Seedlings progress

[kilroyscarnival]

NICE, Casino! Of course, I'm not growing for production but your setup looks very neat indeed. Nice that the seedlings for sale include the description of appearance, flavor, etc.

I would say that perhaps Florida has its own issues with the heat, though. I am starting "late" compared to most here, and it still gets up into the mid-80s. While it does that for you later in your growing cycle, I still have little babies in little cups. Possibly won't do a thing besides evaporate the moisture a little faster. But, as a beginner I am being extra-cautious and extra-curious.

P.S., had to look up Granny's Heart. The only reference I saw to it was an offer of seeds on this site, not on Tatiana's TomatoBase. Good stuff?

[kilroyscarnival]

It seems we have more than tomatoes and green beans growing around here.

Little Peepers turned up pregnant, before I could make arrangements to get her spayed. One of the little feral cats in the neighborhood. These three are going to be available for adoption as soon as they're weaned, and the vet gives them the go-over.
Mama and two.jpg

And one more.jpg

[FreyaFL]

Originally Posted by kilroyscarnival

It seems we have more than tomatoes and green beans growing around here.

Little Peepers turned up pregnant, before I could make arrangements to get her spayed. One of the little feral cats in the neighborhoo. These three are going to be available for adoption as soon as they're weaned, and the vet gives them the go-over.
Attachment 30035

Attachment 30036

They have the telltale M of a Maine coon cat. Wonderful temperaments.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by kilroyscarnival

It seems we have more than tomatoes and green beans growing around here.

Little Peepers turned up pregnant, before I could make arrangements to get her spayed. One of the little feral cats in the neighborhood. These three are going to be available for adoption as soon as they're weaned, and the vet gives them the go-over.
Attachment 30035

Attachment 30036

Oh my, Cuteness overload. So sweet!

[kilroyscarnival]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Oh my, Cuteness overload. So sweet!

I could spend all day watching them. I'm lucky this time, mama is pretty trusting of me (for a stray) so the babies freak out at my presence then get used to it. So an hour of romping - and Ann has a little sunburn on her face from sitting still and trying not to laugh too loudly.

They are fun, bouncy, look totally healthy (though #1 has a bald ring on its tail, not sure what caused that, maybe umbilical cord) - which bodes well toward my eventually socializing them and getting them adopted out.

Yesterday, I transplanted the remaining seedlings to their own cups or containers, with the exception of the Super Italian Paste, which are still two to a pot but a bigger one, for now. All are looking pretty good.

Oh, my, I counted 41 tomato seedlings. I started off with too many because I was convinced not all would germinate, not all would become viable. I think in another month I am going to be giving away some plants if any friends or coworkers are interested. Meanwhile, today I need to do something about the other vegetables. Their growth has tapered off and clearly they are going to need their final containers in order to let those roots rip. I have three zucchini, one Spacemaker cucumber, four bush type green beans, and some Sweet Ann snap peas. I was going to put them in the ground, but we've already had temps in the high 40s and I would rather container them so if there's a freeze warning I can rescue them. Of course, that might mean moving a container and a trellis.

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by kilroyscarnival

Oh, my, I counted 41 tomato seedlings. I started off with too many because I was convinced not all would germinate, not all would become viable. I think in another month I am going to be giving away some plants if any friends or coworkers are interested. Meanwhile, today I need to do something about the other vegetables. Their growth has tapered off and clearly they are going to need their final containers in order to let those roots rip. I have three zucchini, one Spacemaker cucumber, four bush type green beans, and some Sweet Ann snap peas. I was going to put them in the ground, but we've already had temps in the high 40s and I would rather container them so if there's a freeze warning I can rescue them. Of course, that might mean moving a container and a trellis.

Isn't there a florida swap soon? Maybe you can adopt out your plants?

[kilroyscarnival]

Yes, but I can't make this one. Fort Lauderdale is about a 3 1/2 hour drive south of here, and I have a morning class on Saturdays, so I'm hoping to make a proposed first-quarter one here in central Florida.

Hopefully I will find some local takers. I might aspire to setting up a few global-bucket SWC and giving them to friends.

[Redbaron]

Garage sale sign with this taped on it.....Tomato plants need loving home. Have had their shots and are housebroken. Well mannered plants free to the right person. Inquire within.

PS We have a couple kittens too.

[kilroyscarnival]

Literally laughed out loud. Thanks, Scott. I hope they stay well-mannered.

[kilroyscarnival]

Today at lunchtime, I went home to check on the plants and the kittens (and my own cat, who finally came back in after a weekend at large), and gave in and sliced into one of the two ripe patio tomatoes I had picked Saturday. It was beautifully ripe throughout, only a few tiny skin blemishes I sliced off. I ate it sliced on bread with a dash of salt and pepper and a very thin schmear of mayo. (Just like dad.) It was so good I had to slice up the other one, which was a tad less ripe at the very end but still tasty. And one ripe cherry tomato was eaten whole, with more ripening now. So nice to think I have those for now and my seedlings will be fruit several months from now.

[kilroyscarnival]

Just wanted to add an update: I sent Totally Tomatoes a note regarding the Wins All and that I had been given information that a Wins All had a regular leaf, not a potato leaf. I noted that as a first-time grower, I was more curious than concerned and that the fruit's success would be my major interest. I got a pretty prompt reply, which just reiterated the description they publish on their site - and re-asserting that it is a potato leaf plant.

Not trying to start any arguments here. The seedlings are all looking tremendous at this point. I do still have some smaller looking starts: one Lollipop is way bigger than the other at this point, one Egyptian, and some of the red currant still look pretty small. I think, though, that since I had started the red currant in pure coir, that may not have helped. As transplants in a much richer mix, they seem to be catching up a bit to their Mexico Midget cousins.

The Better Boy is finally flowering at the top of its now about two feet of climb. I've got some cherries ripening on the sweet 100, but other than those it will be a dry spell, as the new patio fruit are still new and very green.

[clkeiper]

Originally Posted by kilroyscarnival

That would be good. I think the city made it an initial trade-out though - you put your old ones out and they leave a new one, but if you didn't have any to trade in you would have to call and request. Which I have to say seems like they have a plan for them.

I am also on the hunt for free or cheap 5 gallon buckets, etc. There are some places that are selling them in bulk, $2 per, but that's barely cheaper than retail. And not sure what was in them, in terms of chemicals. Just switched to Tidy Cat kitty litter because it comes in a big plastic container which I can repurpose. That was an idea from the global buckets web site.

We have Smith's dairy close to here. We recycle the 5 gal buckets by the 100's for a world relief project at church. They give them to us. We clean them and repack them with food for missions and relief projects year round. Otherwise the buckets would go to a recycling place ....

Dairy farms may have 15 gal. barrels that you could cut the top off of in order to use. We have one down the road who will give me as many 15 and 55 gal drums that I can use. Car washes may have drums for soap, too that they are willing to give away or sell cheaply or trade tomatoes for...

[kilroyscarnival]

Thanks, Carolyn. I know of only a few very small and not commercial dairies in the area (sources of raw milk, goat milk, etc). I found one newspaper article from about 2008 saying Central Florida was then in danger of losing its last major dairy farm.

Of course, there is the citrus industry. Maybe there's something there.

In any case, haven't gotten to the local Publix Supermarket as was suggested, at least at a time likely to introduce myself to the bakery manager. I was also watching a random gardening video on YouTube, and one of the commenters said he worked for Chick-Fil-A for years, and they would be a good source for five-gallon buckets.

There are a couple of places that have the large drums for sale, many food-grade, on Craigslist, but haven't any leads so far on freebies. Also with that size I would need to rent a pickup. I'm planning on getting my boyfriend a few fruit trees for his yard as part of his Christmas gift - so will probably need a pickup that day anyway.

It is great that you are using the 5-gal buckets as containers for your mission work. I know they will get used over and over where they are going. There is an excellent project out of the Jacksonville area that makes a sort of crude off-road wheelchair for disabled people in remote areas around the world. They pack their shipping pallets with things like clean medicine vials, plastic bags and other "disposable" containers, because in dispensaries in Africa for example, pills are given out but not in containers. Clean water containers are not always available.

Here's a good writeup on the project: it's also being done by a retirement community, with many retired clergy/missionaries living there. I visited some years ago. It was wonderful.

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2...hairs-and-love

[Redbaron]

My sister and her husband do a similar thing with Wheels for the World, even taking a few months off for mission work each year to distribute the donated wheelchairs and mission work.

[kilroyscarnival]

Excellent, Scott! My thanks to them for their contributions. They must be rich in perspective that makes our first-world-problems seem even sillier.