This is more of a tomato diary than anything. If you don’t care about tomatoes, keep moving, haha.
Firstly, I planted tomatoes on April 15th. Not as early as I wanted to, but last year I planted them too early and they all got root-bound so late is better in this case. In my growing zone I don’t actually put them in the soil until the weekend after memorial day (we always get caught off guard by one last super cold day and too many people lose their tomatoes. I don’t wanna be one of those people), so we still have plenty of time. I planted 3 of each variety.
I bought an heirloom seed packet from David’s Garden (no commission. Just pretty impressed with his seeds. No one is paying me or rewarding me for this post). This included Slicing Black Prince, Striped German Hybrid, Slicing Moskovich Slicing, Beefsteak Brandywine, Beefsteak Cherokee Purple, Beefsteak Cherokee Green, Beefsteak Great White, Beefsteak Valencia, Beefsteak Yellow Brandywine, and Beefsteak Rose. I also had cherry, pear, Roma, and Rutgers tomato seeds from years past, Carbon seeds from Baker Creek Seeds (kind of a seed nerd girl favorite. All their catalogs are so pretty and I feel fancy ordering from them), and Delicious tomato seeds from Gurney’s seeds (I like their seeds but they’re never in a rush on shipping, so order *way* early).
The only ones not claiming “heirloom” status are my Roma, the Delicious and Cherry tomatoes (though I have a packet of Cherry tomaotes that do say heirloom. This packet is older so I grew it this year (I like my other one better, though), and the Striped German (it’s the only one that says hybrid in the title). I want to keep seeds, done all the research on how to do it, but I haven’t managed to do it yet. I’ve also never managed to compare seed packets like I’ve wanted to before, so I’m at least checking that off my bucket list. Fingers crossed I can stick with it.
If you want to see how last year went, I’ve got a gorgeous tomato picture in this post. The same seeds were used.
Today is April 27th and I feel like I need to get this all written down before I forget it all.
First, the Delicious seeds popped out of their pods first. They’re growing amazingly well. Next (a very close second) were the Valencia, White (surprisingly. The packet said they’re hard to grow. And I got a whole 4 white tomatoes last year, so it’s probably not wrongn), and Brandywine. They all have their second set of leaves. I think the Black Prince will catch up, they’re all kind of showing their heads, but just barely. Then I have 1 German, 2 Moskovich, 2 Purple, 2 Roma, 2 Green (plus a sneaky volunteer. I dropped a seed when I planted and it landed right in the hole, I guess), 2 Yellow, 2 Rose, and 2 cherry. My Rutgers, cherry, and pear seeds are losing the race. The Rutgers have sprouts but none of them look healthy, they still have the seed shell on them and they’re tiny. I’ve got some sprouts starting to show in my cherry pods, and not a single pear tomaoto is showing, which surprises me because I always have a *ton* of Pear and Cherry tomaotes by season end. Fingers crossed the rest show up but each day looks less promising. I also have an extra white and a mystery plant. The white seeds were both little and stuck together so I left them (like I said, they’re supposed to be hard to grow). And when everything was planted I found a random seed and didn’t want to put it back in the wrong spot, so I just threw it in some soil. We will see what it turns out to be).
I intend to keep 2 plants from anything that grows, and the 3rd plant I will send to my parents. They live in a different growing zone (I’m in 5B and they’re in 7A), but I wanted an accurate idea of how things grew and didn’t want to have open garden space because something didn’t grow well, and my mom said plant some for my dad, too, so my dad getting the surplus is a win for both of us.
More to come…
May 23 Update
I transplanted tomatoes (and my sunflowers) on the third of May. I decided to re-plant some of the problematic ones. For science. Some were just extra for my mom (I had the space). Instead of writing lots of paragraphs, it seems easier to just start putting everything in chart form. I like charts.
| Variety | replanted | total | notes |
| Delicious | 0 | 3 | Still doing crazy well. |
| Valencia | 0 | 3 | Doing well. Turned the grow light off because they were getting sunburned (weird) but nothing else has suffered from not having it on. |
| Purple | 0 | 3 | Interesting note: I thought only 2 would survive (only transplanted 2) but the other guy was just a late bloomer. He’s currently got his second set of leaves and I’m about to transplant him. |
| Green | 0 | 2 | growing well. I had 4 plants (one volunteer seed) but one didn’t grow and my children … loved on the other one. This plant also got sunburned from the growlight. I didn’t replant because my mom doesn’t care for green tomatoes. |
| Yellow | 0 | 2 | Growing well. Didnt replant because my Mom doesn’t care for yellow either. She’s more of a classic tomato fan. |
| White | 0 | 3 | I have 2 unlabeled plants now (thanks kids) so maybe 1 is the extra white one? They’re looking a little weak. Thin, long stems. The packet that came with advised planting a fish with them, so when I put them in he ground, I most definitely will! |
| Brandywine | 0 | 3 | The tallest plants now! They’re getting eager to be transplanted but I never dare plant tomatoes in the ground until after Memorial Day. |
| Roma | 2 | 5 | I thought I was only getting 2 Roma plants so I planted another for science and an extra one for my mom. 2 days ago the last little Roma popped his head out of the dirt! The other 2 (planted May 3rd) have their second set of leaves now, but that guy’s pulling through! |
| Rose | 1 | 3 | growing as expected |
| Moskovich | 1 | 3 | 1 plant doing really well. One on the short end. replanted one appropriate size for being re-planted. |
| Cherry | 2 | 3 | Same as Roma, thought I was only getting 2 cherry plants so I planted 2 more just to make sure I had enough to send to Mom and I have a little seedling growing well! the original 2 are growing well. the second planting have not sprouted yet. But that 3rd little guy is growing! |
| Pear | 3 | 3 | One pear plant transplanted with the rest. Replanted 3 to make sure I got enough. 2 have sprouted from the second set. |
| German | 2 | 4ish | I thought I was only getting 1 German so I replanted 2 more. When I was checking on my seedlings today, the 2 I had all but given up on are starting to break through the soil. No leaves out yet, but there are 2 living plants coming up. One of the replants is also up. the original plant is doing well and about 6″ tall. |
| Carbon | 2 | 3ish | 1 carbon made it to transplanting and is doing well. one was decapitated when the seed shell didn’t come off right (I need to figure out how to help them with that). It’s still alive, but I’m not counting it a survivor. one of the replants is up with it’s second set of leaves. And as I was evaluating all of the other late-bloomers, I’ve got a carbon sprout working it’s way out. |
| Black Prince | 2 | 2 | 1 plant is growing well. 1 replant is sprouted with a second set of leaves. |
| Rutgers | 3 | 0 | 6 plants and 1 was decapitated when the seed shell didn’t come off, one still has the seed shell on and I don’t wanna repeat the problem (but it’s not growing), and the new ones haven’t even sprouted yet. Don’t think I’ll keep trying these. |
