tomatoes what a difference

[itlw8]

I splurged and bought a small green house at Menards for about $125 this spring. Now I want a big one. The difference it has made is enormous. the plants are not leggy at all and the stems are as thick as straws.

other things are not so fantastic . I did learn some things need to be started much earlier like peppers. so I may need to buy those. But I guess a later crop can be good also.

[NikoSan999]

Maybe with a greenhouse you will be able to grow longer to make up for it...I would love to have a greenhouse.

[Josephhgoins]

Maybe you can have two crops of peppers?

I really want a small green house too, its on my list for when I get a house.

I started Tomatoes early this year during a warm spell. I put each little pot in a pint jar and topped it with a wide mouth pint jar to make a small greenhouse. Didn't do anywhere near as good as you, but they are growing!

[Trentt]

I winter-sow all my warm weather vegetables and set them out on the unprotected front porch, and a few on the front stoop ... out in the elements. This has worked for me for years. The seeds "know" when it is safe to sprout. Sine they've been outdoors since birth, there's no hardening off process necessary, they are tough little seedlings that can go directly into the ground once it's warm enough for them to live outside their soda bottle-mini-greenhouses.

[Minner77]

Maybe you can have two crops of peppers?

I really want a small green house too, its on my list for when I get a house.

I started Tomatoes early this year during a warm spell. I put each little pot in a pint jar and topped it with a wide mouth pint jar to make a small greenhouse. Didn't do anywhere near as good as you, but they are growing!

Clever you!
~M

[Missy]

I winter-sow all my warm weather vegetables and set them out on the unprotected front porch, and a few on the front stoop ... out in the elements. This has worked for me for years. The seeds "know" when it is safe to sprout. Sine they've been outdoors since birth, there's no hardening off process necessary, they are tough little seedlings that can go directly into the ground once it's warm enough for them to live outside their soda bottle-mini-greenhouses.

Do you have a way to show us your soda bottle-mini greenhoses? I know it's probably something i should understand right off, but for some reason, I can't seem to wrap my head around it. Could be the medicines i'm on, ROFL But, I would like to see what you mean.

[Minner77]

I winter-sow all my warm weather vegetables and set them out on the unprotected front porch, and a few on the front stoop ... out in the elements. This has worked for me for years. The seeds "know" when it is safe to sprout. Sine they've been outdoors since birth, there's no hardening off process necessary, they are tough little seedlings that can go directly into the ground once it's warm enough for them to live outside their soda bottle-mini-greenhouses.

This is great food for thought for me: I have read and read and read everything I can get my hands on from every possible media, and still feel paralyzed to move ('tis why planting potatoes yesterday was so huge for me!). From reading (!) here and in talking to a few "casual" (read: non-retentive) gardeners, I am starting to relax enough to think perhaps I can take action, instead of just building the raised beds, erecting a fence, and collecting seeds and seedlings.

Thanks for the encouragement!

~M

(P.S. I am in SD, where it does indeed snow, so this tip is directly beneficial. Formerly from Twin Cities area, BTW.)

[Trentt]

I'll try to describe it. 2-liter soda bottles work fine, though even less work is required if you use plastic containers that produce often comes in (e.g., the snap-lid ventilated clear plastic boxes that strawberries come in nowadays, which can be used as is).

First, drill 4 or 5 holes in the bottom of the soda bottle (I drill one in each "hump") - the mini-greenhouse's drainage system.

Next, take shears and about 1/3 the way up from the bottom, cut the bottle open about 90% of the way around (the remaining uncut 10% is the greenhouse's hinge).

Leave the cap off.

Fill the lower 1/3 about 90% full of growing medium, pack down, make indentations every inch or two with your finger, drop in a seed, cover lightly. (For tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, I plant 3 - 4 seeds per soda bottle.)

Close the mini-greenhouse, seal with a piece of clear packing tape.

Put it outdoors as soon as it's planted - even in January. Let it freeze, thaw, refreeze, sit in the sun, the rain, and the wind.

What I do to ensure there's adequate moisture is to put my mini-greenhouses in a 2-flat system, one set inside the other, where the inner flat has holes and the bottom flat does not. I then water the flats and let it soak up through the holes in the bottoms of the mini-greenhouses via osmosis. If you get a heavy rain, remove the inner flat and set it crosswise over the bottom flat so it can drain - do not let it flood if possible!

By now, most everything I've winter-sown has germinated. They are still sealed as it still gets cold at night, but in a week or so I'll remove the tape so that ventilation improves and ambient air can enter the soda bottles. When I'm ready to transplant, I use a narrow trowel to unearth the plants and move them into the garden. No hardening-off necessary, and they barely know they've been moved.

I use this method with virtually everything except the tenderest and/or most slow-growing plants - e.g., impatiens, coleus, rosemary. These types of plants I start indoors using traditional early sowing methods.

[Debbie-cat]

Great explanation trentt! I will have to try your technique next winter. It would be wonderful to be able to leave them outside and not have to worry about the weather.