So I was going to wait a few more weeks before re-potting my basement tomatoes, maybe up to 4 inch pots, and then after a few more weeks pot them up to the 6 inch pots that would be their final residence. Today I went down and spotted something that made me pot them all in 6 inch pots right away. Flower buds! Lots of tiny flower buds starting to form. What that means is that the tomato plants are starting to mature. At that point they change their priority from growing to making babies, err, fruit. They’ll still keep growing, but they’ll sacrifice the growth for reproduction. So they told me to stop messing around with any kinds of re-potting and to just put them into their final pot so they can get busy with making me tasty toms. I took a bunch of pictures of the process. Notice the roots on the plant after I get it out of the cup. That’s another BIG sign that they need to be re-potted immediately.
Here’s some pictures:
Notice the tiny flower buds right off of the stem. Let’s get busy!
Root-bound. Put me in a bigger pot immediately!
Movin’ on up! Check out the new digs.
Space! Precious space, I missed you so much.
I did the usual re-potting technique of removing some of the lower branches and putting them a bit deeper into the new soil to allow new roots to grow out of the buried stem. I potted them in mostly potting soil, with a bit more worm poo at the bottom of the pot. It was also nice to level them to around the same height since they were getting so uneven that I was tilting the light and putting the taller plants towards the higher side of the light.
At some point I’d like to get them out from under the florescent light in the basement and introduce them to a sunny upstairs window. This involves the process of hardening-off where you gradually move the plants into the new environment, extending the time there every day until the plant is used to it. I don’t think the transition will be too bad since I’m not putting them outside but only giving them sunlight instead of lightbulb light. That’s the next step.
Mike
March 9th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Wowee! Those are some plants! Today at the farmer’s market I bought a tomato as big as my head. I blame your influence. (Well, really I blame Will, for saying how nice tomato salad would be. I blame YOU for the fact that I am wondering if we have adequate growing conditions.)
March 10th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Annika,
Damn, I wish I had a tomato as big as your head.
The biggest I’ve ever grown is the monster Gold Medal from last year at:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1236/1059919689_2739bb27c1.jpg?v=0
2 pounds, 6 ounces. I’m still not convinced that it was one tomato or some mutant Quato-like hybrid tomato (”Quaaaaaaid! Start the reactor!”). It impressed the hell out of the tomato nerds at gardenweb.com in any case.
Mike
April 11th, 2008 at 5:57 am
Any tomatoes yet?
Have you started your other seeds? Now that the snow’s finally gone (the last speck disappeared yesterday), I’m feeling like I should have started my seeds a couple of weeks ago. Must do it this weekend.
April 15th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
I have to admit, I was skeptical, but there are indeed tomatoes. In my dining room. Go figure!
April 16th, 2008 at 7:39 am
Kim,
Yep, we have around a dozen little tomatoes. I should post some pictures of them soon. For some reason only two of the five plants are making tomatoes. I think it might have something to do with determinate weirdness where they want all of their tomatoes to ripen around the same time. Or they just might not be getting enough sun. With the sun so high in the sky this time of the year they really aren’t getting a lot of sun. I might move them outside next month and see if that helps. Next winter I’ll start them a month or so earlier, so right around the new year.
Also, I just started my main-crop tomato seeds last weekend. 2 each of 36 different varieties. I like trying new kinds and I wanted 2 of each to have a backup. I’ll make a post about them eventually, with a list. They just started coming up yesterday after I put them directly on my heat mat. Today I put them under light so they don’t start getting leggy, but I left the heat mat under them to encourage the seeds that haven’t come up year. I’m planning on planting them around May 15th, but that depends a lot on how the weather looks then. I may have to push it back a week or two.
I’ve also started some peppers and brussel sprouts, and a bunch of prairie flowers for Vicki. And I’ve direct-seeded the cool weather crops in the garden already. That’s potatoes, onions, peas, spinach, and lettuce. Oh, and my garlic is a couple of inches out of the ground already.
In conclusion, I’m happy the winter is over.
Mike
April 18th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Ooh! That’s very exciting! I wonder how they’ll taste? Every year, I think I must try growing sprouts and herbs all winter, then I never quite get around to it, despite my loverly grow lights.
I do covet a heat mat, but it’s never really seemed necessary. I started my seeds on the weekend. So far, no tomatoes (or tomatillos) up, but one hot pepper, a peek from my mouse melons (so weird I had to try) and the leeks and basil are lookin’ green. My soybeans look AWESOME (you have no idea how hard it is to find a source for soybeans - I ended up begging them from a university exhibit at an agricultural fair. I mean, who wouldn’t want to grow edamame?). This weekend I’m putting out the peas. My garlic’s looking good, too. I’m curious about your brussel sprout experiment. I tried some fancy purple ones last year, and they never really made sprouts. I waited so long that they’re currently making compost in the veggie garden.
I am curious how my germination will be. I noticed that some of my seeds are now eight years old. I repackage them and keep them in a sealed container in the fridge. We’ll see!
Any perennials in the prairie flowers? That was my big step a couple of years ago. Now I have more than I know what to do with.