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applestar
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Re: Applestar’s 2018 Tomatoes (and peppers ...maybe eggplant

Look at this. I decided to add Yellow Canary and Birdie Rouge — both micro-dwarf tomato varieties — to This year’s roster. Since I was in a hurry to have them catch up, I used the spoonzip method to pre-germinate them, of course, but in addition, I put them on the heatmat that is being regulated for peppers (83-85°F).

Yellow Canary (seeds from winter harvested fruit) germinated within less than 1 day and needed to be sown in their Kcups before 24 hours and are starting to sprout today.

Micro Yellow Canary 4/18 SpoonZip > KC(3) 4/19 1d
Micro Yellow Canary 4/18 SpoonZip > KC(3) 4/19 1d
Micro Yellow Canary 4/18 SpoonZip > KC(4) 4/19 1d

Micro Birdie Rouge 4/19 SpoonZip > KC(3) 4/21 2d
Micro Birdie Rouge 4/19 SpoonZip > KC(4) 4/21 2d

Birdie Rouge seeds were sent to me by a friend from her 2015 harvested and saved seeds. They germinated in 2 days. I will sow them tonight if I’m not too tired, and I could probably expect them to sprout by the next day also.

...normally, I don’t subject tomato seeds to this level temperature — about 75-80°F... and get first germination in around 3 days and see sprouting elbows in 4-5 days.

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First /biggest Pinocchio Orange micro dwarf to be Uppotted to this special bowl — DH found an excellent Okinawan Japanese place that sends out excellent take-out udon in these 1 L polypropylene bowls (the soup is packed in a separate container — mark of knowledgeable noodle soup chef) with sturdy lids perfect for drip tray.Image

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1L is about 1/3 cup more than a quart — I guess it will outgrow the bowl, but it seemed like a perfect fit. :()


...and here’s Jochalos — also a micro dwarf — in another bowl:

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applestar
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...I’ve been buzzing these with an electric toothbrush... :wink:

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applestar wrote:These are 5 of the Bill’s Striped peppers, Uppotted today from bathroom paper cups to MacDonald’s ice cream sundae cups. I have 3 more seedlings elsewhere.

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...there had been two seedlings that had cotyledons that were physically fused together. One of the fused cotyledons seedlings is in the middle. The other one started to push the seedleaves away from each other, and when I gently tugged, they came apart.

...I’m not sure why two of these have developed dark stems? One of the 3 others did, too. Are they just further along?
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Bill’s Striped have been neglected for the past week. They are pot bound in their 8 oz cups and in the last several days of heatwave with indoor temp soaring in the 80’s (near 90’s in their location) have dried out needing to be watered twice a day while growing 1-2 inches a day, requiring daily raising the lights. I really do think Bill’s likes heat and sulks in lower temperatures.

I turned the lights off without checking on them yesterday, and this morning, they were all pushing up at the lights with no way to raise the lights any higher. The one in a 16oz cup behind the two in small bucket had singed leaves. I took them outside to “chill” —- heatwave is over and today’s high will only reach mid- to upper 60’s. :twisted: The singed one was actually in a medium medicine bottle. I only Uppotted it because othewise it won’t make it out there. But the others need to be Uppotted too. There are 4 more in the bucket to the right.

It’s interesting that they all seem to mature uniformly, and they are almost all developing buds that should open any day now. Are they doing this BECAUSE they are pot bound? ...or are they responding to the several days of heat?

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...now I’m starting to feel the pressure. I have yet to plant any of my tomatoes even though the weather is right, and some of the starts are developing flower buds.

Standouts among them — My BUTTERMINTS F4 and WILD ROSA F4 have opened blooms already, URULU OCHRE and one other dwarf ...MARALINGA?... had blossoms that were starting to unfold yesterday. Surprisingly, GOAT BAG is one of the other ones have fat flower buds that might open any day now... although I wasn’t too surprised that Zena’s Gift does also— a previous grower in Michigan said Zena’s Gift is consistently the first large fruited tomato to mature in her garden.

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Here’s a sweet roasting pepper called Oxhorn of Carmagnola.
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Carmagnola Ox Horn Pepper - Presìdi Slow Food - Slow Food Foundation
https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/s ... rn-pepper/
Ripens to red. — I HAD to uppot it ...it kept falling over... so I grabbed an used container, stirred it up, then added Citrus fertilizer that was handy. Topped it off with aged (unfortunately) vermicast.

— I need to find out how big this plant gets... I can’t remember if this IS a short variety with long pods that drags on the ground — which would be perfect in this container, or if this is the kind that grows to 5 feet or something equally unsuitable.

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...also, does it look OK to you? I’m afraid I’m letting them all get too pot bound....

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looking a little spindly, but not too bad.

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applestar
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That’s what I thought. Peppers have the ability to keep growing slowly even while miniaturized in small containers, so I have tendency to let myself slack off and not keep increasing the pot size when I really should. Ideally, the plant should be Uppotted to at least as wide as the leaf spread, I believe. Peppers also don’t need as much light as tomatoes, so they get the less bright accommodations. Peppers also give me trouble when germinating and after sprouting, so they either get coddled or they get put side in favor of seedlings that respond well.... Then, too, nobody in my family eats peppers except when I sneak them into mixed background flavor like soups and stews :roll:

This one actually had one of the largest containers for plant starts. I have a bunch of stunted starts inside that have been staying alive in tiny containers. I just finally uppotted them and am letting them settle in and show signs of growing again before hardening them off.

I SHOULD try devoting more attention to growing the pepper seedlings one year just so I have a handle on what well-grown pepper starts look like. :D

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Sooo excited about my Shomofuri#1 F5’s I just HAD to cross-post here :-() :>

Subject: Learning • Practicing to Cross Breed Tomato Varieties
applestar wrote:I *think* I’m seeing Striped/variegated calyx on the blossom upper left —

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Yes, I AM growing tomatoes.... :>
Subject: Applestar’s 2018 Garden
applestar wrote:FINALLY! Tackling the Spiral Garden. Some of these (overgrown) tomatoes were planted — especially impossibly pot-bound ones ... others are buried in their pots for tentative placement review. Dwarfs are still on the table — not positioned here yet.

...It’s slow going, because I have to remove the weeds to find space between garlic plants and strawberry plants to plant them. (Also removing some of the Wild strawberries that are in the way). Needing to widen the rows and hill up with the rich swale/path soil. Earthworms everywhere. :()
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Sweet Aperitif

I forgot to take a look at the flower clusters, and the photo is not very clear, but these are supposed to unfold in corkscrew shape — maybe they will present better once they have had the chance to stretch out a bit —

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...they have those cupped leaves that look different from other plants though...

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Napa Rosé are the first in the entire Spiral Garden to be planted with green fruits. These two have pretty strong antho in the stems and calyces, as well as surface antho on the leaves

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...I have a third plant that has hardly any antho on it. That one might be the “true-to-type”? I have been told that Napa Rosé is a sibling to an antho variety, but is not SUPPOSED to be antho variety itself. I’m going to plant it in the Patio-side Kitchen Garden.

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Helsing Junction Blues

...whatever was going on as seedlings in the house, Helsing Junction Blues definitely have Napa Rosé beat in the dark stem color now... but I’m not seeing the foliage surface antho....

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I’ve planted all of the varieties that are showing antho characteristics on the SUNNY-er side of the panels, so hopefully, we will see some spectacular antho effects on the fruits.

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Zena’s Gift

Honestly, I’ve never seen the like! That bigger Zena’s Gift seedling completely bullied the 2nd wimpy seedling in the container, then the weakling got snapped by something — it looked like a bird landed on it.

I’ve left the stub in the ground but I don’t know if it will come back. In the mean time, I had to give this monster practically the entire front side of the panel to itself. Look how wide-spread it is! :shock:

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Wes and Goat Bag on the other side, Rebel Yell at the end to the right — they are no slouch, you know.....

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Napa Rosé and Helsing Junction Blues update. (see previous photos couple of post up) Wow. just....wow.

Napa Rosé
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Helsing Junction Blues
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More “Greenies’!
- Dwarf Lemon Ice
- King Aramis (dwarf)
- Uluru Ochre (dwarf)
- Bear Creek or Faelan’s First Snow (no variegation)
- Gezahnte
- Brown Multiflora (volunteer by the compost last year)
- Allons-y, Dr.X F4
- Pruden’s Black doesn’t have green fruits yet, but I took a pic because of the number of flowers on the truss.

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...and the Shimofuri #1 and #2 F5’s and Jack Frost’s Early Love F5 ... but don’t get excited about the extra white spatters — I used Surround kaolin clay on them to hopefully discourage the Tortoise beetles. They seem to be more vulnerable.
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This is Napa Rosé — one of the very strongly antho plants that I am not sure should be.... :|

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...and this is one of my Shimofuri#1 F5’s — I’m in love! Image

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The micro-dwarf Yellow Canary in a takeout udon bowl produced the first ripe tomatoes of the season! :clap:

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The ripest ones that I thought I could pick yesterday... but didn’t, split from last night’s deluge. But they tasted great since there was intense flavor left from being on the dry side until then. The flavor of the other, unsplit ones have been diluted by the rain. But I’m looking forward harvesting more.


This is my third Napa Rosé plant that doesn’t have much antho if any at all. This might actually be the one that’s true to type?

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More Shimofuri#1 F5 pictures :wink:

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Here are my Bill’s Striped growout in a Rubbermaid SIP. This is a special project and I’m supposed to bag the blossoms and save the seeds from plants with best striped fruits:
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Took pictures of the 6 biggest fruits —
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...what do you think?

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Helsing Junction Blues — amazing antho pigmentation on red cherry tomatoes. Said to be sweeter than most antho varieties. Antho varieties tend to separate into two categories — antho pigments that carry the “blecch” flavor, and the antho pigments that are tasty and reminiscent of blueberries and grapes. I’m hoping this one has the latter flavor profile.

— 3/21 seeds started
— 3/26 sprouted
— 6/1 planted out
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Gezahnte — Swiss heirloom pink dry/hollow paste/stuffing variety

— 3/23 seeds started
— 3/28 sprouted
— 5/30 planted out

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First two fruits on Dwarf Lemon Ice (ivory yellow heart) — stable selected release of (Roza Vetrov x Anna Banana Russian) ... you can see the cute squat heart shape inherited from Anna Banana Russian in these babies :D

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Shimofuri #1-2 F5
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Shimofuri #1-3 F5
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Shimofuri #1-4 F5 in a 2.5 gal container
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Shimofuri #1 F5 in hanging basket container
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Unnumbered (less spectacular variegation) Shimofuri #1 F5
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...I realized I didn’t take a good photo, but one of the unnumbered plants on the far right and in the back looks like it would sprawl (maybe grow well in a hanging basket).

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— Buttermints F4 is blushing!
— Molten Sky F4 is displaying all kinds of crazy shapes — last year, in the previous generation, sister segregate Wild Rosa F3 was the one that kept changing shapes for the entire season ... I’m suspecting shape differences on these are environmental.
— Just starting to display stripes ...hoping for same gorgeousness as last year :-()

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Kitchen Garden Patio SIP#3 (KGP:SIP3), a.k.a. Bill’s Striped SIP

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- 6 out of 8 plants bore striped fruits of various degrees and with variation in shape

- 2 out of 8 plants have fruits with no sign of stripes. Hopefully they will be like Giant Marconi — Bill’s Striped is believed to be a Giant Marconi sport, and Even without stripes, fruits have been described as thick walled, juicy and sweet.

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- #8 plant had to be cut down to a stub after being attacked by a stalk borer. It bore a fruit with fortunately insignificant stripes.

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Now that they have each shown what kind of fruits they can grow, I’m waiting for the next flush of flowerbuds to grow so I can bag the worthies with organza drawstring bags and keep the seeds pure. This part has been reported to be a challenge since Bill’s Striped is has been known to be difficult to set fruits when bagged.

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It seems odd to me that all three of my Napa Rosé are blushing at the same time, regardless of the different microclimates they are planted in....

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- Gochugaru yong Gochu g2 I believe? (My designation for 2nd generation from seeds saved from fruits grown on started plants of hybrid status=unknown) — harvested first 2 red ripe fruits today :()
- Shishito AG’17 (overwintered)

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Zena’s Gift on the right — the first fruit is getting bigger — definitely biggest in the garden so far Image

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(Gezahnt on the left)

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:evil: :evil: 2nd little one I’ve found so far.

Image...little hornworm...

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Another grower reported that Napa Rosé splits under water stress — dry then wet.

Yep. It splits :x Just look at that evil sneer!
...I ate it. :twisted: even split, it was quite flavorful and tasty ;)
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BOTTOM RIGHT ...now I’m having issues with my identification and wondering about possible mishandling during the seedlings stage. The non/low antho one, which I was sure it was one of the Napa Rosé because it was growing in community with the other two heavily antho’d ones, ripened to a different color ...possibly red/yellow epi though I haven’t verified yet. :|

(Napa Rosé is a pink with clear epi)

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This is F3 or F4 of an accidental sweet yellow (Doux Long d’Antibes) x (an unknown hot pepper). I was given the seeds from an orange sweet segregate to try.... Hopefully this will also produce sweet orange fruits — my understanding is “sweet’ is a recessive trait. :-()

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I missed it with this fruit, but I need to bag future blossoms of this plant to prevent contamination cross by neighboring Fish, Shishito, and Hanoi Market peppers.

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Sweet Aperitif —said to be very sweet and tasty. Can’t wait to try — giving them the customary 24 hrs in the house first.

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I gave my BIL who adamantly refused any cherry varieties one plant anyway. He planted out his 1 week to 2 weeks earlier. I received this text from him today:
Ur cherrys are psychotic-they're everywhere. But good tasting

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Allons-y, Dr.X F4

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...this first one on this plant was kind of small. Hopefully the fruits will go back to the bigger slicers / beefsteak size like last year’s....

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Yesterday and today —

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Zena’s Gift

BIL sent a picture of their first Zena’s Gift (I labeled it :wink: )

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— He texted “Zena is HUGE!” :D

Here’s my first one — still green... I think those are bird claw-marks.
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Molten Sky F4 and Wild Rosa F4 in the Spiral Garden.

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...for some reason, Wild Rosa in both VGD and SG beds are heavily infested by mites. Not too worried about size and shape since the fruits changed through the season last year.

This Molten Sky F4 in the Spiral Garden is showing early promise with hints of developing skin patterns and maybe more uniform shape/size. But the other ones in the VGD bed is more prolific so far.

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Faelan’s First Snow

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Micro-dwarf tomatoes are growing new floral trusses now that they have established in the strawberry jar :D

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- Greek oregano in one of the side holes, and Purple Petra basil looking ready for a cutting :-()

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Bill’s Striped sweet peppers (believed to be Giant Marconi sport)
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