Calling Tucson/Southern Arizona Gardeners

flyingbrass · January 23, 2013

Maybe sometime I'll grow extra plants to sell. I've never dealt with that many. I'd need a different setup -- more lights and some carts. There is no way I'm hauling hundreds of plants in and out every day by hand.

The tomatoes and peppers I started on 12/28 are doing better than my previous years. I used Miracle Gro seed starting mix this time, which seems to be working a lot better than Jiffy. Plants are much bigger this far along. I picked up some bigger pots today in case I need to pot up a second time before planting out.

For potting I used Miracle Gro moisture control potting mix. Yeah, probably not the best, but it was available and didn't cost an arm and a leg. I added some extra perlite and didn't fill the Solo cups up all the way yet.

Since TYLCV got all my tomato plants last year, I'm being careful about whiteflies. I bought a few yards of tulle material (wedding veil stuff) at Walmart for a buck or so a yard. I'll keep my plants covered when outside as long as is practical. I'm really hoping our freezing weather put a hurt on the flies this season.

I'm also going to spray regularly with neem oil as soon as the netting comes off. I'm not sure how far through the season I can continue to use neem oil. I've read it can hurt plants in warm weather. How warm is too warm?

For those in my part of the valley, the Stock Shop at 67th Ave. and Thunderbird has Mountain Sunrise brand alfalfa pellets. The ingredient list is simply "alfalfa meal." The label says max sodium is .12%. A 50 lb. bag is $13 or $14. I bought some today. I've added aged horse manure before, but fresh alfalfa will be a first for me.

I'm trying some new to me peppers this year: Beaver Dam and Stavros. I plan to save seeds using that tulle cloth to make blossom bags. Tomato-wise, I've started Sophie's Choice, Cherokee Purple, Eckert Polish, San Marzano 2 (from Remy), Rutgers, and as an experiment Yellow Brandywine.

January 23, 2013	#11
flyingbrass Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Glendale, AZ 9b Posts: 90	Maybe sometime I'll grow extra plants to sell. I've never dealt with that many. I'd need a different setup -- more lights and some carts. There is no way I'm hauling hundreds of plants in and out every day by hand. The tomatoes and peppers I started on 12/28 are doing better than my previous years. I used Miracle Gro seed starting mix this time, which seems to be working a lot better than Jiffy. Plants are much bigger this far along. I picked up some bigger pots today in case I need to pot up a second time before planting out. For potting I used Miracle Gro moisture control potting mix. Yeah, probably not the best, but it was available and didn't cost an arm and a leg. I added some extra perlite and didn't fill the Solo cups up all the way yet. Since TYLCV got all my tomato plants last year, I'm being careful about whiteflies. I bought a few yards of tulle material (wedding veil stuff) at Walmart for a buck or so a yard. I'll keep my plants covered when outside as long as is practical. I'm really hoping our freezing weather put a hurt on the flies this season. I'm also going to spray regularly with neem oil as soon as the netting comes off. I'm not sure how far through the season I can continue to use neem oil. I've read it can hurt plants in warm weather. How warm is too warm? For those in my part of the valley, the Stock Shop at 67th Ave. and Thunderbird has Mountain Sunrise brand alfalfa pellets. The ingredient list is simply "alfalfa meal." The label says max sodium is .12%. A 50 lb. bag is $13 or $14. I bought some today. I've added aged horse manure before, but fresh alfalfa will be a first for me. I'm trying some new to me peppers this year: Beaver Dam and Stavros. I plan to save seeds using that tulle cloth to make blossom bags. Tomato-wise, I've started Sophie's Choice, Cherokee Purple, Eckert Polish, San Marzano 2 (from Remy), Rutgers, and as an experiment Yellow Brandywine.