Any north Jersey Tomatovillians here? - Page 2

nnjjohn · March 23, 2013

Glad to have a few tomatoville friends from my region here to help teach me how to grow and avoid the mistakes I made in the past. .. I am learning a lot here

lakelady · March 25, 2013

Welcome John, I'm in northern NJ too!

I started my seeds beginning in February, and while most are up, I have some that did absolutely nothing. I'm growing way too many plants again and have to figure out where all this will go (lol I'm sure many folks here have the same dilemma).

What I do, is I set them into a jiffy type tray and put one variety to a cell. I put the cover on, set them on a heat mat, then wait. Once they sprout, I take the cover off, split them up into larger plastic cups with holes in the bottom, and put them under lights or in my kitchen (it is very bright there with sliding door and skylights and they do quite well). Space is at a premium so I end up with some in the basement, some in the kitchen. Once they are larger, I split them again and pot up to largest cup size or small plastic pots (I have about 30 of those). I try to water from the bottom because years ago, I had a lot of damping off issues with seedlings falling over and dying.

I usually buy the Espoma Organic Seed Starter Mix, and this year I'm using both that and the Fox Farms mix.

I won't start cukes and squash until end of April because they just get too big any sooner than that for me. They grow so fast once in ground it really doesn't matter too much a few weeks more time.

I did start lettuces already and have seeded my radishes and peas in the ground with salt hay mulch, so I'm waiting !

Folks here are great, ask any question, you will likely learn a whole lot.

nnjjohn · March 25, 2013

Agree about the cucumbers, I may start more seeds of them in april too if these get to be a chore growing as you say.. not to mention , I'm considering a broader variety of seedling tomatoes aside from the two kinds I germinated....yes it is normal to grow too many, i read you there

gl this season!

Siberian · March 25, 2013

I'm in NNJ as well. I start cruciferous veggies inside around March 1 (could be done earlier though), and start my nightshades like toms, peppers, eggplants not until April 1. That is later than most but I have found it doesn't much hurt my production and it's easier to tend the plants outside for me than constantly watering 4" pots inside (and battling mold in them) and at some point as the plants get older I run out of fluorescent lighting space.

I often don't use domes and if I run out of heatmat space I actually heat my little peat pellet blocks with the fluorescent lights just about an inch above them. Even the small heat from fluorescent lights have been enough to sprout my seeds.

For those of you who mention damping off, try watering your seedlings with chamomile tea and/or a very small amount of vinegar in the water. I didn't lose a seedling last year that way.

I plant out my toms, peppers around May 1 to May 10, depending on weather and cover with milk jugs with the bottoms cut off to protect from the cool nights.

nnjjohn · March 25, 2013

Tday I just transplant a dozen of each big boy and super beef steak to cups.. getting back to seedling starter kits.. Instead of peet pods,, i went with vigorous potting mix.. way too much bark and even stone ..i feel ripped off at 5 dollars a 16 qt bag at that home depot.. won't make that mistake again.. Anyway did work for the seedlings.. the cucumbers I did plant too early so i scraped them for all but six now in 6 inch planters.. see how that goes.. no sense in not experimenting.. here is something I learned about heat and the green house dome thing.. I moved my 72 cell jiffy tray to the basement light when only most the tomatoe and cucs germinated and maybe four swisschard were up.. since taking the dome off and away from the woodstove heated area.. the cells stopped geminating.. hmmm so i see now why heat is important.. still whatever sprouted is doing fine so far,, as for potting mix.. I had in the shed from last year a half a big bag of Hampton estate professional potting mix.. my goodness what a difference in potting mix! Absolutely refined and best stuff no doubt.. sure my sister paid enough for it when she bought it for somebody's flower beds

Anyway, glad I had that for my transplants.. so now I used that Hampton to butter up those empty cells for my basil and cherries along with more swiss and or cuc seeds should i need them..

COME ON SPRING WEATHER

We need springtime weather!

nnjjohn · March 28, 2013

Yes , my seedlings are doing fine and getting them sun in the cups now until transplant.. now using the jiffy seedling doom tray for my basil and swisschard seeds. Today I tilled another bed using my electric tiller..(makes easy work)Mt garden soils look like store bought garden soil

been doing these beds like this last four /five seasons.. good news so far , the test pots with tomoato plant transplant are hanging in there after a few days.. (no curling or problems yet with the twp leaf spouts) I will post pics eventually either way the outcome. I am going to type New Jersey in the search on this site to keep in touch on this thread,, (don't know any other way to prioritize this thread I started for this sack of keeping in touch with my locals and region. Not that there isn't great information elsewhere,, but localization sure helps narrowing down conditions such as weather/soils/region/etc.. we here will likely wait for memorial week to get our plants in the ground

lakelady · March 28, 2013

John, every year is a new gardening experience for me. Always something to learn, and yes, it helps to have locals discussing the same issues with regards to weather, etc.

I have lots of little baby tomatoes up, peppers up, and then went crazy thinking I have a lot of seeds I need to "use up". Now I have a gazillion poppies, basil, amaranthus, assorted flowers and lettuces in cups all over the place. It still amazes me that some plants germinate in 1-2 days!

Good luck with the germination and getting the garden ready!

nnjjohn · March 29, 2013

lakelady, I know what you mean, I usually try squeezing my plants in my beds but this season I'm going to try a different approach.. give the tomato plants three feet instead of two feet apart.. and plant a few companion plants like swiss chard instead of a second row of tomato plants also plant the cucumber by themselves off the gardens but on the fence giving them something to climb on. My seedlings are getting sun now and looking fine. I will take pictures soon get them on here.

nnjjohn · March 29, 2013

What a chilly March it was,, let us hope for warmer days.... I believe in colored Easter eggs and chocolate bunnys easter baskets, I believe what I see on the science channel about our milkyway and the many billions of galactic forces we are witnessing in present day discoveries .. but we are so perfectly situated from our Sun in a way to grow tomatoes they way we see them with our eyes.. Yes, I believe in Jesus and the Grace of almighty God, creator of all things in the heavens and earth. Happy Easter everybody

nnjjohn · March 30, 2013

Just an update I'd like to share with my regionals,, All the seedlings are doing fine and today it was full sun for them on this warm partly cloudy day.. I did ease them to sun light as recommended after the indoor grow lighting recommended on this site. I did discovery though using four fresh cherry seedlings I trasplanted this am from the second seedling tray started a few days ago for second plants I might use.. anyway, one of those got suntorched . the others I brought in.. so now I understand why first sun should be gradual.. only an hr like I did with my first batch of seedlings.. My first batch of about two dozen now in small cups look healthy and are showing the beginning of secondary leaves.. Happy Easter and whatever loving Holiday is celebrated

lakelady · March 30, 2013

I hesitated today to put the seedlings outdoors. I do have some flowers and lettuce in a small cold frame I purchased this year already. I am waiting for those heavy duty trays to arrive on Monday so it will be easier to move the seedlings around. I really hate those seed starter trays as they are too flimsy and the little cups fall over, ugh.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate!

nnjjohn · March 30, 2013

yes, I bought my 72 cell tray at HD for 5 or six dollars than after the fact seen the same one at K mart for 4 dollars lol.. they will all be selling less than half (really what they are worth) after seedling season. I hope we have warm April.

nnjjohn · April 3, 2013

It is sure a cold windy today ! Hopefully we get a normal spring and no extreme weather like a spring snow storm! sheesh!

lakelady · April 3, 2013

I hope things warm up too as my baby tomatoes are starting to grow bigger and soon, my house will be overrun with too many plants ! The sooner I can get them outside in the mini greenhouse, the better.

nnjjohn · April 9, 2013

Atoniette, I was away this weekend and asked my sister to take care watering and bringing my seedlings out for sun and in at sunset.. come home and she said she did as I asked but the sun dried the fresh ones ead..lol.. the others are looking pale yellow and stunting..oh well I laughed and didn't get upset, it could have been the burning sun or potting mix.. I never did much good from seeds but I still have hope for a few dozen to bounce back.. otherwise, I'm buying a few flats of rutgers and beefs and assorted heirlooms from my local nursery. lol.. so sorry about them sungolds,, thank you for them and the stamp ,, you have a wonderful sharing heart, and glad for that too.. hope all is good by you still. later , john

March 23, 2013	#16
nnjjohn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: northern new jersey Posts: 683	Glad to have a few tomatoville friends from my region here to help teach me how to grow and avoid the mistakes I made in the past. .. I am learning a lot here __________________ john

March 25, 2013	#17
lakelady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: northern NJ zone 6b Posts: 1,862	Welcome John, I'm in northern NJ too! I started my seeds beginning in February, and while most are up, I have some that did absolutely nothing. I'm growing way too many plants again and have to figure out where all this will go (lol I'm sure many folks here have the same dilemma). What I do, is I set them into a jiffy type tray and put one variety to a cell. I put the cover on, set them on a heat mat, then wait. Once they sprout, I take the cover off, split them up into larger plastic cups with holes in the bottom, and put them under lights or in my kitchen (it is very bright there with sliding door and skylights and they do quite well). Space is at a premium so I end up with some in the basement, some in the kitchen. Once they are larger, I split them again and pot up to largest cup size or small plastic pots (I have about 30 of those). I try to water from the bottom because years ago, I had a lot of damping off issues with seedlings falling over and dying. I usually buy the Espoma Organic Seed Starter Mix, and this year I'm using both that and the Fox Farms mix. I won't start cukes and squash until end of April because they just get too big any sooner than that for me. They grow so fast once in ground it really doesn't matter too much a few weeks more time. I did start lettuces already and have seeded my radishes and peas in the ground with salt hay mulch, so I'm waiting ! Folks here are great, ask any question, you will likely learn a whole lot. __________________ Antoniette

March 25, 2013	#18
nnjjohn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: northern new jersey Posts: 683	Agree about the cucumbers, I may start more seeds of them in april too if these get to be a chore growing as you say.. not to mention , I'm considering a broader variety of seedling tomatoes aside from the two kinds I germinated....yes it is normal to grow too many, i read you there gl this season! __________________ john

March 25, 2013	#20
nnjjohn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: northern new jersey Posts: 683	Tday I just transplant a dozen of each big boy and super beef steak to cups.. getting back to seedling starter kits.. Instead of peet pods,, i went with vigorous potting mix.. way too much bark and even stone ..i feel ripped off at 5 dollars a 16 qt bag at that home depot.. won't make that mistake again.. Anyway did work for the seedlings.. the cucumbers I did plant too early so i scraped them for all but six now in 6 inch planters.. see how that goes.. no sense in not experimenting.. here is something I learned about heat and the green house dome thing.. I moved my 72 cell jiffy tray to the basement light when only most the tomatoe and cucs germinated and maybe four swisschard were up.. since taking the dome off and away from the woodstove heated area.. the cells stopped geminating.. hmmm so i see now why heat is important.. still whatever sprouted is doing fine so far,, as for potting mix.. I had in the shed from last year a half a big bag of Hampton estate professional potting mix.. my goodness what a difference in potting mix! Absolutely refined and best stuff no doubt.. sure my sister paid enough for it when she bought it for somebody's flower beds Anyway, glad I had that for my transplants.. so now I used that Hampton to butter up those empty cells for my basil and cherries along with more swiss and or cuc seeds should i need them.. COME ON SPRING WEATHER We need springtime weather! __________________ john

March 28, 2013	#21
nnjjohn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: northern new jersey Posts: 683	Thank you all for sharing Yes , my seedlings are doing fine and getting them sun in the cups now until transplant.. now using the jiffy seedling doom tray for my basil and swisschard seeds. Today I tilled another bed using my electric tiller..(makes easy work)Mt garden soils look like store bought garden soil been doing these beds like this last four /five seasons.. good news so far , the test pots with tomoato plant transplant are hanging in there after a few days.. (no curling or problems yet with the twp leaf spouts) I will post pics eventually either way the outcome. I am going to type New Jersey in the search on this site to keep in touch on this thread,, (don't know any other way to prioritize this thread I started for this sack of keeping in touch with my locals and region. Not that there isn't great information elsewhere,, but localization sure helps narrowing down conditions such as weather/soils/region/etc.. we here will likely wait for memorial week to get our plants in the ground __________________ john

March 25, 2013	#19
Siberian Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: NJ Posts: 49	I'm in NNJ as well. I start cruciferous veggies inside around March 1 (could be done earlier though), and start my nightshades like toms, peppers, eggplants not until April 1. That is later than most but I have found it doesn't much hurt my production and it's easier to tend the plants outside for me than constantly watering 4" pots inside (and battling mold in them) and at some point as the plants get older I run out of fluorescent lighting space. I often don't use domes and if I run out of heatmat space I actually heat my little peat pellet blocks with the fluorescent lights just about an inch above them. Even the small heat from fluorescent lights have been enough to sprout my seeds. For those of you who mention damping off, try watering your seedlings with chamomile tea and/or a very small amount of vinegar in the water. I didn't lose a seedling last year that way. I plant out my toms, peppers around May 1 to May 10, depending on weather and cover with milk jugs with the bottoms cut off to protect from the cool nights.

March 29, 2013	#23
nnjjohn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: northern new jersey Posts: 683	lakelady, I know what you mean, I usually try squeezing my plants in my beds but this season I'm going to try a different approach.. give the tomato plants three feet instead of two feet apart.. and plant a few companion plants like swiss chard instead of a second row of tomato plants also plant the cucumber by themselves off the gardens but on the fence giving them something to climb on. My seedlings are getting sun now and looking fine. I will take pictures soon get them on here. __________________ john

March 30, 2013	#25
nnjjohn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: northern new jersey Posts: 683	Just an update I'd like to share with my regionals,, All the seedlings are doing fine and today it was full sun for them on this warm partly cloudy day.. I did ease them to sun light as recommended after the indoor grow lighting recommended on this site. I did discovery though using four fresh cherry seedlings I trasplanted this am from the second seedling tray started a few days ago for second plants I might use.. anyway, one of those got suntorched . the others I brought in.. so now I understand why first sun should be gradual.. only an hr like I did with my first batch of seedlings.. My first batch of about two dozen now in small cups look healthy and are showing the beginning of secondary leaves.. Happy Easter and whatever loving Holiday is celebrated __________________ john

April 3, 2013	#28
nnjjohn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: northern new jersey Posts: 683	It is sure a cold windy today ! Hopefully we get a normal spring and no extreme weather like a spring snow storm! sheesh! __________________ john

April 9, 2013	#30
nnjjohn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: northern new jersey Posts: 683	Atoniette, I was away this weekend and asked my sister to take care watering and bringing my seedlings out for sun and in at sunset.. come home and she said she did as I asked but the sun dried the fresh ones ead..lol.. the others are looking pale yellow and stunting..oh well I laughed and didn't get upset, it could have been the burning sun or potting mix.. I never did much good from seeds but I still have hope for a few dozen to bounce back.. otherwise, I'm buying a few flats of rutgers and beefs and assorted heirlooms from my local nursery. lol.. so sorry about them sungolds,, thank you for them and the stamp ,, you have a wonderful sharing heart, and glad for that too.. hope all is good by you still. later , john __________________ john

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