There is HOPE!

RogueRose · Thu Jul 18, 2013 11:52 am

Remember those sunburnt, leggy, pathetic seedlings?

Look at them now (the four pots in the foreground):

We're even getting fruit:

Speaking of fruit....anyone know what tomatoes these are?

Cola82 · Thu Jul 18, 2013 2:44 pm

Wow! Those are amazing. I never stop marveling at how massive my tomatoes are considering I stressed every day about keeping them alive under my tiny grow light when they first sprouted. D:

Plants are awesome.

applestar · Thu Jul 18, 2013 3:13 pm

*maybe* "Striped Roman"

...if it tastes great, could you save me some seeds? I want to build up my sauce tomato varieties -- looking for INTENSE flavor in every color

RogueRose · Thu Jul 18, 2013 4:00 pm

Cola82 wrote:Wow! Those are amazing. I never stop marveling at how massive my tomatoes are considering I stressed every day about keeping them alive under my tiny grow light when they first sprouted. D:

Plants are awesome.

Thanks! I'm amazed at how big and happy and healthy they are considering how awful they looked. I let them harden up in those little planters then transplanted some in larger pots then in larger til they got put into the big pots they're in now and they just took off. Now they're almost as big as the ones behind them that are in the ground. They're doing even BETTER than the store-bought ones that are in pots. Next year I am going to be more diligent about starting though. But it's nice to know I can mess up and still get results.

RogueRose · Thu Jul 18, 2013 4:01 pm

applestar wrote:*maybe* "Striped Roman"

...if it tastes great, could you save me some seeds? I want to build up my sauce tomato varieties -- looking for INTENSE flavor in every color

I'll find out soon enough! I still have the seed packets as I didn't use all the seeds up. The only one it can be is "pink icicle" but they're not that pink...they're more striped. But the others are more round tomato types and then there's pear and it's definitely not that.

Northernfox · Thu Jul 18, 2013 5:22 pm

I am waiting with baited breath to see if I will get tomatoes like you!

Hey what are the yellow tomatoes?! I LOVE growing the oddly colored fruit!

RogueRose · Thu Jul 18, 2013 6:14 pm

Northernfox wrote:I am waiting with baited breath to see if I will get tomatoes like you!

Hey what are the yellow tomatoes?! I LOVE growing the oddly colored fruit!

The ones ABOVE I have no idea what they are. They're fun though. I love growing odd colored fruit too! My favorite are "Pear tomatoes" - the ones I grew this year are obscenely sweet too. I swear they must have been injected with sugar or something. I love them.

I never even LIKED tomatoes until I grew them myself. I always gave tomatoes on my plate AWAY! But now I LOVE tomatoes and always looking for fun ones to grow. Home grown tomatoes are NOTHING like the stuff in the grocery store. This is the first year that I am really getting GOOD tomatoes. It's only my 2nd year growing tomatoes at all! Last year I grew some but I didn't know what I was doing. I don't really know what I'm doing this year either.

But it's working out!

gunsmokex · Thu Jul 18, 2013 8:02 pm

RogueRose wrote:
Northernfox wrote:I am waiting with baited breath to see if I will get tomatoes like you!

Hey what are the yellow tomatoes?! I LOVE growing the oddly colored fruit!
The ones ABOVE I have no idea what they are. They're fun though. I love growing odd colored fruit too! My favorite are "Pear tomatoes" - the ones I grew this year are obscenely sweet too. I swear they must have been injected with sugar or something. I love them.

I never even LIKED tomatoes until I grew them myself. I always gave tomatoes on my plate AWAY! But now I LOVE tomatoes and always looking for fun ones to grow. Home grown tomatoes are NOTHING like the stuff in the grocery store. This is the first year that I am really getting GOOD tomatoes. It's only my 2nd year growing tomatoes at all! Last year I grew some but I didn't know what I was doing. I don't really know what I'm doing this year either. But it's working out!

I hear ya, I hated tomatoes too usually I just toss them off of my burger. But the ones coming out of my garden are completely different. I guess its a pride thing too, they just taste that much better knowing how much hard work and sweat I've put into them. This is my first year gardening ever and I'm now completely hooked. I didn't do too many varieties of tomatoes this year only the kind that I knew I'd like; yellow pear, grape, roma, super sweet baby tomatoes and something else. All of my plants were attacked one night by my parents blue heeler puppy so the sticks got all messed up and the plants all more or less had a shock to their system lol, but all is good everything is coming right along.

Northernfox · Thu Jul 18, 2013 8:48 pm

I have always Quit doing tomatoes when they fail at the end of the year. This year I swear I won't say that as I think I might actually get some full sized fruit !!

Your making me want to go do another tomato video !!

amylong · Thu Jul 18, 2013 9:26 pm

wow I am impressed..I am happy they took off. This is my first year with tomatoes..they are still green:( I hope they break color soon:(:( I hope they taste good too..if they are good..

Northernfox · Thu Jul 18, 2013 10:20 pm

I think I see red out in my garden. Either means my tomato cures is over or the raspberries are ready

silly rain !!

rainbowgardener · Thu Jul 18, 2013 11:16 pm

Amazing. I'm sure I would have said (maybe did say) abandon the pathetic seedlings and go buy well started nursery plants. I would not have expected them to turn out so well. Congratulations!

Northernfox · Thu Jul 18, 2013 11:27 pm

Two cherry tomatoes

and strawberries

I am 0.5lbs lighter from loss of blood due to mosquitoes but I lived !!

Congratulations by the way!! It feels like with tomatoes they are touch and go until they are about 3" tall and bam !! They explode !

RogueRose · Fri Jul 19, 2013 8:08 am

[quote="gunsmokex"I hear ya, I hated tomatoes too usually I just toss them off of my burger. But the ones coming out of my garden are completely different. I guess its a pride thing too, they just taste that much better knowing how much hard work and sweat I've put into them. This is my first year gardening ever and I'm now completely hooked. I didn't do too many varieties of tomatoes this year only the kind that I knew I'd like; yellow pear, grape, roma, super sweet baby tomatoes and something else. All of my plants were attacked one night by my parents blue heeler puppy so the sticks got all messed up and the plants all more or less had a shock to their system lol, but all is good everything is coming right along.[/quote]

I do think it's a pride thing too. There's something about growing it yourself that makes it special. I should try growing some other things that I don't like and see if I end up liking them.

Glad to hear everything is coming along despite the blue heeler puppy. My friends have a lab who always loves vegetables. He would eat all the cucumbers that hung outside the garden fence. Or anything else - tomatoes too. So cute.

RogueRose · Fri Jul 19, 2013 8:10 am

Northernfox wrote:I have always Quit doing tomatoes when they fail at the end of the year. This year I swear I won't say that as I think I might actually get some full sized fruit !!

Your making me want to go do another tomato video !!

I usually have GROUNDHOGS that steal the big fruit.....I set a trap and haven't caught anything but they haven't come this year yet. I am having an issue with birds this year. I hung up some bird tape and CDs and moved "Smitty" (my fake owl) from the berry patch over to the tomato garden. The berries are done now anyway. I do have bird netting but I would rather NOT use that as I hate wrestling with it to get into tomatoes.

RogueRose · Fri Jul 19, 2013 8:11 am

amylong wrote:wow I am impressed..I am happy they took off. This is my first year with tomatoes..they are still green:( I hope they break color soon:(:( I hope they taste good too..if they are good..

Thanks! My big ones haven't broken color yet. Just the small - cherries and grapes and pears. I can't wait to get my first BIG tomato!

RogueRose · Fri Jul 19, 2013 8:15 am

rainbowgardener wrote:Amazing. I'm sure I would have said (maybe did say) abandon the pathetic seedlings and go buy well started nursery plants. I would not have expected them to turn out so well. Congratulations!

Thanks! I think you might have said to give them up. And I sort of did...I DID end up getting some from a garden center. With these I gave up on them - but noticed they started to get darker green and healthier. So I thinned some of the weaker ones out. Then tougher ones got tougher. Then I transplanted them and planted them deep in a larger pot - with some fertilzer. Then planted them in one thing bigger - again deep. And then finally in the big pots they're in now - again deep - with fertilizer. They really bounced back! I sort of figured - if my friend in MN doesn't put HER tomatoes in the ground til MUCH later than *I* normally would, then I can probably get away with it. And I did! (if I could save the seedlings) And I did!

RogueRose · Fri Jul 19, 2013 8:16 am

Northernfox wrote:Two cherry tomatoes and strawberries

I am 0.5lbs lighter from loss of blood due to mosquitoes but I lived !!

Congratulations by the way!! It feels like with tomatoes they are touch and go until they are about 3" tall and bam !! They explode !

I know the skeeters are so bad! They might have been worse here last year...or I am just making sure I am doing all my gardening in the middle of the day so I can NOT get bitten. Last year I got eaten alive!

Northernfox · Fri Jul 19, 2013 8:52 am

RogueRose wrote:
Northernfox wrote:Two cherry tomatoes and strawberries

I am 0.5lbs lighter from loss of blood due to mosquitoes but I lived !!

Congratulations by the way!! It feels like with tomatoes they are touch and go until they are about 3" tall and bam !! They explode !

I know the skeeters are so bad! They might have been worse here last year...or I am just making sure I am doing all my gardening in the middle of the day so I can NOT get bitten. Last year I got eaten alive!

I have a little one now so my gardening is after he goes down or while he naps but that is during the day and I unfortunately have to work

It is a good weight loss plan

.