Rebecca M. says:

June 7th, 2006 at 4:30 pm

Hi GG! Just wanted to chime in that the tomatoes and peppers you gave me are also doing very well. The outer leaves are a bit yellow, but they have good, healthy, and green new growth- no worries! I’ll send you some pics once they fruit.

BTW, my eggplants still haven’t died and even seem to have maybe put on one new leaf. It’s not victory yet, but I’m feeling optomistic.

Greengirl says: Hey, Rebecca — That’s such great news! Plants always amaze me. They are more hardy than we realize. You must keep us posted on your eggplant’s progress.

Unfortunatley, I have some sad news for you. The Suyo Long cucumber seedling you gave me croaked the other weekend. I bought it a beautiful cedar planter. I bought it a beautiful metal trellis. I was so busy running around, I let the poor plant dry out. I feel terrible. Please don’t hate me.

J. says:

June 8th, 2006 at 3:38 pm

I’ve grown tomatoes from seed for a number of years now. I understand not wanting to go to the trouble, but I’m a picky heirloom grower, so I can’t buy many of the varieties I want locally (and mail-order specialty plants are expensive and subject to the perils of UPS.)

Tomato seeds (and peppers or eggplant since they’re so closely related) need to be kept moist for a reasonable rate of germination. Once they’ve germinated, the water needs change completely. You can bias your seedlings towards moisture problems by watering too consistently, but if you allow the soil to dry solid (buy a moisture meter) once or twice after they have a few true leaves, that shouldn’t be a problem. It’ll also keep you from encountering some of the nastier fungal problems. While they grow to transplant size (and you near the 2-3 weeks past frost date) it helps to have a fan, brush your seedlings, make sure your light source isn’t too far away, occasionally let the soil dry out, etc. Each of these is effectively pre-hardening.

About a week and half before planting, I usually start hardening.
Day 1 - 1 hour outside in the shade.
Day 2 - 2 hours outside in the shade.
Day 3 - 3 hours outside, mostly in the shade.
Day 4 …

This year, hardening took me 8 days (and I put them in the ground in full sun on day 9.) It varies a bit with the weather (either lots of rain or excessive heat means you should take a few extra days.) I always have plenty of wilted plants during the hardening process. They spring right back up after they’re back inside and watered, and it makes all the difference when they’re finally in the ground.

In my experience, it’s fairly straight-forward to keep tomato plants appropriately supplied with water, particularly in Minnesota (I haven’t watered in 3 days now.) If the plant is starting to wilt, it’s time to water. If you’re not sure, feel the uppermost shoots. If they’re fairly rigid, the plant doesn’t need water. Once I see the first fruit set, I put a timer on the soaker hose and run it for an hour every other day, skipping days when it rains heavily.

To control evaporation (more effective watering):
- Water at ground level (think soaker hose tucked under a layer of mulch)
- Make sure you have sufficient mulch. I love untreated shredded cedar for it’s natural insect and weed controls.
- Water after the sun goes down or before it comes up. If that doesn’t suit your schedule (or if you’re lazy like me,) buy a timer.

To increase holding capacity (more water stored in the ground for the plant to utilize):
- Till your soil once in the fall, then again in the late spring before you plant.
- Add organic matter, particularly peat moss. There are commercial moisture-retention products, but I’ve never found them to be worth much.
- Plan your garden with paths and places to stand where you won’t compact the soil too close to your plants.
- I don’t use raised beds - I just till as deeply as possible. I haven’t seen much difference in yields with raised beds, and they increase drainage, which reduces your holding capacity. I find they’re also more work to maintain.

I would also recommend trench planting (http://www.kdcomm.net/~tomato/Tomato/trench.htm), though I don’t bury as much of the stem as this example shows.

Greengirl says: This post needs to be its very own page. I love how you’ve simplfied the hardening-off process. Your tomato tips and tricks will be very helpful to me and other readers, thank you!

Matt says:

June 12th, 2006 at 9:48 am

Jaime,

The pepper and tomato plants are doing great. They were looking very sad at first. However, the roots must have set as they are standing tall and looking great. We are eating lots of lettuce and Arugula right now … anticipating the veggies to come.

Thanks again for the seedlings!

Matt

Greengirl says: No, thank you! I’m going to buy some very special planters for my new Italian friends.

Ames Tiedeman says:

June 26th, 2006 at 2:23 pm

I learned something here! Thanks!