View Single Post
Old March 28, 2012   #5
feldon30
Tomatovillian™
 
feldon30's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Rock Hill, SC
Posts: 5,346
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by jlwalke12 View Post
Thanks for the advice. I also have another question. The owner of the store said that he wants plants that have a thick stalk and lots of blooms and even small fruits on them. To get a thick stalk does that depend on the variety or how deep you pot them up or both?
So in other words, the owner doesn't care about the customer. A tomato plant with lots of blooms and fruit on it has switched from the growth/root stage to the blossom/fruit stage and will not easily switch back. The customer will get a poor crop. No offense, but if I saw a bunch of transplants with fruit on them, I'd high-tail it out of there and head to Calloway's.


If he wants the seedlings to have a thick stalk like Bonnie's transplants, then you will need to grow the seedlings like they do, in 40-50 degrees and with frequent application of growth inhibitor chemicals. You can use an oscillating fan to make the stems on your tomato transplants a bit thicker, but you'll never be able to reproduce the "Wal-Mart/Lowe's/Home-Depot" type thick stems without growth inhibitors. This is from someone who used to work at Bonnie's.
__________________
[SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] *

[I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]
feldon30 is offline   Reply With Quote