Tuesday I decided to pot up the early tomato I started Feb 16th. This is the tomato I started early in hopes of getting it to produce tomatoes by the first week of June. I must say I am rather confident that I will be harvesting tomatoes by late May/early June from this plant because it is growing great. I chose the large pot so I can start placing it outside on warm days and I will not have to be concerned with it blowing over or drying out to fast. The coldframe has been running at an average temp of 25c(77f) when the sun is strong. With these temps I am going to start placing the tomato plant in the frame during the day and then bring it in at night, weather permitting of course.
Here is a photo of the root ball. Nothing to complain about here.
Here it is potted up and getting a deep drink of warm water & Wegener's Organic fertilizer.Well I was outside potting up the tomato I came across the first bloom of spring in the yard. These photos are of the Iris reticulata that I photographed a few posts ago just emerging from the soil.
I took this Tuesday when the flower first came up.
This one I took today, Thursday, when it unfurled after the rain we had.
I will end by noting about my mutated tomato. A few weeks ago I was reading about a seedling that produced 3 cotyledon leaves(seed leaves) on Vegetable Heaven's blog. I found this very interest as many of you know seedlings normally only develop one cotyledon in monocots or two cotyledons in dicots. Then last Wednesday I went to check my tomato seedlings and was very surprised to find that one of my tomato seedlings also formed 3 cotyledon leaves. The tomato is 'Beauty King' from Wild Boar Farms and I received the seed in a trade with Judy's SFG. It will be very interesting to watch this tomato develop.
Well Dan, I can see that tomato plant is doing better than 5 certain tomato plants that I had. lol. It really looks strong.....how many tomato plants do you have going?
ReplyDeleteSo who get's the first ripe tomato, you or me? You have more experiance, but I have an unfair weather advantage.......it's going to be fun to watch!
http://theconservativegardener.blogspot.com/
I have a tricot growing this spring too. It is a cabbage. I'm not sure if I want to keep it or not. Its cotyledons are a bit weirdly shaped. I guess I'll make up my mind as it grows. It might grow faster or slower. Who knows at this point.
ReplyDeleteDennis - I have this one early tomato and 14 that I just seeded about a week ago. It will be fun to see who gets the first tomato. If you have a cool spring I may get the first tomato as this plant produces in 52 days. If you have a warm spring I would imagine you would win.
ReplyDeleteDaphne - This was my first tricot. I think I will start another one of this particular plant just in case it doesn't perform. It will certainly be interest to watch its progress.
Dan - I will have to look at my seedlings more carefully rather than is hazy awe. Fingers and Toes crossed that the early tomato does what you want it to! Looking forward to the photos
ReplyDeleteYou will be the first with tomatoes for sure! I love that Harmony iris. So beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI wish you many beautiful tomaters with that beautiful plant!
ReplyDeleteYour early tomato is in great shape and looks to be progressing nicely. Is this one "Siletz"? I have several of those and some "Stupice" which are both ultra earlies - but the "Siletz is a larger fruiting variety.
ReplyDeleteThe iris is stunning!
Prue - Thanks for the crossed fingers. I can't wait to harvest some tom's.
ReplyDeleteTina - The Iris is my favorite spring bulb, they can't be beat. I should add more colours this fall.
Red - Thanks
KitsapFG - Yes this is the Siletz, I picked it because of its large fruit combined with its earliness. It seems most early tomatoes are small so this one stood out.
Haha, I also want to get very early my first tomato, so I seeded at 23 january. I seeded 'Tiny Tim', a very small tomatoplant. I hope I have my first tomato in May.
ReplyDeleteJust like my tomato, yours looks very good. I'm curious when you'll get your first tomato. Í will follow your blog!
Greetings,
Bustani
You will have tomatoes before you know it with your early start! The iris is a beauty and I know you are happy to see it as now you know warmer temps are there!
ReplyDeleteThat tomato looks very strong - good luck with the early fruits!
ReplyDeleteMy tricotyledon was an aubergine. It now has three true leaves, also coming from a single point. I'm keeping and eye on it to see if the next set of leave also come as a threesome.
Now that I've got an eye out for them, I noticed one in a tray of true potato seedlings (grown from the little green tomato-like fruit following from the potato flower.) There's also a quadricot - or whatever you might call it. When I pot some of these up to grow on I'll make sure I include the oddities too.
That's a beautiful iris reticulata; I'm not familiar with that variety. The ones I have growing are bigger (as it appears) and bloom in June.
ReplyDeleteThat's a fine looking 'mater you have there, I don't doubt it'll perform up to expectations.
ReplyDeleteBut I really like that flower. I've always like Iris'. It looks a little different than the ones I'm used to seeing, is it a special variety?
Bustani - Thanks for stopping by, I hope I get tomatoes by May as well.
ReplyDeleteSkeeter - I am certainly looking forward to the warmth. It seems to be taking its time this year.
Vegetable Heaven - Can't wait to see the quadricot potato. My potatoes grew those green fruit last year and I thought of save them to grow. I should have.
Sally & Hydroponica - The Iris reticulata grows from a bulb as appose to your typical iris rhizome and you plant them in the fall. You can find them in a few different colours and they disappear in summer like a tulip would. I found these ones forced in pots in the grocery store and I just planted then out when they finished flowering. You can also find them in any bulb catalog in the fall. They are in the same family as your typical bearded iris.
Dan ;you will be eating tomatoes long before the rest of us.......... Your Iris is a bright cheery sign of spring.... Congrats that your eagle photo made the news..All your seedlings look like they are growing well........ garden will be amazing later this year...
ReplyDeleteThat early tomato plants looks nice -- I definitely wouldn't be surprised if you had fruit by June. I'm so glad that it's warming up in your neck of the woods and it does look like Spring has arrived!
ReplyDeleteThat is just too weird about the Beauty King with the 3 cotyledon leaves... I've never heard of that before.
The iris photo is wonderful. The tomato looks like a very strong plant. :)
ReplyDeleteRosemary - With some pampering this tomato should be very early, I hope. Thanks for the Congrats.
ReplyDeleteJudy - I am glade it is warming up too. I a sure more cold will come before summer though, unfortunately. It was the first time I have seen a tricot but after looking into it, it does seem to happen often enough. Can't wait to see what it produces.
Hendria - Thanks
Hey me too in the tricot family but it was a TPS. I love your irises. Mine are shooting but only the crocus and winter aconite have bloomed so far. Spring will be upon us fast and furious now though. I swear four hours away in Canada is like another country, you residents of GTO have it made. I've started Red Robin and Tiny Tim in hopes of early toms. They are about the same size as yours.
ReplyDeleteOttawa Gardener - That's cool that you have a tricot as well, they seem to be popping up a lot this year. I am actually 6 hours from you, I'm in Brantford, just outside of the Golden Horseshoe. Good luck with your early tomatoes!
ReplyDelete