{"id":8686,"date":"2019-06-10T09:32:58","date_gmt":"2019-06-10T13:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/?p=8686"},"modified":"2019-06-10T12:05:04","modified_gmt":"2019-06-10T16:05:04","slug":"the-tomatos-are-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/2019\/06\/the-tomatos-are-in\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tomatos are In!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It was a great last few days to be gardening.
\nWe started transplanting Tomatos from the greenhouse stands outside (hardening them off the last few days) into the grounds of VegBeds 4 and 5.
\nFriday for 2 hours, Saturday for 6 hours and Sunday the last of the work was completed. <\/p>\n

Some planting notes from 2019:
\nWe have approximately 135 heirloom tomato plants of approx 60 types.
\nWe plant them in rows running north south approx 1 3\/4 to 2′ apart in the row.
\nRows are 3′ apart.
\nWe use 2×2 stakes that are at least 3′ tall (or at least started that way).
\nEach 2×2 stake\/plant gets its own sign. We print off in alphabetical order, all of the Tomatos in 14 point font on 8.5″ x11″ paper and then have it laminated at the local Staples shop for approx $3 each. Then they get separated with scissors and then stapled onto the stake, on the north side of the stake.
\nThe 2×2 stakes last at least 5 seasons. The laminated signage, at least 3-4 years.
\nOnce in the ground, their small popsicle stick name from seed planting, is also put into the ground as a backup. Then we also add a sharp skewer stick about 6-10″ tall, right up against the plant stalk. This prevents cutworms from popping up in the night, wrapping around the talk and cutting it, killing the plant.
\nLastly we heavily water them with a watering can. This is supposed to help reduce transplant shock.<\/p>\n

We lost two plants the first night, even with the sticks. These were replanted with other types.<\/p>\n

In general the plants are smaller and spindlier than we would like, but the weather is good and they should survive the first week no problem.<\/p>\n

We have several experiments this year. One is to use two TPosts and run bailer twine inbetween them in a Florida Weave style, supporting the plants as they grow taller. If this works out, it will replace a lot of 2×2 staking and tieing up later on.
\nWe are also letting an indeterminate type, a Sunrise Bumblebee, climb up a 7′ post, tying it up as it goes, to see if it will make the top. This will help keep the fruit off the ground and let it get more light.<\/p>\n

One other experiment is to use 5-7-7 fertilizer . We chose one Russian Peasant tomato plant to receive an initial 2 tablespoons of fertilizer mixed into the soil, then the plant, then 4 more tablespoons sprinkled on the ground surface. Two other Russian Peasant of similar size and health act as the controls.
\nTypically we have never used after planting fertilizer on any veg plant… only compost and composted manure in the soil tilled in before planting.<\/p>\n

Interspersed with the tomatos plants are more than a few basil herbs… something about eating fresh tomatos and basil.. perhaps even on a pizza! MMmmmmmm.
\nMarigold flowers were also put in with the tomatos.<\/p>\n

A partial list of the tomatos:
\nSCGO Tomato Acadian Cherry
\nSCGO Tomato Alacrity
\nSCGO Tomato Amish Paste
\nSCGO Tomato Anna Russian
\nSCGO Tomato Ashleigh
\nSCGO Tomato Azoychka
\nSCGO Tomato Berkley Tie Dye
\nSCGO Tomato Bonny Best
\nSCGO Tomato Brandywine
\nSCGO Tomato Buckeye State
\nSCGO Tomato Burpee’s Dwarf Giant
\nSCGO Tomato Cleota Pink
\nSCGO Tomato Dandy
\nSCGO Tomato Earliana
\nSCGO Tomato Earliest & Best
\nSCGO Tomato Elbe
\nSCGO Tomato Eros aka Red Eros
\nSCGO Tomato Fargo Yellow Pear
\nSCGO Tomato Garden Peach
\nSCGO Tomato Georgia Streak
\nSCGO Tomato Golden Delight
\nSCGO Tomato Green Grape
\nSCGO Tomato Green Zebra
\nSCGO Tomato Ground Cherry
\nSCGO Tomato Honey
\nSCGO Tomato Hotset
\nSCGO Tomato Hungarian Pink Heart
\nSCGO Tomato Jaune Flamme
\nSCGO Tomato Jefferson Giant 1880
\nSCGO Tomato Jersey Devil
\nSCGO Tomato Lava Flow
\nSCGO Tomato Ledoux Special
\nSCGO Tomato Lemon Drop
\nSCGO Tomato Livingston Buckeye State
\nSCGO Tomato Livingston Globe 1905
\nSCGO Tomato Livingston Gold Ball 1892
\nSCGO Tomato Livingston Honor Bright 1897
\nSCGO Tomato Livingston Magnus 1900
\nSCGO Tomato Livingston Main Crop (post 1905)
\nSCGO Tomato Livingston Stone
\nSCGO Tomato Manitoba
\nSCGO Tomato Margaret Olson
\nSCGO Tomato Moscow
\nSCGO Tomato Mr Griffiths florida cherry
\nSCGO Tomato Mr Griffiths Lynda Silver
\nSCGO Tomato Napoli Paste
\nSCGO Tomato Nile River Egyptian
\nSCGO Tomato Oxheart
\nSCGO Tomato Peasant Russian
\nSCGO Tomato Pink Bumble Bee
\nSCGO Tomato Polish Giant Paste
\nSCGO Tomato Purple Yellow Bumblebee
\nSCGO Tomato Red Deborah Barr-Mom
\nSCGO Tomato Russian Saskatchewan
\nSCGO Tomato Sams Small Paste
\nSCGO Tomato Scarlet Beefsteak
\nSCGO Tomato Schellenburgs Favourite
\nSCGO Tomato Scotia
\nSCGO Tomato Sunrise Bumblebee
\nSCGO Tomato Tigerella
\nSCGO Tomato Yellow Brandywine<\/p>\n

Because we are in this for seed-saving, record keeping is critical. After the plants are in, the signs are up, the notes are taken, transcribed and backed up, the maps are drawn, we also take a video camera and walk the gardens, reading out loud the row numbers, the plant names and other information.
\nThis has saved our **ses more than a few times as one set of records gets lost, destroyed, or just fades away… <\/p>\n

Moving forward every few weeks, we will support them trunks with velcro ties against the 2×2 stake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a great last few days to be gardening. We started transplanting Tomatos from the greenhouse stands outside (hardening them off the last few days) into the grounds of VegBeds 4 and 5. Friday for 2 hours, Saturday for 6 hours and Sunday the last of the work was completed. Some planting notes from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gardening","category-tomatos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8686"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8700,"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8686\/revisions\/8700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}