I started tomato plants inside my house at the end of January. It was too early, I knew that but tomatoes say "Summer" to me and I needed to think about that through my annual Seasonal Affective Disorder.
I started a second batch at the end of February.
By mid-March, we had unusually warm weather, so I put some of the earliest seedlings into pots and put them out on the back deck to warm in the sun. I tenderly watered them and brought them in each night. Then one day, while I was away on some errand, a windstorm came up and they blew over.
Oh well, I still had February's plants. By the end of April, I was taking them out for airings. By mid-May they were on the deck in pots. Wind storms came through again, but they survived, though a little bent.
This past week, all the seedlings were planted. I have three varieties: beefsteak for BLTs, Romas for soup, and Rutgers for salads. Some of the plants are a foot tall. I should have tomatoes on our table by mid-July.
I was proud to have plants in the ground so early and doing so well, until....I walked to the grocery store, and passed a house on Lincoln Street with three foot plants already bearing tomatoes.
How did they do that?
Perhaps next year, I'll start my tomatoes on New Year's Day, get grow lights, and fertilize the heck out of them.
I started a second batch at the end of February.
By mid-March, we had unusually warm weather, so I put some of the earliest seedlings into pots and put them out on the back deck to warm in the sun. I tenderly watered them and brought them in each night. Then one day, while I was away on some errand, a windstorm came up and they blew over.
Oh well, I still had February's plants. By the end of April, I was taking them out for airings. By mid-May they were on the deck in pots. Wind storms came through again, but they survived, though a little bent.
This past week, all the seedlings were planted. I have three varieties: beefsteak for BLTs, Romas for soup, and Rutgers for salads. Some of the plants are a foot tall. I should have tomatoes on our table by mid-July.
I was proud to have plants in the ground so early and doing so well, until....I walked to the grocery store, and passed a house on Lincoln Street with three foot plants already bearing tomatoes.
How did they do that?
Perhaps next year, I'll start my tomatoes on New Year's Day, get grow lights, and fertilize the heck out of them.
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