Potting up

Big Beef tomatoes

Many things are going on at once, and one of them is potting up seedlings and moving them out to the greenhouse. Already, onions, leek, parsley, lettuce, and the first trays of cauliflower and broccoli are out there, all of them hardy enough to take whatever cold comes along. What’s really going to use up space once they’re potted up are the tender tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. I’d like to’ve had them all done by now, BUT, there’s going to be a cold snap for 4-5 days starting early next week, a couple of nights may go down as low as -8°C (18°F), and I’m concerned that row cover and the kerosene heater may not be enough protection in the unheated greenhouse. So I’m waiting, potting up a few every day and finding room for them under the lights. I started with the Chosen 100, my earliest 100 tomato starts, 25 each of Big Beef (above), Juliet, Striped German and Stupice (in order, two hybrids and two open pollinated heirlooms). They’ve gone into 3″ peat pots, with a mix of peat, compost and soil, and I’m also hardening them off outside. The rest of the toms were started a couple of weeks later. They’ll move from 72- to 38-cell trays, all part of the spend-less-time-on-transplants experiments… Waiting on weather forecasts is a bit of a risky way to work, it’s really not a good idea to delay anything at this point in the year, I’ve found it’s generally better to get on with things and deal with problems as they come up, not try to second guess the future. But I have so much else to do, I’ll take the chance and wait a couple more days to finish them all…

3 thoughts on “Potting up”

  1. Looks like things are ticking along for you.  I won’t bee there till next year.  We’ll only put in a couple of dozen toms counting the 8 already blooming in the greenhouse.  Still…It’s fun to watch and plan for the future.  Keep it up.

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  2. Hi there.  I’m an oil painter currently putting together ideas for a painting which will be auctioned off to benefit “Growing Home”, an urban community gardening organization in Chicago.  The benefit is in early June.  I was wondering if you might grant me permission to use 1 or 2 images as a basis for the painting.  They’ve provided me with a few, but the quality of your photos are far superior and will be much easier to work with.  Thanks in advance for your kind consideration.  Karen (mazzart@cox.net)

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