Micro-tomato crosses

[kayrobbins]

Glad to know they are looking like they should. I think it is different when you buy seeds than when you are growing out someone's baby. I want these plants to be what you are hoping for and I am so happy with how they are thriving. I did give three plants to the local extension agent. She has a great sun room and is always willing to grow out my experiments. Every time I can get them to admit hybrids are not the only answer is a personal victory.

[ChrisK]

haha! First rule is these are not children! You will not hurt my feelings if they are no good (I've taken more than that here. heh.) I don't want to waste time following a poor cross, there are plenty more to make and grow!

They are cute little plants though.

[ChrisK]

Siblings of the plant in post #193

[ChrisK]

I am really liking this cross. If the flavor is there I will prioritize this over the others. So far I have not seen any blossom drop like I've seen on multifloras in the past (knocks on wooden head). I have maybe 20-30 fruits forming on the first trusses.

Any ripening for you yet?

Originally Posted by dfollett

I have 10 of your multiflora plants growing. They are very healthy and uniform. The first photo shows all 10. They are about 6-7 inches tall and are starting to blossom. I can't tell yet how heavy the fruit set will be. How much variation should I expect in size, color, productiuon, etc?

These were planted on October 21, potted up on November 15 and planted in the one gallon container on November 26.

[dfollett]

Chris - I believe the seed you sent me was the Micro-Multiflora F3 (I don't have the seed packet with me).

Do they need to be buzzed to pollinate when inside without any pollinators flying around? I planted these in late November and have pretty much left them alone since. I put together a self-watering setup that has worked very well as long as I fill it every two weeks or so. I have been too busy/lazy to give them the attention I thought I would and have only even checked on them every couple of days.

Also, should I get rid of some of them and spread them out so they have more room? When I set things up, I planned the space around the pot size and didn't take into account the plants would spread like they have. They are in one gallon pots and are almost 12" in height. They are absolutely loaded with flowers, but I don't know how well they are setting fruit. Like I said, I have paid them very little attention. Just today I set up a fan that will give them some wind for 30 minutes 3 times a day. I wish I had thought of that a month ago.

I have another identical shelf with 10 pots of various other micros. They don't look nearly as healthy as these, although they are of various varieties and so they look somewhat different, rather than all identical like these.

I will pull them all off the shelf Saturday and give them each a good look to see if there is anything ripening. I have really neglected them, so to look as good as they do here, they are really a vigorous plant.

[kayrobbins]

Chris, I can see why you like this one so much. They look so stocky. My HMCC plants have blooms that have opened but no tomatoes yet.

[ChrisK]

They look great! Yep, the F3. This one is going to be on the larger size for a micro, the leaves are big and thick and rugose. Very compact and stocky though. So far this is my favorite micro cross. I have three plants and there does seem to be some difference in size.

I would definitely spread those out so they are not competing for light. Which ones to toss, (or maybe give away?) is up to you. Pick the best ones as far as overall plant health, compactness, strength and bloom #. Throwing out plants is hard to do. lol!

I don't buzz my flowers, I guess I handle them enough and the jostling helps pollen shed. You can also just flick the flower stem or tap the pot on the table a couple of times. The fan should be fine as well, smaller risk of cross pollination but not enough to worry about, IMO.

Looking forward to seeing the ripe fruit on these.

edit: another question that has come up is how many flowers are aborting w/o setting any fruit? Do you have a sense of this on your plants? Mine do not seem to be dropping blossoms and the first truss has 20-30 fruits on it.

edit2: what kind of automatic watering system do you use?

Originally Posted by dfollett

Chris - I believe the seed you sent me was the Micro-Multiflora F3 (I don't have the seed packet with me).

Do they need to be buzzed to pollinate when inside without any pollinators flying around? I planted these in late November and have pretty much left them alone since. I put together a self-watering setup that has worked very well as long as I fill it every two weeks or so. I have been too busy/lazy to give them the attention I thought I would and have only even checked on them every couple of days.

Also, should I get rid of some of them and spread them out so they have more room? When I set things up, I planned the space around the pot size and didn't take into account the plants would spread like they have. They are in one gallon pots and are almost 12" in height. They are absolutely loaded with flowers, but I don't know how well they are setting fruit. Like I said, I have paid them very little attention. Just today I set up a fan that will give them some wind for 30 minutes 3 times a day. I wish I had thought of that a month ago.

I have another identical shelf with 10 pots of various other micros. They don't look nearly as healthy as these, although they are of various varieties and so they look somewhat different, rather than all identical like these.

I will pull them all off the shelf Saturday and give them each a good look to see if there is anything ripening. I have really neglected them, so to look as good as they do here, they are really a vigorous plant.

[dfollett]

Originally Posted by ChrisK

I would definitely spread those out so they are not competing for light. Which ones to toss, (or maybe give away?) is up to you. Pick the best ones as far as overall plant health, compactness, strength and bloom #. Throwing out plants is hard to do. lol!

I won't be able to throw them out, but I'll have to relocate them where they won't be under lights. They'll probably stretch out looking for more light. Might be interesting to see the difference.

Originally Posted by ChrisK

edit: another question that has come up is how many flowers are aborting w/o setting any fruit? Do you have a sense of this on your plants? Mine do not seem to be dropping blossoms and the first truss has 20-30 fruits on it.

I'll try to come up with an answer to that tomorrow when I spend some time with them.

Originally Posted by ChrisK

edit2: what kind of automatic watering system do you use?

Automatic may be the wrong word. I have to manually add water every couple of weeks. It is a simple wicking system using a 43" x 22" x 2" boot tray on the 48" x 18" shelves I have the lights suspended over. Each tray accommodates 10 of the 1-gallon pots (as you can see, a little too closely together for these particular plants). The water seems to wick perfectly up into the 1-gallon pots and the tray holds enough that I only need to refill it every 10-14 days. I'll take the pots off it tomorrow and take some photos when I go through the plants closely. My first attempt didn't work well, but I made some modifications and it seems to work great.

It is actually quite simple. One 4-foot Costco shelf holds two trays with room for up to 18" plants in 1-gallon pots under the lower light and 22-23" plants under the upper light.

[dfollett]

I went through them all and thinned them by nearly half. I was able to keep nearly all of them under lights by moving some other varieties away from the lights. They varied in height from 9"-12". All have lots and lots of flowers and most have set some fruit. I don't see many flowers dropping off, but they seem to remain flowers a long time without setting or falling off. However, maybe I just haven't paid attention to how long it normally takes from flower to fruit (kind of like the watched pot that never boils).

A few photos (I don't know how to insert text between photos on here, so I'll describe them first):

Photo 1 is the tallest of the bunch - 12".
Photo 2 is the shortest - 9".
Photo 3 is the fruit that appears the farthest along and will probably ripen first.
Photo 4 - Most seem to have large clusters of flowers in a place or two - this one has flowers everywhere.

Those that have set fruit look like they will be similar in shape - round with a pronounced nipple end. How long typically from fruit set to ripe fruit? There aren't enough hours in a day for me to buzz all those flowers, so I hope the fan helps them set well.

[ChrisK]

Wow #4! All of these photos are showing the multiflora trait really nicely. Big branched single inflorescences. Thanks for the update!

[dfollett]

I glassed in a patio that faces due south and has no trees or other obstructions, so it gets full sun through the fall, winter and spring. I'll describe the photos:

Photo 1 - I used a 48" x 18" shelf I purchased at Costco and two 6-tube 4-foot T-5 lights I found on ebay. The lights fit exactly and securely between the shelf brackets on each end of the shelves. I have one plant tray on the bottom shelf and the other on the middle brackets that hold the top and bottom of the shelf together. I suspend one light at the highest bracket position of the shelf (actually, I start it low as I need to when the plants are small and raise it as they grow) There is room for for one gallon containers and 22" of plant. I do the same thing with the lower light. At its highest position there is room for 18" plants.

Photo 2 - Each shelf has a 43" x 22" x 2" boot tray I found at Gardner's Supply. Inside that tray I put four 10" x 22" seed starting trays with holes in the bottom (only to support things and not take up much space from water and still allow water to be everywhere).

Photo 3 - On top of the seed starting trays I put a piece of a rubber mat (I think it is made for wiping boots at a doorway, but was something that seemed would work to support the capillary mats.)

Photo 4 - I laid two pieces of capillary mat under the inside of the seed starting tray in the center of the big tray and up over everything both directions to nearly the outside of the tray. I then covered that with plastic to slow evaporation and cut holes in the plastic where I set pots that have holes on the bottom to accommodate wicking.

You have to saturate it all, fill the bottom tray with water and water the first time through each of the pots sitting on the capillary mat to start the wicking process. You also need to make sure you put more water in the tray before it empties. If it dries out, you need to do this process again to restart it.

I'm sure the length of time between each watering will vary based on temperature, humidity and plant size, but with the 10 plants overcrowding at the size they are, mine easily go 10 days. The initial fill/saturation used about 7 gallons and the pots were already moist.

Anyway, it is not something you would put in the living room, but it works great in my sunroom.

[Salsacharley]

Sweet! And Ingenious!

It looks like you could raise the height of the bottom lights up to the middle brackets for a few more inches of growth space by using chains or ties if you want.

Charley

[ChrisK]

You should put this in the DIY section too! Nice setup.

[dfollett]

I will. I will be able to get it so the top of the light is against the shelf above. I have it lower now so the lights will be as close to the plants as possible. I raise the light as needed. When it is as high as I can get it, it leaves room for plants to grow 18" above the top of the 1-gallon pot.

Originally Posted by Salsacharley

Sweet! And Ingenious!

It looks like you could raise the height of the bottom lights up to the middle brackets for a few more inches of growth space by using chains or ties if you want.

Charley

[heirloomtomaguy]

Here's a whole flat of 18 of the (red robin×sungold f1) f3 plants. Boy does it seem like they grow slow. I just have to keep reminding myself that the are micros and are growing along just fine.