A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum The Tomato Forum How are Everyboby's 'Maters Growing?

How big are your tomato plants? Mine are growing their first true leaves.

Man, mine are about 6 inches tall and fat as pig! I was out earlier searching for blooms. None yet. My peppers have several blooms already, though.

You're ahead of me my caribbean red peppers are growing slowly(they have several leaves)and my jalapenos have four true leaves.

Well, I guess I cheated. I'm not growing from seed, I bought those.
I have to do more seed planting though. Since my garden and flower beds keep getting bigger, it is getting too expensive to buy the plants.

It's too cold to think about tomatoes here. I'm not planting any from seed this year. Maybe because of the drought we experienced my seed transplants didn't fare as well as the store bought plants I put in. It doesn't make sense because they all start out as seeds but that's what happened.

mine are slow but sure, still coming along

anybody down south have blooms yet?

First blooms on 2 plants in containers this week!

Most of mine are 4-6". Will do serious potting up in the next week. Have 300 tomato and 100 plus peppers. The tomatoes I will bury up when transplanting. Many I will put in the cowpots I'm trying. So far very impressed with them. The ones I have transplanted to MG organic potting soil are a very dark green. I'm impressed with it. The ones in the Pro Mix look good also. But not as dark a green. I will start spraying the Pro Mix plants this week with fish/seaweed foliar spray. JD

Mine are only 3 in.They are all outside.

Ciao all-

Haha, mine are only 2" tall and just getting true leaves. I won't be planting outside until the end of May. Right now it's more a matter of getting that germination rate close to 100% and going from there.

Hey there, Julianna!
So what's the earliest you'll have a ripe tomato?

I bought a tomatoe tree plant yesterday, hope it does good

Today I noticed 2 flower buds on 1 of my plants!

My other palnts are just too small still to go into the yard yet

I'm planting 'mater seeds in my garden.

any day now.........I'll have a bloom!

first bloom....he he he

Beautiful! I hope to get my tomatoes planted in the ground sometime this next week.

Cricket...the rule is, when you post a pic of a tomato plant, you have to tell us the variety!
(Well, it's not really a rule!) Maybe I should say, please tell us what it is?
Lookin' really good there.

Just transplanted mine yesterday into pots in my greenhouse. But it's cold and snowing today, seems to happen every year. Just when it's time for transplanting we get cold weather. My heater has to work overtime.

It's a better boy. I'm also growing large cherry.
(he he he.....you scared me there for a minute peppereater. I don't want to break any rules.he he)

I'm just a little obsessed with tomatoes! You'll notice that, the more you get to know me, hehe.

Dave glad you told us I would of never noticed. LOL. I think I'm just a little addicted myself. JD

So excited!! Just put my tomato plants in the ground. Have alot of cherry and patio tomato plants that are going in pots outside today.

Good luck! You'll love to watch them grow.

hi yall its been a about year since last visit got my maters in about 50 or so at the farm and eight around here as I was watering ane picking a few sprigs that came through the mulch I seen about 6 blooms and more on the way

Man, and I was all excited because my 1.5-inch tall tomato plants are just about to sprout their first real leaves...lol. Cricket, your plants look awesome!!

My cats dug up my 'mater seedlings.Darn cats

Hi finally found the correct link. The first pictures of the light stand was taken last weekend before I started the serious potting up. Mother nature has been playing with me. I have been lugging flats in and out for the last two days.Going outside now to build a cold frame to use for the rest of the season. Bought two 2' x 9' glass doors yesterday for a dollar at an auction. Got 3 2x12 boards gave to me by the local rec.. That had took them off bleacher seats. They are 12' long so I can cut off the ends and still have plenty of board. Most of the light stand is built from scrap pieces we had laying around. It has worked real well. All comments about the plants and stand are welcome. I even welcome negative feedback as they say two minds are better than one. JD http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/elkwc36/

I've just got a new Apple computer and was trying to add pictures here. I did get this link to open to one picture of my album on photobucket. Will keep trying or at least get it where you can view all the pictures. JD http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/elkwc36/?action=view&current=100_0190.jpg

gee that's a lot of plants. Do you sell them?

I put my tomatoes out today and now it's raining. I must be living right.

Not at the present. Going to charge for the ones in the cowpots this year. But only 30-50 cents and they are in 4" pots so that should be reasonable. I posted my planting list elsewhere. I have over 80 varieties and still potting up but will end up with over 300 tomatoes and 100 peppers. At the present I don't charge for the excess produce either. If the Lord blesses me with a good harvest I share it. JD

JD your set-up with your lights is close to mine. Thanks for sharing your pictures.

Do you transplant the seedlings that are under the lights in your pictures or have they been transplanted already?

Rosepetal
When I took the pictures I had just potted up a few and they were outside. So all you saw were waiting to be potted up. Still working on it. Hopefully will finish by Friday. And start dropping some in holes this week. The weather has gave me fits. Yesterday morning we had frost again and they had said a low of 44. But luckily I had most of them in a cold frame I had just finished and they came through just fine. I have never sold any before. Just gave them away. The ones in the 4" cowpots I'm going to ask 30 cents for to cover the cost of the pot. Thanks for the comments. I just started putting the stand together out of leftovers and it works well. JD

I have another 4 weeks till I can plant outside so I cut all my tomatoes down and started a re-root program. They would be to big in 4 weeks and hard to handle. My sister has a tomato plant that is going in to its third year - she uses the same plant and keeps it growing and clips it down and re-roots it - it is always ready to flower at that age.

after I get roots I will plant in a 8 inch tall container like some 3 inch plumbing drain pipe with plastic on the bottom and holes melted in to the plastic. These are from Beefsteak - Earlianna - and Roma.

The heat and my cats got to my 'maters.Now I'll have to buy plants;it's too late to plant seeds except for the late crop.

Ciao all-

Here are my tomato flats as of 30 April:

Tomato Flat #1:



Tomato Flat #2:



They're all about 6" from the soil line (except for the dwarfs which you can see in the front row of Flat #2) and I'm raising the lights every to every other day. They'll be terrificly root-bound by the time I plant out in late May, but that's ok. The cells are 4" deep in Pro-Mix with one shot of 1/2 strength 20:20:20 Plant Prod at 4 weeks.

Ciao Dave caro-

I started my seeds on 3 April so I'm guessing that my first tomato will be one of the determinates: Kotlas, Koralik, Jagodka, Manitoba, or Latah and I'm thinking 3rd week in July. The earliest tomato we ever had was one of Munchkin's Whippersnappers on Canada Day (1 July), but he started his seeds in mid-March. I won't do that again because it makes for major space issues under the lights at about this time. I've got the whole works maxxed out right now as it is.

Nice looking plants there. I'm going to sweat another cold night tonight. Some are saying 30-32 degrees. And was 93 and set a record Wed.. I have the cold frame full. Hopefully they will be ok in there. And then supposed to be 38 Sat. night and then on a warming trend. I started 2-3 later this year and still got in a jam. Seem like every year for 3 years now it has been later. Our average last frost is April 16th. I shot for a May 10-15th plant out but was hoping to be able to harden off by that time. Wind has blown for 3 days now. They should be hardy. And my late planting first of April is getting big now also. LOL. JD

My only tomato plant is about a foot tall and is developing flowers.I guess I forgot the plant food.I'm going to plant some more later.