On 1/30/2015 8:47 PM, Boron Elgar wrote:
On Fri, 30 Jan 2015 20:08:06 -0600, George Shirley
wrote:

On 1/30/2015 5:58 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:
Well , I've got lots of tomato seedlings now ... and two in most cells .
When do y'all thin your seedlings ? I can do it now , but then if one dies
... or I can do it when they're bigger , and the dominant one is more
apparent . That approach however uses more of the finite amount of nutrients
available , and maybe thinning now will make one that wouldn't have been
dominant actually be stronger than ...
Decisions decisions !

If there were two or more seeds planted in the same cup I just pinch off
all but the sturdiest seedling. Don't have enough space to plant a lot
of tomato plants. The plants themselves need plenty of room around here
and I keep them pruned so that sunshine gets into the plant.

On occasion I have transplanted extra seedlings from a group and mostly
they succeeded but not as well as the primary. And, like you said, the
secondaries suck up all the energy for the primary.


I tossed caution and common sense to the wind a few years ago.

I have a bed up front that is about 8' x 8'. It is enriched with
compost every year in the spring - just after I pull the tulip bulbs.

Yes, I put in about 80-100 tulip bulbs each fall (maybe $10 worth,
with a careful eye to local offerings). I think of the tulips as
annuals and get rid of the bulbs after bloom...some go to neighbors,
some wind up in other parts of the yard, some just get composted

After the pull, the new compost goes in, as do tomato seeds of many
varieties. I am a seed saver and some of the seeds that get used are
the older ones in the collection or ones I have picked up or ordered
from end-of-season sales. Way too many tomato seeds go into that plot
than any intelligent or knowing gardener would deposit. They come up
like crazy, as do any number of volunteers from the compost or the
tomato husks left as drops the previous fall (you know... when I pull
up the tomato plants before I put in all those bulbs).

Oh, it means I do not get huge tomatoes up there early in the season,
and that is ok. I tend to plant those that bear smaller fruits in that
plot.

The wonder is that the plants come in so thick and lush and flower and
fruit like crazy even though logic says they'd block the light from
each other and be undernourished. Nah....that plot is incredibly
productive....and it does not get a full day's sun, either...not once
the neighbor's huge oak leafs out.

It is odd to direct sow here in northern NJ, but seed is cheap, and
after the first experiment, I have continued it the last 5 years or
so.

Then this starts daily happening in late July and continues until
frost in October.

http://i57.tinypic.com/11rdkp5.jpg


Our big problem with close planting of tomatoes is bugs, with no
sunshine getting into the interior of the plants the bugs take over.
It's a PITA trying to get in there and pinch all the stink bugs and save
some 'maters. They aren't as bad if there is lots of light getting in.

Looks like your method works well for you.