Here is his second-best plant:
Bummer. Oh well Fred, you can still win at the guess-the-winning-weight contest. But you've got to get your guesses in soon! Everyone else, too!
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Fred's Monster
For the past few years, I've told my wife that we don't make travel plans for the weeks before or after Memorial Day, because it's planting time. Fred didn't heed that advice, and he left for Hawaii with his seedlings entrusted to me. Let's take a look at Fred's giant tomato seedlings.
Here is his second-best plant:
Bummer. Oh well Fred, you can still win at the guess-the-winning-weight contest. But you've got to get your guesses in soon! Everyone else, too!
Here is his second-best plant:
Bummer. Oh well Fred, you can still win at the guess-the-winning-weight contest. But you've got to get your guesses in soon! Everyone else, too!
Burn Baby Burn
I wrote the post at the bottom last year. I always thought that 1-2 weeks was excessive for hardening off seedlings. This year, I did 2 hrs/day for a few days, then 3 hours, then 5 hours, and ZAP! Now I'm rethinking my hardening off strategy. I think I will be more conservative in the future.
These babies will survive, but they gave me a scare. I have all my container tomatoes in partial shade, either under a tree or behind some bushes. My giants are going in the ground this weekend, so I can't move them in and out of shade. Here's hoping for some cloudy weather!
These babies will survive, but they gave me a scare. I have all my container tomatoes in partial shade, either under a tree or behind some bushes. My giants are going in the ground this weekend, so I can't move them in and out of shade. Here's hoping for some cloudy weather!
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Hardening off time
It's that time of the year where the seedlings meet the soil. A few brave souls have already put their plants out! As for me, I'm going to be planting this weekend.
Seedlings started indoors live a very sheltered life for the first few weeks. There's no wind to contend with, minimal UVs, and temperatures are a consistent 70 degrees. In order to adjust to outdoor growing conditions, tender seedlings need to gradually adapt over a period of days. Skip this all-important step and it's welcome to Scorchville, population your plants.
Many "experts" say you need to harden off tomatoes over 1-2 weeks, gradually building the time each day until they can stay out all day. One guy wrote that he does 2-4-6-plant (measured in hours per day). It would be a catchier phrase if "plant" rhymed with "8". I've been doing something similar to that for the past few years, and it seems to get the job done. I usually try to plant the plants in the afternoon also, so they have the cool of the evening to recover from transplanting shock.
Seedlings started indoors live a very sheltered life for the first few weeks. There's no wind to contend with, minimal UVs, and temperatures are a consistent 70 degrees. In order to adjust to outdoor growing conditions, tender seedlings need to gradually adapt over a period of days. Skip this all-important step and it's welcome to Scorchville, population your plants.
Feeling the burn
Many "experts" say you need to harden off tomatoes over 1-2 weeks, gradually building the time each day until they can stay out all day. One guy wrote that he does 2-4-6-plant (measured in hours per day). It would be a catchier phrase if "plant" rhymed with "8". I've been doing something similar to that for the past few years, and it seems to get the job done. I usually try to plant the plants in the afternoon also, so they have the cool of the evening to recover from transplanting shock.
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