Dr. said:

Ah... another question. I read that you should sow tomato seeds 6-8 weeks
early when starting them indoors. At the 6th week, the plants were gigantic,
and it was still too cold to plant. They weren't leggy.. just HUGE, with the
roots growing through the sides of the 3" diameter peat pots.

Don't start them any earlier than 6 weeks before...unless you have a
greenhouse and plans to pot them up into bigger containers.

I think I may know what I did wrong. I started them in my basement, which is
kinda cool.. as basements tend to be. I left them on the heat mat the entire
time. I'm thinking those seedlings may have grooved a little too much on all
that heat. The light was always withing a couple inches of the top of the
seedlings. They just got happy.

Next year, should I remove the heat mat right after they germinate?

Yes. And run a fan (or fans) on them to give them a little movement. Toughens
the stems.

Planning for potting them up bigger at least once might also be in order.

I've been picking SunSugar and 4th of July for a couple of weeks. Also Ruby
(which I like to dry).

Also had my first hornworm in years. YUCK! It was bigger than my index finger
and I have pretty big hands.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

Dr. said:

Ah... another question. I read that you should sow tomato seeds 6-8 weeks
early when starting them indoors. At the 6th week, the plants were gigantic,
and it was still too cold to plant. They weren't leggy.. just HUGE, with the
roots growing through the sides of the 3" diameter peat pots.

Don't start them any earlier than 6 weeks before...unless you have a
greenhouse and plans to pot them up into bigger containers.

I think I may know what I did wrong. I started them in my basement, which is
kinda cool.. as basements tend to be. I left them on the heat mat the entire
time. I'm thinking those seedlings may have grooved a little too much on all
that heat. The light was always withing a couple inches of the top of the
seedlings. They just got happy.

Next year, should I remove the heat mat right after they germinate?

Yes. And run a fan (or fans) on them to give them a little movement. Toughens
the stems.

Planning for potting them up bigger at least once might also be in order.

I've been picking SunSugar and 4th of July for a couple of weeks. Also Ruby
(which I like to dry).

Also had my first hornworm in years. YUCK! It was bigger than my index finger
and I have pretty big hands.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

"Steve" wrote in message
...
I would (and in fact I do) use the heat only to get them to
germinate quickly. Then they go under the basement lights with no
heat added.
I think providing that heat not only makes them grow too big but
also makes them more tender. Maybe it didn't happen this year but
sometimes the weather might turn cold right after you get them into
the garden. Plans that grew slower under cooler conditions would be
less stressed by cooler weather.

Steve

Thanks for the reply.

Next year I'll remove the seedlings from the mat as they germinate.

The tomatoes didn't seem to shock much, if at all. My peppers, however, are
a different story. Most of the ones I started are very stunted. I bought
some other seedlings of varieties I didn't have seeds for, and they're all
doing great.

Gary

"DigitalVinyl" wrote in message
...
"Dr." wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions.

I may try the 4th of July next year in addtion the Sweet Millions. As you
mentioned with the 100s, it can be difficult to pick the ripe ones
without
knocking off the green ones. .

I wanted to try Sweet Millions but I was very disorganized at the
start of the year and did a horrendous job on getting seeds and
starting my seedlings. Better next year!

I think Sweet Millions is a good variety. I haven't had Sweet 100, though
they're supposed to taste about the same. Millions is supposed to have
better disease resistance and more resistance to cracking than the 100. I
don't have much problem with cracking on my Millions planted in the ground.
I put one in a container last year and had cracking on that plant though.


I may try the Health Kick as a potted plant, since you're having good
luck
with yours. I tried conainer varieties the two previous years, but they
did
poorly. Thin foliage, which was causing some sun scald. I probably wasn't
getting the watering just right. My peppers, on the other hand, love the
containers.

I've had very decent production with peppers in plants too. There are
some products I rely on with containers:
Terrasorb - a potassium crystal/gel that holds water. They last
3-5 years then break down into potassium.
Hydromats - I call them "plant diapers". You line the bottom of
the pot with them. They hold water and the roots even
grow into them some. Extends the moisture holding.
I've given up on clay pots--dries out too fast for me. Needs to much
attention. Self watering are nice but expensive during the heat spells

I'll look around for the Terrasorb and Hydromats. I don't have a very large
garden area, so I put what I can in containers. With those products, maybe
I'll have better luck with potted tomatoes.


Healthy Kick isn't meant as a container variety. I just didn't have
the heart to kill off the seedlings once they started. They were the
healthiest of the May seedings. I had this round bowl planter, 9-10"
round, 5 inch deep. I stuck them in there since I wasn't using it.
Because it is shallow it dries out pretty quick. I water it deeply
twice a day on warm days. The plants just grew admirably. Last year's
were remarkable--in size and crop. I'm thinking the variety is just a
good strong one.

Well, it sure looks to be doing good. As long as it continues to do so, I'd
just leave it in that bowl. I'll probably add that one to the garden next
year, in a container. I'll probably keep all the determinates in containers.


here you can see the shallow pot they are in but much of the growth
and tomatoes are obscured.
http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/royalfraz...&.dnm=50e6.jpg
Here you see better how it has grown--only 10-12 weeks from seed.


http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/royalfraz...a2.jpg&.src=ph

Good luck with the low carbing. I dropped 40 pounds on low carb.


That's great. I'm down 70-75 pounds and on maintenance for the rest of
the summer to enjoy my harvest!

That's when I broke down a little last year. I'm not following any regimen
anymore, but I still do my best to avoid excess amounts of high carb foods.
All summer I'll be binging on tomatoes and peppers.

Gary


Gary
NorthWest Ohio



DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
2nd year gardener
http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/royalfrazier/

"DigitalVinyl" wrote in message
...
"Dr." wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions.

I may try the 4th of July next year in addtion the Sweet Millions. As you
mentioned with the 100s, it can be difficult to pick the ripe ones
without
knocking off the green ones. .

I wanted to try Sweet Millions but I was very disorganized at the
start of the year and did a horrendous job on getting seeds and
starting my seedlings. Better next year!

I think Sweet Millions is a good variety. I haven't had Sweet 100, though
they're supposed to taste about the same. Millions is supposed to have
better disease resistance and more resistance to cracking than the 100. I
don't have much problem with cracking on my Millions planted in the ground.
I put one in a container last year and had cracking on that plant though.


I may try the Health Kick as a potted plant, since you're having good
luck
with yours. I tried conainer varieties the two previous years, but they
did
poorly. Thin foliage, which was causing some sun scald. I probably wasn't
getting the watering just right. My peppers, on the other hand, love the
containers.

I've had very decent production with peppers in plants too. There are
some products I rely on with containers:
Terrasorb - a potassium crystal/gel that holds water. They last
3-5 years then break down into potassium.
Hydromats - I call them "plant diapers". You line the bottom of
the pot with them. They hold water and the roots even
grow into them some. Extends the moisture holding.
I've given up on clay pots--dries out too fast for me. Needs to much
attention. Self watering are nice but expensive during the heat spells

I'll look around for the Terrasorb and Hydromats. I don't have a very large
garden area, so I put what I can in containers. With those products, maybe
I'll have better luck with potted tomatoes.


Healthy Kick isn't meant as a container variety. I just didn't have
the heart to kill off the seedlings once they started. They were the
healthiest of the May seedings. I had this round bowl planter, 9-10"
round, 5 inch deep. I stuck them in there since I wasn't using it.
Because it is shallow it dries out pretty quick. I water it deeply
twice a day on warm days. The plants just grew admirably. Last year's
were remarkable--in size and crop. I'm thinking the variety is just a
good strong one.

Well, it sure looks to be doing good. As long as it continues to do so, I'd
just leave it in that bowl. I'll probably add that one to the garden next
year, in a container. I'll probably keep all the determinates in containers.


here you can see the shallow pot they are in but much of the growth
and tomatoes are obscured.
http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/royalfraz...&.dnm=50e6.jpg
Here you see better how it has grown--only 10-12 weeks from seed.


http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/royalfraz...a2.jpg&.src=ph

Good luck with the low carbing. I dropped 40 pounds on low carb.


That's great. I'm down 70-75 pounds and on maintenance for the rest of
the summer to enjoy my harvest!

That's when I broke down a little last year. I'm not following any regimen
anymore, but I still do my best to avoid excess amounts of high carb foods.
All summer I'll be binging on tomatoes and peppers.

Gary


Gary
NorthWest Ohio



DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
2nd year gardener
http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/royalfrazier/

"Pat Kiewicz" wrote in message
...
Dr. said:

Ah... another question. I read that you should sow tomato seeds 6-8 weeks
early when starting them indoors. At the 6th week, the plants were
gigantic,
and it was still too cold to plant. They weren't leggy.. just HUGE, with
the
roots growing through the sides of the 3" diameter peat pots.

Don't start them any earlier than 6 weeks before...unless you have a
greenhouse and plans to pot them up into bigger containers.

No greenhouse as of yet... though I've been pondering the idea. Next year
I'll start them 6 weeks early. Considering how large those plants were, I'm
surprised how well they're doing. I was planning for the worse, and started
a 2nd batch with 3 weeks left to planting. Those ones are doing ok, though
they haven't caught up to the first batch. I couldn't manage to give away
quite all the extras, and I couldn't bring myself to snuff them, so they're
a little crowded.


I think I may know what I did wrong. I started them in my basement, which
is
kinda cool.. as basements tend to be. I left them on the heat mat the
entire
time. I'm thinking those seedlings may have grooved a little too much on
all
that heat. The light was always withing a couple inches of the top of the
seedlings. They just got happy.

Next year, should I remove the heat mat right after they germinate?

Yes. And run a fan (or fans) on them to give them a little movement.
Toughens
the stems.

That I'll do also. The larger seedlings had a tough time standing up on
their own.


Planning for potting them up bigger at least once might also be in order.

I've been picking SunSugar and 4th of July for a couple of weeks. Also
Ruby
(which I like to dry).

Thanks, I'll check those out.


Also had my first hornworm in years. YUCK! It was bigger than my index
finger
and I have pretty big hands.

I'd never seen one of those before, but looked it up. Nasty looking critter.

So far I've been lucky. The only insect problem I've noticed so far with my
tomatoes is ants, which I had last year. So far this year, I haven't seen
any.

Last year I had a rabbit get in and destroy my 4 Roma seedlings, which I
started. At least it was just the Romas, and not something like my 1884s,
which I couldn't buy a replacement for. The rabbits can't get in the garden
anymore. In retaliation, it seems they've decided to trash my wife's flowers
in the front of the house.

Gary


--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

"Pat Kiewicz" wrote in message
...
Dr. said:

Ah... another question. I read that you should sow tomato seeds 6-8 weeks
early when starting them indoors. At the 6th week, the plants were
gigantic,
and it was still too cold to plant. They weren't leggy.. just HUGE, with
the
roots growing through the sides of the 3" diameter peat pots.

Don't start them any earlier than 6 weeks before...unless you have a
greenhouse and plans to pot them up into bigger containers.

No greenhouse as of yet... though I've been pondering the idea. Next year
I'll start them 6 weeks early. Considering how large those plants were, I'm
surprised how well they're doing. I was planning for the worse, and started
a 2nd batch with 3 weeks left to planting. Those ones are doing ok, though
they haven't caught up to the first batch. I couldn't manage to give away
quite all the extras, and I couldn't bring myself to snuff them, so they're
a little crowded.


I think I may know what I did wrong. I started them in my basement, which
is
kinda cool.. as basements tend to be. I left them on the heat mat the
entire
time. I'm thinking those seedlings may have grooved a little too much on
all
that heat. The light was always withing a couple inches of the top of the
seedlings. They just got happy.

Next year, should I remove the heat mat right after they germinate?

Yes. And run a fan (or fans) on them to give them a little movement.
Toughens
the stems.

That I'll do also. The larger seedlings had a tough time standing up on
their own.


Planning for potting them up bigger at least once might also be in order.

I've been picking SunSugar and 4th of July for a couple of weeks. Also
Ruby
(which I like to dry).

Thanks, I'll check those out.


Also had my first hornworm in years. YUCK! It was bigger than my index
finger
and I have pretty big hands.

I'd never seen one of those before, but looked it up. Nasty looking critter.

So far I've been lucky. The only insect problem I've noticed so far with my
tomatoes is ants, which I had last year. So far this year, I haven't seen
any.

Last year I had a rabbit get in and destroy my 4 Roma seedlings, which I
started. At least it was just the Romas, and not something like my 1884s,
which I couldn't buy a replacement for. The rabbits can't get in the garden
anymore. In retaliation, it seems they've decided to trash my wife's flowers
in the front of the house.

Gary


--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

Pat Kiewicz wrote:

Also had my first hornworm in years. YUCK! It was bigger than my index finger
and I have pretty big hands.

Me too! I've NEVER had hornworms here in 10 years and all of a sudden I
picked off about 8 of them. What's up with that?

Mary

In article ,
"Dr." wrote:

Greetings,

Not all my varieties are even ripe... yet still I'm planning what to grow
next year.

What are your favorite early varieties? I grew a variety named 'Glacier'
this year. Nice looking tomatoes, but no flavor whatsoever.

I really like Stupice. I usually order the seeds from Cooks Garden.
We've had good luck with it here near foggy SF so short season tomatoes
work best for us.

Next year I'd like to try a yellow variety, and a black/purple variety. Any
suggestions?

I agree with the person who suggested Black Krim. It is very tasty.
Usually for yellows I grow yellow pear or cherry tomatoes. I haven't
grown too many slicers.

We also really like Pineapple - it's a yellow/red mottled tomato and is
one of my favorites to eat.

Green Zebra is also a big favorite with us.

You might enjoy browsing the variety of tomato seeds at
www.tomatofest.com Just scroll down towards the bottom of the home page
for the link to "tomato seeds". He gives a pretty good description of
the tomatoes and sells seeds for 450 varieties. You can also browse by
tomato color, so maybe you'll get some good leads on yellow or
black/purple that way.

marcella

In article ,
"Dr." wrote:

Greetings,

Not all my varieties are even ripe... yet still I'm planning what to grow
next year.

What are your favorite early varieties? I grew a variety named 'Glacier'
this year. Nice looking tomatoes, but no flavor whatsoever.

I really like Stupice. I usually order the seeds from Cooks Garden.
We've had good luck with it here near foggy SF so short season tomatoes
work best for us.

Next year I'd like to try a yellow variety, and a black/purple variety. Any
suggestions?

I agree with the person who suggested Black Krim. It is very tasty.
Usually for yellows I grow yellow pear or cherry tomatoes. I haven't
grown too many slicers.

We also really like Pineapple - it's a yellow/red mottled tomato and is
one of my favorites to eat.

Green Zebra is also a big favorite with us.

You might enjoy browsing the variety of tomato seeds at
www.tomatofest.com Just scroll down towards the bottom of the home page
for the link to "tomato seeds". He gives a pretty good description of
the tomatoes and sells seeds for 450 varieties. You can also browse by
tomato color, so maybe you'll get some good leads on yellow or
black/purple that way.

marcella

three that i plant every year:
amish paste- heirloom, large paste, extra tasty
sweet cherry 100-burpee.. just like the name says
chuck's roma-heirloom large, meaty paste...for sauce
hth good luck, jim book
"Dr." wrote in message
...
Greetings,

Not all my varieties are even ripe... yet still I'm planning what to grow
next year.

What are your favorite early varieties? I grew a variety named 'Glacier'
this year. Nice looking tomatoes, but no flavor whatsoever.

Next year I'd like to try a yellow variety, and a black/purple variety.
Any
suggestions?

Suggestions for large, bold flavored heirlooms are always appreciated.

Here's a list of what I'm growing this year:

1884 - 2nd year growing this one. Large, and great flavor. This one has
earned a lifetime residency in my garden.

Rose De Berne - One ripe so far. Great flavor.
Russian Rose
Sweet Millions - 2nd year. Produces a boatload, and very sweet.
Green Zebra - 2nd year. Makes a mean salsa.
Aussie - None ripe yet... but they're HUGE.

Hungarian-Italian Paste - Picked the first ones today. Good flavor.
Indeterminate... makes a good substitution for Roma, which I don't much
care
for because the fruit seem to fall off the vine very easily, and it's
sometimes hard planting them where they won't get shaded by the big
indeterminates.

Brandywine - 'Nuff said.
Brandywine Red, Landis Valley Strain - See above.
Costoluto Fiorentino - Remarkable flavor.
Drubza
German Giant - Not so giant, as of now... Though it bears some nice size
fruit.
Glacier - Bland.
Pantano Romanesco
Violacium Krypni-Rozo - Very good flavor.

This is my 3rd year gardening, and my 2nd year starting my plants from
seed.

Ah... another question. I read that you should sow tomato seeds 6-8 weeks
early when starting them indoors. At the 6th week, the plants were
gigantic,
and it was still too cold to plant. They weren't leggy.. just HUGE, with
the
roots growing through the sides of the 3" diameter peat pots.

I think I may know what I did wrong. I started them in my basement, which
is
kinda cool.. as basements tend to be. I left them on the heat mat the
entire
time. I'm thinking those seedlings may have grooved a little too much on
all
that heat. The light was always withing a couple inches of the top of the
seedlings. They just got happy.

Next year, should I remove the heat mat right after they germinate?

Thankya,
Gary
NorthWest Ohio

writes:

I experimented with different varieties for about 5 years before finding
one
that satisfied me enough to stop trying new varieties. I like Black Krim.
It's
got a great taste.

The blacks are among my favorites. The first black was Black Russian and
was incredible. Since that year, I've tried many others including Black
Krim which always has one plant in my garden. There'd be more if there
were more room.g If you have not tried Sun Gold, be sure to try it, a
wonderful orange very sweet tomato. Because it grows so large and is so
prolific, it's a natural if there are small children around. They can
pick them like berries, just the right size for little hands . . . and
soooooo good!

The color and mottled pattern is interesting, but once you
taste the flavor, those plastic tomatoes you buy in the store will never
taste
the same.

Well, actually, they will taste the same, still like plastic. g

Glenna
loving heirlooms!

writes:

I experimented with different varieties for about 5 years before finding
one
that satisfied me enough to stop trying new varieties. I like Black Krim.
It's
got a great taste.

The blacks are among my favorites. The first black was Black Russian and
was incredible. Since that year, I've tried many others including Black
Krim which always has one plant in my garden. There'd be more if there
were more room.g If you have not tried Sun Gold, be sure to try it, a
wonderful orange very sweet tomato. Because it grows so large and is so
prolific, it's a natural if there are small children around. They can
pick them like berries, just the right size for little hands . . . and
soooooo good!

The color and mottled pattern is interesting, but once you
taste the flavor, those plastic tomatoes you buy in the store will never
taste
the same.

Well, actually, they will taste the same, still like plastic. g

Glenna
loving heirlooms!

ed writes:
That's when I broke down a little last year. I'm not following any regimen
anymore, but I still do my best to avoid excess amounts of high carb
foods.
All summer I'll be binging on tomatoes and peppers.

Gary

Oh, Gary, please don't call that binging. I even take a couple of smaller
cucumbers to work with me and eat them on the way home. Leaving them in
the trunk keeps them cool (have been too lazy to put a small cooler in
there for them). With a cup of frozen yogurt (thawed by noon but cool)
for lunch and cucumbers on the way home, appetite for more filling
(meaning filling out) things is considerably reduced. (And, of course,
lots of ice water!)

Eating lots of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and onions is *not* binging .
.. . . please tell me it's not! (Actually, it sounds a bit like salsa.g)

Glenna

On 30 Jul 2004 21:22:49 -0700, (Pen) wrote:

Consider a currant tomato for your salads. They're prolific,
pea-sized and potent. I've grown 'Hawaiian' for many years and
recently purchased a yellow currant for next year.


Oh! Where did you get it? I *love* current tomaotes, but I've
never seen anything but generic gold or red.

The gold current tomato is one of the few survivors of The War of
the spit! Thrips this year.

Penelope