To Hot to Germinate

Its soooo hot my tomato seeds wont germinate!! Dadgumit!

You have my sympathy because I know your tomatoes are a cash crop.

On the other hand...we might hit 80° this weekend for the first time this year, and the prospect of seeing a red tomato at my house this year, without the use of spray paint, is looking pretty dismal.

Jay Bird - You have my sympathies, too, while I only raise tomatoes for our family (and a few select friends), I can relate to heat-caused problems.

Boffer - So sorry to hear you won't be getting any vine-ripened 'maters from your garden this year! I guess all regions have their own particular weather-related crosses to bear, huh? My tomatoes could have done better, but were still the best I've ever harvested here. My tomatoes didn't even have any blossom end rot this year, which has always happened before. I credit the Mel's Mix for that!

I planted popcorn a few weeks back, nothing came up. Same with my green beans, I'll try those again in a week or two, everything is at a standstill here.

FarmerValerie wrote:I planted popcorn a few weeks back, nothing came up. Same with my green beans, I'll try those again in a week or two, everything is at a standstill here.

what type of Popocorn did you plant??? my popcorn hasn't come up yet thanking I might just till it up and plant some pumpkins:shock:

I had some left over Japanese White Hullless from 2009. It may not be good anymore, I'm not sure.

Sounds like this is one of the worst summers in recent memory for almost everyone.

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:Sounds like this is one of the worst summers in recent memory for almost everyone.

very hottest on record here in Texas and one of the driest too,:!:

Actually, the hottest on record (acording to what I read the other day) is 1980. I also remember the summer of 1988, hottest one since moved here in '84, I remember that one because I was pregnant the whole summer (well at least until Aug 30).

yep 88 was a very bad year that's the year I retired and tried to rise hogs, no rain and very hot temps both really bad for the hog market,any ways ten @10 last night said with a 100+ day today we have a new record for most days in a row over 100 and it's just the beginning of August ??? Hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm,not so good

Jay= during the hot summer, I germinate my seeds in the shade. AS soon as their little heads start to pop up, I move them to partial sun for a day then to full sun on day 3 after they started to pop up.
I sowed my fall crop Jun 27th.

forgot to mention = straw. A light covering of straw over direct sown seeds will cool it down so the seeds will have a better chance to germinate. Must keep an eye on them and uncover as soon as they start emerging.

CarolynPhillips wrote:forgot to mention = straw. A light covering of straw over direct sown seeds will cool it down so the seeds will have a better chance to germinate. Must keep an eye on them and uncover as soon as they start emerging.

Thanks for the tips! I put some lettuce seeds out and with this heat wave only a few actually sprouted even though they were relatively shaded by other plants. I am about to try some carrots for the fall, so I will use some straw to keep them a bit cooler.

GG

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:Sounds like this is one of the worst summers in recent memory for almost everyone.

Hot and dry, just like last year, although July we finally saw some rain(13 inches). I just wish the little tomatoes would appreciate all this heat, but the plants aren't providing enough shade for them.

At least my cucumbers and peppers are loving it.

Thanks Carolyn, actually I moved them to the dinning room table and added a heat mat, just kinda strange to hav eto add heat because its too hot outside, any way its working slowly got about 100 up and 60 or so transplanted , my preference is to germinate in the greenhouse it works sooo much better they seem to be stronger seedlings and not leggy at all ,, we ordered all the fall garden seeds Monday beets cabbage cauliflower etc, never grew a real fall garden before wish me luck ! I am a month behind on the tom's for the greenhouse but I look at it like this wont have toms for thanksgiving but will have them for Xmas , and beyond , I waited due to the unrelenting heat 105 average daily, I didnt want to get the seedlings to big before the temps cool off enough to transplant to the SFG boxes in the greenhouse.

Yup, our tomatoes have stopped setting fruit because it's never below 75 anymore. Gonna be a sparse year.

Mamachibi wrote:Yup, our tomatoes have stopped setting fruit because it's never below 75 anymore. Gonna be a sparse year.

It has cooled here a bit and my toms are REALLY setting fruit. I am going to be one BUSY canner when they all ripen at once!

GG

PS - I can taste the pizza sauce already!

my next door neighbor is a terrific gardener....told me "we usually have 1 or 2 days/year with 100 or more degrees....this year we've had over 30. our (his and my) tomatoes were nearly being stewed on the vine....taste was not up to par, and despite regular watering, the plants all (5 varieties) finally succumbed and gave it up. pretty good yield though. have some excellent box car willies ready to move into the greenhouse when (if) cool weather ever occurs again! they're nearly blossoming so should be set for late-year homegrown tomatoes. good luck all....elwo

Elwo



So very glad you joined us. This is a great group of people and we enjoy talking about our SFG's including the good and the bad . Gardening is like that.

Sorry you had so much trouble with the heat. That is usually not a concern here in the PNW. We do get higher temps in some of our region, but I live on the Oregon Coast and we have probably had less than 7 days when it reached 75. Our summer highs are usually mid to upper sixties or low seventies. So we have our own tomato woes, not enough heat.



Enjoy your garden and keep us posted on your progress. Share pictures too, cause we love them.

Thanks, Furbalsmom....I appreciate the welcome. I'll have to poke around a little and get my bearings on the site...maybe then can share some pix. We had our boxes built of 2X10's....filled 'em with mushroom compost, stirred in some manure...then fertilized appropriately. Had a couple boxes of taters....one russett one red pontiac....awesome production. Had a box of Granex (Vidalia type) onions...really great reward....lots of silver queen corn, roma II beans, squash, cukes, cayenne, poblano, yummy bells and jalapeña peppers. We seeded our tomatoes in the greenhouse....transplanted in the spring...and were on our way to a wonderful year 'til the heat came on...then it was a struggle. In order, our best-tasting maters were Better Boy, Box Car Willie, Dixie Golden Giants and Azoychkas. My wife, Jena, had some excellent results with straw & blackberries, spinach, lettuce, oregano, chives, basil, and black eyed peas. We tried lots of stuff in small batches...and had a blast. Oh yeah...we had a couple of volunteer watermelon plants from last year and decided to let 'em grow wherever they wanted....so we were able to get Sweet Baby melons from out of the corn, cuke, squash, and pepper areas....lol...it was a hoot! javascript:emoticonp('')

Thanks for making me feel welcome...I'm really enjoying reading what other square footers are doing and planning! Cheers....elwo

Wow! Sounds like you had QUITE a SUCCESS!

GG

My tomato plants that were planted in May are damaged from the heat and humidity...might go a head and pull those up soon and plant something else.