Black Cherry Tomato advice needed

[Grayson]

Hi!

So I figured, I'd start a thread here instead of elaborating on my welcome post. To recap, I'm a first-timer and I haven't grown or tried to grow a single plant in my entire life. However, with my stay in Tokyo ending, I decided to get a kit to decorate my new place of work/residence.



The choice was entirely random and I was mostly winging it after following the initial directions.



I didn't expect so many seedlings to germinate.



With so many seedlings sharing the same space, I decided to get the local seed starting mix here in the Philippines. Unfortunately, more than half of those seedlings died. I am not sure if it was from the transplant shock, my ★★★★ poor Googled technique, or from the overly fertilized soiless mix (it had a strong pungent scent). I decided to just order potting mix from the EU. Anyway, I left four in the pot and they continued to grow as they waited for the soil to arrive.





By March I was already panicking because the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, ... true leaves were out and the space was getting too crowded. Not to mention there were 2 more seedlings that sprouted in the middle. This was when I started looking for a forum for help and stumbled upon this site.



The potting mix arrived yesterday (20L), so they will be ready for transplant.





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Now my questions are:
1. Is this brand potting mix ok for the cherry tomatoes?

2. I'm sure some of the roots are already entangled with one another. Will it be ok to cut the offending roots and take the whole 1/4 of the pot area or do I soak the whole thing in a bucket of water and loosen the roots?

3. After potting, how long do I keep it away from the sun?

4. I noticed the mix has fertilizer mixed in... how long before I add new fertilizer?

5. Any other tips to reduce the stress on the babies?

Thanks!

[Grayson]

Also, I just want to ask about this:



The weather in this country is now in full summer mode (and I read it gets really hot) and I got out only to see direct midday (11am) sun on the leaves. I reside in the 29th floor and the plants have always stayed in the balcony, so is this some sort of sunburn? It wasn't like this the night before.

I re-watered them because the soil on top and half an inch below was already dry. And I brought them inside to recuperate. Anyway, do I just let this be or do I trim the leaves (even though majority is unaffected?



And in relation to my original post, should I still push through with the potting tonight or do I wait an extra day?

Thanks so much for your time!

Oh, forgot to mention. The plants, as of March 13, are officially a month old!

[Gardeneer]

Elcome and happy gardening.

I think the soil sound fine

On the pot and number of plant:

If those pot are 5 to 8 gallon ( 20 - 30 liter) then ONE plant per pot is better. Black Cherry , I think, grows real big. If the container is 30 liter ++ , maybe you can plant 2 in it.
Also think about support.

Gardeneer

[Antipodean]

hi there!

Those plants look nice and healthy, nothing wrong with them, perhaps a touch of sun damage.

You shouldn't have a problem separating them, but really it would have been much better if you had separated them once they had their 1st or 2nd true set of leaves....into their own little containers. The reason being that bigger plants suffer more stress when they are fiddled with

In regards to the growing medium, it looks like you have potting SOIL which is not the same as potting MIX. I believe that MIX is more suitable for containers. Maybe others could provide more advice in this regard.

Black cherry is a nice choice, but grows huge! IMO, 20 litres is nowhere near enough. You will get some fruit from it but it will quickly fill out the container and go downhill pretty fast. You could prune it perhaps to on growing stem, but try to get bigger container.

With fertilising, any fertiliser included in the mix will be exhausted quite quickly so you will need to eventually fertilise weekly using a soluble npk (with micros) fertiliser.....and only at half strength. Alot of the nutrients get washed out the bottom whenever you water, so the way to go is 'a little often'.

After transplant, i would keep it out of the direct sun for a little while until it recovers sufficiently and then it s case of increasing the amount of sunlight incrementally over a week or two (depending on how hot it is).

Good luck!

[Gerardo]

Once you've removed the plants from the container, a skewer or thin pointy instrument can really help in separating them. Just gently stab at it from the bottom (where it needs the most stabbing), sides, and top, piercing it a cm or so each time. After some chunks loosen up, hold the individual plants by the stems and pull very gently while also stabbing gently right where it's tangled--it should release with minimal damage.
If you hear some snapping it's ok, they're resilient and can take punishment.

Alternatively, you can just chop the rootball square into four pieces and that'll also work, although they will sulk for a day or two or three.

welcome to the adventure.

[Grayson]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

If those pot are 5 to 8 gallon ( 20 - 30 liter) then ONE plant per pot is better. Black Cherry , I think, grows real big. If the container is 30 liter ++ , maybe you can plant 2 in it.

Also think about support.

Thanks, am currently looking at the food-grade 5 gallon bucket options here. In the meantime, I intend to transplant them to these 6 liter pots I acquired, then pot them up to 5+ gallon buckets so I have longer stems to bury.

Originally Posted by Antipodean

With fertilising, any fertiliser included in the mix will be exhausted quite quickly so you will need to eventually fertilise weekly using a soluble npk (with micros) fertiliser.....and only at half strength. Alot of the nutrients get washed out the bottom whenever you water, so the way to go is 'a little often'.

After transplant, i would keep it out of the direct sun for a little while until it recovers sufficiently and then it s case of increasing the amount of sunlight incrementally over a week or two (depending on how hot it is).

Good luck!

Thanks! What's the usual npk combination that I should get? Also, should I get granular or organic liquid (because those are the 2 that are available in these parts, with the liquid having a low npk count).

So do I keep it indoors for the time being? And will it be ok to keep it away from the sun entirely for a day or two for the plants to recover or will they still need to photosynthesize?

Originally Posted by Gerardo

Once you've removed the plants from the container, a skewer or thin pointy instrument can really help in separating them. Just gently stab at it from the bottom (where it needs the most stabbing), sides, and top, piercing it a cm or so each time. After some chunks loosen up, hold the individual plants by the stems and pull very gently while also stabbing gently right where it's tangled--it should release with minimal damage.

If you hear some snapping it's ok, they're resilient and can take punishment.

Alternatively, you can just chop the rootball square into four pieces and that'll also work, although they will sulk for a day or two or three.

welcome to the adventure.

Will it be better to soak the plant in water or thoroughly wet the soil prior to this? Also, should I retain some of the old soil as I move them to their new home?

Thanks! Hope I get these guys to bear fruit.

[Ed of Somis]

I think you will do fine. Make sure pot drains well, soil stays moist, feed moderately, and introduce to sunlight slowly. Then full sun is best.

[Gerardo]

Originally Posted by Grayson

Will it be better to soak the plant in water or thoroughly wet the soil prior to this? Also, should I retain some of the old soil as I move them to their new home?

Thanks! Hope I get these guys to bear fruit.

Drier is easier than wet. As long as the new soil is w/o issues no need to save their hospital gown.

One day away from the sun should be enough. They'll tell you 'cause you'll see them perking up after being a bit floppy.

[Antipodean]

Hi, alot of opinions on the best NPK ratio, but I would go for something like 3-1-5, or anything with P as the lowest and K the highest. Don't forget to get one with all the micros: iron, calcium, magnesium etc. Organics don't really work that well in containers (don't have the necessary micro-organisms to breakdown the organics) so go for the granular one then.

Yes when transplanting, keep out of the direct sun for a while until they perk up.....they will wilt at first. Keep they somewhere cool with some soft light.

You should wet the soil first, perhaps a couple of hours prior so it gives the plant a chance to fully hydrate before the move.

[Grayson]

Transplanting done!



I couldn't wait for the 5-gallon buckets to arrive, so I put them in 1 gallon pots for the moment. 20L of the potting soil divided among the pots wasn't quite enough, but at least there is more room for each one to grow. I may have gotten carried away with the watering and I had no choice but to cut them into blocks (root ball area, which was pretty much pot bound).

Now, they are staying in the small hallway of my apartment. How long do I keep them away from sunlight? And should I keep a fan blowing in the general vicinity when I am away? Can't open any windows because this country is prone to mosquitoes and other nasties entering the premises.

[Deborah]

Gerardo, you crack me up. First sulking a day or two or three and now hospital gowns. With that and helping stray dogs, I'm a fan!

[Grayson]

Quick update:

After 2 days of indoor life with ambient light, I moved the plants outside.



Two hours in, everything was generally fine. The soil was still damp when I inserted my index finger a couple of inches down. However, I noticed a few off-putting details

1. The top-most branches were wilting and went limp:




2. So did a seed leaf (it was touching the soil so I had to move it with a teaspoon, but it just fell off):






3. There's also this deformed leaf. No bugs/pests in sight and since I live way up, I doubt there are any critters as well:




Is this normal behavior? And do I need to add anything (more water, etc)? The lower branches seem to be doing ok though.

Sorry, just getting a bit paranoid.

[Grayson]

Ok, so I checked up on them this evening and they seem to be better. The wilted leaves perked up:

[Grayson]

The plants seemed to have normalized in the summer weather. The top leaves/branches are still softer and curved in the midday sun (compared to the straight and rigid lower ones) but not as bad as earlier. They are also doing fine in their new soil (thanks, Gerardo!).



Now one week has passed from the transplant and I am looking into fertilizers at the local store. I have also seen flowers (?) In the tallest plant so all the more reason to get one.



Here are the choices available:
Siam


Liquid seaweed-based fertilizer




Peters




Based on thr appearance and age of my plants, which one should I use?

Thanks again!

[Gerardo]

Plants looking good. Don't worry about the mid-day floppiness, normal behavior.

You've got some good fertilizers.

The seaweed you can use periodically, once or twice a week as a foliar, or as a drench will do just fine.

The Fat one is probably your best bet for long-term management. But since they are in the initial stages and require a bit of N, give em a little of the 20-20-20 and if you end up potting up to a larger container add it into the soil as a "startup" fertilizer strip. Many ppl here grow successfully with just the 17-17-17.

The bloom one is cool, although the middle number is a bit high. I've used stuff that's similar and they do put out a bunch of flowers. So once it's established give a shot or two of it and you'll see lots of flowers.

So to summarize:
use the 20-20-20 initially as a fertilizer strip integrated into your container mix
use the seaweed periodically for micronutrients and boost
use the fat one for long term management

and when you want to see flowers for the heck of it, use the bloom one.

There's also Mg and Ca to worry about. Epsom Salts and Dolomitic lime (both powders) are easy to get. Or you can go with a liquid supplement.

(EDIT: important for all) It's not as crucial with Cherries, but once you start growing the bigger ones, Ca especially is VERY important.