May 31, 2011

Mission Failure

For the first time in 14 years of growing my own tomatoes from seed I have failed. At first, I just thought that the tomatoes were chilly in the basement under the lights so I moved them out to the greenhouse. When that didn't help I thought maybe they had a phosphorous deficiency and sprayed them with kelp spray. They haven't grown at all in a month and I knew I had to concede defeat. In the end, I think my beloved APS units were the cause of failure. I usually transplant the tomatoes from the smaller APS units to regular plastic pots but this year since I was going on vacation for 2 weeks in May I decided to transplant them into the larger APS units. I think that the tomatoes were too wet. Luckily, I have a wonderful local garden source, The Pure Gardener. They have a great selection of heirloom tomatoes. Some of them were the same variety that I had planted.  My tomato season has been saved and I'll probably have tomatoes even earlier than if I had succeeded with my own. I don't have the heart to throw away my tomatoes just yet. The two Coustralle are actually looking like they are turning the corner so I may just plant them out and see what happens.

3 comments:

Gatsbys Gardens said...

I think it is a good idea to plant them in the garden and see what happens. Sometimes, plants bounce back when put in garden soil.

Eileen

Sissy said...

I hope your plants turned out alright, but if not, 14-1 is a great record!!

garden girl said...

I hope your seedlings turned the corner Rachel. I had similar misfortune with my peppers and bought some starts. I planted the sorry-looking seedlings anyway. Although it's taken them awhile, the seedlings are doing great now and have just about caught up with the ones I bought. As long as they're not dead, it's always worth giving them a chance if there's enough room for them. I've found most veggies I start from seed indoors almost always thrive once in the garden, no matter how sorry-looking they are at first.