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When to thin
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. |
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