Any north Jersey Tomatovillians here?

[lakelady]

John, no worries, most likely I'll have some extra plants I can give you as you are not far from me. I usually have to beg people to take them off my hands ! So sorry to hear about your seedlings, until they toughen up they are sometimes touch and go and the littlest thing can make them go from healthy one day, to sick the next.

Send me a pm before you go buy plants!

[nnjjohn]

Antoniette, you are very considerate but really, I'm likely to plant these if they make it back or continue to grow.. think I sunburned them ..did you see these pics on the other thread? I'll post them again here.. btw, thinkig of getting rutgers soil test,, just not sure why some beds are better than other beds .. think the base price is 20 dollars? could be deficiencies or worse but doubt I will resort to spending 50 dollars for a level two soil sample test I'm going to call them this week and find out what test is recommended for tomato garden , thanks again, John

[efisakov]

Originally Posted by nnjjohn

Antoniette, you are very considerate but really, I'm likely to plant these if they make it back or continue to grow.. think I sunburned them ..did you see these pics on the other thread? I'll post them again here.. btw, thinkig of getting rutgers soil test,, just not sure why some beds are better than other beds .. think the base price is 20 dollars? could be deficiencies or worse but doubt I will resort to spending 50 dollars for a level two soil sample test I'm going to call them this week and find out what test is recommended for tomato garden , thanks again, John

Hi, John,
to harden tomatoes you should start with an hour at a time or so. The only time you should be keeping them longer is if it is partly sunny and they can handle it. But no worries, they are resilient and usually come back. Give them a time. If they do not change for a few days it is ok as well, they may be stunned. Keep them inside for now. They are not that big. My are bigger than yours and I have not taken them outside yet.
Good luck. I am sure they will survive.

[nnjjohn]

Originally Posted by efisakov

Hi, John,
to harden tomatoes you should start with an hour at a time or so. The only time you should be keeping them longer is if it is partly sunny and they can handle it. But no worries, they are resilient and usually come back. Give them a time. If they do not change for a few days it is ok as well, they may be stunned. Keep them inside for now. They are not that big. My are bigger than yours and I have not taken them outside yet.
Good luck. I am sure they will survive.

yes I thank you and believe you.. most actually look like they grew some today good sign .. not over watering either.. I use filtered water osmosis so chlorine should be ruled out..I also mainly fill the steel pans and let them drink from the bottom..unless the top looks too dry..I'm okay.. On a side note for planting preparations..I been using colored rapitest for PH NPK tests in two beds that seem to have issues every season.. this is what I tested today.. also sending the same soil samples used here to my local state rutgers university to compare or get better diagnose..keep in mind, I have done tests a month ago with similar test results..I have an idea but it was recommended by folks here to have a better test done in the Rutgers university lab.. I will surely post results here to compare my soil tests. notice the phosphorus looks too dark? these capsule tests don't really color code well on their chart.. I'm saving the pic samples and comparing the results to a professional test I'm sending ths week.

[lakelady]

I'm going to do the Rutgers test too for my old garden bed. Took soil samples today. The raised beds are mostly compost at this point and leaf mold, so not sure what would turn up in those, but the plants are happy anyway!

[NisiNJ]

nnjjohn:

I'm from central Jersey. It's really not too late to start over; you have six weeks until the end of May. The best seedlings I have every year are the ones I force myself to wait until April to sow. I just had to throw away a couple of Sungold seedlings I started in March because they were too tall and skinny. But I have more under lights that are still little and waiting to be transplanted up to their little necks into 3" pots. I have had success throwing seeds in a cup of water and letting them soak for a few days until the little roots show; then planting them. I don't know if soaking gets them to germinate faster, but it is worth a try if you really want those Sungolds...

[nnjjohn]

I was away all week and came home to see my plants have not grew at all,, I guess the plant sitter left them outside and it is pretty much took them out.. maybe a few might bounce back but.. No big deal..I am use to this (high mortality) really happens to me every time I try growing from seed.. The fact I'm away from home for days each weekend this time of year.. I have no green thumb baby sitters.. my plants are either left out or left in too long and so don't do well enough I guess. So no big deal, I have fun buying varirty plants too..Still weeks away before planting anything in my beds with this crazy weather.Perhaps end of May this season in northern jersey.

[kath]

Originally Posted by nnjjohn

I was away all week and came home to see my plants have not grew at all,, I guess the plant sitter left them outside and it is pretty much took them out.. maybe a few might bounce back but.. No big deal..I am use to this (high mortality) really happens to me every time I try growing from seed.. The fact I'm away from home for days each weekend this time of year.. I have no green thumb baby sitters.. my plants are either left out or left in too long and so don't do well enough I guess. So no big deal, I have fun buying varirty plants too..Still weeks away before planting anything in my beds with this crazy weather.Perhaps end of May this season in northern jersey.

Since you need to be away from home for a couple days at a time, it might be worth it to design a self-watering setup under lights on a timer in a place with adequate temperatures to keep the plants happy with no attention from babysitters. Starting in April would help because the seedlings would still be small. In northern Jersey, you could still start over and have plants ready by Memorial Day weekend.

kath

[nnjjohn]

Originally Posted by kath

Since you need to be away from home for a couple days at a time, it might be worth it to design a self-watering setup under lights on a timer in a place with adequate temperatures to keep the plants happy with no attention from babysitters. Starting in April would help because the seedlings would still be small. In northern Jersey, you could still start over and have plants ready by Memorial Day weekend.

kath

kath, I still think at least a dozen of them will bounce back, not worried about trying more seedlings.. I considered that some time ago about building a custom greenhouse outdoors for seedlings. Honestly not worth it for what I can buy a couple dozen variety plants down the road come planting season .. from me for about a buck and a half a plant.Also, I still have yet to send in my soil tests samples to a local college soil lab for helping me determine what amendments if any are needed for any tomato planting. Last few seasons were okay but not as good as some folk I seen around here..especially with "early girls" never get early tomatoes..and so thinking my beds may need amendments. ty, John