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Forum area for discussing hybridizing tomatoes in technical terms and information pertinent to trait/variety specific long-term (1+ years) growout projects.

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Old November 4, 2013   #16
KarenO
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Day 18 since seeding. Doing well and growing visibly each day. Will take a pic each Monday from here on to track the progress of my winter indoor f2 seed project. South window light plus 24 hour additional 100 watt daylight fluorescent bulb to supplement. Seems to be enough so far. Weak fertilizer in water.
So far so good and a long way to go...
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Old November 11, 2013   #17
KarenO
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F1 seedlings day 26. very pleased with how they look so far, stocky and vigorous with only window and ordinary "daylight" fluorescent light. This might work yet but too early to know for sure.
KO
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Old November 26, 2013   #18
KarenO
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Day 40 since seeding:

first picture Ludmilla's pink heart x Captain Lucky F1
RL, taller plant has first buds already! (second picture)

Third picture Delicious x Captain Lucky F1
RL, stockier plant, no buds yet

Both in front of a big south facing window with supplemental fluorescent light from 100 watt daylight bulbs 16 hours/day.
doing better than I had expected as far as not stretching, healthy as any I grow in my greenhouse in spring so far I am both pleased and surprised. Starting to think this could work and I'll have my F2 seed for spring but I don't want to get cocky, long way to go yet.
KarenO
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Old November 26, 2013   #19
bower
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Looking great KarenO, keep em coming. I'm hopeful for you.
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Old December 2, 2013   #20
KarenO
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Thanks Bower!
day 47 from sowing:
LPH x CL is blooming. vibrating this little truss produced a satisfying "puff" of pollen this morning so I am hoping it will set a fruit for me after all the love I have lavished on these two plants! Buds are just starting on the Delicious cross (about 10 days later). It will be a very big plus in it's favor for the LPH cross if it turns out to be earlier. if so I may concentrate on growing the F2 of this one out this year for that reason. (earliness being a valuable trait here in my area) Ludmilla's pink heart is considered midseason but it was the earliest full sized ripe tomato in my garden for 2013, also at 21 oz it grew one of my biggest for the year a bit later on.
photo is dark as it is early am and snowing outside. The lights are moved back to take the pic. hopefully in a week there will be a baby tomato where that blossom is today.
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Old December 10, 2013   #21
KarenO
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Day. 55 repotted to final pots and pruned a little. I don't recommend trying to grow full sized indeterminate tomatoes in your kitchen in the darkest days of a Zone 3A winter but these look pretty good so far considering how much light they get. If I wasn't so intent on having F2 seed for spring even the"tomato lady" as my family calls me wouldn't be doing it . Now dwarf cherries... That's another matter...
Come on babies, set some fruit please

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Old February 16, 2014   #22
dfollett
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Did you get the F2 seeds you want?
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Old February 16, 2014   #23
KarenO
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here are some pics from today. the last one is of a fruit from a bloom that was pollinated in December but did not grow until now.
I had almost given up on getting any fruits as the plants just grew leaves and leggy vine through the darkest days of Dec and Jan but they have started to wake up in response to the longer, brighter days and are growing and blooming again. there are a few small fruits so I am starting to hope that there may still be time to get some seed by the first week in April which is about the latest I can plant to hope to get good sized transplants for the end of May in my area. The fourth picture is the fruit from one of the blooms pollinated in December which neither grew nor aborted but just sat there until about a week ago when I noticed it had begun to grow. Strange and I wonder if there will any seeds in it.
If I had it to do over I would not start the seed until the end of December as they just sat there growing leaves for 8 weeks anyway. It's been an interesting learning experience and also a conversation piece to have giant tomato plants in the kitchen all winter to confirm I am crazy to all who thought so anyway
Karen
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Old February 16, 2014   #24
bower
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I noticed before that overwintered peppers and fall/winter started tomatoes indoors didn't set or didn't grow any fruit until we passed the magical "ten hour day" mark. For us, that's the 10th of February. I did use grow lights in the window to try to extend day length, but didn't manage to fool em.

I've read elsewhere that 10 hrs is the minimum day length for just about any crop to grow. Best explanation I could find, for the pepper plants that suddenly stopped dropping a mountain of flowers and instead set up garlands of fruit! Just after passing that ten hour mark.

Anyway, great to see that your F1's are hanging in and setting fruit - you should still get your seed before spring time.
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Old February 16, 2014   #25
KarenO
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thanks Bower, I sure hope you are right otherwise they have just been weird kitchen décor all winter (although almost worth growing for the smell alone for anyone who loves the smell of tomato foliage).
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Old February 16, 2014   #26
Labradors2
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How exciting Karen!

I hope you will get ripe fruit in time to plant them for this season!

I was keen to grow tomatoes in NC this November, but returned to find that my Red Robin seeds wouldn't germinate - grrrr! Desperate for a tomato to grow, I cut open a little yellow cherry tomato that I had brought with me from my garden. The seeds germinated quickly on damp paper towel and I grew one in a pot, even though I knew it would be too big for me to lug in and out on sunny days (but somehow I manage). So far we have had two yellow cherry tomatoes from it while we wait for the Red Robins and Dwarf Arctic Rose to catch up. RR is loaded with green fruit while DAR has four green tomatoes and a ton of flowers.

Growing tomatoes in the winter is fun. BTW I pop the Red Robins under grow lights from around 5 pm until 10 pm and again for an hour or so when we get up in the mornings.

Linda
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Old February 16, 2014   #27
bower
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Some judicious pruning might help to direct the plant's attention to ripening its fruit, if all you want are the seeds.

One thing I found about indoor winter tomatoes, that as they're starting to ripen fruit they also start to show their susceptibility to foliage disease and/or pests - which I considered a not good risk for the wee seedlings also just getting started at that time. On the one hand there's the temptation to string the plant along and milk it for whatever tomatoes you can get (oh yes!) but there's also the worry of passing on troubles to the real crop, since my seedlings are also started in the house.
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Old February 16, 2014   #28
KarenO
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That is very true Bower and I really only want a fruit or two from each plant so I will see what sets from this blooming and go from there as these first fruits are still very small and I think there is a chance they could have no seeds in them due to the dark and cool circumstances so I want a few more from this later blooming as backups. once anything gets to full size mature green stage I will prune to stress the plants hoping to encourage them to ripen faster. Normally I am not much of a pruner outdoors and tend to just prune up from the bottom to the first fruit set and mulch to prevent soil splash as I don't live in an area with much soil or foliar disease or insects being a big problem and I only remove spotty or damaged foliage after that. I was conflicted about removing foliage from these too soon as I think in the low light conditions they require all the foliage they have to maximise photosynthesis for food and although I did top these a few weeks ago they are growing again and as you can see have overgrown their stakes and doubled back down on themselves. I decided just to let them go and do their thing and not stress them by pruning anything but suckers until after they set a few fruit. So far there have been no insect or disease problems and I will be vigilant and ditch them if that occurs. I won't be planting much else for a while as what I plant at all this year really depends on if I get seeds from these. If I do get some I will probably dedicate most of what space I have to growing out the F2 of these crosses. but it's all remaining to be seen. My little science project...
Karen

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Old February 16, 2014   #29
bower
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It's awesome that you're so devoted to them... I hope you get those F2 seeds! And I bet they will all have delicious fruit, one way or another, from such a cross. So why not, just fill the garden.

I'm not a big pruner either. The year I grew a Peacevine over the winter, the poor thing was a very lanky vine by the end of it. Finally I took it out and planted "hippie style" on top of an unfinished compost pile, and just let the various limbs root and make multiple shoots, it seemed to enjoy that 'retirement' much more than the indoor confinement. Indeed, I'm sure I got no more than a pint or two of cherries indoors for all my trouble. My windows aren't big and sunny enough.
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Old February 16, 2014   #30
KarenO
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lol I am completely devoted to the silly things! My "children"!
and up here, if I can save a whole year by trying to grow out the F1 over winter well that was the purpose all along, not to have tomatoes to eat but to get seeds. it's been a looooong winter If these are still alive by spring and not diseased, i'll put them in a corner of my greenhouse as they are or maybe root some big cuttings and see if I can get a few early ones to eat from them too. who knows.
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