Rosella Purple & Iditarod Red - Planted Out Today - Jan 29, 2012 (pics)

[rnewste]

Call me crazy here in Northern California, but I had to make a choice of either throwing my spare Rosella Purple and Iditarod plants out, or finding a "home" for them:



These were backup plants to those growing indoors in the InnTainers:



As these guys were now about 25 inches tall and flowering, I didn't need the backup plants anymore:





So, after looking at the 10 day weather forecast and seeing our temps will continue unseasonably warm (days in the mid 70s with nights no lower than 43), I decided to plant them out in one of my EarthTainers.

Dear Son had sent me (among other things) 2 bags of Bat Guano for Christmas - you can always tell what your children think of you with their choice of gifts. Actually, this was a welcome present, and I added 1/2 Cup to the Potting Mix.



Mixed this in along with 2 Cups Dolomite Lime.

I am using a 50/50% mix of Old TomatoTone and New TomatoTone fertilizer (1 Cup of each).



Clearly, there is a difference between the old formulation and the new:



Using the combo together, I should be able to preserve my stash of the Old for another 5 to 7 years.

I am experimenting with a different placement of the fertilizer strip this year, with it carved in the center, along the short length of the EarthTainer:



So in the plants went to their happy home for 2012:



Air temp of 71 degrees at planting time.

To be sure, we will get cooler temps in February, and I have a 25 watt lamp and an inverted container which I will fasten on to the EarthTainer to keep the internal temps above freezing, so I think I am good to go starting off the 2012 Season on the early side.

Kind of ironic that the 2011 tomatoes are still producing, while I am planting out for the 2012 Season. "Circle of Life", I think they call it.

Raybo

[recruiterg]

Raybo, I planted 3 dwarfs to a tainer last summer. Probably wouldn't work with the fert strip down the middle, but you can easily fit 3 dwarf plants per tainer. I used a mini florida weave made out of two 3-4 foot stakes pushed in the dirt at the ends. The dwarf plants don't seem to need a heck of a lot of staking although the fruit gets heavy and the start sagging when loaded with fruit.

BTW...we still have 2 months of winter and 2 months of tough sledding before plant out.

[rnewste]

Originally Posted by recruiterg

Raybo, I planted 3 dwarfs to a tainer last summer. Probably wouldn't work with the fert strip down the middle, but you can easily fit 3 dwarf plants per tainer. I used a mini florida weave made out of two 3-4 foot stakes pushed in the dirt at the ends. The dwarf plants don't seem to need a heck of a lot of staking although the fruit gets heavy and the start sagging when loaded with fruit.

BTW...we still have 2 months of winter and 2 months of tough sledding before plant out.

Thanks for the "heads-up". For the TastyWine and Caitydid Dwarfs this Season, I will be putting two of them each into my 18 gallon outdoor InnTainers. I can then fit 3 InnTainers in the space taken up by 2 EarthTainers. Got to figure out a staking method with the smaller containers however.

Raybo

[recruiterg]

I was almost thinking you could do 2 rows of 3 with a fert strip down the middle the long way. My plan is to make a lightweight, but sturdy, frame out of PVC, then use twine to go around the plants to keep them in check. Not sure if 6 plants in a std sized tainer would be overkill.

[akgardengirl]

Iditarod Red has it's some of it's upbringing in Alaska and the daytime temps you are having are much warmer than our summer temps so that plant will be very happy even with the low nights temps.
Sue B.

[rnewste]

Originally Posted by akgardengirl

Iditarod Red has it's some of it's upbringing in Alaska and the daytime temps you are having are much warmer than our summer temps so that plant will be very happy even with the low nights temps.
Sue B.

Thanks Sue - - that's what I was counting on.

My Yukon Quest seedlings are only an inch tall so it will be a while before they go outside. Thanks for all your work on both Varieties.

Raybo

[Heritage]

Ray,

You're narrowing in on your "tomatoes 365 days a year" goal. It will be interesting to watch the progress and comparison of growing environments!

Steve

[tgplp]

Those plants look great, as always! It seems you've always got a project going on... soon you WILL have tomatoes year round! I'm very very very jealous of your weather, it's forty five and raining here in Western Washington! I don't know how much longer I can wait to sow some tomato seeds; a couple years ago I couldn't take it anymore and sowed some in January! Waaaaay to early. Just a week or two more now...


Keep us updated on all your plants, we love hearing about them!

Taryn

[sprtsguy76]

Good luck Ray with your early planting! It will be interesting to see how your plants do the rest of winter through spring. One thing is for sure it really does feel like spring around already. Just beautiful days we have had recently. Ate my last tomato from the garden last night. Just started my seed 3 days ago, waiting for the first one to pop.

Damon

[lakelady]

Ray, your posts are so fun to read about all of your projects!