Tall Seedlings and light need advice - Page 3

Anthony_Toronto · May 15, 2014

If there is a reason not to plant big plants maybe one of the experts can chime in and explain. I would certainly rather have a plant go through all of its development stages in the ground but that simply does not work with the extremely short growing season up here. If I was putting in 6 week old 6 inch plants instead of 8-10 week old 1.5-3 foot plants I would cut my harvest significantly...and this has been confirmed by my testing for the last 10 years without fail.

SharonRossy · May 15, 2014

I. Understand about the suckers, although there are experts who do not believe iin removing them. I do remove most, but in his case, because I decided to take cuttings and try to root them, I'm letting them go for now. Carolyn, I asked because I only started from seeds last year after a long time and as ii mentioned earlier, I started too early and the plants got big quickly. There is a risk of the plants breaking when planting because of their height. I realize it all sounds counterintuitive but I just wanted feedback. Anyways, I'm letting them be, except for the few I experimented with, and like ii said, I'm removing any blossoms before planting.

KarenO · May 15, 2014

100% agree with Anthony with the addition that I do not remove early blooms or do much pruning either. I like tomatoes and I love those first ones best. blooms= tomatoes and well grown large plants planted late in spring into warm fertile soil do not suffer any appreciable transplant shock in my garden. those first blooms set fruit for me and I want every one of them. utilizing southern tomato growing techniques will reduce your yield in a northern garden.
KO

clkeiper · May 15, 2014

Just make a deeper hole( or a trench and lay the plants sideways). The plant will develop roots wherever the stem is in contact with soil. A bigger root zone means a much greater chance of success especially if it is a dry summer and irrigation is just not much of an option. Can you see the knobby spots on the stem closer to the bottom? those bumps will develop into roots if they are in contact with soil or even if it is just exceptionally humid, extending to the soil. You can not plant a tomato too deep unless you cover the very top. Last year we had a freeze at the end of May after I had the tomatoes in the garden for two week. My plants were beautiful until them the tops froze out and the suckers made for a mess in the cages, even with pruning them down to three main stem for balance in the cage they were hard to pick spray or maintain in every way... If I had had more plants I would have ripped them out and started over.

SharonRossy · May 15, 2014

Karen, you make a good point about planting techniques, but I have had mixed results when leaving blossoms or fruits on when planting. I think everyone has a technique that works for them, and all the theories can make you nuts! You have well established, beautiful plants. Not sure mine are in the same category as yours. Mine look pretty good, some of them really great, so we will see. Do you recommend fertilizing with a weak dose? I feel I shouldn't at this point because I don't want them to get much taller. I want them to be stockier. Anyways, they had a couple days of windy conditions to toughen them up. I'm also having to put in a small support for a few of them.
I truly appreciate everyone's advice. I'll learn from this years experience but it will be fun to see how they do.

KarenO · May 15, 2014

You make a good point Sharon and we all find our own way and what works for us. My situation is different as mine are in a small greenhouse and that is what makes my method possible. I am sure you will have awesome tomatoes and I learn something new every year too.

Karen

SharonRossy · May 16, 2014

Thanks a million. But what about fertilizing? It's going to be another scorcher today, and then temps are supposed to drop when a cold front moves through. The weather is nuts. How is it going for everyone? It's this early heat that lures everyone into thinking they can plant early.

KarenO · May 16, 2014

I do everything against the book so naturally I fertilize mine

My philosophy is that if they have all they need they can bloom, fruit, grow roots and leaves all at the same time and in zone 3, they need to because there's no time to do anything that slows them down if I want some tomatoes before it snows again....
KO

SharonRossy · May 16, 2014

Had to cover with plastic as temps are going to 9C tonite after raining all day and probably most of tonite and tomorrow. When it dries up a bit, I'm going to fertilize again. Really makes me wish I Had a greenhouse! I'm getting tired of lugging them in and out.

Stvrob · May 17, 2014

9C won't bother tomatoes at all

SharonRossy · May 18, 2014

Well temps dropped down to 1 degree last night so I dragged them into the garage. At this rate I don't know when I'm going to leave them out all night. We've had fairly brisk winds, rain and cold nights. Not sure when these babies are going to get planted.

May 15, 2014	#34
clkeiper Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: ohio Posts: 4,350	Just make a deeper hole( or a trench and lay the plants sideways). The plant will develop roots wherever the stem is in contact with soil. A bigger root zone means a much greater chance of success especially if it is a dry summer and irrigation is just not much of an option. Can you see the knobby spots on the stem closer to the bottom? those bumps will develop into roots if they are in contact with soil or even if it is just exceptionally humid, extending to the soil. You can not plant a tomato too deep unless you cover the very top. Last year we had a freeze at the end of May after I had the tomatoes in the garden for two week. My plants were beautiful until them the tops froze out and the suckers made for a mess in the cages, even with pruning them down to three main stem for balance in the cage they were hard to pick spray or maintain in every way... If I had had more plants I would have ripped them out and started over. __________________ carolyn k

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May 15, 2014	#31
Anthony_Toronto Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Toronto Posts: 413	If there is a reason not to plant big plants maybe one of the experts can chime in and explain. I would certainly rather have a plant go through all of its development stages in the ground but that simply does not work with the extremely short growing season up here. If I was putting in 6 week old 6 inch plants instead of 8-10 week old 1.5-3 foot plants I would cut my harvest significantly...and this has been confirmed by my testing for the last 10 years without fail.

May 15, 2014	#32
SharonRossy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Montreal Posts: 1,140	I. Understand about the suckers, although there are experts who do not believe iin removing them. I do remove most, but in his case, because I decided to take cuttings and try to root them, I'm letting them go for now. Carolyn, I asked because I only started from seeds last year after a long time and as ii mentioned earlier, I started too early and the plants got big quickly. There is a risk of the plants breaking when planting because of their height. I realize it all sounds counterintuitive but I just wanted feedback. Anyways, I'm letting them be, except for the few I experimented with, and like ii said, I'm removing any blossoms before planting.

May 15, 2014	#33
KarenO Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 5,931	100% agree with Anthony with the addition that I do not remove early blooms or do much pruning either. I like tomatoes and I love those first ones best. blooms= tomatoes and well grown large plants planted late in spring into warm fertile soil do not suffer any appreciable transplant shock in my garden. those first blooms set fruit for me and I want every one of them. utilizing southern tomato growing techniques will reduce your yield in a northern garden. KO

May 16, 2014	#37
SharonRossy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Montreal Posts: 1,140	Thanks a million. But what about fertilizing? It's going to be another scorcher today, and then temps are supposed to drop when a cold front moves through. The weather is nuts. How is it going for everyone? It's this early heat that lures everyone into thinking they can plant early.

May 17, 2014	#40
Stvrob Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 1,413	9C won't bother tomatoes at all

May 18, 2014	#41
SharonRossy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Montreal Posts: 1,140	Well temps dropped down to 1 degree last night so I dragged them into the garage. At this rate I don't know when I'm going to leave them out all night. We've had fairly brisk winds, rain and cold nights. Not sure when these babies are going to get planted.