Useful Links

Hey all,

FWIW, here is a set of gardening links that I have recently compiled. These are some garden things that I've found to be pretty helpful. If you got a recommendation of your own, add it! It'd be cool to get everyone's favorite item on the list:

Extension Bulletins:

This one tells you when to plant what. These are the dates for a transplant, not from seed.

     http://cmg.colostate.edu/Gardennotes/741.pdf

If you are starting from seed, use the dates in the previous doc and use this to back track from there to know when to start from seed.

I like my starts a little bigger so I would pad that date by about 1-2 weeks.

     http://cmg.colostate.edu/Gardennotes/720.pdf

LED Grow light: This is the one I bought off Amazon. Seemed to work fine last season and definitely reduced the hardening off period.

https://www.amazon.com/VIPARSPECTRA-Reflector-Spectrum-Indoor-Plants/dp/B01B4GQ6MO

Heat mat + Temp control: This is the set I bought. It's been working fine for me the last few years.

https://www.amazon.com/iPower-Hydroponic-Seedling-Thermostat-Germination/dp/B01IDQD32Y/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?keywords=iPower+10%22+x+20.5%22+Small+Warm+Hydroponic+Seedling+Heat+Mat+and+68-108%C2%B0F+Digital+Thermostat+Control+Combo+Set+for+Seed+Germination&qid=1551377222&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-1-fkmr0

Light hanging ratchet cord: If you aren't using these to move your lights up and down, you are trying too hard.

https://www.amazon.com/Light-Hanger-Rope-Ratchets-Extended/dp/B00K9R26RO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1547583123&sr=8-3&keywords=rachet+cord

Garden Stakes: Just some generic strawberry/weed barrier stakes. They seem pretty high quality.
https://www.amazon.com/Gray-Bunny-GB-6871B-Galvanized-Irrigation/dp/B076XGM63D/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_2?keywords=GrayBunny+GB-6871B&qid=1552940530&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-2-fkmrnull

Plant tags: These are industrial, no rust tags made out of aluminum. You can just write on them with a pen and it will emboss whatever you write. This is my first year trying them.
https://www.amazon.com/Outdoor-Gardening-Durability-Applications-Aluminum/dp/B01LP3KFWS

Potting Soil: Mark J told me about this one. It's a huge cube of potting soil for $25. It fills up one of those galvanized old timey trash cans. Great deal and pretty decent quality although, complete disclosue, some herbs I started in it came up a little sickly. Still, for the money, this is what I'm going to use.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/SunShine-Mix-4-2-2-cu-ft-Professional-Growing-Mix-with-Mycorrhizae-5047041-CFC002-2P/205674316

Thermometer: This thing is fantastic for under $20. I left it outside in my soil for two years straight and it still works great.
https://www.amazon.com/Vee-Gee-Scientific-Thermometer-160-Degree/dp/B00JE5GI3U/ref=sr_1_3?crid=OO3S7G0FY1NP&keywords=vee+gee+thermometer&qid=1552941492&s=industrial&sprefix=vee+gee+%2Clawngarden%2C184&sr=1-3

Winter Tomatoes - Part 2

I was able to pick my first cherry tomato last week and now I have a sub-arctic plenty ready to go. 

Hoping it's not too mealy.  I think the cold of the basement definitely slowed the growing and ripening process, but all my plants are producing flowers and fruit.  The peppers haven't enjoyed the temps nearly as much.

Winter Tomatoes Anyone?

I am attempting to grow some tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and greens indoors over the winter.  Has anyone else experimented in growing things indoors or outdoors under cover over the winter?  I have two LED grow lights for the tomatoes and peppers (600W and 1000W) with some lower power LED and fluorescent lights for the greens and herbs.  This is just in my unfinished basement, so it's not very warm.

End of Season Results

Bob and Farmer McGregor found some big tomatoes lurking in their tomato vine jungles.

Bob had a new personal best 1.71#:

This would have been good enough for 3rd place, but Greg promptly went over the top with this 2 lb tomato.

Note that's it's not 2 lbs and change, or almost 2 lbs, but 2.000 pounds. Huh. I wasn't present for the official weigh-in, and there wasn't a photo showing the presence or lack of a thumb on the scale ;-)

With the cold snap that we just had, I assume that the contest is officially over. Let me know if you  have a contender still on the vine that you somehow managed to keep alive. Otherwise, this is the final leaderboard:

The payout was 4x/2x/1x for 1st/2nd/3rd, rounded to the nearest dollar, which comes to $26/$13/$6. Thanks everyone for playing, and start getting your tomato patch ready for 2019!

Harvest Time

All but one of my contenders ripened over the weekend.

The three Big Zacs in the foreground were all grown on the same vine. I didn't have the courage to pick a winner, so my results were diluted. Almost 6 lbs of tomatoes combined, and a reminder that I need to be harsh with the pruning shears.

1.56#

1.81#

2.38#

The last and biggest one of the bunch is a Domingo from my 2015 champ.

3.44#

I've got one more tomato in the 2 lb range that's just starting to turn color. Unless we get an Indian summer that lasts til November, I'm done for the season.

Improved standing

I was thinking that next year maybe there should be a rule that the minimum size to claim a spot on the podium would be 1 pound. No more cherry tomatoes or fractions of a pound. Admittedly, that would mean that Fred would never enjoy a spot on the podium, but podium spots should be well deserved. Blissfully, we don't have to worry about such a rule this year, as Aaron has improved his 3rd place standing with this nice tomato. Variety unknown, but it looks suspiciously like a Gary'O Sena.

New WR

Grown earlier this year, the tomato world record is now 9.43#. The variety is Domingo, not Big Zac! A 10 lb tomato once seemed like a pipe dream, but it's within reach now.