Starter stuff!!!

Some new potting soil, three new seeds, and a little seedling starter. Home depot didn't have Mel's Mix. and getting all the needed ingredients (including storage stuff) is a little to out of budget....

buuut I do have cherry tomatoes, spinach and jalapenos to add to my little collecton. Yay for vitamins!

Am I really going to need a trellise for the tomatoes? :scratch:

Lone wolf - it kind of depends on the types of tomatoes grown. Indeterminate is a vine type of tomato and will GROW! I have five foot trellis and it more than grew out of them....I need to take them to seven feet soon.

Determinate type tomatoes are bush style, while not really needing a trellis it might need some support because they can get really big.

Some one will correct me if I am mistaken but i would suggest a trellis, I think mine cost around $15 for everything.

Ohh I see it says Tall, indeterminate vines..... so maybe I will need to construct a trelis or support of some kind for it. I had no idea what it meant o be indetereminate. Thank you for explaining.

The other thing about them is this:

Indeterminate will produce all season long

Determinate will produce all at once

I've been reading up on something called a Florida Weave. Supposedly it's supposed to work really well. I'm going to try it myself this year with a few modifications. Here's a description....

http://www.foogod.com/~torquill/barefoot/weave.html

I sure hope it works for me because I'll need something to support the 16+ tomatoes I'm growing.

WolfHeart wrote:The other thing about them is this:

Indeterminate will produce all season long

Determinate will produce all at once

Determinate tomatoes work really well if you're into making sauce or canning.

Oh these are just little large cherry tomatoes for salads or to snack on. Maybe even a chicken treat! and good lord! I dunno what I'd do with 16+ tomato plants! I think my boyfriend would kill me if I even tried to have that many! Although I want to grow beefsteaks for pasta sauces and sandwiches.

lonewolfrissy wrote:Oh these are just little large cherry tomatoes for salads or to snack on. Maybe even a chicken treat! and good lord! I dunno what I'd do with 16+ tomato plants! I think my boyfriend would kill me if I even tried to have that many! Although I want to grow beefsteaks for pasta sauces and sandwiches.

I'll tell you....

I can survive on tomato sandwiches. I can eat them 3 times a day.

16 plants worth of tomato sandwiches?? That may be a little too much even for me. Good thing I have a big family

You can roast and freeze your tomatoes to have all winter long. We did that last year and this year we want lots more. Everyone who tries them say they are marvelous. So in my opinion, one can never have too many tomato plants.

quiltbea wrote:You can roast and freeze your tomatoes to have all winter long. We did that last year and this year we want lots more. Everyone who tries them say they are marvelous. So in my opinion, one can never have too many tomato plants.

I actually tried roasting some paste tomatoes from my garden back in 95 and they were really tasty. Tasted almost like sun-dried tomatoes.

Thanks for reminding me about that.

You don't HAVE to trellis them. A large number of the plotters don't. They are growing smaller tomatoes (grape, pear, cherry, etc) and they just let them sprawl. I don't know why...I just see it everywhere.

The results will be the bugs can eat them easier; they are exposed to wet soil and will rot easier; and you'll have tons of tomato plants next year!

Have you read the tread about single vine plants? It's where you remove all the side shoots. I think I'm going to try it this year. Less sprawl and same production they say.

welcome LWRissy, Have you read ANSFG book? In parts of the world that can't make MM for one reason or another Mel says just use compost. Can you do that? I grow vineing tomatoes up a string used bamboo a friend gave me for the frame so it ended up almost free (string is cheap). I saw a post of Josh's called "wall of flowers" there is a link that shows you how to make self watering containers from 2liter bottles. Really cool! I snagged some bottles from the neighbors recycle bins, free again. Made 4 and planted with yellow pear toms. Hung them on the fence to let them sprall and grow down. Since they are off the ground I think they will be ok. Here is a great little tomato growing tip, trim off all leaves that touch the ground to prevent diseases. Good luck and check out Josh's link. My purse is small as well so I get alot of stuff off the street it is truely amazing what people throw away. Another source of free stuff freecycle, oh, and don't forget Craigs list some free or next to free stuff there too.

AvaDGardner wrote:Less sprawl and same production they say.

and more tomato plants per garden too.

I think you'll be happier if you do build some sort of trellis (even if it's just a single stake and you prune).

The trellis you build/buy ought to improve your harvest and keep your tomato plant from sprawling all over and getting in your way.

As you can see, even cherry tomato plants can grow quite large (imagine if this smallish plant were sprawling all over the garden area instead of growing vertically).

lol I dunno about freezing them... but I'll probably use a few as chicken treats. One gobbles the grape ones like nothing! and I love tomatoes but even 16 is just a bit much for me. Especially since I'm the primary eater of tomatoes.

quiletbea: Can you roast cherry tomatoes? o.o that would be interesting in some things!

AvaD: No...I'd like to trellis them but if we can make one or whatever, I'll probably hang them up maybe. Can that be done?

Shannon: Yes I've read the NSFG book. It was a gift to me from a friend and I loved it! Right now, my seeds are in little containers with seed starter soil and peat moss. We're doing a trial run to see if we can maintain a garden. So the boyfriend wouldn't let me get a bigger bag. And since you answered the previous question, thank you! And I'll keep that tip in mind. o.O Can Chickens eat tomato leaves and be okay?

TN_Garden: Oh dear..... I can only imagine and since they're going to be living in containers for the time being... oh boy. o.o All the vine mess!!! D= I probably will end up building some sort of trellis... Lord knows we have the supplies lying around the house somewhere. o.O

on a further note, I only planted my little plants about 4-5 days ago, and I already have a couple of sproutlings!

lonewolfrissy wrote:quiletbea: Can you roast cherry tomatoes? o.o that would be interesting in some things!

Well I'm not quiltbea but I can tell you that roasted cherry tomatoes are excellent. If they're done right, they have the consistency of sun-dried tomatoes which I LOVE.

@ Oh Goodness......I roast my cherry tomatoes like I do any of them, cut in half, roasted with seasonings, then frozen. They do well in sauces, soups later.



Left: Oregon Spring toms and right: Black cherry toms in freezer bags

those look awesome!

lonewolfrissy wrote:AvaD: No...I'd like to trellis them but if we can make one or whatever, I'll probably hang them up maybe. Can that be done?
on a further note, I only planted my little plants about 4-5 days ago, and I already have a couple of sproutlings!

So glad to hear you have some sprouts! Mine have been 6 weeks in coming up. Some are showing though! I was wondering today (seeing my late bloomers) if you were still waiting on your old seeds to pop up plants. How is that going?

I would definitely trellis rather than let them sprawl on the ground. I've never tried the upside down version or hanging version. Make sure you can hang things before you get the pot going. We have to be careful with opening wood to termite infestations. Or carpenter bees.

I have trouble with growing in containers...they get too hot and bake the plant and dirt and all. Unless they are the really big knee-high pots (about 2' across?). Then I can add 2" of water to the bottom rim, and keep the plant a bit cooler.

And I'm in a cooler climate than you. I would think it would be terribly hot & difficult for containers where you are. is it? Use your shade where you can.

Ava

quilt bea
How do you roast tomatoes? I have only canned them as sauce, or just frozen them whole, I am very interested as I grow MANY tomatoes.

thanks