Willus' Indoor Fall-Winter-Spring Grow Log (Season 2012-13)

[z_willus_d]

Hi JM, thanks for posting. I'm growing these dwarf tomato plants indoors this year, and I don't anticipate problems with Spider Mites. At least, not based on previous experience. That said, I do have a constant battle keeping the gnats, whiteflies and sand flies in check. I try the sticky tape stuff, as well as vinegar traps and the like. The key is to keep them at bay and deny the start. Once their reproductive cycle kicks in, it's very difficult to stay ahead of them.

I'll try and post some pictures of the six grafted dwarfs sometime soon. Yesterday, I also started ~5-6 additional graft attempts. We'll see if any of them take this time. I was dealing with much thicker stem trunks to the point where my graft clips weren't sufficiently large to correctly hold the union.

-naysen

[z_willus_d]

Just a quick update. The six additional grafts I attempted all failed. I think the finding is that it's best to graft somewhat young seedlings before they harden off and get too thick. I know that the unions were not as well matched as on my first attempts, deltas between scion thickness and RS; also, the general trunk thickness was greater than some of the clips could handle, making for less than optimal support. Lessons learned.
-naysen

[z_willus_d]

Yesterday (Sunday), I took the day for some backbreaking work to clean out three InnTainers, replace their landscape, and refill. I used the standard 3*:2:1 ratio of Adv. Sunshine #4 (1/3 FoxFarm's Ocean Forest Potting mix), Microbark, and Perlite. To this on a per container basis I added 1.5 cups of Dolomite Lime, 1 cup of Epsom Salt, 2 small packets of Espoma PlantTone (sample packets from Burpee), and the standard ~1-cup trench of Espoma, delayed release Tomato Tone (new formulation). I haven't checked PH yet, but I expect to be in the right ballpark.

Having cleaned and prepped the InnTainers, I then transplanted my grafted Yukon Quest, Iditarod, and Perth's Pride dwarflings, two to a tote. Besides the experimentation with dwarf grafting, I'm also modifying procedure this year in that I will try to grow in a small room fully indoors as opposed to last year where I used the garage. This means I don't have to worry about heating my garage to keep the vines happy, but also that I have to worry about overheating in the side room. I'll have less access to natural light (I could open the garage door for direct southern exposure), but I will have some afternoon light through a window. This also puts a heavy onus upon me to ensure no insect infestation may occur, lest the whole experiment end-up face down in the gutter on homecoming on sad weeknight.

You can see that most of the grafted seedlings were looking rather haggard at transplant, save for perhaps the Perth's Pride. I'm not sure if this is due to my LED light setup, insufficient feeding (Martha's guess on sight), or some other undefined issue. I'm hopeful that the vines perk up now that they have room to spread their roots.

You might also be able to make out the discontinuity in the girth of the trunk at the union site. The Maxifort rootstock (also one Beaufort w/ blue tag) just isn't a beefy as the dwarf scions. I hope this doesn't result in trouble down the line.

A bit later when my back has recovered some, I'll probably try and plant the other three InnTainers with the un-grafted dwarf peers. Whether or not I can find enough room in the grow area for this is another thing, and they may just end up freezing out in the garage with the bugs and spiderwebs. So if our hypothesis is true (grafted plants are more hardy to systemic disease) these "control" subjects will make poor control with the double or triple disadvantage of temperature, insect vectors, and non-graft status. That's ok though, as I'm happy to have the experiment up and running, unbound and unscientific as it is.
-naysen

[rnewste]

Naysen,

Looking Good!!

Let us know what pH you measure from this combination. It might be good to probe in about 3 different areas of the surface to check continuity.

My seedlings are about 5 inches tall today, and I plan to transplant in about 3 weeks into the InnTainers.

Raybo

[rwsacto]

Naysen,

Good luck with your grafting trials.

I see you put them in front of your sofa where you can keep a close watch for any pests!

Rick

[Mlm1]

Naysen,
That's great. I bet they really take off in their new homes. Thanks for the update.
Marla

[z_willus_d]

Hi Ray,

I just realized I failed to post my pH test results that I captured over a week ago. The results look good and well in the zone of where I want to be. My only concern is that they might drift more alkaline as the lime I added breaks down. But I also have the more acidic redwood chips in there breaking down too, so hopefully there's a balance.

The pics record the three measurements I took on each InnTainer moving left to right (Yukon, Iditarod, Perth's).

Last weekend, I also managed to plant two ungrafted Yukon and two ungrafted Perth's Pride seedlings into an additional pair of InnTainers. I don't really have room for these inside, so they will have to tough it in the garage. That makes for a not too fair comparison, grafted to ungrafted, but it will make for something to think about at season's end.

Marla/Rick, thanks for the continued encouragement.
-naysen

[rnewste]

Naysen,

Thanks for posting the readings.

Feldon 30 once emailed me that a pH of 6.45 range was ideal for tomatoes, so I think you are in the right zone.

I am starting to assemble my 2 indoor racks for the InnTainer Winter growout this weekend. My plants are about 8 inches tall as of today, so they will be in production later in the Winter this year (didn't start them until early September).

Most of the 12 plants are the Dwarf Project varieties, along with 1 Dester - for kicks.

Raybo

[z_willus_d]

Hi Ray, I've been meaning to post a question to you about your InnTainer plans this year. We've had a couple cycles of this now, so I'm hoping lessons learned from previous seasons will really lend to a better overall run this time around. I'm looking forward to following your grow journal.
-naysen

[rnewste]

Naysen,

Well, I am way behind schedule this year for the InnTainers - Son and D-I-L just moved in to a new house 7 miles from us, so I've been very busy with things like painting their garage floor before they loaded it up with boxes, etc. As of today, they are "officially" moved in and I just installed a Weber Q-120 grille for them this afternoon. Now - - their turn to BBQ for ME!

I'll start a new Thread with my InnTainer project for 2012/13 in a few weeks, but briefly, as I was not too happy with the Sunshine Advanced Mix this Summer (coir ingredient kept it too wet) I am going to trial Pro-Mix HP, Original Sunshine #4 Mix, and an Orchid Mix from SummerWinds Nursery, in the InnTainers over the Winter.

As well, I will be trialing 3 new Tomato fertilizers, as the "new" 3-4-6 Tomato-tone continues to disappoint, and I will be dropping it entirely.

Anyway, I will be a Grandfather (again) in 5 weeks, so lot's of busy stuff going on around here this Fall.

Raybo

[z_willus_d]

Hi Ray, congratulations on your paternal extension! It's nice to get a taste for what to expect in your next set of trials. I will have to keep an eye on the SS#4Adv w.r.t. moistness. I have seen some green mold beginning to grow on the surface of my Indoor Tainers.

On the subject, I've attached some pics of the rig from earlier today. I installed the cages today after finding one of the top-heavy dwarfs had fallen sideways across the edge of the Tainer. The discontinuity of trunk girth is one of my main concerns about this grafting of Dwarf to RS. Another is that the "dwarfishness" traits of the vines will be lost due to the increased vigor of the RS base. But despite these concerns you can see that the plants are putting out new growth and starting to look a touch healthier. I hope to see them take off over the next couple weeks, and I'd love to start seeing some blossoms show.

Enjoy the BBQ. I love this Fall weather -- perfect for that sort of thing.
-naysen

[rnewste]

Wow! Excellent growth since your photos of Oct 28.

What are you going to do for a moisture barrier this year, or I suppose now that you've got the cages seated, you are going to go "commando".

Raybo

[z_willus_d]

Moisture barrier, yes I don't currently have one. Although what the pictures don't show is I've got just about every square inch of surface area covered by little pots full of spinach, other lettuces, and broccoli seedlings. They'll be there for another 2-3 weeks, and then I suppose I will be running commando. I loaded up with redwood chips in the various Outdoor tainers last season. Maybe I'll do the same here indoors. I worry that in covering with plastic or paper I'll create a little moist home for undesirable insects, and I will not even be able to see what's happening. Maybe that's not reasonable. Do you think the redwood chip mulching method atop a Tainer has any flaws?

-naysen

[Heritage]

The plants are looking great, Naysen! I think you should be seeing some blossoms real soon.

Steve

[rnewste]

Naysen,

I would definitely layer an inch of microbark on top of the Potting Mix. Without it, you will develop gnats on the top of your grow media.

Raybo