2017 Tomato and Garden Pictures
 

This is where I'll share my 2017 garden pictures. No pictures right now since it is the middle of winter, although I will share some indoor grown micro dwarf pictures over the next few weeks. I hope you all enjoy the posts and it will also serve as a good way for me to document me some garden notes and thoughts.

Thought I'd start with my 2017 tomato grow list with some comments.

Sungold F1: Every year. Tried Sunsugar F1 last year--just about the same thing, just awesome.

Black Krim, Noire de Crimee: I grow Black Krim every year, but I just had to do a side-by-side with Noire de Crimee after what I've read in Carolyn's book.

Daniel Burson: Love black tomatoes so I've got to give this a try after the reviews here in 2016.

Black Cherry and Garnet cherry tomato: Want to grow these side-by-side to see which we like better.

KBX and Orange Jazz: Grew KBX in 2016 and loved it, thought it would be interesting to do a side-by-side with Orange Jazz.

Jaune Flammee and Earl of Edgecombe: Flavor descriptions in Carolyn's book sound right up my alley and want to which we like best.

Aunt Ginny's Purple and Crnkovic Yugoslavian: Two highly regarded heirlooms I wanted to grow together to see which does better in my garden.

Mat-Su Express: After Mark's mouthwateringly good/exceptional comment how could I not grow it since he was kind enough to share seeds.

Wisconsin 55: Our son's favorite red tomato that always has a spot in his garden.

Blush: Beauty and flavor in the same package, returning from 2016.

Summertime Green and Emerald Giant dwarfs: Doing a side-by-side of two large GWR dwarf beefsteaks--grew one of their parents Green Giant in 2016 and really liked it!

Teensy F3 Chocolate Cherry, Teensy F4 Yellow Cherry, Emmy F2: Dwarf project grow--outs.

A couple strains of micro dwarfs.

Can't wait for another summer of new to me tomatoes!

A look of 3 micro multifloras growing under the lights in the basement. Good little winter project.

they look great! I like the picket fence too.
KarenO

Thanks Karen.

Snapped a picture after buzzing flowers. You can see the pollen grains on the dark green leaves under the flower. Happy 2017!

Let the 2017 outdoor garden begin! Tonight we sowed Copra onion seeds! They'll sprout on top of the fridge and then will live under the lights until they go outside in the cold frame in March.

Congrats on the start of your new season! Pretty soon you need to be starting the cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli too.

Hoping and thinking the first microdwarf will be ripe before the end of January.

Yay! I start my onion seeds soon as well. Usually I start them now but uh, I haven't ordered them yet! haha.

Cheers to a good grow year!

What kind of onions do you grow? I grow Copra. I tried Cortland as well but found no appreciable difference and Copra seeds are cheaper. Nearly all my onions are used for roasted tomatillo salsa or cooking. So storage time is very important for me.

Nice Tomatoes.

Justin

I grew Copra too, but I wasn't getting the yields I wanted, a lot of smallish onions before they flopped over. I tried the Alisa Craig onions this year, thinking maybe I will get bigger bulbs due to them being competition onions and boy did I ever. So I am growing those again this year.

They say they aren't great for storage but I harvested them in August I believe and they are just now sprouting.

[QUOTE=Raiquee;611268]Justin

I grew Copra too, but I wasn't getting the yields I wanted, a lot of smallish onions before they flopped over. I tried the Alisa Craig onions this year, thinking maybe I will get bigger bulbs due to them being competition onions and boy did I ever. So I am growing those again this year.

They say they aren't great for storage but I harvested them in August I believe and they are just now sprouting.[/QUOTE]

Great pice of info! Thanks for sharing. My Copra are continuing to hold steady in storage--they usually last for me until about March. I don't mind a smaller onion, often makes for the perfect amount when cooking. The bulk of mine vary between racquetball and tennis ball size.

This was the size of my Alisas. I did get smaller ones, but most were around hand size. Granted, I do have smaller hands..

I can a lot so for me the smaller onions were hard to work with. I am pulling the sprouting ones out and making french onion soup with them to can. I will eventually dice them, put them on a cookie sheet to freeze then in a big zip lock so I can float us out until next onion harvest! :)

[ATTACH]68857[/ATTACH]

Very nice plants JM! Beautifully deep green healtyy leaves what lamp do you use?

[QUOTE=cassiani;612388]Very nice plants JM! Beautifully deep green healtyy leaves what lamp do you use?[/QUOTE]

Thanks! I have a 4 foot High Output T5 6500k grow stand. I also had an extra 4 foot T12 fixture with 2 bulbs--6500k daylight and an aquarium/plant light that I think is around 4100K, but would have to double check.

What varieties of micros are you growing there? I've got Linda and Mohamed that I'll start at the end of this month.
-GG

These are experimental--they are from a cross Dan Follett did. Numbered as 19x. It is a cross between a red cherry micro dwarf and Ambrosia Orange UBX. These are 19xF2 plants from seed I collected from the F1.

Great photos! They look really healthy. Do they share a container or are they in separate pots inside the picket fence? How do you fertilize them? I've not experimented much with that.

Thanks Dan! What is the name of the micro parent again?

They are in the same soil, about 0.5 cu ft total. I feed them with some Oscomote granular once and Miracle Grow every 3-4th watering. In ProMix organic mix with fungi.

[QUOTE=jmsieglaff;612928]Thanks Dan! What is the name of the micro parent again?

They are in the same soil, about 0.5 cu ft total. I feed them with some Oscomote granular once and Miracle Grow every 3-4th watering. In ProMix organic mix with fungi.[/QUOTE]

The micro mama was Red Robin X Rose Quartz Multiflora F4. It is a micro multiflora from a cross made by Chris Kafer (ChrisK). I was growing out the micro from that cross for Chris trying to stabilize it. (I am growing the F8s now. It is a great micro tomato.) This is a link to part of a thread ChrisK has where he discussed the original cross from which that micro came.

[url]http://tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=28443&page=25[/url]

It is an old and very long thread. The page that link takes you to has a photo of a cousin of the mama of these that shows the potential I think lurks inside these little things. That photo is in post #370. There are lots of other photos in that thread.

I got permission from ChrisK to use it to make crosses of my own. I've made crosses between that micro multiflora and over 55 different varieties - many of which were themselves unstable.

I grew most of the F1s last summer and and am having fun seeing what I can find in the F2s. There is absolutely no way I will ever be able to fully realize the potential that is in these crosses. That is why I'm happy, even eager to let others help with the grow-outs.

Thanks for your interest, James.

Well I learned something already this year. Onion seeds do not keep like tomato seeds. I sow onion seeds and like clock work 8 days and boom they start coming up. This year, I had seeds packed for 2015 and figured no problem. Well after 14 days and 1 had sprouted, I started over with seeds packed for 2017. Live and learn!

Another step in the right direction!!

Tonight we sowed seeds for:
Aji Amarillo
Serrano
Poblano (Ancho Gigantea)

Sweet peppers will come sometime around Feb. 10 or so.

Woooo!!! Micro dwarfs (2 separate plants) are blushing tonight!

Now that brings me a smile! Yum....

And there they are! Enjoyed these with my little taster and we sowed sweet peppers seeds as well!

Basement plants are coming along!

Photo is:
Top: lettuce broccoli and kale
middle: onions that need a haircut
Bottom: peppers, bigger ones are hot and small ones are sweet.

The cool season stuff will move out to the cold frame in a week or so.

Tomatoes will be sown in 1 week!!! :)

[QUOTE=jmsieglaff;627558]Basement plants are coming along!

Photo is:
Top: lettuce broccoli and kale
middle: onions that need a haircut
Bottom: peppers, bigger ones are hot and small ones are sweet.

The cool season stuff will move out to the cold frame in a week or so.

Tomatoes will be sown in 1 week!!! :)[/QUOTE]
When is it safe to plant outside in your area? Do you have much problem with disease?

I'll direct sow cool season stuff like radish, spinach and peas as soon as my soil temps start getting around 50F, usually early April. I plant out cool season starts of onions, broccoli, and lettuce around April 15-20, depending on soil temps and 5-10 day weather pattern.

Tomatoes usually get planted out May 15ish and peppers either the same or a week or so later. Last year we had one of the later freezes in a while, I managed to only lose 3 tomatoes and they were ones I knew I could replace rather easily.

By far the biggest challenge I face each year is Septoria on tomatoes, gray mold can pop up, but compared to Septoria it is a small issue. I also control powdery mildew on cucubrits starting late July/early August.

2017 tomato seeds are sown! Only stuff I need to sow this coming weekend are tomatillos and micro marigolds.

It looks like you are growing a nice variety of tomatoes this season. You ought to be having some great meals. What kind of tomatoes do have there on the counter and are they any good?