The Latest and Greatest in Tomato Land

Bonjour.  I've returned from Milwaukee at long last.  (My day of travel yesterday was, as usual, a nightmare.  I have very bad luck on planes.  My presence on a flight roster seems to automatically delay the plane indefinitely.)  I changed airlines three times, and was delayed a total of five times, I believe.  My husband and I rolled up into our driveway at approximately 3:15am.  Oh me oh my!

And after sleeping and going to work today (a little later than usual thanks to my boss for letting me come in at 10:30) I came home and did some plantin'!

Have I mentioned that they should grind up tomato leaves and make them into a perfume?  

I can't get enough of that amazing smell.  It's pure heaven.

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Sooo...

While I was in Milwaukee, my little babesies were left in my my husband's capable hands.  (I don't know that he actually did anything to them other than opening the blinds each morning.  And of course, updating me on their progress over the phone.  Yes, I asked every night I was away how they were doing.  I was curious!)

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Then today, I decided the time had come to move them into bigger pots.  Let me first update you on a few more "Things I Know..." when it comes to gardening and growing seedlings, just in case you're gardening along.

I believe we're on Thing #3 I Know.  Thing #3 is that you canNOT overwater these little jiffy peat pellets.  I thought I was following the directions, which read "Only add water if the peat moss turns very light brown."  But I was overwatering (adding water if I saw even a portion of the moss turning light brown.)  My occasional little pours of water here and there resulted in a very moist environment which eventually led to the growth of a white, fluffy, mold on the surface of the moss.  Not good!  Luckily, most of the online forums I turned to said that if I just stopped watering the seedlings and left them alone, the mold should go away.  I did, however, attempt to scrape off a bit of the surface peat without damaging the seedlings.

So really people... don't be like me.  Don't overwater!

Thing #4 I Know is actually something I learned at work today from a fellow gardener!  When tomato and pepper seedlings get their first "true" leaves (not the first two to sprout, but the next two after that) it's time to move them into a bigger pot.  Its after this step that they should really start to beef up.

First things first though.  You have to choose which children to kill off.

(I know that sounds dramatic... but I grew each one from seed!  So choosing the weaklings and cutting them back is so sad.)

But do it.  Choose the strongest of each plant, and cut back the other two seedlings.  

Sniff sniff.  So long little Zachary.  (They're all named Zachary, thanks to PW.)

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Then transfer the little peat pellets to sterile, slightly larger containers.  These are also Jiffy brand, and I believe they are made of peat as well.  This is a nice feature because you can still water the plants from below to avoid damaging the seedlings or settling the soil.  The pots will absorb the liquid from below.

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Tear the netting a bit around the peat moss so the roots can easily branch out.  (I tore all the way down one side in the picture below... but that side isn't facing the camera.)

Then fill the pots up with good potting soil.  Some sources say you should only give seedlings exceedingly sterile types of potting mix because they're still very susceptible to disease.  But other sources have told me that compost (especially your own home-made compost) is a very clean option.   The decomposition process causes the compost heap to heat up to very high temperatures, and this (most of the time) kills off weed seeds or disease.  And since I didn't feel like going and spending money on potting soil, I chose to believe that second group of sources.  (I probably wouldn't plant seeds the for first time in compost, but I think they can handle it at this point.  And since I made it, I know everything that's gone into it.)

Side Note:

I'm only telling you this story because I know you'll be able to relate to it, even though it's embarrassing to me.  I went outside to scoop some compost into a bag for these seedlings.  And right by my compost corner was this empty single-serving Doritos bag.  Right by the fence!  And we have neighbors and they are kids.  Who do you suppose this Doritos bag came from?  Superman and I don't buy Doritos.  So, for a split second I thought about it... then decided I couldn't hear anyone on the other side so I'd just go for it.  I tossed the Doritos bag back over the fence into the neighbor's yard.  Seconds later, I heard, "Do you think that's mine?"  Oh horror.  I peeked through the fence and a dad holding a baby was just standing in the yard watching the whole thing.  So I answered, "Yeah, that's what I was thinking.  Sorry about that, I shouldn't have done that.  If you want to toss it back over I'll throw it away.  I just figured it came from one of your kids."  How humiliating!  Serves me right for thinking I could pull a move like that and go unnoticed. 

In hindsight though, I do wish I had asked, "Well, IS it yours?"  Because who else's could it honestly be?  If that family buys Doritos and their kid threw the trash over the fence, then they deserve to have it tossed back.  (Real Christian of me, huh?  So at least I humbly apologized at the time.)   

Back to the planting...

You're technically supposed to soak these peat pots in water and then plant the plants in them.  But I was (understandably) apprehensive about putting my little 'maters back into such a soggy environment.  So I compromised and just poured a little water into the pans I was storing these pots in.  (Well, water and a touch of fish emulsion for fertilizer.  Did you think this was what my tap water looks like?  Ha!)  They soaked it up nicely!

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So the weird part is... most of my tomatoes have really not been very erect.  They've all been "lying down on the job."  At first I wondered if they were just trying to stretch toward the light... but one group is surprisingly strong, sturdy, and upright.

Can you guess which one it is?

The At-Home-Cherry-Tomatoes!

These guys are kicking tail when it comes to sturdiness.. beating all the Burpee seeds by a long shot.  I wonder why.  For those of you just tuning in, the cherry tomato seeds came from a package of cherry tomatoes I bought at Kroger.

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So for the time being, I've managed to thin out and transplant 8 total tomato plants.  I'm not going to have room to plant every one of these outside... so I don't know if its worth going to buy more pots to move them all.  I suppose I could give the ones I don't plant away to friends.

Anyone want to adopt some tomatoes??