When Sow seeds of tomatoes!
It’s almost time to start planting the seeds of tomato harvest this summer. Although there is still snow on the ground in many parts of the country, planting these little seeds gives us something to do while we are waiting for warmer weather.
Browsing catalogs seeds of different types of tomatoes is not only fun, but necessary if you are going to select just the right plants for your garden. A visit to your store or Wal-Mart seeds from the store can offer a few varieties of tomato seeds. If you want something different, order from a seed catalog or the Internet.
Selection the seeds that we use is almost as fun as glue on the potting mix. I plant both types of tomatoes in my garden in determinate and indeterminate plants.
The first are those plants that ripen all at once with lots of fruit. The latter are those who continue to produce new shoots and new fruit throughout the growing season. It’s exciting plant to boast of the abundance you have in your garden tomatoes.
There are also early, midseason and late varieties covering the entire growing season where you live. For accurate color in your garden, there are red, pink, green, yellow, golden orange and tomato plants.
Mixed with all this mixture of colors, plants with fruits are very dark with names such as Black Cherry, black zebra, Cherokee purple and black plum. There are also tomatoes are red with green stripes, Golden Yellow with red stripes and orange-yellow with red stripes.
After daydreaming about a huge garden with at least one of each plant in the catalog, it’s time for a reality check. Select a few varieties that you would like to plant and put them in the mixture of soil to germinate.
It is important to start with a good quality potting soil even though some commercial growers use a mixture of sawdust and sand of age. I think the potting soil with a little vermiculite added to make it loose, it works fine.
Start the seeds of five to six weeks before the early frost past. This schedule will allow the plant started from seed, to hit the garden when the soil temperature is warm. If the soil is too fresh ground just sit there and leave you scratching your head as to why it is not flower.
Almost everyone who has any type of garden, either plants or flowers, have plenty of stories that the old plants occupied last spring. I use these as well as old yogurt cups to start my tomatoes. Plant seeds about one-eighth of an inch deep and should flourish, if good seed.
Over the years I learned that the young tomato plants as a breeze, so they can dance in the wind. After that I have a pair of leaves on them, place a small fan set on low, near the seedlings and they believe that are in the garden and all the elders. They seem a little stronger than those raised without stirring the air around them.
When plants get four leaves on them, the transplanting of the story you have in a cup or container of their own. When spring arrives, place the plants outside for a few hours a day. This will allow harden and be ready to be placed in your garden. The time from setting the seed to the creation of the plant is seven to eight weeks.
Another option for growth of tomato plants is to wait until spring and buy seedlings that are already six to eight inches in height. It’s easier that way, but not as much fun as them from seed and watching them grow up to be big, beautiful tomatoes.
About the Author
Bob Alexander is well experienced in outdoor cooking, fishing and leisure living. Bob is also the author and owner of this article. Visit his sites at: http://www.bluemarlinbob.com/
|
|
Progressive International HGT-11 Folding Mandoline Slicer $15.75 Slice and julienne vegetables evenly into thick or thin slices with ease using this folding mandoline slicer from Progressive. This versatile and efficient gadget uses three double sided cutting blades to provide six cutting option; thin slice, super thin julienne, medium slice, thin julienne, thick slice, and thick julienne. The blades are made of stainless steel for edge retention and efficiency… |
|
|
Chef’n StemGem Strawberry Stem Remover $7.71 Push, insert, twist and release. It’s as easy as that to remove strawberry stems with the Chef’n StemGem strawberry remover. Not only does this gadget make it easy but it is also fun to use. It makes perfect strawberries every time and can also be used with other soft fruits and vegetables with stems…. |
|
|
Swissmar Borner V-1001 V-Slicer Plus Mandoline 6 Piece Set $34.95 An inexpensive alternative to a professional stainless-steel mandoline, this device makes it possible to quickly, uniformly, and safely slice and julienne vegetables and fruits. It also shreds cabbage and neatly dices potatoes, tomatoes, and onions. For safety, a holder firmly grips food with stainless-steel prongs so fingers are protected from the German surgical-steel blades, and the three … |
|
|
Felknor Ventures 82506 Topsy Turvy Upside-Down Tomato Planter $2.68 Ingenious tomato planter turns gardening upside down! Thanks to a whole new direction in growing tomatoes, your crop will be bigger, better tasting, healthier, and easier to grow than ever before. You can water, feed, trim and harvest without bending or kneeling–and since your crop is upside down and will never touch the ground, staking, caging, bacteria, ground rotting, fungus and small animals … |
|
|
EarthBox 1010002 Garden Kit, Terra Cotta $32.25 Includes container, aeration screen, casters, fill tube, 2 b/w mulch covers, 1 red mulch cover, fertilizer, dolomiteSelf Watering 3 gallon reservoir w/ overflow hole prevents over/under wateringcasters for mobilityaeration screen prevents root rotBonus Red Mulch Cover include for tomato growingMade with UV-Stabilized, Food-Grade 100% recycleable plastic in the USA… |
|
|
Jobe’s 6005 18-Pack Tomato Outdoor Fertilizer Food Spikes $1.91 … |
|
|
Fried Green Tomatoes (Extended Collector’s Edition) $3.94 Wonderful, beautifully acted “dramedy” about a frustrated housewife (Kathy Bates) who is transfixed by the tales spun by an elderly woman (Jessica Tandy) living in a nursing home. The stories involve two independent women (Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary-Louise Parker) who ran a popular cafe in Alabama in the 1930s and whose friendship survived a number of incredible events. With Cicely Tyson. Exte… |
|
|
Tomatoes $1.99 … |
|
|
Steel Magnolias (Special Edition) $3.35 Humor mixes with tragedy in this star-studded adaptation of the hit play. A beauty parlor in a small Louisiana town is where the area’s women meet to discuss the sweet and sad experiences of their lives. Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Sally Field, Olympia Dukakis, and Julia Roberts star; Herbert Ross directs. 119 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital stereo … |
|
|
Burts Bees Rosewater & Glycerin Toner, 8-Ounce Bottle $11.40 Natural Toner for Healthy Skin Give your skin all the love and care with Burt’s Bees Rosewater & Glycerin Toner. This toner gently purifies and tones your skin leaving you feeling fresh and clean. This wonderful toner also gives you relief from heat, humidity, pollution, stuffiness and other stressful conditions. All natural Magic of aloe vera, rose water and glycerin … |