Carol,

That's a nice list, and I'm sure you're find room to plant as many of them as possible.

You're welcome. I look forward to seeing how well the Wild Boar Farm plants grow for you. For me, most of them reach the typical indeterminate size of 6-8', but stay somewhat smaller if grown in a container, depending on the size of the container. They actually grew well and set fruit well early last year, but then the heat hit in June and stopped them in their tracks.

Although the size it reaches will vary from year to year depending on rainfall, when I grow Sioux in the ground it tends to reach 6-7'. The last time I grew it in a container, and it was only in a 5-gallon container, it reached 5-6'. With the amount of rainfall you receive, it might easily hit 8' or taller.

Yesterday I finally finished potting up the young tomato seedlings from the starter flat to individual pots. Now I will start the final round of tomato seeds. I was just making myself wait until the first two rounds were potted up so I wouldn't end up with too many to pot up at one time.

I sowed seeds for all the varieties on my 2012 grow list, and won't retype that list here since it is on another thread. However, since we've received a lot of rainfall here in recent weeks and finally are back out of drought, I added a couple dozen more to the grow list. I do have space for them because about 2 dozen of the varieties on my original list are going strictly into containers, and have even more space available because the corn is moving out of the main garden this year into its own new area where I hope to have better raccoon protection.

I added back a lot of blacks and purples because we love their flavor so much, and a big orange and yellow as well.

So, here's the varieties I added in Round One or Round Two of the seed-sowing:

Beefmaster
Black and Brown Boar
Black Brandywine
Black Krim
Black From Tula
Black Plum
Bushsteak
Carbon
Cherokee Chocolate
Cherokee Purple
Dr. Wyche's Yellow
Dwarf Mr. Snow
German Giant
Greek Rose
Indian Stripe
Marmande
Michael Pollan
Mosvich
Red Rose
Rutgers
Schiavonne Italian Paste
Soeckled Roman
Spudakee Purple
Spudatula
Super Boy
Woodle Orange

And here's the list I'm sowing today in Round 3 today:

Black Mystery
Burgundy Traveler
Fantastic
Indigo Rose
Medovya Kaplya
Orange Minsk
San Marzano Gigante 3
Spudatula
Yellow Submarine

I'm still thinking I don't have quite enough oranges, yellows and pinks, so may add 4 or 5 more varieties in those colors.

In an effort to grow as many tomato varieties as possible, I'm going to try to sneak tomatoes into unfenced flower beds. We'll see if the deer find them there.

Dawn

Carol,
Nice list. I got started this afternoon. Planted an 18 cell tray of rootstock seeds. Then 38 cells of a 72 cell flat. I will finish it tomorrow or Tuesday. I will plant probably another 40 or so rootstock plants. So far my success rate has been just above 50%. And would like 20-30 plants to trial either in my garden or others. I would like to have someone with nematodes try a couple if it works out. After seeing your list and the Tomato Queen's list I would be embarrassed to post what I've started. Jay

Jay, The Tomato Queen and I know that if your list isn't as large as ours, it certainly isn't because you don't have seed. LOL

I plan to spend tomorrow doing a little planting and a little potting up. I had a bag of MG left from last year, so I moved it inside and just filled some small cups and potted up my broccoli tonight. It has lots of wood chunks in it, but I can use it for plants. I have tried using it for seeds and those chunks float to the top when you water.

I am watching the storm move in my direction but it's not quite here yet. Looks like we will get rain first, then snow, but not until after midnight.

Are you grafting a lot of different varieties to your rootstock or just one. Does the rootstock grow faster than your normal plants? I think I am going to try a half dozen or so and was wondering about Suddeth's Brandywine. What do you think?

I don't know what is with the seeds this year, but they just seem to be popping up faster than normal. I planted 3 kinds of chinese veggies, Packman broccoli, a little bit of califlower, another kind of green, I think, and some regular heading cabbage. Except for the heading cabbage, it was all up in 2 days. The cabbage was old seed that I think I got in a trade, and I don't think it is going to come up at all. I have new seed but just thought I would try that one first.

Dawn, I kept thinking that I wasn't getting enough color in my selections either. I wanted to add some more yellow and orange, but I had too many other favorites that were already in the 'selected' stack.

I like Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Dr. Carolyn, Kellogg's Breakfast, etc. It is really hard not to plant those, but I know I will be short of sunny spots for in-ground tomatoes. I have plenty of sunny area where I can put containers, but that means I will spend a lot of time dragging a hose around. Of course, I don't have to water as many days as you do, and I have never had to water more than once a day like some do.

One of my neighbors told me that he had some large containers that I could have, so it looks like this may be the year to take him up on it. I have some fairly large nursery pots, but what he has are much deeper than mine. I need to go see if they are still available.

Carol,
I'll answer your question later. I need to get ready for work. Jay

Dawn,
I'll be anxiously awaiting your report on Indigo Rose. It looks scrumptious in the catalog. If you like it, I'll make room for it next year.

Seedmama,
I'm growing Indigo Rose along with 5 other blue types from 2 other sources. All are supposedly stable except for 2 Tom Wagner crosses I received seeds for. One is supposed to be a med sized slicer. I will save seeds of anything I like. Will be interesting to compare results with others growing the blue types. Two of mine are from J&L seeds. I'm also growing his Sungold cross which some claim is the best cross or selection of Sungold they have tasted. Jay

Jay,

Well, there you are in Kansas where it is so much colder. I'd be surprised if you had as many varieties started already that far north as we have started down here. By the time you're through sowing seeds, you'll show everyone why you retain the title of the Tomato King, year in and year out!

I am really looking forward to seeing how grafting works out for you. I might try it some next year. Have you built a grafting chamber to maintain the right humidity?

What rootstocks are you using? Maxifort? Beaufort? Colossus? He-Man? (Those last two names make me giggle, but then I sometimes grow a southern pea named Colossus--and the name fits too.)

Carol, The fast seed germination is happening for you too? That happened to me this year. I could maybe understand it if all the seed was fresh, but some of the seeds I sowed were 4 or 5 years old. I did have 0% with one variety (Galina's Yellow) but I bet that seed was almost 10 years old, so I wasn't really surprised.

I have never had seeds germinate as quickly as they did this year....and it has been everything, including pepper seed. I never even got the heat mat out of the closet and plugged it in because everything started sprouting so quickly, and I didn't pre-soak or pre-sprout a single thing. I had sprouts less than 24 hours after sowing seed into flats.

Why not hook up a drip irrigation line to run from container to container so you don't have to drag the hose all over? I can assure you that a drip line will change your gardening life. The very first drip line I ever used was a little kit from either Lowe's or Home Depot. I hooked it up to run up under the porch roof, so it could water the 12 hanging baskets of flowers on the wraparound porch. Not having to worry about those, and not making a big mess with the water hose on the porch is so, so wonderful. You even can put your drip irrigation system on a timer if you want.

I hope you can get those containers from your neighbor. My neighbor gave me some molasses tubs not long after we moved here, and I still am using all but one of them. That one cracked and broke into several pieces last year, so this year I'll dump its soil into a new container and throw it away.

Seedmama, I cannot wait to see what Indigo Rose tastes like. It is gorgeous in photos, but you know, it will not earn a return trip to my garden if it doesn't taste great.

Jay, I believe a full-sized slicer with SunGold flavor will be successfully bred one of these days, and when it does, I think it will be a success like no other modern variety we've ever seen. I cannot tell you how many people ask me about getting a 'big' tomato with SunGold flavor after they've tasted SunGold cherry tomatoes. I tell them that we don't have one yet, but think one of these days we will.

Dawn

Dawn,
The 3 I planted last evening and will probably plant the most of are RST-04-105-T, Colosus & Maxifort. I have seeds for He Man and Emperador. I may plant a few of the seeds to use them up. There are a few different opinions on rootstock. After doing some research I decided I will follow the methods and opinions basically of Dr Cary Rivard at KSU and the NC State researchers. I may branch out a little later. Dr Cary did his graduate work at NC State and his work was on grafting. He uses the 106 of the RST series also. He also uses Trooper but I haven't been able to find it available and I have plenty now anyway. The ones I'm growing have large root systems, very vigorous, good disease resistance and have proved to increase yields in this general area. On the webinar I watched recently they said Cherokee Purple is a natural to graft and does better than most when grafted. I will add a general list of the varieties I plan to graft. I will include a few hybrids including 4th of July. Jay

I started all tomatoes and peppers a week and a day before to Superbowl Sunday respectively. Eggplants last weekend. Surprisingly all tomato varieties germinated expect early girl and Goliath. Now tomatoes are in 2 true leaves, need to report probably this weekend. Weather seems to be good for next few days, I will shift potted seedlings to greenhouse. -Chandra

Chandra, As soon as the shadecloth I ordered for the greenhouse arrives, I hope to shift the tomato seedlings to the greenhouse too. Many of my plants have 4 leaves now and they're getting tall enough that they are starting to hit the lights on the light shelf, so I plant to start hardening them off to sunlight beginning today. Maybe by the time the shadecloth arrives, they'll be ready for full sun all day.

Now I need to start potting up peppers, as well as pre-sprouting peas, etc.

It has rained so much here in southern OK this year that my planting may be slightly delayed while I wait for the puddles of standing water in the garden to be absorbed into the soil. I'm not complaining though. Too much rain is less of a problem overall than too little rain!

Dawn

Dawn, my little greenhouse is not completely insulated, there is some air flow. I last year did move potted seedling to GH without shade cloth. But I have black shade-cloth this year to cover if temp goes high. What kind of shade cloth you use? Some of the my seedling started touching bulbs as I not lifted the lights just to keep stem elongation under check. Lights are not producing any significant heat though. Is that ok if some seedlings touches light? -Chandra

I started my tomatoes & peppers about the same time Chandra did in coffee filters. Unfortunately, oldest DD was unexpectedly hospitalized so I wasn't able to pot them in seed starting mix when they sprouted.

By the time I FINALLY got to them last week, that first set of leaves had gotten slimy and stuck to the filter on a lot of them. If the stem had a good root, I potted it anyway but my question is this: will they grow without those first leaves or do I need to start over? I suspect they need those leaves for photosynthesis. (I won't use the coffee filter this time, just another seed in the cell.)

Paula

I hope to start some tomato seeds today. I am still telling myself NO MORE THAN 18 PLANTS this year, but I lie to myself all the time.

I will start peppers soon also, may go with 20-24 plants, I have not checked to see how many seeds I have.

Larry

Chandra,

I purchased Aluminet shade cloth because it not only shades by blocking heat, but reduces the temperature beneath it by reflecting sunlight. They say it helps hold in heat at night, but I can't vouch for that yet since it hasn't arrived yet.

I've been having trouble with the temperatures getting too hot in the spare room where we have the light shelf. It has two big east-facing windows and one that faces south, and it is very warm by noon, even though we have closed off the HVAC vent. I open the windows every morning to help maintain good air flow and to let the cool outdoor air cool down that room, but all those lights still produce a surprising amount of heat. Since they're growing in temps warmer than I'd like, they are growing too fast. Moving them out of that room ASAP should slow down their growth some because they'll be growing in colder temperatures.

Paula,

I hope your oldest DD is on the road to recovery.

I don't know how to answer your question about tomato seedlings that have lost their cotyledons because I haven't had that happen. Logic says they shouldn't grow well without the cotyledons because the cotyledons contain their food supply. My best guess is that the stems will shrivel and die, but I'd wait and watch for a few more days and see if the stems show any sign of trying to put out true leaves.

Dawn

Dawn - thanks but...you're right. I checked them again tonite and in some cells - there's not even evidence of the stems! Further research confirmed your advice so my warning to other is "Do Not Try This At Home!" ha!

I'm lucky that I had seeds to re-sow most...except for Nebraska Wedding & Juane Flamee...but that's okay. I substituted Yellow Mortgage Lifter and DeJena Lee. Neither of those did well last year but maybe it was meant for me to give them a second chance.

My list is very simple & short compared to all of yours:

Italian Goliath
Early Goliath
Sunny Goliath
Cherokee Purple
Kellogg's Breakfast
Double Rich
DeJena Lee
Yellow Mortgage Lifter
Opalka
Roma Rio Grande
Snow White
Black Cherry
Balcony
Sweet-N-Neat Yellow

Wow....this is a list I would only have dreamed about 3 years ago. You guys are SERIOUS enablers.

Paula

Paula, I guess will have some extra tomato plants for you. May not be the variety you are looking for, but there are some extra! By the way, mild jalapeno pepper you gave me last time after storm damage made into good harvest, we still have some frozen bags left, sorry somehow I forgot to give you some when you visited us last week. -Chandra

I'm in Tulsa, is it too late to start tomatoes inside? I've been lazy/busy/forgetful & recently realized that may be part of my problem with tomatoes (starting them too late)

jlhart,
I would say you should be ok. I'm not from that area but if you get them started soon you should be fine in my opinion. Jay

jhart,

I agree with Jay that you should be fine if you start tomato seeds now.

The earliest OSU-recommended transplanting date for tomatoes is April 10th and that is still almost two months away. Some of us likely will put some plants into the ground earlier than that, but with the knowledge that the weather is capable of doing anything and we'd better be prepared to cover them up to protect them from late frosts or late freezes should they occur.

The OSU-recommended tomato transplanting dates are April 10-30th and I have the best production the closer to that first date that I plant, but I am way down south. As long as you put your plants into the ground, weather permitting, between April 10th and April 30th, you should have good production, unless the high temps start hitting 100 degrees on the day after you plant and stay there for the next 4 months.

In our climate, which often goes from 'too cold' to 'too hot' in a shockingly brief period of time, it is always better to transplant tomatoes too early, with protection, than too late. It certainly isn't too late to start seeds now. A person could start seeds from early-March to mid-March and still have plants ready to transplant by the end of April, although I wouldn't advise waiting until mid-March to sow seeds.

Dawn

I planted my first tomatoes a month ago and have them under lights on the glassed porch. I waited until the recent cold spell was over to plant in the greeenhouse warm bench and planted Feb 14 and one more that came from Baker's yesterday. We love tomatoes but don't devote as much room to them as some gardeners here. This year I will plant 25-30 only. IN addition to the ones I start, I will buy Early Girl, Sweet Million and Better Boy. (One plant of Early Girl produced 50 fruit after it started raining in Aug, most of which matured before that hard frost on Oct 20.) This year I will plant at least a half dozen container tomatoes to move into the greenhouse before the first fall frost to extend the season. Will do the same with cucumbers and squash.

My list includes
ARkansas traveler
Thessaloniki,
San Marzano
Vorlon,
Black Krim
Cherokee Purple
True Black Brandywine
Suddeth's Brandywine
Black Cherry
Yellow Pear
Orange Icicle
Sioux planted Tues, and

4th of July
Bush Early Girl
Sungold
Sweetie,
Subarctic, planted a month ago.

There are also two volunteer plants that I dug out of the garden in Oct thinking they were Black Cherry because they were in that spot, but which turned out to be either Pink Accordion or Costoluto Genovese. I've been watering them anyway and there are over a dozen fruit on them.

Dorothy,

That's a nice list and I think it is so cool that your volunteers have fruit on them. Did you keep the Pink Accordian/Costoluto Genovese in the greenhouse, on the sunporch or indoors all winter?

I am ready to get all my tomato seedlings moved from the plant-starting shelf to the sunporch so I can start other plants on the shelf. I need to take a good, hard look at the forecast first, because once I carry all those flats downstairs and out of the house, I do not especially want to have to carry them back upstairs again. I cannot put anything in the greenhouse until the shadecloth arrives, which might be next week if I'm lucky, because it gets too hot in the unshaded greenhouse. Today it was 102 in there, but I hadn't opened the vents or doors since there's nothing growing in there yet.

Dawn

Thought I would add my list to Carol's thread. Hope you don't mind, Carol.

Finally got my seed starting "stuff" together, cleaned up, soil in cups, labels made, and all I need to do is plant the seed, which is the most minimal of all those things. Not going to plant much:

Top Sirloin
Indian Stripe
Black Cherry
Sungold
Mountain Princess
Sophie's Choice
Black Sea Man
Siletz

I'm doing 2 pots of each variety and will plant the best of 2. I would rather do New Big Dwarf than Siletz, but I can't find my seeds. Oh, well.

Going to do a Jalapeno pepper and a sweet pepper, and hopefully a cuke, summer squash, watermelon, musk melon, and pumpkin. All are smaller to be grown in a container.

I will get them done tonight. DDs surgery is scheduled for the 28th, so I want to get as much done before then as possible. Then it will be a matter of driving back and forth for awhile to feed and water the cats and check the seedlings. Spring cleanup will probably not happen until late March, early April.

Susan

Whoa! That's a lot of maters.

-bon