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General discussion regarding the techniques and methods used to successfully grow tomato plants in containers.

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Old February 18, 2017   #46
AKmark
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Default It must be spring

I had to take this pic, I asked the kids to move some pro mix into the GH, this is what I saw.

Gerardo, that is funny.
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Old February 18, 2017   #47
Barb_FL
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Besides the obvious, that is a ton of PRO-MIX!!!

Gerardo - I grew Momotaro this fall and it was a machine.

I'm growing several Matsu-Express plants now for spring. I didn't find it early for setting fruit, but is starting to take over re: #s of fruit set. My largest plant is over 5'.
I'm excited to taste it.
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Old February 19, 2017   #48
pecker88
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AKmark View Post
Thanks tomato fanatics. I hope some will find some useful info in the thread somewhere along the line.
They are still getting 1200ppm, pH is 6.5. I will change ferts next week in the GH, we will slowly bump up the nutrients. They will soon be getting 1700ppm and pH will be 6.2, then the rapid growth will begin.
We have been warming up the GH, putting in injectors, water lines, cleaning tanks, hauling in frozen pro mix today to thaw, we are ready to get-er done.

Karen, you are welcome to stop in anytime, a visit to Alaska would be a good vacation too. I actually know a grower from your area who stops by sometimes.

Gerado, I am excited to try Ordoriko. I have grown Momotaro several times, I really like it.

Good luck everyone, the season has began.
wow, 1200ppm! do you fert every time you water, or do they sometimes get plain water?
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Old February 19, 2017   #49
Ricky Shaw
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Great pics!

Promix is such a good consistent product. Peat is not all the same and they use good peat. Fluffier, longer fiber, and it resists compaction better than other peats I've been trialing. In the Time vs Money equation, you can see why so many growers go with the promix. It's as no fail as a mix can be.

I'm interested to hear what you think of the coco coir blend. I'm thinking you said you had a couple bags of PromixHP CC you were trying.

pecker, the 1200ppm (1.6 mhos) is what I also use for seedlings and is the Hydro-Gardens/Chem-Gro recommendation for the Tomato Formula.
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Old February 19, 2017   #50
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wow, 1200ppm! do you fert every time you water, or do they sometimes get plain water?
Yes, every time you water, even if you water multiple times per day.
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Old February 19, 2017   #51
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Quote:
It must be spring
Quote:
I had to take this pic, I asked the kids to move some pro mix into the GH, this is what I saw.
Hey! Us Northerners know how to take advantage of the sun when we finally get some!

Great looking kids and enviable pile of Pro-Mix!
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Old March 2, 2017   #52
AKmark
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Default Next step almost complete

We have 90 percent of the plants planted in one of the GH's. We set the 5 gallon containers on foam board to keep them off of the cold floor. You can see how I did the roller hooks which will string up two plants per bag in half of the GH. One goes one way, the other the opposite direction, the plants will go in a directional oval in a sense when managing the vines when they have to be lowered. I could not do this in the other half because of the placement of my heater and vents, so one plant per bag there.

I keep a couple wide aisles, I can start many more plants on little benches to fill other greenhouses in a month or two.

Very sunny weather, the plants growth is set to explode now, we will be up to 12 hours light in less than two weeks.
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Old March 2, 2017   #53
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Everything is looking dapper as always.

Inquiry: is that greenhouse 30 x 70 ft or thereabouts? I figure their footprints vary by date of birth. Do you favor one size over another? The reason I ask is I'm doing some homework on greenhouse design and this manual recommends that size as a happy medium for temp, rh, CO2, etc.

Tropical greenhouse growers manual for the Caribbean DeGannes A et al CARDI JAN 2014
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Old March 2, 2017   #54
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Wow! I haven't seen it since you put in the concrete floor. Wow!

(Will I have to take my shoes off before I come in now???)

Last edited by Sherry_AK; March 2, 2017 at 11:01 PM.
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Old March 2, 2017   #55
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Oh my gosh! Are these the same plants that you were planting up in the cups 3 weeks ago? They are growing better than weeds.

The greenhouse looks amazing! I bet that you are having a blast!
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Old March 2, 2017   #56
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There's nothing like a new building. The feel and smell , everything brand new. Even the concrete has a distinctive new smell. All exciting! Mark do you have to do different prep in Alaska when pouring a new slab. ?
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Old March 3, 2017   #57
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Gerardo, that one is 30x72, and is good to fire up early in the season, but I prefer the larger 30x 96 GH'S, but they are too expensive to heat this time of year. I have some 48 footers too, but they are layed out differently, so I use this one first.

Sherry, we have some real good things happening, looks like ripe tomatoes before the middle of April.

Patti, wait a couple more weeks and see what happens, now the rapid growth begins. Starting the second batch tomorrow, I am ready to eat fresh tomatoes.

Jimbo, this GH is 5 years old, I just put a concrete floor in it. I like it because it is easy to clean and feels very dry. I use the shop vac, and then mop, I am really trying to keep disease beat back as long as possible. Last year I got powdery Mildew for the first time, it was a nightmare, very mentally tiring. Usually we see grey mold, it can be controlled, but PM is horrible. I had someone do them for me, and I did get a screaming deal, the ground work was easy because the floor was good packed gravel. If I do another one I may put foam board under the concrete to help keep the cold out.
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Old March 3, 2017   #58
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This is amazing. Who would believe the icy Alaska have earlier tomato than sizzling Texas. Your posts are text book for me. Thank you!
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Old March 3, 2017   #59
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This is amazing. Who would believe the icy Alaska have earlier tomato than sizzling Texas. Your posts are text book for me. Thank you!
It is cold and icy right now, and the winds have been harsh this last week too, somewhere between 50-70 mile an hour gusts I would guess. Did you notice the deep layer of snow against the front of the building. LOL However, in a corrected environment in combination with the beautiful sunshine, this time of year is opportunity for growing tomatoes.
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Old March 6, 2017   #60
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The plants are starting to react to the nice sunshine, we are almost to 11 hours light now. I'm keeping the night temps at 62-63, daytime temps are not much higher yet. I am seeing a small amount of cold stress/ some purplish stems, it should vanish by next week or so. All in all we are right on track.

Here is the list of the first batch.
Chapman
Delicious
Crnkovic Yugoslavian
Yellow Brandywine
Brandywine Sudduth's
Brandywine- from Ted
Rebel Yell
Bradley
Porkchop
Tomimaru Muchoo
Damsel
Big Dena
Orange Jazz
Russian
Rose
Yuvel
KBX
Belyy Gigant
Daniel Burson
Barry's Crazy Cherry
Limmony
Rico- Stabilized greenhouse hybrid that an 85 year old customer gifted me/ Yellow and excellent.

Crosses done by Sherry and I

Bloody Butcher x Chapman F1
BB X Delicious F1
BB X Crnkovic Yugoslavian F1
Matina x Yellow BW F1
Cowlick's BW X BB F2) X (BB X Dester f1) F2
AK Sunrise F6
AK Sunrise F7
AK Sunset F6
BB X Yellow BW F1
BB X Dester F4
BB X BW Sudduth's F1
BW Sudduth's x BB F1
Siberian Pink x Cherokee Purple / Susitna F7
Mat-Su Express A. F6 Good
Cowlick's BW X BB F1
Caspian Pink x BB F4
PL Black Krim x PL Early Girl F3 beefsteak
PL Black Krim x PL Early Girl F3 red
Mat-Su Express A. F6 plant 8
Mat-Su Express A. F6 beefsteak
Mat-Su Express A. F6 plant 11
Mat-Su Super B. F6
BB X Chapman F2
BB X Delicious F2

I think that's it for the first batch. I have an exciting second batch planted, some I cannot wait to try.
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