2017 Tomato Growing

Today I sowed:

Gartenperle
Carmello
Paul Robeson
Black Krim
Cisineros (OK this is Tomatillo)
Black Magic (OK this is Kale)

About 24 each (one seed tray)

 

Hi John
Graft looks good, I have never tried grafting, I just use fresh compost as I grow in pots and quadgrows.I do not think it would be any advantage to me. I use an old aquarium twin fluro and do not get any yellowing issues
There should be enough daylight now to bring those on.
regds alex

 

Seeing your set up there John makes me think a second hand fish tank with lights in the lid would work?

 

Mostly tomatoes here. Paul Robeson is particularly slow. Only 2 germinated so far. Cisineros (tomatillo) even slower - none germinated.

 

@JWK Does that mean Ildi and Yellow Pear are the same variety, or did you mean that Ildi is a yellow, pear shaped tomato?

I suffering from severe 'mission creep' on the tomato sowing front, intended to sow only the 9 varieties mentioned above, but found so much stuff searching through my big plastic ex-biscuit tub of tomato seeds that I've now sown 17 varieties and I've come across a Thomas Etty packet of 'Yellow Pear' seeds that I was given last year when somebody we knew moved and had a clear out (everybody round here gives us first dibs on their rubbish) and gave us dozens of old'ish packets and I feel obliged to try some of them.

And if they are a separate variety (I've grown Ildi), what do Yellow Pear taste like?

I'm picking up a load of ebay bought 'rose pots' from Argos tomorrow, some will be for sowing my long runner beans, but others will be to trial deeper potting up of tomatoes DEEP ROSE POTS 2 , 3 , 4 L Lt Litre PLASTIC TOP QUALITY PLANT POT | eBay

 

If they germinate I'll grow a few as all the yellow varieties I've grown previously have been very bland.

 

None of the 'yellow pear' seeds germinated.

But I"ve finished pricking out 268 tomatoes.

 

Progress of the representative specimens




Normally, you would deep plant but, as you can see, the cotyledons (seed leaves) are still present and well above the compost level - this was deliberate.

 

Only finished pricking out into 40x cell trays last Thursday (started Wednesday) and I've already 'potted on' 180 of them into 24x cell trays. If they keep growing at this rate those 180 will be needing to move into the next size up, 60mm deep square pots, in another week or so.

Ideally, I want them in 3" diameter deep round pots by May so I can put them all into 18x pot trays for easy handling. Only 39 plants left in 40x cells (7 runts rejected so far) and those are the (later sown) plants for outdoor planting through X cuts in Mypex membrane using a bulb planter, so I don't want them in anything larger than a 3" pot.

As the heating's on, all my tomatoes are now in my greenhouse and being rotated between the staging, under lights in my second greenhouse growbox, and outside on my potting bench near my greenhouse door. Shame the weather's turned chilly again.

 

Mine are still in the windowsill, out of 12 types 11 germinated properly. Brown sugars' leaves got caught in the seed case.. both seedlings. Oh well, still got the heinz ones to sow. Need to get a move on!