2010 Winter Greenhouse Varieties

[mdvpc]

Tania:

Right now is perfect-about 86 or so high, 60 low, nice humidity.

Here is Shirley today that I am growing out for you-its 3.5 inches tall.

I have a extreme bush dwarf german we are having for dinner tonight, plus some boets and a couple other varieties.

[mdvpc]

Here is utynok today, Nov. 7. Mostly fruit. Good thing I have a nice shade cloth on my greenhouse, or I would be getting sun scald. Its 78f here today.

[mdvpc]

Glacier is producing some nice, 2 oz fruit. Good taste for a winter greenhouse tomato.

[mdvpc]

Here is Al-Kuffa, picked today, 11/20/2010.

[artis]

Michael, Impressive fruit set on such small and healthy plants! Which varieties are the best tasting so far? I would also like to grow some this winter under fluorescent lights, so I am looking for good tasting tomatoes that do not grow taller than 4 feet. Suggestions would be highly appreciated! Artis

[mdvpc]

Artis:

Utynok, Extreme Bush Dwarf German, Amurskiy Shtamb of the ones I am growing now would be small plants. Of the 3, I think Extreme Bush Dwarf German is very tasty. Vershok would also fit with your plans and is a paste.

[mdvpc]

My wife and I shared the Al-Kuffa at dinner. It was very good, had some sweetness and nice rich tomato taste.

[les matzek]

hi mdvpc,
your plants look super, i hope you will answer a few
questions for me, where in the desert are you, i live
in the hi-desert of southern part of ca.
are the slabs you are growing in happen to be one
of the following atomie bimotrix,grodan slabs,ready
gro super sleevie ,sure to grow slabs ??,regards.

les

[mdvpc]

Les

I started my seed in grodan rockwool mini-blocks. The tomatoes in the white containers are in a coir ez gro bag from hydrogardens.

I am in El Paso.

[les matzek]

hi mdvpc,
check out sure to grow slabs they allow much more air to the root system than any slab on the market and i
think it would be next to impossible to over water,they
will give less support to the plants than coir or grodan
slabs but i think the results could be better??,anyways
i will try them this spring,regards.

les
p.s. i lived in houston from 1982 till 1985 i wish i would
have stayed there.

[mdvpc]

Les

thx for the info on the sure to grow slabs-I will check them out. I went to school in Houston, from 74 to 77.

[gill_s]

Originally Posted by mdvpc

Les

I started my seed in grodan rockwool mini-blocks. The tomatoes in the white containers are in a coir ez gro bag from hydrogardens.

I am in El Paso.

What feed do you give your young seedlings in the Grodan? I understood that they should have a weak all pupose (even NPK ratios) feed but last year was advised that this was too high in N and this was why I had poor early setting. I had thought it was because of colder than normal Spring nights here in the UK. Maybe a combination of factors, but I am never sure on this early feeding.
Thanks Gill

[MJACTIVIST]

lesandninamatzek-
STG is a lot of hype. I've used it (hail cubes) and I didn't notice any benefit.
Why do u think this?

it would be next to impossible to over water

This is true about Coco not STG. Coco holds 10x its own weight in water. Also allows more airflow to the roots rather than soil or traditional hydroponics.
L8
MJ

[MJACTIVIST]

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/cv216

I believe this is what ur looking for gill.
How high was ur N ppms last year?

L8
MJ

[mdvpc]

Gill

I started my varieties in the grodan, with bottom heat. Once they germinated, I put them in a hydro system called Microgarden, with expanded clay that the grodan sits on. Its a 10 gallon, 38 lt, reservoir. The fert that I put in was a cns17 3-2-2 grow, with cal-mag-plus, and followed the manufacturers recommendations for 38 lt. Before I put the seed in to germinate, I soaked the grodan for several hours to bring the ph down. In the microgarden, I kept the ph at 6-6.5. I left them in the microgarden for about 2 weeks, then planted them.