Marks early spring plants

[AKmark]

The larger plants are getting Hydro-gardens 4-18-38 at 1400ppm and are supplemented with Calcium Nitrate and Magnesium Sulfate every watering. This is the best fruit set I have ever had, I should have ripe standard size tomatoes on some plants under 100 days from seeds sprouting.

I am already picking off flowers on large beefsteak varieties, even Brandywines, some have 15 or more flowers, every one is setting fruit, and is too much for a truss. All plants that bear standard tomatoes are pruned to a single vine, and are in 6 gallon containers.

Over all I am 90 percent happy, I see a teeny bit of Mg deficiency on some of the oldest leaves, probably induced from my heavy K feeding program that I subject my plants too. However, that's okay, we don't chase Mg for fear of hindering K uptake or Ca
I do believe I am looking at a freak show this year.

[PureHarvest]

Yes!!!!

[KarenO]

Glorious plants Mark, just beautiful
Karen

[AlittleSalt]

Mark, they look wonderful.

Just out of curiosity, I'm wondering if there is anywhere in Alaska that outdoor growing tomatoes is possible?

[AKmark]

In my area, southcentral, and parts of the interior you can grow tomatoes outdoors, if the summer is decent.
I grew about 20 varieties outdoors last year with great success. This year I am growing the entire Saraev collection, I had great luck with 0-33, a Saraev, and Sasha's Altai also does great too.
I have even grown Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Bear Creek, and many early indeterminates work just fine outside. The trick is warm water, and feed them too. Also, gotta keep the Moose out with a tall fence, even if they don't eat them they will trash a garden.
We will see how this season goes, Alaska's weather is really unpredictable.

[Hudson_WY]

Very Impressive Mark!! Talk about healthy plants - look how thick the stems and size/quantity of the leaves!! And then there's the number of blossoms on a truss - and the number of blossoms that set fruit!!

What varieties to you show in the photos?

I may have to convert the center of my GH to your method and see if it works for me. You use 6 gallon containers - 2 plants per container - pruning to a single stem per plant, I assume you use fertilizer in your water? How do you water and feed the plants? Do you have a link to the detail of your method so I can read up on it?

[My Foot Smells]

Simply Outstanding !! Very, very, nice.

[Gerardo]

Beautiful as usual. I see Terhune in there somewhere... Can't wait for those trusses to fatten up.

I'm on pace with you in terms of the growth, on the other fronts not so much.

[Hunt-Grow-Cook]

Perfection of your process paying dividends, Everything looks fantastic.

[AKmark]

Thanks everyone, we talk fertilizer, pruning, methods of staking, etc, so I shared my results of my methods.
Hudson, the two trusses shown are KBX and Brandywine Sudduth's, I should have stated that, and only showed those because I am impressed at how many fruit and flowers are on each truss. My Mat-Su Express F4/ BW x Bloody Butcher trusses, and others, are simply doing exceptional for fruit set. I will post some pics of them soon, the truss of bigger tomatoes in the pic is the F1

I use 6 gallon with one plant per container, and they are pruned to a single stem, I can't imagine two per container.

I inject fertilizer via Dosatrons. For now I hand water, the drips are going online this week, they are really starting to drink. The temps are kept above 62 at night, and I try to keep it below 80 during the day. The media is pro mix HP, and i use cheap plastic grow bags.

When I transplant seedlings into the containers I water them in heavy and walk away for a week or two. When I water them after that I dab water on them frequently until they get established, then we flood the container. I only want to see a little moisture seep out of the bottoms, not running water, this helps with taste, I have convinced myself about that anyway. LOL

I have posted, here and there, most of the information that I use, if anyone wants me to post a bunch info on a page for reference, I will start a new thread for that?. I also have the head of our state agriculture dept over frequently, as well as the head agronomist, they are friends of mine, that's a bonus too.

Gerardo, it is in there, I have 15 plants, from about 10 varieties, going for our big tomato fest, Terhune is looking healthy, but no giant mega blossoms yet.

[Hudson_WY]

Thanks for the info Mark. Just to clarify - Here is a copy of your post on another thread of mine:

HAHA, those are from 2014, and are Sudduth's and Cowlick's. My plants this year are not that far along, but should be prettier.
I do not top them when they hit the top of the greenhouse, I prune up the bottoms to a stem only then coil it around the container as I lower the plant, this will keep production cranking through a long season. Last year my average vines were 15-20 feet, two vines a container, so 30-40 feet of vine per 10 gallon pot. My record for weighed BW fruit, from a single plant, was 39lbs from a BW Cowlick's plant.
I top my plants about the 10th of September or so, but that depends on my mood, how the season went, and the level of the rivers for fall kayaking.

Do you have two plants per container or do you prune one plant to two stems per container? Maybe you have two single stem plants in a 10 gallon and one single stem plant in a 6 gallon container? Also, can you suggest a source for the drain vents you have placed under the grow bags?

I would like to see you post a separate thread with a bunch of info for reference. It is easy to see what you are doing is working and working great!!

Thanks for your Info!!

[AKmark]

I used to use 15-20 gallon pots, 2-4 stems per plant, then I did 10 gallon one plant two stems, I have settled on 6 gallon one plant one stem.

I don;t have enough water leech out to worry about drain vents.

I think your plants also looked awesome, I wouldn't tinker with too much.

[Ricky Shaw]

Excellent stuff Mark! I'm strapped in for another season.


Home Depot has those shelves Hudson.

[AKmark]

Hudson, I misunderstood your request about drain vents.
Those are the exact shelves that Ricky posted, I use them to keep my plant containers off of the cold ground. However... I made a teeny mistake by not putting them on very short shelves/ benches, the cold, of course, seeped into the grates, and the media is colder too than I like. I get what I call the Halloween leaves when the root zone is colder than the ambient air, they vanish by May though.
Sorry about that, I thought you was talking about something else.

Have I got something to show you guys, but not yet, I have never seen anything quite like it. LOL

[Hudson_WY]

Thanks for the info about the shelves - Ricky & Mark!! The ground in Wyoming is also cold during winter months - Especially at 6,500' elevation! I am heating the GH but the ground is much cooler than the air - that's a problem for my GH during -25 degree winter night time temps!

Looking forward to what you have to show us Mark!