Very early determinante tomatoes

[MrBig46]

I have also grown Betalux twice before. But like you, I didn't have them at a time when conditions could be said to be non-aqueous for pollinating flowers. I think that this year the seedlings will be the right size and age in April. Then I will be able to judge whether the plants bloomed or not and whether they had fruit with seeds or not. This is my goal when growing Betalux and Siletz. Next year I would like to try other partenocarpic varieties from Dr James Baggett, whose seeds are sold by Victory seeds. I wouldn't make it this year, because ordering seeds, transporting them to the Czech Republic and growing seedlings is too long for me to test them in the first half of April.
Vladimír
PS.: Variety of Dr J.Bagget -Gold Nugget, Oregon Eleven, Oregon Spring, Oregon Star, Oroma, Saucy, Santiam, Saucy, Siletz

[dorota]

Betalux was registered for the first time in 1955. In 1992 it was registered again by a seed company W. Legutko, which bought licences for some varieties. This record is valid until 2030.

Maybe there is someone who could tell you more about Betalux? This is a family company and dr Wiesław Legutko is still running it.

www.legutko.com.pl

[MrBig46]

In those fourteen days, the seedlings moved forward a lot again. All of them already have 11 to 12 leaves and the first miniature bases of inflorescences can already be seen on them. Compared to other flights, they are about fourteen days ahead and I hope that in a month at the beginning of spring I will plant seedlings into a cold bed with small fruits or pollinated flowers.
Vladimír

[RJGlew]

Vladimir, thank you for posting the pictures. It is always nice to hear about, and see the progress of your projects. Just 28 more days until I plant for the season.

[MrBig46]

On Tuesday, I planted my determinant plants in my cold frame.
Vladimír

[RJGlew]

Looks good. Hope the Эм-Чемпион don't break the glass. :-)

[MrBig46]

Originally Posted by RJGlew

Looks good. Hope the Эм-Чемпион don't break the glass. :-)

I also hope. But if the tops of the EM Champion touch the glass and will be frost, I'll have to do something about it.
I have one seedling, the rooted top of the EM Champion (cut above the fourth leaf). I'm trying to see if the plant will be smaller and will bloom four leaves lower.
Vladimír

[MrBig46]

At the moment we have cold weather, it freezes at night. On Thursday, I covered the coldbed with a non-woven fabric and I watch the temperatures outside and in the hotbed. So far, so good.
Vladimír

[MrBig46]

The weather in our country is still miserable. Nevertheless, I have had the hotbed open for three weeks now, because I was not able to install the automatic window opening in time. Everything blooms, there are also some small bases of fruits on the plants. Again, I was unable to grow flowering plants over the winter. I planted only one plant with a pollinated flower, currently the fruit is about 5 cm and is still green.
Vladimír

[Milan HP]

Hello Vladimir,
that's a completely different sight from last time. They've grown a lot. Yes, I have the same trouble with pollination: lots of flowers seem to be wasted. Some were knocked off by hailstones, but the rest just don't pollinate well. Guess it's because of low temperatures. Despite that I found a few pinhead fruits today. If you want to see what my plants look like, I've publicized them on asmx91 "best of" thread.
Milan HP

[MrBig46]

Currently, the tomatoes in my cold bed look like this. Some varieties are starting to mature. But I'm not satisfied, that's what they should have looked like a month ago.
Vladimír

[MrBig46]

So far, my tomatoes don't want to ripen. I have full of green tomatoes and only the smaller Sophie's choice, Sarayev Gruntovyi and 0-33 I gradually harvest. Yesterday I plucked the first bigger tomato, a steak (heart?) EM Champion. Sweeter (Brix 4.8-5.0) with a pleasant tomato taste. It's not a giant (140 g), but it's a fleshy tomato with a few seeds. The plant is not very tall (it grows rather wide), so I will count on it in a deep hotbed next year.
Vladimír

[MrBig46]

I started this season by sowing seeds on October 7, 2021, a month earlier than usual.I sown so soon so that in the second half of March I could plant seedlings with already grown tomato fruit. I have never managed to grow such seedlings. I have limited conditions in the apartment, a north window and a constant temperature of 18 ° C. Seedlings grow slowly and begin to bloom after four months. I tried to shine the seedlings, but I didn't manage to accelerate their growth much (probably the light source I used was weak). So this year I returned to growing without artificial lights, earlier sowing and easier care of seedlings. I currently have seedlings of fourteen determinant varieties, some already have flower germs. Selected varieties for 2022: EM Champion, Start F1, Praleska, Vspyschka, Bezrassadnyi, Sarayev Shtambovyi, 42 days, Kalinka, Jagodka, Lyana Rozovyi, Forest Fire, Sophie's choice, Beaverlodge slicer and Kermerovets.To improve the thermal conditions in that cold frame, I have prepared horse manure, which in a mixture with dry leaves, green manure (freshly cut purple clover) and urea I will put under a layer of soil in which I will plant seedlings. I hope that in this way I will be able to keep the temperature above 11 ° C at night, which is needed for good pollination of tomato flowers.
Vladimír

[MrBig46]

This is what my planting looks like a hundred days after sowing. Most of them already have miniature buds. There are still sixty days left until transplanting to the hotbed. I hope that at that time I will plant plants with small fruits or pollinated flowers.
Vladimír

[Oliver]

Looking forward to watching their progress.