dang weather

[encore]

okhere's a couple of pics. they are out in the garage now at about 55 degs. supposed to start warming up tomorrow here and continue for the next few weeks, the plants are in 3 1/2 inch pots, potting up in not really an option, as they should get permanant homes within 2 weeks, but the leaves are starting to turn a lighter shade of green, (the flash kinda inhances it), is it because of the cold? the pots? or do they need some sort of fertilizer? i have been giving them miracle grow for tomatoes. would they maybe need something else? thanks----tom

[oakley]

They still look great. The cool temp should keep them from getting too leggy. I still would not fertilize full strength. Or not much at all.And you might find that less water is needed in cooler temp so watch and let them dry out a bit. (tricky with small pots).

No expert, just experience. I'm still and always will be in the student category. I just fed mine epsom salts. tsp in a qrt warm water, then bottom fed. (don't do that until someone more experienced chimes in). I did a third of my starts for a day, then waited another day. They liked it so i continued with the rest. I use a very dilute Neptune fish/seaweed just to help them over the stress of the soon-to-be hardening off and the long wait for nicer weather.

-some of my lower leaves were yellowing, not the central stem.

[encore]

ihad them out a few days ago for a hour in dirrect sunlight, early in the morning, (not their first time outside) would'nt be sun burn would it?, it's basicly on the new growth where it's getting light green. tried doing a search but hundreds of things pop up pretaining to leaves ,problems etc. lol

[NuttyPistons]

Encore: It's definitely not sunscald, as that generally looks like dry white/gray burn spots on leaves. I would say it's nothing to worry about from your pictures. The color difference could be due to light intensity or nutrients, but either way it doesn't look like anything pathological to my amateur eye. They will be just fine once they get out in the garden.

Boobery: It's definitely nice to know another tomatovillian is so close. Your offer is very generous but I am in the same boat as you and am giving away half of my starts to a friend. What varieties are your growing?

[Boobery85]

NP: I started 29 different varieties all from older seeds (2009 - 2011). I was not expecting all varieties to germinate. Alll varieties did germinate! Some of them were very strong (high germination rates), like Matt's Wild Cherry. So I have lots of plants. Others, just a couple seeds germinated, like Slovenian Black. What varieties are you growing?

Here's the list:
1. Abruzzese – 70-80 days, indeterminate, red, up to 1 lb
2. Amerikanskiy Sladkiy – Indeterminate, pink / red, salad tomato
3. Azoychka – 70-80 days, indeterminate, yellow, 6-8 oz
4. Banana Legs – 70-80 days, determinate, 2-3 inch elongated fruits, yellow, vigorous, wispy foliage
5. Berkeley Tie Dye – 75-85 days, indeterminate, multi-color striped, 4-10 oz, good producer
6. Canabec Super – 60-70 days, determinate, pink, medium size
7. Chocolate Amazon – 70-80 days, indeterminate, pink / black, beefsteak
8. Eagle’s Beak – 80 days, indeterminate, pink, oxheart shape, 8-12 oz, high yield
9. Frankenstein Black – 85 days, indeterminate, purple / brown color with green shoulders, 12-16 oz
10. Giant Sicilian Paste – 70-80 days, indeterminate, red, plum
11. Golden King of Siberia – 70-80 days, yellow, heart shaped, up to 1 lb, disease resistant *

12. Huang Se Chieh – gold or yellow skin with rose blush, 2-3 inch fruits*
13. Indigo Rose – 70-80 days, indeterminate, dark purple black with reddish bottom, large cherry, take a long time to ripen once fruit develops. Leave on vine after ripening until fruit has some give (will be hard initially after ripening – may take 2 weeks. The shininess should turn dull). Better tasting cooked than raw.*
14. Jaune Flamme – 55-85 days, indeterminate, golden orange, 2-6 oz, small salad size, good yields
15. Large Paste
16. JD Special C-Tex – 80 days, indeterminate, pale purple / black, 8-14 oz, good producer
17. Livingston’s Golden Queen – 80 days, indeterminate, golden with pink blush, 4-8 oz*
18. Matt’s Wild Cherry – 70 days, indeterminate, red, small cherry, big flavor, productive*
19. Midnight in Moscow – 80 Days, indeterminate, purple / black, 6-8 oz, high yields
20. Orange Fleshed, Purple Smudge – 80-85 days, indeterminate, looks bruised or diseased with purplish smudges over orange skin, 4-10 oz, deemed “to ugly to sell”
21. Orange Minsk – 70-80 days, indeterminate, pale orange, 6-14 oz
22. Pink Ruffled – 80 days, indeterminate, 8-10 oz, good producer
23. Reif Red Heart – 70-80 days, indeterminate, red, medium heart shaped
24. Russian Black – 70-80 days, indeterminate, purple, small
25. San Marzano – 80-90 days, indeterminate, 4-8 oz, paste, heavy producer, prone to blossom end rot
26. Skeewuhvidneyeh - ?????
27. Slovenian Black – 80 days, indeterimate, pink / brown, 3-6 oz, high yields
28. Spudakee Purple – 80-90 days, indeterminate, pink/purple, beefsteak
29. Super Black – 70-80 days, indeterminate, black / purple, medium size
* Have lots of seedlings

[NuttyPistons]

Wow! That is a lot of varieties! You must be overloaded. I added my list to my sig, so hopefully you can see that. I only have room for about 14-18 plants depending on spacing, but hopefully I can expand in the next couple years to add at least one more bed.

[encore]

here they are outside, think they'll darken up or maybe an iron problem?

[Boobery85]

NP, yes! That's a lot of varieties! I was not expecting all of them to germinate. Unfortunately I only have room for around 50 plants and some in containers. I have over 100 tomato seedlings waiting to be hardened off!!

Encore, Your tomato babies look happy to be outside!

[AlittleSalt]

The plants do look very good.

Here in my neck of the woods it keeps on raining a little almost every day. It's not like last year with flooding rains daily, but just enough rain to keep the plants wet. As your thread title says, "Dang weather".

[PureHarvest]

Your lighter green is from lack of light intensity for enough hours.

[wildcat62]

Encore, they look good to me & I'm sure they will do fine.

[gvillemom]

I'm in central VA. Took me 3 weeks to get my plants hardened off. We had 84 one day, 30's the next. Now we have had rain 18 of the last 21 days. Our gardens are so wet we can't plant. I have 2 foot tall Toms still in pots. It's been a crazy spring!!!

[encore]

another quick question, i'll have about 15 plants that should be hardened off in a couple of days, the problem is i'm heading out of town for about 6 days, and they'll be kept in the garage, will i have to reharden them all over again? or will they be fine, i wanted to put them in their permanant home when i get back.---tom

[jmsieglaff]

Originally Posted by encore

another quick question, i'll have about 15 plants that should be hardened off in a couple of days, the problem is i'm heading out of town for about 6 days, and they'll be kept in the garage, will i have to reharden them all over again? or will they be fine, i wanted to put them in their permanant home when i get back.---tom

I don't do much of a hardening off process, so I can't say for sure. Mine get potted up with 1 set of true leaves, go back under lights, a couple days of patio door sun then into the cold frame, where they grow until plant out.

Given the healthy look of your plants and the fact they are almost hardened off, I wonder if planting them out instead of stashing them in a garage for 6 days would be better? What kind of exposure have they had thus far? Tomatoes are pretty resilient. Are you not wanting to plant out because of weather or because you don't have time before you leave?

[encore]

mostly because they are going into a raingutter grow system and i want to make sure they are all able to draw water, and no other problems arise or i would plant them.---tom