Joseph's Tomato Experiments

[joseph]

I have seeds ready to share from DXX-M tomato clade. To obtain seeds, send a SASE to my PO box. Grow reports would be nice if you have a chance to write one later on.

DXX-M is a family of short-season determinate tomatoes that are descended from a cross between DX52-12 and Jagodka. DX52-12 is an old heirloom variety that was developed to supply the Campbell's soup company in the cold mountain valleys of northern Utah. It is descended from Moscow tomatoes (a misnomer from a Japanese farmer's name) which were the most widely planted tomatoes in the area before being replaced by DX52-12. Jagodka is a super-early highly-productive red saladette tomato from Russia. It took the grand prize in a cold tolerance trial conducted in northern Utah. The union between these two great varieties resulted in offspring that are earlier than DX52-12 and that have larger fruits than Jagodka. Taste is delicious. (Yes, I actually tasted every fruit before saving seeds from them.) Seed Saving: To maintain the genetic diversity of the variety it is recommended to save seeds from many different plants. The seed currently being offered is F3, so some variation is expected in days to maturity and fruit size. Selected for the ability to hold fruits off the ground without staking. Bred by Joseph Lofthouse



These seeds are pledged to the Open Source Seed Initiative. Only request them if you agree to the pledge. The OSSI Pledge: You have the freedom to use these OSSI-Pledged seeds in any way you choose. In return, you pledge not to restrict others’ use of these seeds or their derivatives by patents or other means, and to include this pledge with any transfer of these seeds or their derivatives.

[joseph]

I have mostly finished the strengthening tasks on the greenhouse. Today I built a workbench big enough to hold 18 flats of vegetables.

I suppose my next project is to make up a bunch of potting mix and find some pots to grow things in.

[loulac]

The suspense is no longer unbearable (see post 87), we can all see now where you intend to go. My math isn't all that good, how many plants can you grow on one flat ? Do you intend to heat the whole greenhouse to accelerate germination and growth (small oil stove) or place heating electric wires under the flats ? is the workbench facing South or West ?
A silly question : are the legs of the workbench resting on a flat rock or concrete or directly on the ground ?

[joseph]

If I use 72 cell flats, that works out to 1296 plants that can fit on the bench. If I use 3.5" pots, they hold 18 plants per flat, so that works out to 324 plants. I suppose that I'll do some of each. I also expect to use some 48 cell packs for the okra and tomatillos.

The bench is running east/west. That means I could put a shelf above it to hold 6 flats, and I could put about a dozen flats under the shelves. In addition, there is space on the floor opposite the bench for about 24 flats. So altogether it could hold 60 flats, still leaving a good walkway. Last year, I started cold-tolerant things like onions and mint in the greenhouse, then moved them outside when I needed room for the tomatoes.

My intention regarding heat, is to heat only on very chilly nights. Just enough to keep the tomatoes from freezing. I don't yet have the heater selected nor installed. I really like propane heaters. Are there other types that are easy and effective to use? I intend to do germination indoors in a heated box, and then move the flats to the greenhouse a couple days after sprouting.

I hammered the legs about a foot deep into the soil.

[loulac]

[QUOTE=joseph . I don't yet have the heater selected nor installed. I really like propane heaters. Are there other types that are easy and effective to use? [/QUOTE]
Your preference will be personal, you can explore different directions : electricity, the most expensive. Propane, check the presence of a thermostat. A paraffin = kerosene heater : the cheapest, on ebay.uk http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/paraffin-greenhouse-heater you can see some parasene models quite popular in Europe. I suppose they can be found –or identical ones - in the States. If you don’t want to enter the fierce competition to be the first grower to bring tomato plants on the marketplace you have plenty of time to make your choice.

[joseph]

I'm expecting to start some tomatoes indoors in a few days. They will be Ot'Jagodka. Intended to grow in pots indoors, and later in the greenhouse for super-early fruits come spring. Last year I had the first ripe tomatoes at market. Might as well try to do it again this year.

Typical winter for me.

[joseph]

Today, I planted a flat of tomato seeds as part of a frost/cold tolerance trial that I'm conducting this spring... It is loosely based on the design of last year's trial: Plant a bunch of tomato seeds in a flat. Move them out of the greenhouse into freezing temperatures when it seems appropriate to do so. Plant the tomatoes into the field way too early, and see if anything survives.

I had great success with this method last year. Some of the seeds this year came out of last year's trial. Some of the seeds are descended from crosses that were made between the winners of a frost/cold tolerance trial a few years ago. This year, I am including a number of wild tomato species, some Physalis species, and some segregating crosses with wild species. There are 36 types of seed in the trial. I say types, because a number of the accessions that I am trialling are landraces or clades rather than formal varieties.

There are two components to the trial: What germinates best in coldest weather. And what survives frost/cold later on.

I added a bunch of thermal mass to the greenhouse in the form of one gallon jugs containing water, and I covered that with bubble wrap and a floating row cover. The pots on the bench are staying at or above 32F. I got a couple hurricane lamps to put under the bench on super cold nights. I put the flat of tomato seeds on the floor of the greenhouse where they can freeze at night for the next little while.

p.s. I still have plenty of tomato seeds for sharing... If you are sending a SASE, please include in your letter an indication about what seed you would like. I'm having a hard time matching up screen names with envelopes.

[joseph]

Originally Posted by joseph

I'm expecting to start some tomatoes indoors in a few days. [...] Intended to grow in pots indoors, and later in the greenhouse for super-early fruits come spring.

They are growing great:

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by joseph

They are growing great:

Great idea this is what I am doing with no greenhouse but I would need one If I lived where you do.

Worth

[joseph]

A few days ago I planted seeds from S. habrochaites and S. pennellii. They are both sprouting today. My intention is to use them as pollen donors to domestic tomatoes. I'd like to use some of the Jagodka hybrids as mothers of the cross. I hope to incorporate self-incompatibility into my tomatoes, or at least more open flower structures.

I'm also currently experimenting with a growth-chamber so that I can create short-day conditions to induce them to flower early.

[loulac]

In December I wondered how you would heat your brand nex greenhouse. Now I see you try to harden your seedlings and only use hurricane lamps. I suppose they burn paraffin ? Do they give enough heat ? Sorry to look so ignorant...

[joseph]

I currently have the hurricane lamps setting under the bench that the plants sit on. The bench has a lot of gallon jugs of water on it that heat up during the day and release heat at night. And I cover the bench at night with bubble-wrap and a floating row cover. I currently bring the tomatoes indoors at night, and only have cool weather crops out there like bok choi, onions, peas, favas, etc. I'm still about a month away from starting large quantities of tomatoes. By then I expect to have the greenhouse sealed better, and the weather will be warmer. Day before yesterday I had to install the auto-window openers because it was getting too hot during the day.

Since I started using the hurricane lamps, at night, the things on the bench haven't frozen... The ground in the greenhouse has frozen though. One night the lamp oil froze and the flames went out. So I am currently using an oil with a lower freezing point.

[Worth1]

What kind of lamp are you calling a Hurricane lamp?

I use kerosene K1 in my barn lamps that some people call hurricane lamps.
This shouldn't freeze or get too cold to stop flowing through the wick unless it was well below sub zero.

Worth

[joseph]

Greenhouse heaters.

[Worth1]

That's what I have the one on the left I run kerosene in them.
Worth