Fall tomatoes here we come!
Now that I’ve finished moving, I’m once again ready to start growing. Luckily, I’m in California where we can grow almost anything regardless of the time of year. I’ve decided to take the plunge and start growing some Roma tomatoes.
According to the label on the pot I bought them in, these little guys should only grow to about 2 to 3 ounces in size, so they aren’t as Sun hungry as the larger varieties (like beefsteak). They’re currently on my back porch, where they get about 5 to 5.5 hours of direct sunlight each day and an additional 6 hours of bright ambient light.
These tomatoes are currently sitting in little pots in potting mix on my back porch. I’m hoping to grow them out until they’re big enough for me to start taking cuttings. I want to use the cuttings to run a little experiment comparing my new hydroponics system (more on that here) to a soil-based traditional potted system to see which produces more tomatoes. More on that as it happens!
I took some pictures of these new additions below. As you can see, they’re currently in a makeshift greenhouse covering. Unfortunately, my back porch gets a lot of wind, so leaving these guys exposed to the wind would dry them out too quickly. These plants are especially vulnerable because I just uprooted them from their old pots and put them in new soil, so they haven’t yet had a chance to develop a vigorous root system in their new pots. Additionally, I didn’t get them in the best condition from Home Depot (some leaves were browning, and some had lesions which accelerate transpirational water loss), so they will be in this covering until they get some newer, more healthy leaves.
I got six of these cute little tomato plants from Home Depot for less than $3! Some potting soil and clay pots and we have ourselves the beginning of a great afternoon!
I took each plant out of its container and gently! washed the soil off of their roots. Then I filled one of the clay pots about one-third full of soil, and put the plant and its roots in. Finally, I covered up the roots with more soil and filled up the pots so that the new plants were supported. I made sure not to pack the soil at all, so as not to damage the fragile root system. Hopefully, these plants will soon get adjusted to their new home!
These tomato plants are going to be so happy in their new home on this sunny back porch
Uh-oh! That shadow looks threatening. Tomatoes need a lot of sunlight, and unfortunately, they would not get that on the floor of this porch. Something had to be done!
These plants are moving up in the world! Luckily, summer sales are still one and I managed to get this patio table. Ten dollars later, and these guys have been given a few extra hours of sunlight so they can grow big and strong. But there’s still one more problem…
There’s too much wind on the back porch! These plants are going to get dried out. They’re especially vulnerable after transplanting and in the state that Home Depot sold them in (tssk, tssk Home Depot, you ought to take better care of your seedlings!). Thankfully, I had this old dry cleaning bag and hanger available that I wasn’t using. Hurray for plastic!
I MacGyvered this little setup out of some duct tape and a metal clothes hanger from the dry cleaners. These tomatoes are going to be nice and moist in their new home.