16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Raising money for teacher expenses is a great idea.
I think this is risky though. Damping off. Bugs. Too much, too little water.
Could you maybe see if you could get volume deals for some stuff and sell an heirloom 'kit' complete with potting mix, containers, seed, and instructions?
I am a teacher and we did this for an activity I got a small grant for. We grew about 100-150 plants, tomatoes and peppers. If you have never grown plants from seed, I would start now small. There is a learning curve. I wouldn't try the first time be when you start 2,000. I am a market gardener and have grown my own transplants for over 10 years now.
First of all, you would need to start them in small flats, 98's to a 1020 tray would be a good size then pot them up into either 2401's or 3601's trays that you could break apart to sell.
Greenhouse Megastore is just one source for these trays. I would suspect you would want to grow single plants and not 4 packs. As most people will plant 4 tomatoes, but they want them to be 4 different tomatoes.
You can grow these plants to sellable size under flourescent shop lights. Just make sure you use 2 four foot lights for every 4 trays.
I would grow a variety of shapes and colors.
Jay
Have you read the thread I linked to at the bottom of this post, which is still here on the first page?
There are many suggestions and links to information about heat tolerant varieties, there are no heat resistant varieties.
I have many tomato friends who grow tomatoes in South FL, and that includes Linda Sapp wh owns Tomato Growers Supply in Fort Myers, and there are many others that don't have problems b'c they get their plants out early enough so that they set fruits before the high heat and humidity starts.
Linda suggests growing late and midseason varieties for Spring planting, sowing seeds around Xmas time then setting out by about early to mid Feb,weather
permitting and then growing early and mid season ones for a Fall crop.
Since I've received fresh fruits shipped up to me from Fall crops from S FL friends, I know it works, No sense in then shipping stuff up to me from their Spring crops, b.c it isn't long until I'll have earlies and mid season ones here in upstate NY,
But please do read the link below b/c as I said , lots of suggestions and links to read that are directly relevant to what you are now asking,
Carolyn
Here is a link that might be useful: Heat Tolerant varieties
Super heat tolerant?
Not that I am aware of. The issue is one of viable pollen. During high heat and/high humidity periods the pollen becomes tacky and non-viable so the plant can't set fruit. Blooms die and fall.
The solution is to alter the growing conditions. Planting earlier - even if it means protecting the plants as needed - so fruit set happens before the worst of the heat is the most common method and a common practice in the deep south. Florida is fortunate to have two growing seasons but unfortunately neither one is US summer.
Other methods include erecting shade barriers, heavy mulching to keep roots cool, hand or manual pollination when possible, etc. Have a night when the temps are below 75 then get out there and rattle those cages. :)
You might check with the folks over on the Florida Gardening forum here for tips on planting dates and variety recommendations.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Blossom Drop FAQ
This post was edited by digdirt on Sat, Feb 8, 14 at 20:41
And yes, you've actually been helpful. So thank you. I think I get what you're saying I think. Maxifort Rootstock grown as an isolated plant isn't known for being so tasty but I'm guessing when you frankenstein the thing it could become tasty if done correctly.
when you frankenstein the thing it could become tasty if done correctly.
Once you frankenstein the thing then you aren't growing Maxifort. It ceases to be Maxifort and becomes whatever variety you graft onto it - Brandywine, Big Beef, Kosovo, Cherokee Purple, etc. Whatever. And they are just like the fruit you'd get from that variety without the grafting. But the plant now has greater resistance to any of the soil borne pathogens it wouldn't have otherwise. :)
Dave
Thanks Kathy,
My problem is that I received a TON of tomato seeds in the recent swap and I want to grow most of them, but I only have room for 18 plants so, if I can grow any of them in containers, then they can be "extras".
Sorry to hear that Chadwick was like the blob that ate the garden (LOL). Maybe I can tame it by confining it. Ha ha!
I'll take a look though Remy's site for more ideas.
Thanks,
Linda
Plant data regarding size/height is not an exact science but it is relevant. An indeterminat is always taller and bigger than a determinat and that is bigger than a dwarf in the same garden. Some indeterminats are know for their aggressive growth habit. When it comes to height, we are not talking about sprawling plant. Then, of course, the plant growth (any plant) in part will depend on soil condition, fertility, climate, amount sun, etc. But when you grow a number of plant in the same garden, their relative growth and size can be predicted , base on the plant data that has been compiled and averaged out.
JMO
I found a couple references, somewhere, that growers of the PL felt that there was better performance and taste from it, although, as Carolyn says, one would have to grow both side-by-side to be sure.
Also, the Indian Stripe in general is felt to be superior to Cherokee Purple because it is both earlier and more productive, in addition to tasting better (among some palates). That would be especially important for me, because our season is so short.
-Bruce
Thanks Carolyn. If you want to add any recommendations, you know I always appreciate your input and will save the post for next year. I remember one recent year when Brandywine was the first to ripen for me, lol, so I do know what you mean. But I am sure I didn't plant any real early ones that year.
I ended up ordering:
Earliana
Anna Banana
Moravsky Div
Pruden's Purple
As well as some that are not early, including Indian Stripe, which you recommended and I have been meaning to try for a while, and more Fish Lake Oxheart, Cherokee Purple Heart, Orange Minsk, and Black Cherry.
I like Pale Perfect Purple. It is a medium sized pink, tastes good and is productive here. It is similar to Eva Purple Ball in size, shape and color. I like Eva too. I have planted it every year since I bought Carolyn's book. Other varieties have come and gone but that one I must have every year.
Tania's description shows it cracking. In rainy weather, I have much more trouble with the black ones cracking and rotting. PPP holds up well here.
Here is a link that might be useful: Pale Perfect Purple
If you think it's not a hybrid, you could save seeds from the current fruit and plant them. See the FAQs linked on the Growing Tomatoes Forum page for how to save tomato seeds.
You could also go to the big box stores in your area and look at the seeds they're selling this year. Maybe the same envelope that looked enticing last winter will catch your eye this year.
Or you could continue to plant cuttings.
Good points. I think I have 3 plants with these cuttings...
Once I figure out the yield I'll see if it is worth saving. RIght now they're in a colder than wanted (65-67 during day) basement, and they've taken nearly 90 days to give 10-15 tomatoes... with about 30 more on the plant now. Seems slow.
Cupid - early @ 66 day, red, grape hybrid, indeterminate with claimed resistance to Fusarium Race 1, Alternaria Stem Canker, and Stemphylium. Brix rating of 8.2.
A heirloom sub for all that? No. Close (maybe) Red Grape (mid-season). See link below. Sprite, early but it is determinate and much lower brix rating.
I assume you know that growing "organic" doesn't limit you to growing heirlooms only?
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Tatiana's - Red Grape
Gertrude, the link below is from the FAQ's at the top of this first page and I think it's an excellent discussion and should answer most of your questions.
How pure you want your seeds and for what purpose, home use, sharing with others, trading, which I don't do, listing with SSE, are situations only you can decide.
You'll see in the article that saving seeds by distance is not used by many.
Please read the section on when insects do their pollinating, since in some areas they are most active early in the season, in other areas late in the season. I saved seeds only from ripe fruits late in the season since insect activity where lived was early so the earliest of ripe fruits were more apt to have some X pollinated seed..
I can give you another link from SESE ( Southern Explosure Seed Exchange), written by Dr. Jeff McCormack, which is much more detailed on X pollination or you can Google SESE yourself..
So first, decide what you're going to do with the seeds and then either leave them alone, which I do since my crossing rate where I live is only about 5% meaning that of seed saved from 100 varieties about 5 will have some fruits that might be be cross pollinated.
And that's because, as also discussed in the link, most of the time blossoms are pollinated before they ever open up.
Hope that helps,
Carolyn, who also notes there are some other excellent articles in the FAQ section.
Here is a link that might be useful: Cross Pollination
My homemade seed start mix is 1 part perlite, 2 parts worm castings, 2 parts peat moss. Mix well, then steam sterilize. Since I am working with bulk quantities, I mix 10 gallons of perlite, 20 gallons of worm castings, and 20 gallons of peat moss. Put the mix in a modified 55 gallon drum that has a sheet of perforated metal in the bottom with about 5 gallons of water, then place on a turkey fryer and steam the water through the mix to sterilize it. This makes enough mix to fill up 80 to 90 standard nursery trays.
I tried this mix without sterilizing last year and lost several thousand seedlings. After steam sterilizing, I produced the prettiest seedlings I've ever grown.
A google search will turn up several worm casting suppliers.
Seysonn,
Good point - I think vermiculite works better for a seedling planting medium (when added to soil for 2" & 4" pots) with it's moisture retention abilities where perlite works better in raised beds/containers where compaction and drainage issues become important. Plus, I don't know about your area but perlite in my market area is almost 1/2 the cost of vermiculite! That is a huge difference! Even though I didn't mention that in my container/raised bed formula above - I do use perlite in all mixtures except seedlings where I still use vermiculite (that is in 2" & 4" pots - I don't use either in 3/4" seed starting cubes).
When we built our GH and raised beds 5 years ago we only used vermiculite in all of our soil mixtures and haven't changed our formula descriptions. Since then - we have discovered what you already knew - that perlite is much cheaper and better suited for drainage and aeration - IMO.
We have not had a sterilization problem in our small GH seedling soil mixture quantities as Fusion_power has experienced. We have a very high % of germination success. I can definitely see the need for a sterilization program in a large or commercial setting though!
I've tried keeping my plants going over the winter, but I
think I'm too close to the San Gabriel mountains and it
gets below 55 deg quite regularly. When it gets that
cool (being from Chicago, that's not cold), there's no fruit
set.
If you drive north from my house about a mile, there's no
more roads, just mountains. In fact, the Colby fire a week
and a half ago, was right above my house a couple of miles.
Just personal opinion of course but with all the wonderful tomato varieties out there and if I could grow only 4 plants I wouldn't waste the space on either of them.
But if I had to pick one of those two it would be Solar Flare if for no other reason than it will outproduce both the brandywines 10:1 in my experience with them. Especially in a zone 9 climate.
Dave
ONE way is to look at the competition and by testing the market by setting a price. (Supply and Demand). You, as starter, might not be looking for a profit in the very beginning, until you get your foot in the door. Calculating the COSTs, if you want to get into your time, greenhouse maintenance (construction investment), labor .. can be involved. But you can calculate your basic direct costs:
--- seeds
--- starting mix
--- pot/container
--- fertilizer
--- electricity (for grow lights)
--- advertizing (if any)
BY THE MARKET:
Most online mail orders charge about $3.50 per 4 -6" seedling. The same goes for the big box stores in the spring. Sometimes they sell smaller seedlings in 4-pack for about the same. I think the farmers marketers just sell mostly their extras just to cover part of their expenses. They may or may not be making money by selling seedlings. JMO