Marking your tomatoes

habitat_gardener · July 28, 2010

I save plastic clamshells, pint and quart size (from berries, usually -- I get them from a neighbor), and put one variety in each container, or else 2 distinctly different ones. I often don't mark them, because I know what I've picked that day or what varieties I picked together. So far I have only 5-6 varieties ripening, but in previous years when I picked 20 varieties at a time, I took my scale out to the garden and weighed them there -- and even ate a few of the smaller ones, and had containers to save some seeds right in the garden, before I took them home. Usually I have a range of colors and shapes so I know what's what, but if I get lookalikes, then I do label the containers.

So, for example, if I had 2 different red cherry tomatoes, I'd be able to tell them apart by putting one type in a container with a big yellow tomato, and the other one in a container with a black tomato. Then I write it down in my garden notebook. But if I filled a whole container with one variety and it looked similar to something else, I'd write the name on the container. A good way to relabel containers is to put a piece of invisible tape on the container and use a sharpie or pen to write the name. Then when I wash the container, the tape comes off. (I label my jars of grains and beans the same way.)

July 28, 2010	#16
habitat_gardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: California Central Valley Posts: 2,543	I save plastic clamshells, pint and quart size (from berries, usually -- I get them from a neighbor), and put one variety in each container, or else 2 distinctly different ones. I often don't mark them, because I know what I've picked that day or what varieties I picked together. So far I have only 5-6 varieties ripening, but in previous years when I picked 20 varieties at a time, I took my scale out to the garden and weighed them there -- and even ate a few of the smaller ones, and had containers to save some seeds right in the garden, before I took them home. Usually I have a range of colors and shapes so I know what's what, but if I get lookalikes, then I do label the containers. So, for example, if I had 2 different red cherry tomatoes, I'd be able to tell them apart by putting one type in a container with a big yellow tomato, and the other one in a container with a black tomato. Then I write it down in my garden notebook. But if I filled a whole container with one variety and it looked similar to something else, I'd write the name on the container. A good way to relabel containers is to put a piece of invisible tape on the container and use a sharpie or pen to write the name. Then when I wash the container, the tape comes off. (I label my jars of grains and beans the same way.)