April 11, 2012 - Good Thinking, Granny!

If I could grow tomatoes on the counter all year, I wouldn't have to clean the kitchen.
You can't even see it!

Yesterday I decided the four indoor tomatoes might be outgrowing their 1-gallon pots, so I up-potted them to a 2-gallon size. Three of the four came out of their pots in one solid piece. The roots were beginning to show on the outside of the root ball, but not bad. The fourth plant didn't want to leave its home, and half the roots stayed in the pot. It looked a little droopy all afternoon, but by this morning it had perked up and looked healthier than ever. I brought a little table out of the shed, and set it up next to the wire shelf on the corner of the patio, where it gets morning sun (when there is such a thing). I let them stay out all day yesterday, and brought them in last night. Out again this morning, back in tonight. That will probably be the routine for the next three weeks.

I'm getting my exercise, that's for sure. I counted the trips.....15 times to get most of the seedlings from the bedroom to the patio, one trip to get others from the laundry room to the patio, and four trips to carry the big tomatoes out. Then it's all repeated in reverse in the evening.

Today I planted 32 small plastic cups of corn. I've never started corn inside before, I've only direct seeded it, so this will be a new experience. I've planned two small corn plots this year. The first will be a 4'x8' and hold 32 plants on 12" spacing. The second, to be planted a couple of weeks later, will be 4'x10' and hold 40 plants. I need to plant another half dozen cups tonight to ensure I end up with a full 32 plants.



24 comments:

  1. That's a lot of trips with seedlings. With preparing the new garden area and 30 trips with seedlings daily, you are going to be in the best shape of all us.

    If I even thought about planting corn, Mother Nature would probably start throwing GIANT crows and racoons at me...

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    1. Ed, we have a big flock of crows, roosting in the sycamore trees next door, just waiting for me to plant that corn. I'm hoping the plants will be less attractive to them than the seeds. As to the trips, believe me my body is feeling it! Not the walking, the carrying.

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  2. Wow those tomatoes are getting big! I have a similar routine with my seedlings. I get the best sun on the front porch so that's where the plants are during the day. every night when I get home I shuffle them all down the driveway to the back sun porch for the night. last night it took 7 trips but more will be put outside this weekend!

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    1. Suburban Gardeness, if I'd known last week that i was going to up-pot them and begin carrying them out, I wouldn't have lopped off their tops. Oh well, it should just make them bushier. I hope by the time the corn has to be carried out, the brassicas will be staying out 24/7.

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  3. This has been a very strange year for me seeding wise. I've only needed one of my four lights. The tomatoes and peppers really need a lot of space under the lights. I keep thinking maybe I should put the sweet potato vines under the lights instead of in the window. They might do better. I've got enough room. They are the replacements for the tomatoes. But I've been happy about not as many seedlings. I don't think I'd make those 15 trips for seedlings. I'd just stick them in the ground early and cross my fingers. I have such a lazy streak at times.

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    1. Daphne, we can still get freezing nights for the next 2 1/2-3 weeks. I never plant warm weather seeds until May 1 (except beans, which will go in April 25 and then struggle because I should have waited a week). Tomatoes and peppers usually wait until around May 10. The brassicas I put in early are just sitting there doing nothing so far, and a couple of them have keeled over. The seedlings I planted inside last week are actually larger than the ones i set out!

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  4. Your tomatoes look great! I planted my tomatoes outside yesterday and they are not even close to yours. I am so thankful to have most of my plants outside. I was getting a little tired of moving them in and out. I will be watching to see how your corn does so I know if I can start them inside next year.

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    1. Christy, my garden tomatoes aren't nearly that large. These are the ones I was hoping would ripen fruit inside, on the windowsill. I was only planning on growing one, but all four seeds germinated....what can I say ;-)

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  5. sounds like quite a bit of exercise :) wish I had space for corn - maybe next year i'll get to plant some :)

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    1. Jenny, other than a tiny patch of a lousy variety I planted a couple of years ago (it never pollinated properly, and the ears were tiny and not fully filled), this is the first corn I've planted in probably 8-10 years. I used to always plant it behind the small garden shed. Now we have the larger shed, so there's not enough room there. The garden expansion gave me the extra space I needed.

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  6. Wow, those tomatoes are amazing! I just planted my first tomato seeds of the year yesterday... Luckily they have another 6 weeks before it'll be dry enough to plant them outside.

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    1. AnywhereEden, I'll be putting my tomatoes in ground around May 10. A week earlier if we're lucky enough to have a forecast for warm weather. These four tomatoes will probably stay in pots on the patio. I'd like to keep at least one of them healthy enough to bring inside next winter. Strictly experimental!

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  7. Ohmigosh 2 gallon pots!!! Mine are 3 ft tall and still in their square 3 inch pots LOL, but there's 37 of them so there's no way I could buy that many pots and soil. I figure Saturday they are going in, cold nights or not....

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    1. Erin, it's only those four plants! I started them in January, and only wanted one but all four seeds grew, of course. I'm planning on trying to keep just one alive all year, right through the winter. They are a miniature variety, so shouldn't get much larger than they are right now. They are also indeterminate, so should live forever if I don't manage to kill them....which I will, of course. Or I'll just be sick and tired of them by fall.

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  8. I was doing the multiple trips in and out to the greenhouse with seedlings for about week, but thankfully they are all now permanently in the greenhouse. Now the trips in and out of the greenhouse have begun (shorter walk) to get them hardened off properly. I could use all the exercise I can get so I really don't complain much about the multiple trips.

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    1. Kitsap, I did it twice yesterday! We had the threat of a storm, with some high wind gusts, so I moved everything in. An hour later the sun was shining and the wind was calm, so it all went back out again! That was a real workout.

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  9. Woot woot, Granny is growing corn! Good luck with it, what variety are you planting?

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    1. Kris, I'm planting TripleSweet Hybrid "TripleSweet is a new class of sweet corn that has 75% sugary enhanced (se) kernels and 25% supersweet (sh2) kernels. This combines the exceptional tenderness and sweet corn flavor of se types with extra sweetness, extended shelf life and field holding ability. Results in more consistent, longer lasting sweetness, even under drought stress." According to the packet, it needs no isolation from other corn, so I'll also grow a small patch of Silver Queen.

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  10. Granny, your giant tomato plants put ours little two inch babies to shame! Thankfully Belle has 3 bigger plants under the cozy coats. They'll have to do until the others get bigger. I'm glad you said something about corn. I've been wondering whether to plant it inside or direct sow. We're going to direct sow early next month. I'll be glad to learn how planting the seeds inside works out for you.

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    1. Jody, at least my main tomatoes (those that won't be in containers on the patio) are only about 8"-10" tall. I hope they don't grow too much bigger in the next 2-3 weeks!

      Supposedly corn doesn't take well to transplanting, but I beg to differ. The last time I thinned corn, I ruthlessly pulled it out by the roots and threw it down in a pile on the ground. When I went to rake them up, I thought "why not plant them?", and I did. They didn't even falter a bit, just took right off and grew as well as those that didn't get pulled out. That tells me they take quite well to transplanting!

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  11. Keep us updated on your corn! We are planting it for the first time this year, and I was thinking about experimenting with starting it inside.

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    1. Will do, Prairie Cat. Kitsap always starts hers inside with good luck, I have no doubt it will work out just fine!

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  12. I'll be watching the corn with interest. Around here the racoons seems to get it before the humans.

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    1. David, I'm tempted to plant the corn seedlings now, the weather is warming nicely. I don't know though, as they are only about an inch tall. Maybe I'll give them a few more days. I have crows and squirrels to worry about here, but no raccoons.

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