A thread to distract people from depressing politics :)
This season I’ve decided to grow tomatoes from seed. I thought I’d plant them in jiffy pellet-pots and then transplant them to garden beds when the ground is warm enough. But I’m not sure when I should sow the jiffy pots. Some time next month?
Bubblecar said:
A thread to distract people from depressing politics :)This season I’ve decided to grow tomatoes from seed. I thought I’d plant them in jiffy pellet-pots and then transplant them to garden beds when the ground is warm enough. But I’m not sure when I should sow the jiffy pots. Some time next month?
usually a month before you think they should go in the ground is acceptable period to start.
roughbarked said:
Bubblecar said:
A thread to distract people from depressing politics :)This season I’ve decided to grow tomatoes from seed. I thought I’d plant them in jiffy pellet-pots and then transplant them to garden beds when the ground is warm enough. But I’m not sure when I should sow the jiffy pots. Some time next month?
usually a month before you think they should go in the ground is acceptable period to start.
Bubblecar said:
A thread to distract people from depressing politics :)This season I’ve decided to grow tomatoes from seed. I thought I’d plant them in jiffy pellet-pots and then transplant them to garden beds when the ground is warm enough. But I’m not sure when I should sow the jiffy pots. Some time next month?
prepare the bed now. plant out in november. i would just buy a punnet then. rouge de marmande if you can get them. sarah did a punnet of mixed tomatoes very happily last year.
( you can pot on a punnet now. molly coddle until established. ignore and let them dry out to encourage flowering. as soon as flowering starts add water nitrogen and sulphate of postash. plant.)
sarahs mum said:
Bubblecar said:
A thread to distract people from depressing politics :)This season I’ve decided to grow tomatoes from seed. I thought I’d plant them in jiffy pellet-pots and then transplant them to garden beds when the ground is warm enough. But I’m not sure when I should sow the jiffy pots. Some time next month?
prepare the bed now. plant out in november. i would just buy a punnet then. rouge de marmande if you can get them. sarah did a punnet of mixed tomatoes very happily last year.
( you can pot on a punnet now. molly coddle until established. ignore and let them dry out to encourage flowering. as soon as flowering starts add water nitrogen and sulphate of postash. plant.)
See.. I am a long way away from your clime. I have plants flowering that I have since moved..
Yet the prospects are that I could still get frosts up to and including early December.
roughbarked said:
sarahs mum said:
Bubblecar said:
A thread to distract people from depressing politics :)This season I’ve decided to grow tomatoes from seed. I thought I’d plant them in jiffy pellet-pots and then transplant them to garden beds when the ground is warm enough. But I’m not sure when I should sow the jiffy pots. Some time next month?
prepare the bed now. plant out in november. i would just buy a punnet then. rouge de marmande if you can get them. sarah did a punnet of mixed tomatoes very happily last year.
( you can pot on a punnet now. molly coddle until established. ignore and let them dry out to encourage flowering. as soon as flowering starts add water nitrogen and sulphate of postash. plant.)See.. I am a long way away from your clime. I have plants flowering that I have since moved..
Yet the prospects are that I could still get frosts up to and including early December.
traditionally in southern tas it is show day to plant out. end of october. people plant out there tender seedling and then the shit hits and they have to replant the week after. mr car has a bigger diurnal range. but you gota plant them sometime.
you could do plastic bottle cloches over seedlings mr car.
sarahs mum said:
roughbarked said:
sarahs mum said:prepare the bed now. plant out in november. i would just buy a punnet then. rouge de marmande if you can get them. sarah did a punnet of mixed tomatoes very happily last year.
( you can pot on a punnet now. molly coddle until established. ignore and let them dry out to encourage flowering. as soon as flowering starts add water nitrogen and sulphate of postash. plant.)See.. I am a long way away from your clime. I have plants flowering that I have since moved..
Yet the prospects are that I could still get frosts up to and including early December.
traditionally in southern tas it is show day to plant out. end of october. people plant out there tender seedling and then the shit hits and they have to replant the week after. mr car has a bigger diurnal range. but you gota plant them sometime.
you could do plastic bottle cloches over seedlings mr car.
With tomatoes.. every effort conceivable, has merit.
I’ll probably do both (buy some punnets and sow some seeds in jiffy pots) to compare how they do. Like sarahs mum, I’d just leave the buying of punnets until I’m ready to plant them, and prepare the beds some time beforehand. But I’ll also buy some seeds and following roughie’s advice of a month before planting in the ground, sow them in jiffy pots next month.
Should I mix any horse manure into tomato beds (leaving them a month before planting punnets & jiffies etc)?
the best way to prepare is to dig a hole. fill it with old manures and compost..back fill. you want that good shit just below planting level so the plant hits it when it is hitting its straps.
Bubblecar said:
I’ll probably do both (buy some punnets and sow some seeds in jiffy pots) to compare how they do. Like sarahs mum, I’d just leave the buying of punnets until I’m ready to plant them, and prepare the beds some time beforehand. But I’ll also buy some seeds and following roughie’s advice of a month before planting in the ground, sow them in jiffy pots next month.Should I mix any horse manure into tomato beds (leaving them a month before planting punnets & jiffies etc)?
Buy punnets early, pot them individually in slightly bigger pot area. Keep the,m watered and put small amounts of fert. in water. Sow seed at same rime.. plant out the potted up seedlings a week or two after when the seeds planted produce something big enough to transplant with tweezers.
sarahs mum said:
the best way to prepare is to dig a hole. fill it with old manures and compost..back fill. you want that good shit just below planting level so the plant hits it when it is hitting its straps.
I see, ta. I’ve been neglecting my compost and I only have fairly young horse manure. I’ve dug the bean bed for planting late next month and dumped some broken-up horse manure on that, but I’m planning to dig it in further before planting the beans.
When I dig the tomato beds I’ll dump a bit of horse poo in the bottom before filling them up.
Bubblecar said:
sarahs mum said:
the best way to prepare is to dig a hole. fill it with old manures and compost..back fill. you want that good shit just below planting level so the plant hits it when it is hitting its straps.
I see, ta. I’ve been neglecting my compost and I only have fairly young horse manure. I’ve dug the bean bed for planting late next month and dumped some broken-up horse manure on that, but I’m planning to dig it in further before planting the beans.
When I dig the tomato beds I’ll dump a bit of horse poo in the bottom before filling them up.
tomatoes love shit however they get it.. just watch the pH and use a lot of water.
I might as well give my 2c worth too. I’ve been ‘going to’ put in my heritage tomato seeds for the last three weeks. I really am going to do them in the next half an hour.
This year’s method is that I will sow the seed into punnets (well, old takeaway food containers that I have artistically put holes into the bottom of with a hot skewer) in seed raising mix over a bottom layer of garden soil. I haven’t used jiffy pots for years. I think soil/seedraising mix works better. I will put my ‘punnets’ inside a white polystyrene box for protection and a bit of extra warmth and put them where the rain can get them. And let Mother Nature germinate them when she is ready.
I have tried a few methods over the years. One that does work but is a bit labour intensive for a lazy gardener like me is to buy my milk in 600ml or 1litre cardboard for as long as it takes to get enough cartons for however many tomato plants I want to grow. Then put the seedlings into soil in the cartons at the pricking out stage. The cardboard starts to rot a bit, but it means by the time you are ready to plant out you can just rip the bottom off the thing, dig a hole and plant the whole lot. Makes the roots go a bit deeper and less transplant stress.
But I can’t be bothered doing that this year.
Another method I’ve used is to simply drop some seed (with a label) in a dormant bit of the veggie bed, scratch it around a bit and let Mother Nature germinate when the soil temperature is to her liking. Then transplant the babies when they have a few leaves.
I’ll second the Rouge de Marmande. Brilliant tomatoes. If you can get black tomato seeds – Black Krim (works for me), Black Russian (doesn’t like it here, but I think is OK for Tassie) and I also have a black cherry one – they are brilliant for flavour and colour on the plate. The old Grosse Lisse is also a good one. I am trying Ananas Noir this year….a multicoloured fruit.
So, stop distracting me and I’ll go and get the seed in.
:)
Oh, and make sure you grow at least one cherry type for garden nibbling.
I just chuck old tomatoes into the area I call a veggie patch and let nature take it from there. Apart from the height of the wet season, tomatoes grow all year round up here.
Teleost said:
I just chuck old tomatoes into the area I call a veggie patch and let nature take it from there. Apart from the height of the wet season, tomatoes grow all year round up here.
Lucky you. The cold stops mine for at least two months of the year.
roughbarked said:
Teleost said:
I just chuck old tomatoes into the area I call a veggie patch and let nature take it from there. Apart from the height of the wet season, tomatoes grow all year round up here.
Lucky you. The cold stops mine for at least two months of the year.
The dry heat stops them for the rest of the year. Without irrigation, I could only grow tomatoes when the rains actually fell predictably regularly throughout the warmer months.
Lots of food for thought here, ta everyone.
Scuse the pune or play on words.
If you buy a punnet tomato Gardening Oz recommends you take off the lower leaves and bury it till they are below the surface, that way it develops roots all along its stem making it much more hardy and productive.
buffy said:
Oh, and make sure you grow at least one cherry type for garden nibbling.
And not just for me, either. First year I was here I grew tomatoes and the resident big fat blue-tongue lizard was very fond of the little sweet cherry ones.
Bubblecar said:
buffy said:Oh, and make sure you grow at least one cherry type for garden nibbling.
And not just for me, either. First year I was here I grew tomatoes and the resident big fat blue-tongue lizard was very fond of the little sweet cherry ones.
Where’s it buried?
I did accidentally run over one blue tongue with the ride-on, but there are others lurking in corners all over the place.