Growing Tomatoes 2009

[~Obsidian~]

Going to grow some of these too inshaAllah :D variety: Moneymaker

[Riz]

there is a tomato FAQ sticky

so if you have any questions they might be answers already..
here is the link http://www.muslimgrower.com/discussionforum/showthread.php?t=89

[solanum]

salam, i just sent off for some free seeds:

"To recieve your FREE 2009 Healthy Lifestyle wall planner and your free tomato seeds from Benecol and the Telegraph, all you need to do is fill in your details below (there is a limited supply so its first come first served). Both will be posted to you within the next 28 days. Simple! We hope that these seeds get you planting and the wallplanner helps you organise your busy life and take control of your year in the garden. You can even make a note of when to eat your tasty tomatoes in a healthy summer salad!"
www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/health/benecol_healthy_lifestyle/4388445/Healthy-Times-and-Healthy-Lifestyles-2009-wall-planner.html

[Foz]

ws!!

oh JazakAllah khair for that...i'll sign up to as was thinking to go buy some tomato seeds!

[~Obsidian~]

Err you guys...theres gonna be a seed giveaway on muslimgrower!!!

[Foz]

lol!! but we dont know what seeds you giving away!

plus....was thinking some members may be a bit wary about giving out there address to you (no offence)

[tahir_phoenix]

Obsidian - u can never have enuf FREE seeds :GreenThumbs:

Solanum - thanks very much for the link, I'll send off for these as they were on my shopping list :D

[~Obsidian~]

lol!! but we dont know what seeds you giving away!

plus....was thinking some members may be a bit wary about giving out there address to you (no offence)

Giving away all kinds! Yeah I understand about the address thing...it's up to you lot I guess.

[Riz]

salam, i just sent off for some free seeds:

"To recieve your FREE 2009 Healthy Lifestyle wall planner and your free tomato seeds from Benecol and the Telegraph, all you need to do is fill in your details below (there is a limited supply so its first come first served). Both will be posted to you within the next 28 days. Simple! We hope that these seeds get you planting and the wallplanner helps you organise your busy life and take control of your year in the garden. You can even make a note of when to eat your tasty tomatoes in a healthy summer salad!"
www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/health/benecol_healthy_lifestyle/4388445/Healthy-Times-and-Healthy-Lifestyles-2009-wall-planner.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/health/benecol_healthy_lifestyle/4388445/Healthy-Times-and-Healthy-Lifestyles-2009-wall-planner.html)


good luck with them.. :)

nothing ventured nothing gained.

[Riz]

I'll send off for these as they were on my shopping list :D

Most times the seed vendors across uk and abroad give free seeds via newspapers to all and then they buy your details ( name+address etc.. )of the newspaper company and then send you offers of more seeds via snail mail... so you get bombarded with lots of magazines and stuff, the seed vendors in turn sell your details on to other companies who send other magazines and offers totally unrelated to seeds.. Tis ok if you dont mind all that junk coming through your letterbox though.

each to there own.

Riz.

[tahir_phoenix]

Most times the seed vendors across uk and abroad give free seeds via newspapers to all and then they buy your details ( name+address etc.. )of the newspaper company and then send you offers of more seeds via snail mail... so you get bombarded with lots of magazines and stuff, the seed vendors in turn sell your details on to other companies who send other magazines and offers totally unrelated to seeds.. Tis ok if you dont mind all that junk coming through your letterbox though.

each to there own. Riz.

:eek: :eek: :eek:

[Kirsten]

I just planted a big bunch of tomato seeds today. Clear Pink Early, Bloody Butcher, Black Cherry, Yellow Pear, and Phenomenal - I got them from a free seed source in the US. We'll see how they do...

[Foz]

ive got some toamto seeds....guess i should get them going too

[~Obsidian~]

I'm going to start mine in March like I did last year inshaAllah

[Riz]

here is quick gardeners world video... so if you have any further questions please ask away.... i will be germinating my tomatoes seeds soon and ill post up some pics, so you can check this vid out just to give you a idea, espically if you're a complete newbie :) It has step by step guides as well......

how to germinate tomato seeds

http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/tomatoes-seeds-grow/

[rainbox]

I've got seedling of 3 different types of tomatoes; Gardeners Delight, Millefleur and Red Robin. I love tomatoes^^

[Kirsten]

I planted mine a few days ago -

Cherry: Black Cherry, Yellow Pear
Big: Phenomenal, Clear Pink Early, and Bloody Butcher

I hope we get some tomatoes this year! Last year was AWFUL...

[rainbox]

You've got some good names there:)
I'm hoping for a good tomato year too, as that's what I'm planting most of!

[~Obsidian~]

I hope we get some tomatoes this year! Last year was AWFUL...

Are you ready to face the squirrels this year? :D

[Tania]

The best strategy would be to make a squirrel garden. I give food for the birds each day hoping they will leave the seeds when the time will come :o

[Kirsten]

No - the eville school squirrels spent all of winter convincing me that they are super cute and that I can't bear to hurt/starve them. GRRRRRRR.

Tania - I've heard that method too but haven't had any luck with it :(

[Foz]

thanks for the video riz

[Riz]

i germinated my moneymaker tommies today...

cleaned out some 3 inch seedling pots.. and used potting soil.. filled the pots up and left an inch gap at the top.. water each pot well

[Riz]

place the seed on top of the soil in each pot, and then sprinkle layer of soil on top ( real light) cover with cling film and leave in a room with temps of 20c for 8 to 10 days and inshallah you will have germination :)

[Kirsten]

Here's one of mine - currently nestled in the lemon tree pot. This pic's a couple days old so it's a little bigger now (and straighter, I kept forgetting to rotate it). It's supposed to be a black cherry tomato plant:

http://i43.tinypic.com/v3erk1.jpg

[Foz]

how long after planting the seeds do they normally take to grow?

[~Obsidian~]

Took about a week for me to get seedlings last year.

Then they just grew and grew! Two months later they were rather large, and then I planted them out, and they REALLY took off

[Foz]

ok cool...i planted mine on thursday...so will be a bit more patient lol

[rainbox]

Hmm mine seem to be a bit slow, they sprouted really quickly but they haven't really done much since then... Some of them are just starting to get "real" leaves but it's been doing it for about a week and it's still just a tiny leaf. Slow!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3354/3327022446_9da28e45e4.jpg

[~Obsidian~]

ok cool...i planted mine on thursday...so will be a bit more patient lol
:D probably best :D I'd actually forgotten about mine...was running late for uni then I saw that they'd sprouted (and subsequently didn't care about being late for uni :D)
Hmm mine seem to be a bit slow, they sprouted really quickly but they haven't really done much since then... Some of them are just starting to get "real" leaves but it's been doing it for about a week and it's still just a tiny leaf. Slow!



At first they don't seem like they're doing much (mine didn't, if I looked at them day after they looked the same, but when I saw pictures afterwards, the change was quite prominent!) I hope that is the case with yours!

[rainbox]

At first they don't seem like they're doing much (mine didn't, if I looked at them day after they looked the same, but when I saw pictures afterwards, the change was quite prominent!) I hope that is the case with yours!

Ah, that would explain why it hasn't changed when I check every couple of hours:D

[Kirsten]

That is a gorgeous picture, rainbox :)

Checked today and saw that I had a Clear Pink Early and a Yellow Pear sprouting. Both were just tiny spots in the soil yesterday but as of now have opened up their two cotyledons. Nothing on the rest yet...

[rainbox]

Thanks Kirsten :)

[Foz]

yay 5 are popping out!

[Riz]

^ fozia

what type of tommies are you growing again. moneymaker ?

[Foz]

ummm...i have no idea whatsoever lol....
the packets in the garage will go take a look lol

[Foz]

Outdoor girl???

[Tania]

Outdoor girl - After name the tomatoes will like to be planted out, in the garden. In 2 weeks i will sow outside the moneymaker seeds - following a combination between Riz and the book instructions.

[Foz]

yeah im trying to get hubby to sort out the bit of my garden which i want to make into the vegetable patch so i can put them out.................. may be waiting a bit lol

[Riz]

^ tell your hubbie to register, and ill give him some tips if he is new at it :)

[~Obsidian~]

yeah im trying to get hubby to sort out the bit of my garden which i want to make into the vegetable patch so i can put them out.................. may be waiting a bit lol

I planted my tomatoes out last year, didn't particularly do anything to the soil, just raked it out all smooth and fine, then planted them and they flourished Alhamdulillah

[Foz]

^ tell your hubbie to register, and ill give him some tips if he is new at it :)

he hardly ever comes online... and definately not on forums lol..will suggest it though....

[Foz]

I planted my tomatoes out last year, didn't particularly do anything to the soil, just raked it out all smooth and fine, then planted them and they flourished Alhamdulillah

the soil in our garden is useless...we had just decking and then grass....when we moved here hubby decided he was going to do some borders so he could plant roses....thats when we realised we had stones (big ones!) etc in the soil, and if you dig deep enough you hit what i think is clay....plus where i want to put the veggies i think we got major tree roots there.

so the plan is to tidy it up abit....get those wooden border things and raise it up and put new soil etc there...... but whether we will actually do it is another questions....may give my tomato plants etc to sis and mum to stick in their garden

[Riz]

12 inch down is enough to grow almost anything.. you will be surprised what one can grow in small patch of land.. get some top soil, and some chicken manure and work it in the ground and inshallah it will be fine.... :)

my tomatoes have germinated 6 out of 10 so far !!!!

[Foz]

ok inshAllah will do sometime this week if hubby not to tired from the late shifts.

i got 10 out of 11...have a feeling the last one wont germinate.........

was only going to do then then had a spare pot lying around lol

[Kirsten]

I'm home for about 10 days and had to leave all my plants (including the baby seedlings!) in dandelion boy's care. This actually really really worries me, though he did swear repeatedly that he would do his best.

Actually, funny story: he didn't want to take the pineapple but I yelled at him and told him that it needed water too, so he went over to get it and then promptly got poked in the eye. At that point I decided that the pineapple didn't like him either and they were not going to get along, so I left it with another friend instead.

[Riz]

lol kirsten,,

atleast he is trying :)

my moneymaker tomato seedlings... 2 of them died due to me dropping the small pots down the stairs :)

the rest of them are doing ok indoors along the windowsills

[Tania]

Until may you will have big tomatoes plants.

[Riz]

^ yes tania

i am hoping they will be around 9 inch tall before i have to leave them outdoors permanently :)

[Pashmeena]

InshaAllah I will be adding here my pictures soon :D

[Foz]

Kirsten lol at the pineapple plant. hows the plants doing?

here my tomato plants!

[~Obsidian~]

I'll be starting mine soon inshaAllah, bit later than last year but hopefully it'll be fine!

[Riz]

i have 8 tomato seedlings growing, that is enough for me.. may give a few away to friends...:GreenThumbs::GreenThumbs::GreenThumbs:

[Foz]

lol im giving mine away too! sis has taken 2 and will be giving 4 to mum

[Kirsten]

Here are mine, at about a week and a half:

http://i42.tinypic.com/2r74ok8.png

Not all of them are in the pic - there's 2 Bloody Butchers, 1 Black Cherry, 1 Phenomenal, 2 Yellow Pear, 1 Oregon Spring, 2 Tip Top Tomato, and one possibly Yellow Pear or Oregon Spring, I don't know as I didn't realize until after it had sprouted that I had labeled the cup twice. :eek:

I'm keeping them under a fluorescent desk light at night, with a sheet of tinfoil around and over it to form a little greenhouse of sorts (the shiny side of the foil reflects the light back to the plants). My friends all laughed at my nerdy design :rolleyes:

[Riz]

^ hey kirsten


you did well with the second batch, they germinated pretty quick huh !? and well done with the light and the tin foil does help with reflecting the light back :)


here are my moneymaker tomato seedlings, a bit leggy though :)

[Kirsten]

Thanks :) You could fill the pots up with soil up to the rim, just bury the stem... the stem will shoot out new roots and the plant should be much more stable too, plus it'll have a good root system when you transplant out :)

P.S. - I thought you only had eight of them?

[Riz]

the ones at the back are basil seedlings :)

[Tania]

Looking at Kirsten and Riz seedlings i must say i am impressed about how fast are growing the seedlings(including the germination speed).

[rosie]

http://i41.tinypic.com/akbga8.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/v8hd3q.jpg

I did have another one...but must have overwatred it i think because when i went to check on it a few hours after watering it had wilted and didnt recover :eek:

[Kirsten]

I'm starting to think it was a bad idea to have kept them under the light 24/7 for the last three days (we had awful constantly dark rainy weather and there was hardly any light at all). So now they're just sitting on the not-so-bright windowsill for today, and I'll probably put them back under the light at night.

[rosie]

Why - did something happen to them? I thought it was a good idea to have them under lights?:confused:

[~Obsidian~]

I thought it was a good idea to have them under lights?:confused:

Not 24/7 it isn't. Plants need a certain amount of time in the dark too, the amount of sunlight/darkness required by them is a trigger for some mechanisms too, such as flowering/fruiting (thats one of the things that fascinated me during biology!).

[Kirsten]

Just took this pic - 2 weeks exactly:

http://i40.tinypic.com/iqj7tc.jpg

[Foz]

oh wow they are doing really well mashAllah!

[~Obsidian~]

They look good Kirsten:GreenThumbs:

I'm going to start mine soon inshaAllah!

[Kirsten]

Thanks :) Inshallah they stay that way!!

I was about to reuse the soil from one of my failed-to-germinate tomato cups and had dumped out half of it when of all things, I saw a baby tomato sprout. :eek: so I buried it back in there... we'll see how the straggler does, that would make 11 plants...

[Tania]

I like how looks your seedlings Kirsten. Seems so healthy.

[Kirsten]

Thank you :)

No updates in a few days? How's everyone doing? Rosie, how old are your seedlings?

We've had some dreary rainy weather here recently, so the lights have been staying on. I noticed that one of my plants is sort of purple on the underside :eek: which can either be from cold or phosphorus deficiency - I'm hoping it's the cold right now because I have no way to add phosphorus, besides piling on some more compost, which I did. I did some reading online and the general concensus seems to be that the plants will be perfectly okay when they go out into the garden, so I hope so ! *fingers crossed*

[Kirsten]

OK I think we are making decent progress. Week 3 update:

http://i39.tinypic.com/29kqurn.jpg

[Pashmeena]

MashaAllah yours look realllllly well :D Heres one of my Cherry Tomatoes... They germinated real quick but not growing that fast... hmmm...


http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b372/Eina83/IMG_2906.jpg

[rainbox]

I'm now on my third batch of tomato seedlings, as they all did brilliantly and then died the moment I started putting them out for air. (They all either wilted or broke for no apparent reason.) I lost all my Millefleur seedling and have no more of those seeds left so it's all Gardeners Delight now, and possibly some Red Robin if they survive. I have to say I've given up a bit, maybe I just don't have the right conditions to grow things from seed inside? Anyway I sowed my last batch yesterday, I'll get some pics when they start sprouting.
Everyone else's seedlings look great!:)

[~Obsidian~]

What was the problem indoors? Did they go mouldy or something? Mine did that last year, I just persisted, threw away any mouldy looking bits of soil and just hoped for the best. Maybe it still too cold outdoors for yours?

[Riz]

I'm now on my third batch of tomato seedlings, as they all did brilliantly and then died the moment I started putting them out for air. (They all either wilted or broke for no apparent reason.) I lost all my Millefleur seedling and have no more of those seeds left so it's all Gardeners Delight now, and possibly some Red Robin if they survive. I have to say I've given up a bit, maybe I just don't have the right conditions to grow things from seed inside? Anyway I sowed my last batch yesterday, I'll get some pics when they start sprouting.
Everyone else's seedlings look great!:)

weird martine..

when you placed the seedlings outside, how long did you leave them out for per day !? because you have to harden them off, cant take them from the warmth and place them outside in the cold, you have to do it gradually like a few hours everyday and then bring them indoors and the next day maybe 4 hours etc.. so it slowly gets used to the outside weather, you still have to bring indoor the seedlings untill mid may then you can leave them outdoors for good.

[rainbox]

I'm guessing it was the temperature shock of being outside. I only put them out on nice sunny days and then left them out until the sun went away, I guess I should have taken them in earlier but it seems a shame because it's quite dark inside... They were growing really well just being left inside but then they go very leggy.

I guess another problem might be the wind, as it is on a roof it can get quite windy. But I put them in a box with high sides to it to protect them but again it doesn't seem to make much difference...

Is it best to start taking them outside as soon as they sprout so they get used to it, or is it better to wait until they have some leaves first, at the risk of letting them get leggy and more easily broken by the wind?

[~Obsidian~]

I'd say let them develop a few leaves first, never mind if they get leggy, you could tie them to some bean canes. It's getting closer to the time when we can leave them outside all the time (around end of may) so it shouldn't be too bad this time, less time for your plants to spend indoors

[rainbox]

Today my tomatoes sprouted:)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3629/3430351740_d2239d6d8c.jpg?v=0

[rosie]

Not posted in a while but thought i'd do a quick update. not been feeling great and my plants have been ignored for a bit (oops)

Out of my original gardeners delight batch am now left with about 5 plants. I've posted pictures of 3 below. I haven't got a picture of the last 2 - but basically 2 seeds germinated in the same pot and bothe started to grow. Kept meaning to seperate them out but didnt have a chance to until yesterday. The root systems were just too tangled to seperate. So i have repotted them both on into the same (bigger) pot. Do you think it will be ok to leave them like that?

Kirsten - your plants looks real good. I guess i should have kept track of when i first started off the seeds but didnt - but think it was probably 4 or 5 weeks ago.

Rainbox - congrats on the sprouting!
I've also just started off some alicante tomatoes yesterday - hope its not too late!

http://i39.tinypic.com/2mx35vn.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/14bok6a.jpg

[Tania]

They are growing well. I like how they look :)

[Riz]

hi rosie

the tommies look good... so what is the plan in mid may, are you going to pot them into bigger final containers or are you going to pot them in the ground !?

[Kirsten]

I love everyone's pictures - please keep them coming!!

Rosie, I hope you feel better :( About your tomato plants, how close are the two that are potted together?

I'm still using my desk lamp + tinfoil for a very cheap greenhouse, so I'd been putting the plants close together. I don't know how much longer this will work though, because this morning I woke up and found the leaves all tangled together because they'd gotten too big :eek:

[Kirsten]

OK today makes week 4 since I sowed, which means time for a picture update. The weather has suddenly gone down to 48 degrees though :eek: They're still in the windowsill during the day and under lights at night.

I've been watering them with water from my friend's turtle fish tank, vegetable water (I save the water from when I boil vegetables for dinner), and I crushed and boiled some eggshells to form this translucent whiteish water - hopefully it has calcium in it. Usually I alternate between diluted turtle and vegetable water, and give them a feeding of the calcium water each week or so (I don't eat enough eggs to have that much of it).

[Pashmeena]

Oh!! :D they look wonderful :D

[Tania]

They like your greenhouse. But why do they have light in the night? I thought the plants rest during night :o

[Riz]

healthy kirsten :)


tania.. when the seedlings are still growing green ( vegetative growth) you can give them 24/0 lighting they will grow twice as quick. but when the start to flower, they need darkness :)

[Kirsten]

Thanks :)

Riz is right, but I've been trying to give them about 5-6 hours of darkness every day. My sleeping schedule is also weird - I get up around 8ish so they go in the window then (it doesn't really start to get sunny until 11), they get sun until about 8 PM, but I don't go to sleep until about 2 so they'll be in the dark if I'm not in the room. Just before I go to bed I stick them back under the light.

I've also been trying to alternate the eggplants and the tomatoes under the light - there isn't enough window space for everything and the tomatoes kind of have precedence right now :p

[Nife180]

Finally Sprouted, here are some ace 55 seedlings. These are less acidic and more sweet than other varieties. It's hard to imagine a large plant begins life from that tiny seed, mashallah. It makes you really appreciate the natural world. I've noticed that my fear of bugs has decreased too. :)

Look at the little things :p

[rainbox]

Kirsten - I am totally jealous of your tomato plants. They're doing great!

Nife180 - yay, it's great when they sprout isn't it! How long did they take to sprout? Your little seedlings are cute:)

[Riz]

i have left mine outdoors all day today.... its a nice warmish day :)

[Nife180]

Kirsten - I am totally jealous of your tomato plants. They're doing great!

Nife180 - yay, it's great when they sprout isn't it! How long did they take to sprout? Your little seedlings are cute:)
I'd say about 5 days, hopefully now the scoarching heat won't kill it. :p

[Riz]

^ leave them in the shade untill you get to the 3rd set of leaves, and then leave them in full sun...

[~Obsidian~]

Sprrrrouted :D

[rosie]

It makes you really appreciate the natural world.

Totally - i'm noticing plants and flower that i would never have noticed before!

Loving the plants kirsten- they look so lush and green :D

also - is it ok to keep just giving them light and water? what about special tomato feed?

[Kirsten]

Sprrrrouted :D

Finally Sprouted

The best part :)

Rosie - I think it's all right to give them tomato feed as long as you dilute it enough with water so that it doesn't burn the roots... I'm never sure how much of what to give them (plus I live on a university campus without a car so I can't really get to the garden center to buy some anyway) so I just feed mine vegetable juice and boiled eggshell water (see above)... they seem to be happy enough :)

[Riz]

i dont bother with giving any nutrients to tomato babies.. I just wait until i repot them in final containers in mid may, then maybe ill give them something, last season i gave them nothing but water..

[Riz]

i only leave them out if the weather is nice and in the evenings i bring them back indoors :)

[~Obsidian~]

Mine germinated a few days ago and they were left out for a couple of nights, they did okay but I forgot the shallow dish they were in had no holes in the bottom! :eek: I hope they didn't drown! They seemed okay so I potted them on into dryer compost.

[rosie]

Riz - they look great. Are you using artificial lighting on them?

[Riz]

no..

just natural next to the window. they have stretched a bit and droop to one side, thats why i have used some bamboo to stand them up firmly, but the wind keeps blowing them down. :)

[Tania]

Today i sow 2 different types of tomatoes: moneymaker and buzau 47. The second one its a romanian type good for tomato sauce.

[Kirsten]

Whoops, I left them in the windowsill this morning and went to class (as I've done for the last four weeks)... then temperatures shot up to 72 degrees outside and probably closer to 85 in my greenhouse of a dorm room. When I came back they were all somewhat wilted so I quickly moved them into the shade and watered a little - they look like they're recovering well. That was a bad scare!

[edibles]

/\ /\ BAD Scare indeed, I decided not to grow tomatoes this year

[Riz]

wow K

your indoor plants must be loving the conditions in your dorm though... :)


here is a pic of my tommie seedlings.. nice day today so they have been Basquing in the decent weather.... they are stretchy, so i tied them with bamboo cane ( cut in pieces)

[rainbox]

Looks good Riz!

Here's mine at 2 weeks:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3606/3458133319_5eec426456.jpg?v=0

They seem to be doing very well, this time I'm definitely not putting them out until next month sometime. I'd rather have leggy tomatoes than dead tomatoes! :P

[~Obsidian~]

One seedling beheaded by something, 9 more still alive (last time I checked...haven't yet checked today).

[Kirsten]

Just realized I never posted a week 5 update. This is from Monday (well, reaaaaaaally late Sunday night :D )

http://i39.tinypic.com/17e43o.jpg

The biggest ones are a good 6-7 inches tall now. It's getting crowded under there! At first I had trouble trying to get my desk lamp to bend low enough to get the light close enough to the baby seedlings, and now it's hardly tall enough to provide light for all of the toms.

They will have to go outside in about 2.5 weeks, so I've started sort of hardening them out - leaving them in the sun for about 3 hours a day, at which point they start to become unhappy and I take them back into bright shade. I think I'm probably going to stop leaving them under the light at night starting tonight (use the light on my still - teeny eggplants :( ) and get them used to a natural light cycle... once they move out there won't be any artificial lights ;)

[Pashmeena]

Hmmm...there is definetly something wrong with me :P They are growing SLOWLY!! :(
Kristen :D your looks awesome :D MA.

[Kirsten]

Hmmm...there is definetly something wrong with me :P They are growing SLOWLY!! :(
Kristen :D your looks awesome :D MA.

Thanks! Hmm... just a couple of things to try:

- Are they under artificial lighting? Keeping mine under that light while I slept for about 6-7 hours a day really helped in the early stages, when I looked at it I could see that it had grown in the morning...

- What's your temperature like? Tomatoes like it best with the soil temperature is really warm, like upwards of 65 degrees. The soil is also usually much cooler than the air temperature, so you might have to just feel it with your hands and see if the pot feels cold...can you put it on a heater or something? (Make sure it doesn't dry out).

I had a tomato plant earlier this year that due to cold temperature and cold lights took EIGHT weeks to get to the size that my current tomatoes were at TWO weeks... so I think the light and warmth really helped :)

[Riz]

wow K

they are coming along really well.... well impressive, god bless that light of yours :)

[Pashmeena]

Ohhh....will it help if I give them lil warm water everyday? thats all I can do for heat :P and light? well... They are getting plenty of sunlight ALL day long....

[Foz]

wow looking really good!!!

mine are still pretty small....but since moving them to the window the sun has been helping them along!

[Tania]

All tomatoes from pictures are vigorous.
Mine have not germinated yet :o They are permanently (24h) in the garden in egg casings

[~Obsidian~]

Tania they need warmth!

[Tania]

Tania they need warmth!Its warmth here: 24 Celsius degrees during the day and 10 Celsius degrees over night. Lettuce, pea and spinach like outside only the fuzzy tomatoes not wants to germinate. Next weekend i will begin to sow everything.

[edibles]

Its warmth here: 24 Celsius degrees during the day and 10 Celsius degrees over night. Lettuce, pea and spinach like outside only the fuzzy tomatoes not wants to germinate. Next weekend i will begin to sow everything.

talk about stubborn seeds

[Kirsten]

Mine have now adjusted to no night light, only daily sunlight and real darkness at night. They're taking turns sunning themselves in my windowsills - there's not enough room for all of them at once, and besides they can't handle the full sunlight all day just yet, so I rotate them once every hour or so... so far, seems to be working well except that they want a lot of water, which I'm happy to give. :)

[Kirsten]

It is 90 degrees here today and all of us, be plant or animal, are dying of heat :(

[Kirsten]

Sunday means more updates - week 6

http://i40.tinypic.com/2v1807p.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/24oy72x.jpg

Seems to me like they're mostly trying to grow out instead of up now, because they're incredibly rootbound. Only about a week and a half before they can go into the ground... they're no longer under lights now and I'm mostly working on hardening them off.

[Tania]

They look lovely Kirsten. Its good you harden them before to move them out. I never could think they could die during the night, until i read about Rainbox tomatoes.

[~Obsidian~]

Masha Allah they look amazing Kirsten! Mine are still tiiiiiny!

[rosie]

looking good k.

questions:

how much ground space does one plant need?

is it possible to plant them into eventual massive containers which i can leave outside on the patio? what kind would you recommend? and how big do you think they should be?

[Kirsten]

My TipTop tomato (cherry) is being awfully whiny. OK so it doesn't actually make noise, but the minute it gets put in BRIGHT SHADE it starts to wilt! And this has been going on for a week now! How am I supposed to get him to start living in sunshine like a normal tomato??

Rosie - in the ground I'm planning to space them about one per square foot (or in a 5-gallon bucket), but it really depends on the kind of tomato. That's my plan for the short and squat ones. I've been told that yellow pear is a climber and can get up to 8 feet tall, so I'll be planting those near a fence so they can climb.

[Riz]

looking good k.

questions:

how much ground space does one plant need?

is it possible to plant them into eventual massive containers which i can leave outside on the patio? what kind would you recommend? and how big do you think they should be?


there is a thread called "growing tomatoes in containers" in the veg section somewhere, that has all the answers, and YES you can easily grow tommies in containers,, last season i used the 1.00 clay pots from B&Q and they did fine,, its better to use the 99 pence buckets from B&Q just drill holes at the bottom and you are ready to go... cheap containers :) they come in orange and black, i buy the black ones

i got great results from growing them in buckets. Although you can grow them in grow bags as well, but the yield is going to be low, as the roots spread across the grow bag :)


here is the link : http://www.muslimgrower.com/discussionforum/showthread.php?t=59

[~Obsidian~]

Hey Rosie,

Like Kirsten I had mine spaced about 1 per square foot and they flourished, I had them in pots too but they were too small, I think they'd do ok in the buckets that Riz suggested.

[rosie]

Thanks thats fab! Hadn't seen that thread before. I'm going to grow them in buckets. Final decision! :)

[Kirsten]

Eek I think I sunburnt one of mine. It has a big unhappy looking chlorophyll-less patch in the middle of a leaf :(

[Pashmeena]

My tomatoes are slowwwwwwwwwwww.... lol... tiny leaves!!

[rainbox]

My tomatoes are growing like mad! :D

[rosie]

3 weeks on since repotting them...? weeks since original sowing!

Not sure if i'm being impatient now but to me they seem to be growing slowly and they just aren't gaining height but not sure if they are supposed to - these ones are gardeners delight i think, which are meant to be the bushier type i think?

http://i40.tinypic.com/2q8c1s4.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/s2wbhs.jpg

:-) :-)

[Riz]

very good rosie..

you are way ahead of me .... :)

when the weather improves you watch them grow really quickly, they are really looking good though from my side of the fence :)

Are you giving then any tomato feed/nutrients or are you going natural..!!?

i will probably feed half of my tomatoes with feed and the other half NOTHING but water and then at the end of the season i will be able to tell the difference between them...

[Riz]

If you live in UK, you still want to bring your chilli,tommie seedlings indoors, even though today was a warm day in the evenings it can get cold, so keep watching the weather... it will be mid-may soon enough then you can leave them outdoors for GOOD. :)

[rosie]

Thanks Riz, Just water at the moment but was thinking the same as you, feeding 2 and just water for two. Quick question though - if i'm going to finally plant them in a 'bucket' does this mean i have to keep moving up bigger pots sizes till i reach bucket size or just wait and plant them in the final container when they are a bit bigger? what do you suggest?

[Riz]

pot them in the buckets or similar after mid may, that way they can be left outdoors permanently. Leave them as they are now and they will be perfect to pot on in the final container ( bucket/similiar)

[Riz]

On a side note :

It always best to re pot your plants into bigger containers when they are in vegetative growth ( all green) and not when they flower as this can disturb the rootball and sometimes the plant gets confused and stops the FLOWERING phase and starts to grow VEGETATIVE growth again..

when i re pot my indoor plants, i leave the fresh soil indoors for 24 hours , this way the soil temp is the same as the plant, so it causes less discomfort to the roots.. if the soil was kept outdoors in the cold it would shock the roots and sometimes they dont recover..

[Riz]

there is a tomato FAQ sticky

so if you have any questions they might be answers already..
here is the link http://www.muslimgrower.com/discussi...hread.php?t=89 (http://www.muslimgrower.com/discussionforum/showthread.php?t=89)

[~Obsidian~]

I moved my tomato seedlings (moneymaker) into the greenhouse today, lost a few in the past few weeks but sowed some more to replace them - yay! They're still tiny though, but they seem to be growing fast!

[rainbox]

I think I'll plant my tomatoes outside soon, just trying to decide between growbags and buckets. Is there much difference, and which one is better?

[rainbox]

Here's a pic of my tomatoes. 4 weeks tomorrow:)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3606/3496407881_71d482f4ef.jpg?v=0

[ze leetle elper]

I just chucked some vine tomatoes seeds in a pot outside :o ...hope they grow! :AF2FlowerA036:

[Riz]

I think I'll plant my tomatoes outside soon, just trying to decide between growbags and buckets. Is there much difference, and which one is better?

the golden rule is the bigger the container the bigger the yield...


i have a grow bag ill be growing some tommies in there and buckets.. if you have space issues you might want to stick with the grow bags as you can grow 3 Tommie plants in the grow bags, plus you will be using less soil so it might be to your advantage to use the grow bags,

[rosie]

woohoo! One of my plants has 2 little flowers on it! :eek:

so happy! But does this mean i shouldn't pot on as it will disturb it?

[Riz]

woohoo! One of my plants has 2 little flowers on it! :eek:

so happy! But does this mean i shouldn't pot on as it will disturb it?



It will be cool, its really early flowering so it will be fine......

[rosie]

cool - will move it on the weekend then :)

[~Obsidian~]

Got a beefsteak tomato plant today :sunny:

[~Obsidian~]

Here's a pic of all of the stuff I moved indoors, it now resides in the corner of my room on a chest of drawers next to a radiator and a window :sunny:

It's in various stages of meltdown, there's the grapevine in the centre, some of the pots may be empty :confused: I can't remember which ones I planted in and which ones I didn't, oh and I don't have any labels so I'm just waiting for sprouts to identify them by :p theres pommies, chilli plant and pepper plants and newly sown toms and cucumbers.

[ze leetle elper]

OMG @ your room LOL that is crazy! :p

[Riz]

the black rose on the wallpaper is awesome...

[Kirsten]

Inshallah the weather will be good today (we've had sporadic, ridiculously HUGE bursts of thunderstorms) so I can plant out my tomatoes! They're getting really rootbound and unhappy...

[~Obsidian~]

OMG @ your room LOL that is crazy! :p
:p It's not that much really, I've got more pots on another windowsill (and more outdoors :p)
the black rose on the wallpaper is awesome...
LOL
Inshallah the weather will be good today (we've had sporadic, ridiculously HUGE bursts of thunderstorms) so I can plant out my tomatoes! They're getting really rootbound and unhappy...

Insha Allah it will ;)

[Kirsten]

Inshallah is the only Arabic word I'm brave enough to use on here; I'm always afraid of misusing the others!

Anyway, they're all out now - tomatoes, beans, basil, swiss chard, garlic chives, and a random strawberry plant that my dad bought. In a last minute decision we decided that the cucumbers were going to have to go elsewhere, because there's just too much already in the garden. We'll have to probably build a trellis somewhere else in the yard for them, but I'm not too worried about them being fenceless because last year no animal liked to eat the spiky leaves.

[~Obsidian~]

Wahey someone's been busy! I can't wait to get it all outside, little obstacle of it needing to grow to a decent size first otherwise the cats tip them over.

[rainbox]

I've planted one of mine outside, it's a chocolate cherry tomato. It seems to be doing really well and is starting to flower. I didn't grow it from seed though.

It's actually getting a lot of sun where it is the picture's just taken in the morning before it comes round. It's planted in the drum of my old spin dryer^^

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3619/3518307954_9bb989c28b.jpg?v=0

[Riz]

wow.. its x5 times bigger than my biggest tomato seedling

you would make a great beachcomber martine , lol

[Kirsten]

Here are mine in the garden - exactly 8 weeks to the day I sowed :) (the two really big ones were bought elsewhere)

http://i41.tinypic.com/35leu1g.jpg

[ze leetle elper]

I've got 2 tomato plants now, courtesy of my sister in law who has loads! They are about a handspan tall each, nice and strong!

I also chucked some vine tomato seeds in a pot a couple of week ago and I saw I now have tiny seedlings growing YAY! :D

[rosie]

yay - at the little seedlings!

bit disapointed today. One of the larger plants i had hadnt produced any flowers and the stems seemed weaker than the others (i havent been putting it outside so figure thats probably why) so decided that would put it outside today before going to work.

Didnt realise it was going to be pouring rain today. Have come home to one collapsed drenched plant - it's destroyed :( And to make things worse i thought i'd try to shake of the water and tore off most of the branches :eek:

at least i left the rest of them inside!

[~Obsidian~]

Kirsten it looks awesome :goodpost:

Rosie, did you snap the main stem? If not then there is a chance that it could still bounce back, give it a few days though (indoors).

[rosie]

not the main stem. still looks droopy. Have used some bamboo skewers as a stake - will have to wait and see what happens!

[rainbox]

I planted lots of tomatoes out yesterday! I don't know what to do with the last 6 though:o

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3559/3533509406_1397ce9428.jpg?v=0

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2223/3532692911_0406df4155.jpg?v=0/

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2062/3533511736_07b271e253.jpg?v=0

[~Obsidian~]

Looks lovely Martine! As for the last 6, why not give them away? :)

Here's my beefsteak one, took this yesterday.

[Tania]

A tip for tomatoes seedlings:
"Once the tomato plants are about 3' tall, remove the leaves from the bottom 1' of stem. These are usually the first leaves to develop fungus problems. They get the least amount of sun and soil born pathogens can be unintentionally splashed up onto them. Spraying weekly with compost tea also seems to be effective at warding off fungus diseases."
Source (http://gardening.about.com/od/growingtips/tp/Tomato_Tips.htm)I sow yesterday tomato seeds in the ground. I hope they will germinate quickly :)

[ze leetle elper]

^^ I chucked some cherry tomato seeds from my fridge in a pot and they germinated in about 8 days out in the cold garden! So I'm sure your seeds will grow too! :p

[ze leetle elper]

Here's the cherry tomato seedlings...and several large tomato plants I have that need to go into the ground this week!

[Nife180]

Well here is my lone tomato seedling, it's doing well. It's an Ace 55 variety.

[rosie]

well 2 of my plants are now out in planters and one in a large pot. Quick question though - the roots were quite extensive (root-bound?) and were winding round and round the soil. I've just dumped the whole root ball into the middle of fresh soil in the large planter. Will the roots grow into the new soil? Its just that they seemed to have stopped growing and no more flowers are forming and they aren't gaining height anymore?

bit stressed :(

[Riz]

it will be fine, the plant just needs some time to establish and it will take off.. :)
some good weather coming up soon too from what i hear from the weather channel :)

[rosie]

phew! THANKYOU! its gorgeous outside today - have moved them all outside for the day again!

[Riz]

^ i have left my chillis and tomatoes seedlings outdoors now permanently since last week..

[Foz]

well i stuck my tomato plants in the ground last week

heres one

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k90/fozpot/STA50934-2.jpg

[rainbox]

Looks good Fozia! My tomatoes are growing well especially the chocolate cherry one, it's getting huge! It's also flowering now. Soon there'll be lots of yummy tomatoes:)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3378/3576609237_7a6ddba2b8.jpg?v=0

[Riz]

^ that's an impressive size martine...

[~Obsidian~]

Hmm, my late seedlings are growing taller...

[Foz]

oh wow rainbox thats doing well!!

mine not doing much! lol

[rainbox]

I've got tomatoes! still green and quite small, but there's 3 of them :D I'll post pic soon.

[rainbox]

Check them out:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3660/3616758852_e818eb1d98.jpg?v=0

[rainbox]

By the way, how often should tomatoes be fertilized?

[Riz]

you want cut back on your nitrogen now as they are flowering, but you can still give them fertilizer once a week with the water....

Mine are not looking too good, they are spindly and sickly looking, funny though i have never had any issues with tommies last season..

[Nife180]

By the way, how often should tomatoes be fertilized?
Giving it potassium will really improve the yield and flovour since they are flowering, too much nitrogen encourages leaf growth.

[Kirsten]

wow I am out of the tomato loop! or out of muslimgrower in general, what is this I hear about a facebook group??

My mom emailed to say that almost all of the tomatoes I planted now have little yellow flowers and should hopefully start producing tomatoes soon! I'm so excited :) One of them did get accidentally decapitated, but at least I still have 11 more...

I can't wait, I hope there will BIG changes by the time I go home in 3 weeks! I've never been away from my plants for so long, LOL.

Hope everyone's doing great! I look forward to reading a mountain of updates when I get home!

[ze leetle elper]

I have sooooo many tomato plants...its like a tomato farm LOL! :D alhamdullillah some have begun to flower...the vine tomtoes are still quite small though!! All mine are growing in the ground now.

[~Obsidian~]

My beefsteak tom plant is flowering, they are much larger flowers than the ones I had last year, makes sense though! I moved all my tom plants into the ground last week, they've all survived Alhamdulillah, still kinda small but due a growth spurt!

I've also noticed what look like tiny tomato seedlings when I was weeding today...seems like some of those toms that dropped off of the plants last year have given rise to a new generation! Whoopee! More mini tom plants if they grow! If they do manage to make it to maturity (they are REALLY small atm) then I'll have LARGE beefsteak, normal moneymaker, and then tiny ones too :butterfly3: iA

[ze leetle elper]

Waaaaaaaaaay too many tomatoes! :p Mixture of your normal tomato and vine tomatoes!!

[Tania]

Ze you will not use sticks for the tomatoes plants?
Mine are still small but are growing well lately:
http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/5913/006ioo.jpg

[ze leetle elper]

Some of them are quite stable, others need some support...the back ones have sticks, I may put sticks on others as well this weekend depending on how they are.

[Riz]

two of my moneymaker in pots :)

[~Obsidian~]

Lovely :D those pots are huge! :eek:

[Riz]

tiny flowers...

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/tomflower.jpg

[Tania]

Looks very promising :)

[Riz]

^ thanks

rosie how are your tommie plants doing... they were pretty big in the last pics you showed us !?

[rosie]

update: lots of tommies appearing now mashallah

http://i42.tinypic.com/24gvsko.jpg

[Riz]

very nice rosie mashallah.. look at all the tiny flowers too

you really have a :GreenThumbs: dont ya :)

[rosie]

aw thanks! :)

[ze leetle elper]

My tomatoes are finally showing their faces! :p :p

[~Obsidian~]

masha Allah rosie and ze!:cheerleader:

[rainbox]

My tomatoes are turning orange! :D

[~Obsidian~]

Great!

My very first beefsteak ones are appearing :eek:

[Foz]

heres one of mine...

no tomatoes yet

[Riz]

nice fozia

you have some flowers though.. :)

[~Obsidian~]

^Yep thats what I was thinking. You'll have toms growing soon :D

My beefsteak ones are developing nicely, they grow so much faster than the mini ones! The beefsteak plant is also now out of control :p

My moneymaker ones are flowering, fruit soon iA. I dug one up yesterday and potted it up, carted it off to my sisters' kitchen (I made sure there were no flowers/fruit first!) so iA she'll be able to take care of it and have toms soon!

[Kirsten]

I finally got home today after spending about 27 hours in transit to see my garden! We lost so much bounty to the squirrels last year that my parents finally put up a net that covers the whole tomato section, but lets bees, etc. in. Unfortunately they haven't been doing any weeding - I found about 5 cucumber volunteers from last year in there, happily strangling the tomatoes Though I do think there are probably about 100 tomatoes of all different sizes in there! Pear shaped, cherries, big round ones, ruffled ones (though I think that was some twins that got stuck together ), and I went ahead and picked three big red ones today. I can't wait for the rest!

I'll post a pic later - it is a freaking jungle in there.

[~Obsidian~]

Sounds awesome! :D

[~Obsidian~]

5 Tommies on my beefsteak plant :cheerleader:

[Foz]

ive just noticed i have quite a few tomatoes yay

[Kirsten]

Some updates:

Harvest yesterday!

http://i26.tinypic.com/20606sx.jpg

Ripening on the vine still:

http://i31.tinypic.com/334szuh.jpg

Still green... some of these plants are almost as tall as I am! Hard to believe it when I look back at my pics of the tiny sprouts...

http://i27.tinypic.com/160rczt.jpg

[Riz]

nice k..

they look healthy too... how many tommie plants you got growing in total !!?

[Kirsten]

13 :) they're pretty squished, but at least the net is keeping away the squirrels and chipmunks...and to a lesser extent, me. I had to crawl into there to get rid of the cucumber volunteers from last year that were happily strangling the tomatoes!

[~Obsidian~]

Beeefy

These things are growing fast, they're about a week old and are already the size that it took last year's toms all season to reach

[Riz]

^ they are the beefsteak tommies huh !?

well august is when we will see ripening tomatoes for most of us,, those of you who germinated the tommie seeds really early this season, well done you !!

last season i had lots of green tomatoes on the vine in early September, i had to bin lots of them.. even though i got a decent crop from 5 plants in total.. Hopefully august will be really warm the whole 4 weeks.....

[Kirsten]

Treasure!

http://i26.tinypic.com/fk2rna.jpg

Unfortunately we're having some catfacing issues - I've read online that it's because of low temperatures when the fruit was first set, which means that a) I can't do anything about it now and b) it wasn't my fault. *guilty look* I was so careful with these plants I feel bad when anything not-perfect happens to them!

I ground up a bunch of dried eggshells today and sprinkled them all over the garden. I haven't seen any blossom end rot but am really keen to avoid it...

[Riz]

catfacing !? what's that !?

you have a nice bunch of tommies on that vine K.. whats the average temps like in your area in august and september ?

[ze leetle elper]

I've got beefsteak and vine and cherry tomatoes!! Cherry and vine have already ripened in some places, have already picked quite a few of them! The bigger ones are huge but still green! Hopefully a few hot days will ripen them up quickly! :D

[~Obsidian~]

I've got loooooads of tomatoes, beefsteak and moneymaker but none have ripened yet.

[Riz]

you guys are good, lol

they flowered really late for me this season, and only last week did i get flowers on the plant, just saw my first pea size tomato emerging....

[Foz]

yay mine are going red

[Kirsten]

catfacing !? what's that !?

you have a nice bunch of tommies on that vine K.. whats the average temps like in your area in august and september ?

This is catfacing (http://www.umassvegetable.org/images/soils_crops_pest_mgt/disease/tomato_cat_facing.jpg)- not the best picture, but basically it cracks and forms all these weird shapes. It's gotten a little better - I think I might have just not watered well...

August in my area is HOT! Usually upwards of 95 degrees F every day. We're all hiding in the basement because it's so hot :eek: Toms and eggplants are thrilled though!

Here's my harvest from today:

http://i27.tinypic.com/2hp2kxe.jpg

[Riz]

i like the look of the little yellow tommies, i remember when you started them :)

at first i thought you meant cat crap !!

eratic watering can do that ( like you said )

[Kirsten]

i like the look of the little yellow tommies, i remember when you started them :)

at first i thought you meant cat crap !!

eratic watering can do that ( like you said )

LOL at the cat :)

I should have done a better job with the yellow pears...I knew they were a climbing vine so I planted them closest to the fence, but then my parents didn't know that while I was in SA (they were still tiny plants then) and heaped this great big net over all the tomatoes to keep out the evil squirrels - unfortunately it's not that tall (only about 3 feet or so) and the vine can't climb to the top of the fence as I had intended, so now it's busily strangling all the other tomato plants and I've got one big mess in there. (But lots of yellow pear tomatoes. :) )

I completely forgot I had pink tomatoes until I had a bunch that just wouldn't get red no matter what. I got the Clear Pink Early seeds as a present from someone and they are delicious! I wish we had more - I only planted one plant and I've only harvested 5 so far, but I think that might be because my dad plowed god knows how many bags of manure into the ground before I got home, so I think the whole plot is massively overnitrogenized --> lots of leaf growth and not that much fruit set. Oh well... next year! :)

[~Obsidian~]

Butchered and restrained my tomato plants today :) they were being unruly, and as yet no signs of ripening!

[Kirsten]

hehe "restrained" :) i had a picture in my mind of you putting handcuffs on them and saying "bad tomatoes! behave! stand up straighter and don't try to strangle your neighbor" :D

It rained so I went to harvest today - a lot of them had gotten knocked off and were sitting on the ground.

http://i26.tinypic.com/ofqypt.jpg

http://i27.tinypic.com/b509jm.jpg

My bowl of gold LOL

[~Obsidian~]

LOL Kirsten! :p I'd pretty much left them to grow however they wished, so when I went to tame them (and stake them properly) they turned out to be like 6 feet tall :eek: whereas previously they'd seemed to be about 4 feet tall.

They're behaving now!

I've got a couple of ripe toms, ready to pick :D

Your harvest (and bowl of gold) looks amazing!

[Riz]

my tommies are really slow this season,, i have a few green tommies flowering, but the rest are still flowers..

[Kirsten]

The last of my tomatoes - my parents came to visit yesterday and brought them down in a ziploc bag :) I had fun sharing the yellow pears with my friends, one of them thought it was a courgette and refused to eat it!!

http://i35.tinypic.com/mutx0x.jpg

[abu thaabit]

mashaAllah most of your seasons are ending, here in oz we are planting from last month, so far i only have in a cherry, i plan on putting in a couple of normal tomatoes and maybe those pear ones all of you have that ive never seen before.

[Riz]

The last of my tomatoes - my parents came to visit yesterday and brought them down in a ziploc bag :) I had fun sharing the yellow pears with my friends, one of them thought it was a courgette and refused to eat it!!

http://i35.tinypic.com/mutx0x.jpg

the yellow pear shaped ones looks really awesome :)