new jersey seed starters

[TightenUp]

Nisi

what varieties will you be selling this year at columbus?

this was my first year starting from seed and most of my seedlings look pretty bad. they havent grown or changed in 3 days. i think i really stressed them out with high temp swings(over 80 degrees) and also over watering.

about a week after i started my 32 seeds i started 4 more in solo cups. by this time i had the temps and watering schedule figured out and the 4 new ones look great.

i am really not sure how many plants i will get from the seedling i have so i might need a few extra plants. i've been unhappy with the plants from my local garden center the past 2 or 3 years so i would like to buy from a new spot.

[artis]

Nisi,

Thank you so much for the link to Griffins Supply! I have been trying to find a store like that for quite a while.

Sadly, most garden supply stores in NJ nowadays seem to sell only overpriced MiracleGro garbage.

[hoffman900]

A little late. About a mile from the ocean, so as soon as the ocean hits fifty degrees, it's safe to plant outside. Started my tomatoes a little late this year (March 30th), and had them in the ground the week before mother's day. Everything is looking really good and they're really coming a long. A wet April had me worried, but all seems well and I didn't have any problems until this week when one of my Cherry's developed black spot. We still have a lot of tomato plants (mostly Sunbeams) at work still. All are looking good, and I haven't heard of any problems from any of the local gardeners and farmers, except the guy who had a plant split in half during a substantial thunderstorm.

[goodthyme]

Another latecomer....I live in Bergen County, in the Paramus area. I started my seeds (about 400) March 18. I start mine in Jiffy seed starting mix in flats and transplant when they have about two sets of true leaves into just about any container I can get my hands on (mostly 6-8 oz recycled yogurt and Italian ice containers thanks to my kids lol, I save them all year).

The plants grow under a nifty fluorescent grow light stand I got from Harris Seeds about 10 years ago. It has 4 shelves and each shelf holds 4 flats. Four lights per shelf.

I transplanted 50 to my garden May 7-8. I sold the rest to a nice following of people that seems to grow each year.

The varieties I grew this year are:

Cherries:

Black Cherry
Chocolate Cherry
Camp Joy
Dr Carolyn
Dr Carolyn Pink
Sungold
Sunsugar
Pink Ping Pong
Tommy Toe

Beefsteak/Heirloom:

Amazon Chocolate
Anna Russian
Black Bear
Bloody Butcher
Berkley Tie Dye
Burgandy Traveler (wanted Bulgarian Triumph but this was substituted)
Cherokee Purple
Cuostralee
Dana's Dusky Rose
Eva Purple Ball
Gary O' Senna
JD's Special C-Tex
Kellogg's Breakfast
Kosovo
Mule Team
Stump of the World
Yellow Brandywine

My tomato plants are doing fabulous this year, the best I've had in about 5 years. Life in NJ is good!

[lakelady]

I'm new t o the forum, but I live in northern NJ too. I started my tomatoes indoors, but only 2 from seed, Pineapples and San Marzanos. Indoors in seed starter trays, then outdoors first week of May. The SMs are horrible with what I am told is fungus all over the leaves, but looks like black spots to me. The Pineapples seem to be more disease resistent in that regard, and are late in flowering. Just getting teeny tiny fuits now! I'll probably have to cover them if they don't ripen by frost.

Next year I have BIG plans, lol.....we'll have lots to talk about !

[TightenUp]

hi lakelady

i am down in south jersey and started abe lincoln, ace 55, big beef, boxcar willie, hezhou, zhezha, kimberly, oxheart and vintage wine from seed. i mixed up my plants and am currently sorting out my garden based on tomato looks. i was also certain of where the abe lincoln was as it wasnt mixed up.

i also started 4 store bought plants in containers on my roof. sweet 100 cherries, beefsteak, early girl and patio plant. these are basically beachfront and i think heat and humidity are killing me. the plants look great but they keep dropping their blossoms. i had to kill the early girl due to disease(nasty black spots).

abe lincoln- so far its been my most productive but 2 of my 3 plants appear to be getting sick and not producing well into late season

hezhou- has been identified and is starting to roll out maters. not a bad little tomato but nothing special

kimberly- first tomato to ripen and has been slowly producing ever since. won a taste test early in the season against local farmer market. will grow again for sure

big beef, boxcar willie, ace 55, zhezha- all mixed up. at least one variety is killing me with BER. one of these is my favorite tasting tomato in the garden. i might save some seeds from that plant and just not grow any others from this group next season

oxheart- only store bought plant in garden. put it in a crappy spot and its treating me the same i guess. 1 nice tomato all season

vintage wine- freebie with seed order. awesome tomato as far as looks go. taste is mild and production below average. in a shadier part of garden so that could account for production.

[lakelady]

Beefsteaks are my favorite tomatoes. I like a cherry now and then or grape too, but my kids aren't big tomato eaters and it's just the 3 of us. I did get some seeds for next year of Sweet Pea and Spoon for next year, I thought they'd be really cute little things, a novelty. I miss the tomatoes of my childhood, when my friend's grandfather used to grow these sicilian tomatoes that were so meaty and red and delicious...who knows what they were but his family unfortunately did not have the gardening bug so i have no idea what the plants were. Big, high shoulders, very red...oh boy a tomato to die for I tell you. Oh well.

There are just too many varieties and I find myself drooling over the online catalogs and wanting to order many more than I can possibly grow in my yard. It seems like a never ending list of varieties.

I grew too many San Marzano's this year and gave away a lot of plants. They were gorgeous, stocky sturdy little things. I lost a lot of them to BER so next year, I'm planting eggshells in each hole with the tomato for insurance!

Blossom drop, isn't that due to uneven watering? I had that too for a bit once the really hot July weather hit and I didn't have time to water as much as I had previously.

Next year, I have to put more variety in ...some earlier types because it's killing me to wait all summer for these. And you know what? I forgot what hybrid I bought, but my garden has 1 store bought hybrid, and all the homegrown heirlooms (the SM and Pineapple), and that hybrid has the worst case of black spot of any of them. go figure, it looks terrible, but has about 9 large green tomatoes on it. I 'm trying to think of how to ripen them on the vine faster, might try the old shovel/hoe in the roots trick and see if it works. I had some red plastic that I put around a few others tosee if it has any effect on maturity too. Probably just wishful thinking on my part.

I'm in the Lakeland Region of NJ, but next year I'll be happy to share some plants of what I'm going to grow from seed. I have a nice big list started already lol...and I'm sure, I will plant much more than I can fit in my yard

[lakelady]

Originally Posted by goodthyme

Another latecomer....I live in Bergen County, in the Paramus area. I started my seeds (about 400) March 18. I start mine in Jiffy seed starting mix in flats and transplant when they have about two sets of true leaves into just about any container I can get my hands on (mostly 6-8 oz recycled yogurt and Italian ice containers thanks to my kids lol, I save them all year).

The plants grow under a nifty fluorescent grow light stand I got from Harris Seeds about 10 years ago. It has 4 shelves and each shelf holds 4 flats. Four lights per shelf.

I transplanted 50 to my garden May 7-8. I sold the rest to a nice following of people that seems to grow each year.

The varieties I grew this year are:

Cherries:

Black Cherry
Chocolate Cherry
Camp Joy
Dr Carolyn
Dr Carolyn Pink
Sungold
Sunsugar
Pink Ping Pong
Tommy Toe

Beefsteak/Heirloom:

Amazon Chocolate
Anna Russian
Black Bear
Bloody Butcher
Berkley Tie Dye
Burgandy Traveler (wanted Bulgarian Triumph but this was substituted)
Cherokee Purple
Cuostralee
Dana's Dusky Rose
Eva Purple Ball
Gary O' Senna
JD's Special C-Tex
Kellogg's Breakfast
Kosovo
Mule Team
Stump of the World
Yellow Brandywine

My tomato plants are doing fabulous this year, the best I've had in about 5 years. Life in NJ is good!

Wow you have that much room in your yard? I'm jealous...I have mostly shade! How are you keeping them separate or are you not collecting seeds from them? What do you think made this the best tomato year for you in 5 years?