800 tomato seedling lost due to high winds

[chiefbeaz]

Yesterday was such a nice day in Middle Tennessee that I was able to set my seedling outside on the deck in a small portable 3 shelf mini greenhouse. The type you can buy at Home Depot, Lowe's ,Big Lot's etc for around $20-$30.

I had three trays in the mini greenhouse, two holding different types of peppers and one 50 cell tray of tomatoes.In the tomatoes tray, I had used the dense planting method . I had planted 779 seeds in the tray and most of the cells had seedlings 1 inch or more high. Of these 50 varieties, 5 were from the dwarf project I was trialing and a couple were experimental that I got from Carolyn during her seed offer. I also had a very hard to locate tomato named Snag's Pride that I received from Gray Ghost.

To make a long story short, the wind turned the mini greenhouse over and all of the tomatoes fell out of the tray onto the deck in a big pile. I suffered very little damage to one of the pepper trays and none to the other. Talk about feeling sick!!!!!!

What can you do with 800 seedling in a pile? Nothing, except throw them in the compost bin and then go to plan B and then throw away your bargain 3 shelf $20 mini greenhouse.

My plan B is to go snow skiing in Montana for the next few weeks forget tomatoes for a while and then come back strong and start over again.This will set me back a few weeks but I will still be able to get the plants out early enough to have a good season.

[Defiant20]

I have used those $20 greenhouses from Harbor Freight and Tractor Supply and we get strong winds here also. What I ended up having to do is use T posts to anchor it to the ground and it worked pretty well. Sorry to hear you lost so many.
Brian.

[paprika]

Absolute Bummer!!

But, Plan C...can none of them be saved? Mater starts can be tough little guys at times. Or is all chance of knowing which is which the problem?
Regardless, I feel your pain for lost plants.
We in Carolina are now getting the winds you got previously, averaging 25-45 mph, luckily I don't have anything set out yet!

Enjoy your skiing and try it again latter, as you said; you've still got time.

TimothyT

[kath]

Ouch- I feel your pain, chiefbeaz. If any of the tomatoes were still in clumps, I'd have been tempted to rescue some of them and sort them out later if possible according to leaf type, growth habit, fruit shape, size and color, but I'm not growing for sale. It seems a shame to lose the seeds that can't be replaced. Think there was a thread here about the dangers of those mini greenhouses not long ago but it would be hard to attach it to a deck.

The good news is that they were only an inch high so replanting won't set you back too much- the timing of your trip is good because it helps not to think about the loss, but replanting what you can before you go might make you feel better while you're gone- just a thought.

Let me know if there are seeds I might be able to send-

kath

[chiefbeaz]

It would be impossible for me to know which seedling is of a certain variety. Some of the seedling would live I am sure , but you wouldn't have any ideal what you were growing. If I just wanting to have tomatoes to eat that might work, but I like to keep up with the different types and see how they grow. Trying to save seeds would be a nightmare due to cross pollination I would think, but on the other hand you might get some interesting crosses.

[chiefbeaz]

Originally Posted by kath

Ouch- I feel your pain, chiefbeaz. If any of the tomatoes were still in clumps, I'd have been tempted to rescue some of them and sort them out later if possible according to leaf type, growth habit, fruit shape, size and color, but I'm not growing for sale. It seems a shame to lose the seeds that can't be replaced. Think there was a thread here about the dangers of those mini greenhouses not long ago but it would be hard to attach it to a deck.

The good news is that they were only an inch high so replanting won't set you back too much- the timing of your trip is good because it helps not to think about the loss, but replanting what you can before you go might make you feel better while you're gone- just a thought.

Let me know if there are seeds I might be able to send-

kath

I was hoping this morning that some of the plant's would be in clumps, and I could sort them out, but that didn't happen .I have 800 tiny seedlings scattered
around every where. I have gathered as many as I can and will try to transplant them all together and maybe give them away to people who would like to try them. I grow about 200 plants a year just for the fun of it and what I don't use I give away. I am a popular man in the summer down here.

[casino]

I hear your loss. I hope you have some replacement seeds. I had the same kind of loss last year. On April 5th 2011 when I start my seeds indoors My special seed starting mix was outside frozen under a foot of snow. OK no problem so I purchased a bag of Miricle grow with moisture control from Costco. Never used this mix before but it looked great, light fluffy and planted 157 different varieties of tomatoes in community pots. The soil mix held so much moisture that 1/3 of the tomato seeds rotted in the pots, another 1/3 only 1-2 or 3 seeds sprouted. and the rest came up as happy as can be. I went through major anxiety over the lost seeds and many were my favorites or very rare from a seed exchange. Since I planted all the seeds I had no back-up (for the rare varieties). I consider Miricle grow potting soil with moisture control with fertilizer is the soil of death to starting seeds. Learned my lesson. I have my professional seed starting mix in the garage and ready when needed.

[BigBrownDogHouse]

Originally Posted by chiefbeaz

What can you do with 800 seedling in a pile? Nothing, except throw them in the compost bin and then go to plan B and then throw away your bargain 3 shelf $20 mini greenhouse.

I feel for ya.
I dropped one of my transplanted bigger plants last year(snapped) and well........I can still remember it almost a year later. I need to let go!

A buddy from church keeps giving me an ad for this $20 greenhouse deal. My wife actually saw it in another flyer yesterday and asked if I was going to get it to help out this Spring with my plants.
I was wondering just how durable it was. Sounds like it needs to be anchored if staying outside.

Sorry about your plants though.....I know the feeling!

[tam91]

Sams Club as a pretty large greenhouse for $99 at the moment, 6 x 8 or something.
I put one around that size out on my deck last year, plan to do it again this year.

[chiefbeaz]

Originally Posted by BigBrownDogHouse

I feel for ya.
I dropped one of my transplanted bigger plants last year(snapped) and well........I can still remember it almost a year later. I need to let go!

A buddy from church keeps giving me an ad for this $20 greenhouse deal. My wife actually saw it in another flyer yesterday and asked if I was going to get it to help out this Spring with my plants.
I was wondering just how durable it was. Sounds like it needs to be anchored if staying outside.

Sorry about your plants though.....I know the feeling!

The little green house is great for seedlings in the early stages. Two things you have to watch. Yesterday it was 71 degrees and bright sunshine. On the top shelf the temp got up to 110. I was watching closely and unzipped the door and got the temp down with out any plant damage. The wind can blow it over easy. The wind was blowing a little and I backed it against the house with the door open to the rear. The wind must have blown against the house and bounced into the greenhouse through the open door and filled it with gust of air and then took off like a kite.

[kath]

Originally Posted by chiefbeaz

It would be impossible for me to know which seedling is of a certain variety. Some of the seedling would live I am sure , but you wouldn't have any ideal what you were growing. If I just wanting to have tomatoes to eat that might work, but I like to keep up with the different types and see how they grow. Trying to save seeds would be a nightmare due to cross pollination I would think, but on the other hand you might get some interesting crosses.

You won't get crosses from this year's plants if you bag seeds of the ones you like for growing the following year.

[kath]

Originally Posted by chiefbeaz

I was hoping this morning that some of the plant's would be in clumps, and I could sort them out, but that didn't happen .I have 800 tiny seedlings scattered
around every where. I have gathered as many as I can and will try to transplant them all together and maybe give them away to people who would like to try them. I grow about 200 plants a year just for the fun of it and what I don't use I give away. I am a popular man in the summer down here.

I would strongly suggest not giving away any plants that could be part of the dwarf project...especially if you want to remain popular here.

[tam91]

I forgot to mention - since I don't want to put holes in my deck, I tie my greenhouse to some concrete blocks - seems to work pretty well.

[feldon30]

Ouch I would be absolutely fuming and devastated.

Yes those things are flimsy as heck and really with the sides closed act as a "sail" to the wind.

You almost have to put 50 lbs of weights on the bottom shelf just to keep it sturdy.

Hopefully you can find some plants.

[chiefbeaz]

Originally Posted by kath

I would strongly suggest not giving away any plants that could be part of the dwarf project...especially if you want to remain popular here.

I hadn't thought about that angle, I am not smart enough to tell one plant from another unless labeled and most of my neighbors couldn't tell a Cleota Pink from a watermelon other than one would be bigger than the other. Anyway, that's water over the dam, they are gone to the compost heaven.

But you are right ,that would ruffle up some feathers around here. What a exciting or maybe I should say interesting day here at Tomatoville. I must go on record as supporting all the actions taken by the admin people of Tomatoville today.