Tomato diaries

Tomato diaries

LOG

This is an account of our experience growing our own tomatoes for the first time. The purpose of the log is for us to track what has been successful for reference if we do this again next year. It is time stamped so we can track things like how long it takes from buds to fruits and how long for the fruit hit full size and then how long to ripen. I've already gathered that the season in our town is way too short for tomatoes. These plants will be moved indoors at night while we are still experiencing frosts here and will probably be moved into the garage under a grow light this fall. We'll see.

12:00 PM 5/1/2007
this is a late entry and therefore the date is approximated. Around this time I purchased:
.....3 28" long rectangular planters
.....1 large bag of fertilized potting soil
.....10 tomatoes plants of various strains
..........2 Cherry Tomatoes -- Small Fruits -- days to Mature
..........5 Early Girls -- Medium Fruits -- days to Mature
..........2 Big Boy -- Huge Fruits -- 78 days to Mature
..........1 Pink Beefsteak -- Huge Fruits -- 90-115 days to Mature
.....(days to mature = days to first fruit)
It cost me $88. I expect to profit in more than tomatoes here. This is partly because we love tomatoes and vine ripens cannot be beat, but also a project for my own muse.
I planted these plants way too close together in the space available. but we'll see how they do. They are in these planters so that I can bring them in and out to avoid frost and keep them inside at what would otherwise be the end of their season. With a grow-light, I hope they will continue to produce.

12:00 PM 5/16/2007
another late entry and again the date is approximated. In the last weeks these plants have shot up like rockets. I have witnessed as much as two inches of growth from putting them outside in the morning till coming home after work. Other days only an inch, but they are really growing like mad. So I have staked all 3 plants in one planter, and added an arching cage up and over the other two planters. With twine tied around the trunks of the plants and to the top of the arch I have added additional support to the other plants. I've taken care to have the twine not strangle the trunks, but instead to kind of cradle them by positioning the twine below a branch. To picture this, if you were to start pulling upwards on the twine it would cause the branch to start to fold up against the trunk before it would ever start to strangulate the trunk.

12:00 PM 5/29/2007
Again a late entry and then I'm caught up. After starting this log, entries after this one will be made at the time recorded. This entry is to note that we now see some blossom buds coming one all of the Early Girls plants. These plants make up exactly half of the collective patch. Five of these in all. We are exited as each of these buds will become blossoms, and each blossom will become tomatoes, and each tomatoes will be relished!

8:48 AM 6/2/2007
and this is the first entry in this log that is made at the time recorded. I've been watering these plants heavily every other day until now. It's getting warmer and the plants are getting larger so I will now start to water them moderately every day. The last two nights have been the first two nights I’ve felt they would be safe from frost if left out over night.
Something interesting to note; There is only one plant that I cannot see any buds or blossoms on yet. This is interesting because I understood the "days to mature" to mean "days till first fruit". If this is correct then why do we have buds and blossoms on the Big Boys and Pink Beefsteaks already when they have so long before maturity?