Do you start from seeds or plants? - Page 5

biscgolf · February 22, 2011

popular rumor in this area was that all the bonnie plant tomatoes had late wilt a couple of years ago thereby distributing it throughout the mid-atlantic.

February 22, 2011

I don't think it was a rumor. It seemed the dept. of agriculture tracked some early infestations or infections back to the retail outlet where they were sold. They then issued a warning.

I was in Home Depot last year looking at their fall plants. The plants they sell in the fall always seem much larger than the plants they sell in the spring. They had a rack of mixed varieties that looked great They were tall with heavy foliage. About every fourth or fifth plant still had great color but had simply slumped over and died. They looked like they had simply wilted in place with no obvious sign of disease.

Ted

JudiRose · February 24, 2011

I'm new here and new to intentionally growing heirloom plants. Last year I grew only heirlooms and fell in love. I haven't started my own plants yet, but probably will next year. I don't quite know how to do it right yet.

We live out in the boonies in southern IL and are fortunate that we have a little nursery not too far away and they sell mostly heirloom everything. She offers over 100 varieties of heirloom tomatoes. I got some seeds for plants I wanted to try that she didn't have, so she is going to start them for me and keep some of the plants herself.

Lots to learn, but having fun doing so!

brokenbar · February 24, 2011

Quote:

I got some seeds for plants I wanted to try that she didn't have, so she is going to start them for me and keep some of the plants herself

.

Clever! I offered to give seed to the one local plant seller and they turned me down flat! They said people only wanted the 1 foot tall tomatoes in a 2" cube and "brands" they recognized like any of the Bonnies or Big Boy, Early girl, etc. Lucky you having someone so near who already grows and sells heirlooms!

kath · February 24, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by JudiRose

I'm new here and new to intentionally growing heirloom plants. Last year I grew only heirlooms and fell in love. I haven't started my own plants yet, but probably will next year. I don't quite know how to do it right yet.

We live out in the boonies in southern IL and are fortunate that we have a little nursery not too far away and they sell mostly heirloom everything. She offers over 100 varieties of heirloom tomatoes. I got some seeds for plants I wanted to try that she didn't have, so she is going to start them for me and keep some of the plants herself.

Lots to learn, but having fun doing so!

Welcome, JudiRose! Glad you've found someone to do grow your plants. Lots of info here on how to save your seed and grow your own next year.

JudiRose · February 24, 2011

I am lucky to have her so near. She and her husband are both super nice people, too.

Judi

beefsteak · March 25, 2011

Have bought plants in the past, now that I'm retired I grow my tomatoes and most all my vegggies and flowers from seed, in fact it is keeping me quite busy lately.

kpatrick925 · March 25, 2011

This is my first year starting tomato seeds myself. Much smaller scale than most on these sites. I have 12 varieties and am wondering how long it should take before I see sprouts? I planted them a week ago but we are having some cold yucky weather. We only run the heater a few hours in the evening when we get home from work and I am wondering if they are not getting enough heat? I have them by a window but because of the rain they are not getting any heat from the sun. I am using miracle gro starter. I have heard some about heat mats and am wondering if that is suggested for the start? Any suggestions would be appreciated. I really don't want to buy plants this year if I don't have to. Thanks in advance for your help. Kim

KevinCT · March 25, 2011

Kim, for me on average it's usually 9 to 11 days for tomatoes & my peppers take almost 2 weeks.
My setup is far from professional, I have my tomatoes on top of a oil filled radiator by the window and try to keep the temp consistently around 70s to about 68 degrees when the temp drops at night. Rule of thumb is if a baby would be cold in the room so would a tomato, you probably need a little more warmth for the seedlings

kpatrick925 · March 25, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinCT

Kim, for me on average it's usually 9 to 11 days for tomatoes & my peppers take almost 2 weeks.
My setup is far from professional, I have my tomatoes on top of a oil filled radiator by the window and try to keep the temp consistently around 70s to about 68 degrees when the temp drops at night. Rule of thumb is if a baby would be cold in the room so would a tomato, you probably need a little more warmth for the seedlings

Great!! Thanks for the info. I've seen a few posts where things sprouted in a week and I got a little worried that I wouldn't get anything so appreciate the assurance.

We are supposed to get some sunshine with increased temps in the high 60s and low 70s so hopefully that will help. Will direct sun affect them? should I keep the blinds shut?

JudiRose · March 26, 2011

After posting that my nursery gal was going to start my seeds for me, I decided to get with the program and do it myself.

I got most of the seeds from a couple of folks on this forum (Knapp's Fresh Veggies and The Sample Seed Shop). A couple came from Tomato Growers Supply.

My dh set up florescent lights in the basement, and I now have a lot of sweet little tomato plants. It took a good week and even longer for some to germinate.

I planted varieties the gal at the nursery doesn't grow.

Some are Neves Azorean, Santa Clara Canner, Virginia Sweets, Legend, Brad's Black Hearts, Wes, New Big Dwarf, Limmony, and a hybrid (Mountain Magic) started because it's supposed to be blight resistant, which was a big issue for us last year. I also planted a couple varieties of tomatillos.

I've already bumped some of them; some I just started a few days ago.

I am so excited to try them!

Judi in southern IL

robbyjoe01 · March 27, 2011

I can't remember the last time I bought a plant. I always start seeds

Kenner21 · March 29, 2011

1st post here, first year I've grown tomatos. I started all of my plants from plants that I trans-planted into 15 gallon containers I bought used at a local nursery. I'll probably do seeds next year but wanted to keep it simple this year. Planted a wide variety Black Krim,Roma,German Johnson,Golden Pineapple,Early Wonder,some type of Early East Texas Black Tomato and a surgery grape type tomato.

I didn't know what I was doing and planted two plants in some of the containers I hope that doesn't bite me too bad.

Bdobs · May 4, 2011

Have been starting from seed for the last four years, but got lazy(to the dismay of my friends) and decided to forgo the whole process and just buy seedlings this year

Sunsi · May 6, 2011

Mostly from seed this year but I still buy a few can't-live-without ones from Darrel just in case something happens like the cats eating the tops off (which happened this years to a few) or germination issues.

View Poll Results: Do you start from seeds or plants?
Most of the tomatoes I grow I started from seeds	273	89.22%
Most of the tomatoes I grow are from plants I obtained	19	6.21%
About half and half	14	4.58%
Voters: 306. You may not vote on this poll

May 4, 2011	#74
Bdobs Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Martinez, CA Posts: 92	Have been starting from seed for the last four years, but got lazy(to the dismay of my friends) and decided to forgo the whole process and just buy seedlings this year __________________ -Brian

February 22, 2011	#61
biscgolf Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Virginia Posts: 353	popular rumor in this area was that all the bonnie plant tomatoes had late wilt a couple of years ago thereby distributing it throughout the mid-atlantic.

February 22, 2011	#62
tedln Guest Posts: n/a	I don't think it was a rumor. It seemed the dept. of agriculture tracked some early infestations or infections back to the retail outlet where they were sold. They then issued a warning. I was in Home Depot last year looking at their fall plants. The plants they sell in the fall always seem much larger than the plants they sell in the spring. They had a rack of mixed varieties that looked great They were tall with heavy foliage. About every fourth or fifth plant still had great color but had simply slumped over and died. They looked like they had simply wilted in place with no obvious sign of disease. Ted

February 24, 2011	#63
JudiRose Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 3	I'm new here and new to intentionally growing heirloom plants. Last year I grew only heirlooms and fell in love. I haven't started my own plants yet, but probably will next year. I don't quite know how to do it right yet. We live out in the boonies in southern IL and are fortunate that we have a little nursery not too far away and they sell mostly heirloom everything. She offers over 100 varieties of heirloom tomatoes. I got some seeds for plants I wanted to try that she didn't have, so she is going to start them for me and keep some of the plants herself. Lots to learn, but having fun doing so!

March 25, 2011	#67
beefsteak Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: NW PA zone 5 Posts: 121	Have bought plants in the past, now that I'm retired I grow my tomatoes and most all my vegggies and flowers from seed, in fact it is keeping me quite busy lately.

March 25, 2011	#68
kpatrick925 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: San Lorenzo, CA Posts: 112	This is my first year starting tomato seeds myself. Much smaller scale than most on these sites. I have 12 varieties and am wondering how long it should take before I see sprouts? I planted them a week ago but we are having some cold yucky weather. We only run the heater a few hours in the evening when we get home from work and I am wondering if they are not getting enough heat? I have them by a window but because of the rain they are not getting any heat from the sun. I am using miracle gro starter. I have heard some about heat mats and am wondering if that is suggested for the start? Any suggestions would be appreciated. I really don't want to buy plants this year if I don't have to. Thanks in advance for your help. Kim

March 25, 2011	#69
KevinCT Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: USA: CT Shoreline: Zone:6b Posts: 40	Kim, for me on average it's usually 9 to 11 days for tomatoes & my peppers take almost 2 weeks. My setup is far from professional, I have my tomatoes on top of a oil filled radiator by the window and try to keep the temp consistently around 70s to about 68 degrees when the temp drops at night. Rule of thumb is if a baby would be cold in the room so would a tomato, you probably need a little more warmth for the seedlings

March 26, 2011	#71
JudiRose Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 3	After posting that my nursery gal was going to start my seeds for me, I decided to get with the program and do it myself. I got most of the seeds from a couple of folks on this forum (Knapp's Fresh Veggies and The Sample Seed Shop). A couple came from Tomato Growers Supply. My dh set up florescent lights in the basement, and I now have a lot of sweet little tomato plants. It took a good week and even longer for some to germinate. I planted varieties the gal at the nursery doesn't grow. Some are Neves Azorean, Santa Clara Canner, Virginia Sweets, Legend, Brad's Black Hearts, Wes, New Big Dwarf, Limmony, and a hybrid (Mountain Magic) started because it's supposed to be blight resistant, which was a big issue for us last year. I also planted a couple varieties of tomatillos. I've already bumped some of them; some I just started a few days ago. I am so excited to try them! Judi in southern IL

March 27, 2011	#72
robbyjoe01 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Wichita, Kansas Posts: 30	I can't remember the last time I bought a plant. I always start seeds

March 29, 2011	#73
Kenner21 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Texas Posts: 1	1st post here, first year I've grown tomatos. I started all of my plants from plants that I trans-planted into 15 gallon containers I bought used at a local nursery. I'll probably do seeds next year but wanted to keep it simple this year. Planted a wide variety Black Krim,Roma,German Johnson,Golden Pineapple,Early Wonder,some type of Early East Texas Black Tomato and a surgery grape type tomato. I didn't know what I was doing and planted two plants in some of the containers I hope that doesn't bite me too bad.

May 6, 2011	#75
Sunsi Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: New York Outback 5b Posts: 107	Mostly from seed this year but I still buy a few can't-live-without ones from Darrel just in case something happens like the cats eating the tops off (which happened this years to a few) or germination issues.