged tank to use the water for the garden like we did last year and having two of them now will help with watering some plants that need a drink, plus help water the tomato crop. For a week the tank has been hooked up and remained empty, but today it's raining so hopefully we'll get enough to fill it and top up the other one.

I know 2000 litres of water doesn't sound like very much, but it does benefit the plants in the garden and we like our garden, so it will be a great help here.

A few losses

Today is the twelfth day since sowing and I'm still getting seed germinating, so I'm now wondering just how fresh some of my seeds have been. Next year I'll only sow my own saved seed which will enable me to cut down on varieties and just grow the ones we like, which in turn will give a fresh seed save each year for these varieties.
I guess it's not worth worrying about the losses from poor germination on some varieties as I won't resow them and just go with what varieties I have as seedlings now, although I have some seed for 'Crisana' I'm trying to sprout on the top of my monitor. It would have been nice to get a couple of them from the two lots sown, but I'll just see what turns up from this last effort.
I'm also having a play around with the ones I need to 'grow out', like the 'Little Heart' and the 'Cuor di Bue' that wasn't, along with 'Casey's Stripey', which surfaced last season with stripes on it and finally 'Country Orange'.

Bleach Treatment of Tomato Seeds

Food for thought when you don't know how the Tomato seeds you get, either given or purchased have been fermented and whether or not they carry any disease from their point of origin. In an experiment today, I bleach treated 3 lots of seed prior to sowing. Mixing an 8% solution of laundry bleach in water (4ml to 50ml) I then soaked the seeds for 10 minutes prior to rinsing well in a small sieve, then drained on a filter paper before sowing.

The recommended treatment is for 10% for 10 minutes, but as only 4 seeds were involved at a time I used the 8% which is still satisfactory.

To keep your seeds disease free, this is an option if seed comes from a source other than your own.

Germination at last.

Checking this morning, I noticed about 3 varieties that were popping up, including the Marianna's Peace that I sowed as spares. As the day goes on, more and more are up with 'Little Heart' the first one standing erect with its Cots out. I expect that over the next day or so all will be up, then the fun begins.