Growing tomatoes from seed

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Growing tomatoes from seed; Any advice?
Topic Started: Jan 14 2015, 09:21 AM (1,022 Views)
heatseeker	Jan 14 2015, 09:21 AM Post #1
Veteran Member Posts: 10,320 Group: Member Member #713 Joined: March 30, 2010	With the prospect, finally, of having a largish yard and no black walnut to poison things, I am planning to order some heritage tomato seeds and grow them under lights for transplant in may into raised beds. I know there are some experts here, including of course, Durgan. What are the does and don'ts? Sources? Thanks

Replies:
heatseeker	Jan 15 2015, 04:17 AM Post #16
Veteran Member Posts: 10,320 Group: Member Member #713 Joined: March 30, 2010	Sort of like Onan, spreading seed upon the ground.



Durgan	Jan 15 2015, 04:28 AM Post #17
Veteran Member Posts: 13,273 Group: Gardening Guru Member #720 Joined: March 31, 2010	heatseeker Jan 15 2015, 04:17 AM Sort of like Onan, spreading seed upon the ground. And people still propagate such nonsense.



heatseeker	Jan 15 2015, 04:29 AM Post #18
Veteran Member Posts: 10,320 Group: Member Member #713 Joined: March 30, 2010	Better propagate than masturbate.



Trotsky	Jan 15 2015, 05:10 AM Post #19
Big City Boy Posts: 38,319 Group: Member Member #79 Joined: September 8, 2005	Quote: Maybe it's a no-brainer, but I need to ask, what is the advantage of growing your own from seed? Tomatoes USED to have taste. Burpee has taken over ownership of the tomato genetic material with every change they have made. It seems nobody at Burpee has ever TASTED a tomato. So people want to save old seed to have delicious tomatoes year to year, the way tomatoes USED to taste.



FuzzyO	Jan 15 2015, 05:46 AM Post #20
Posts: 16,968 Group: Administration Member #710 Joined: March 30, 2010	Heat you'll find that many growers now offer heritage varieties already started.



heatseeker	Jan 15 2015, 05:51 AM Post #21
Veteran Member Posts: 10,320 Group: Member Member #713 Joined: March 30, 2010	Hope so. We will likely buy our plants at the Jean Talon in montreal and while the offering are vast in quantity they are limited in range.



Dana	Jan 15 2015, 06:04 AM Post #22
WWS Hummingbird Guru & Wildlife photographer extrordinaire Posts: 13,054 Group: Member Member #830 Joined: March 23, 2011	Take the time now to read up on the different heirloom varieties' characteristics. I tried a few different varieties last year and found that the Bull's Heart fruits ripen unevenly. I had another sort that had somehow contracted tobacco mosaic virus as the old varieties are not resistant to it and somewhere along the line before it got here some smoker must have touched it! That reminded me of how an agriculture Canada man had come to the commercial greenhouse where I worked (in the 70's) to inoculate the tomato seedlings against that virus. We started our own from seed then in a small greenhouse that had banks of fluorescents and incandescents to get the right mix of red and blue spectrum light. Good light prevents the plants from stretching for light. In listening to an master gardener on radio last year I learned that putting plastic bags around the trusses of fruit will prevent rodents from getting at them. (someone asked above)



margrace	Jan 15 2015, 06:18 AM Post #23
Gold Star Member Posts: 5,367 Group: Member Member #723 Joined: April 1, 2010	I have grown my own heritage tomatoes for the last few years and found then really good. I sent some of my saved seeds west to my SIL's wonderful garden and they grew beautifully for him. Last year he was giving them away by the bushel. My tomatoes did not mature last summer, not enough sun but I have also found that I can no longer eat tomatoes so will not grow any this year.



Dana	Jan 15 2015, 06:40 AM Post #24
WWS Hummingbird Guru & Wildlife photographer extrordinaire Posts: 13,054 Group: Member Member #830 Joined: March 23, 2011	That's too bad M. I couldn't eat them comfortably for years until last year! Which of your heirlooms did best for you?



FuzzyO	Jan 15 2015, 08:11 AM Post #25
Posts: 16,968 Group: Administration Member #710 Joined: March 30, 2010	http://www.treeandtwig.ca/heirloom-tomato-seedlings/ This is a wonderful grower in Wellandport. She hasn't announced her 2015 varieties yet, but there is a lot of info on her site and in her blog.



Trotsky	Jan 15 2015, 08:16 AM Post #26
Big City Boy Posts: 38,319 Group: Member Member #79 Joined: September 8, 2005	I could happily eat 2 good tomatoes every day of my life...but I haven't tasted a really GOOD tomato in years, perhaps decades. All I have are my memories of the 1000 perfect tomatoes I grew and ate as a kid. Skeptic that I am, I have often wondered if what is advertised currently as "heritage tomatoes" really ARE. But unless I get my plot of ground, I guess I will never know the answer. To gussy a salad a bit, I buy the deep red stuff attached like 4 to the stem, sometimes called Holland tomatoes $$$. At least with them if I close my eyes I can tell they are tomatoes and not Styrofoam. Worst are the ones that are barely pink, jokingly called "slicing tomatoes." I always joke that they are for practicing SLICING and the resulting slices promptly discarded. With no exaggeration, I can truly say that the destruction of the tomato has been one of the saddest things in my life, and I put Burpee Seed Co. way down lower on my hate list than even Monsanto. They are guilty of a crime against humanity. Edited by Trotsky, Jan 15 2015, 08:25 AM.



Durgan	Jan 15 2015, 08:42 AM Post #27
Veteran Member Posts: 13,273 Group: Gardening Guru Member #720 Joined: March 31, 2010	If a store bought tomato is not pristine , which is usually the case., fry them in butter in a cast iron pan. It will give a nice taste also some iron. The addition of some black pepper enhances the flavor. A great accompaniment for eggs. The sliced tomato turns to mush but if more green they will retain their sliced shape, which is not really important.



FuzzyO	Jan 15 2015, 08:54 AM Post #28
Posts: 16,968 Group: Administration Member #710 Joined: March 30, 2010	A sprinkling of basil helps.



Trotsky	Jan 15 2015, 11:59 AM Post #29
Big City Boy Posts: 38,319 Group: Member Member #79 Joined: September 8, 2005	Durgan Jan 15 2015, 08:42 AM If a store bought tomato is not pristine , which is usually the case., fry them in butter in a cast iron pan. It will give a nice taste also some iron. The addition of some black pepper enhances the flavor. A great accompaniment for eggs. The sliced tomato turns to mush but if more green they will retain their sliced shape, which is not really important. I invoke the old saw: "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."



Dana	Jan 15 2015, 02:00 PM Post #30
WWS Hummingbird Guru & Wildlife photographer extrordinaire Posts: 13,054 Group: Member Member #830 Joined: March 23, 2011	' "heritage tomatoes" really ARE ' Tasty tomatoes with NO bones!



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