Splat!!

livinonfaith · April 13, 2012

Was moving a plastic container with 24 tomato plants at lunch out of the greenhouse. The whole side cracked apart and most of the plants fell out and ended up on my concrete stoop. Yikes!

This container included all of my dwarf project tomatoes! Fortunately, while several of them ended upside down and had to be shoved back into their pots, none of the dwarf plants appears to be too badly damaged.

I did lose one of my Aunt Ruby's German Greens, but I still have two, which is fine. The big loss was my two Rebecca Sabastian's bull bags. Both of them were severely bent right below the cotyledons.

I pulled out half of the soil and repotted them so that the bend is just under the soil line. My hope is that at least one of them will stay alive long enough to form new roots.

I was really looking forward to this tomato, Darn it!

BigBrownDogHouse · April 13, 2012

Sorry to hear about your accident. I feel your pain. I hate when something like that happens.

I think you did the best thing you could. We'll see what someone with more experience than me says. Re-plant and hope for the best....I've buried deep before and had some bounce backs. I'd usually water soon afterward too....not sure if that is the best though.

Best of luck. I'm growing the RS Bull Bag for the first time too.

livinonfaith · April 14, 2012

Still hoping that we'll be able to compare notes, Brian! The reviews I've read have been very promising.

It's funny, but all afternoon I've been kind of down, thinking, "Why did it have to be THIS tomato? This was one of the ones I REALLY wanted to try!" Then I realized that no matter which one had been damaged, I would have been thinking the same thing!

I've seen a plant or two come through some pretty traumatic things. So, hopefully, this will just be a temporary set back.

livinonfaith · April 18, 2012

Okay, so it's four days after the great fall and all is well.

The dumped dwarfs didn't miss a beat and all three plants that were severely bent look great! Clearly, repotting them with the bend below the soil line was the correct response.

I have another thread about sun scalding my plants during hardening off and how well they've recovered from that mishap. (Tomato Protective Services are going to show up on my doorstep any day now!)

I'm beginning to believe that tomatoes actually thrive on abuse!

Crandrew · April 18, 2012

cheers... Glad it worked out ok.

luke · April 19, 2012

Been there. My 4 year old dumped all of mine last year, and I had a few mix-ups. She was so upset I couldn't get mad, although my wife got a kick out of telling me to have fun cleaning up the mess.

Congrats on your good luck.

BigBrownDogHouse · April 19, 2012

Glad to hear your plants are doing okay. Tomatoes can be a tough bunch and handle a lot of physical abuse.....at least until the garden diseases start on them.

April 13, 2012	#1
livinonfaith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina Posts: 1,332	Splat!! Was moving a plastic container with 24 tomato plants at lunch out of the greenhouse. The whole side cracked apart and most of the plants fell out and ended up on my concrete stoop. Yikes! This container included all of my dwarf project tomatoes! Fortunately, while several of them ended upside down and had to be shoved back into their pots, none of the dwarf plants appears to be too badly damaged. I did lose one of my Aunt Ruby's German Greens, but I still have two, which is fine. The big loss was my two Rebecca Sabastian's bull bags. Both of them were severely bent right below the cotyledons. I pulled out half of the soil and repotted them so that the bend is just under the soil line. My hope is that at least one of them will stay alive long enough to form new roots. I was really looking forward to this tomato, Darn it!

April 13, 2012	#2
BigBrownDogHouse Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Northern Illinois ZONE 5a...wait now 5b Posts: 906	Sorry to hear about your accident. I feel your pain. I hate when something like that happens. I think you did the best thing you could. We'll see what someone with more experience than me says. Re-plant and hope for the best....I've buried deep before and had some bounce backs. I'd usually water soon afterward too....not sure if that is the best though. Best of luck. I'm growing the RS Bull Bag for the first time too. __________________ Brian

April 19, 2012	#7
BigBrownDogHouse Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Northern Illinois ZONE 5a...wait now 5b Posts: 906	Glad to hear your plants are doing okay. Tomatoes can be a tough bunch and handle a lot of physical abuse.....at least until the garden diseases start on them. __________________ Brian

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April 14, 2012	#3
livinonfaith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina Posts: 1,332	Still hoping that we'll be able to compare notes, Brian! The reviews I've read have been very promising. It's funny, but all afternoon I've been kind of down, thinking, "Why did it have to be THIS tomato? This was one of the ones I REALLY wanted to try!" Then I realized that no matter which one had been damaged, I would have been thinking the same thing! I've seen a plant or two come through some pretty traumatic things. So, hopefully, this will just be a temporary set back.

April 18, 2012	#4
livinonfaith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina Posts: 1,332	Okay, so it's four days after the great fall and all is well. The dumped dwarfs didn't miss a beat and all three plants that were severely bent look great! Clearly, repotting them with the bend below the soil line was the correct response. I have another thread about sun scalding my plants during hardening off and how well they've recovered from that mishap. (Tomato Protective Services are going to show up on my doorstep any day now!) I'm beginning to believe that tomatoes actually thrive on abuse!

April 18, 2012	#5
Crandrew Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: asdf Posts: 1,202	cheers... Glad it worked out ok.

April 19, 2012	#6
luke Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Mississippi Posts: 177	Been there. My 4 year old dumped all of mine last year, and I had a few mix-ups. She was so upset I couldn't get mad, although my wife got a kick out of telling me to have fun cleaning up the mess. Congrats on your good luck.