2017 seed planting time in South Texas

[Chuck]

It's that time of year again here. I've been busy the last couple of days making my soil seed starting mix and sowing my tomato and pepper seeds. I begin by sterilizing my homemade extra composted compost. It is almost soil and I sterilize it in a microwave. Then I mix in 15% by volume of horticultural cornmeal to stop my hopeful new seedlings from getting damping off disease. Then I loosely fill up the 144 tomato and 88 pepper containers each holding 1 cup of my sterilized soil and place them in a wheelbarrow half full of water until they become saturated. I then take them out of the water and let them drain for a few minutes. Then I pack down the wet soil to about 1/2" from the lip of the container. Next I place 2 seeds into each container and fill with dry soil to about 1/4" from the lip and lightly pack this soil down. I then place the containers into a large casserole pan and cover tightly with Saran Wrap thus making a little tiny greenhouse. The soil will stay wet enough in this until they hopefully germinate. After they sprout I will remove the Saran Wrap and spray them with 1 tbs. hydrogen peroxide per quart of water. I will do this once per week until they get their first set of true leaves. I will take them outside on nice days and always water them from the bottom up. If both seeds germinated I just snip off the smallest one. Usually at least one germinates but if not I always sow enough seeds to have extras in case something happens which it usually does.

 

[Beth_B]

You must have a lot of sunny or well-lit indoor space for that many seedlings!

My best friend and her husband moved to Texas (near Kileen) last spring and have been campaigning hard to get me to move there! Part of me is tempted...but oy those summers. Plus my house here is paid for...hate to get a new mortgage at almost 60.

But I admit, the longer growing season is very tempting!
/glares at ice and snow covered yard.

 

[Chuck]

You must have a lot of sunny or well-lit indoor space for that many seedlings!

My best friend and her husband moved to Texas (near Kileen) last spring and have been campaigning hard to get me to move there! Part of me is tempted...but oy those summers. Plus my house here is paid for...hate to get a new mortgage at almost 60.

But I admit, the longer growing season is very tempting!
/glares at ice and snow covered yard.

Well, there are growing seasons and then there are growing seasons. We actually have two. Spring and fall. The summers are too hot for anything but okra and hot peppers. You can forget tomatoes in the summer along with just about everything else. Days and days on end with high 90's and low 100's. No rain unless a hurricane comes ashore. Everything dries up or blows away. I normally have a fall winter garden but this year it went down into the mid-teens and knocked everything down, even the lettuce. Didn't kill stuff, just destroyed most of the leaves and set everything back about a month, the very same month to plant into the ground. Oh well, maybe, maybe it will be a good spring with no hail or floods.

 

[I_AM]

Sounds like fun, i planted my tomato seeds last week in trays, i planned to have them outside in a poly grow house, however we had really bad weather and it snowed, so i kept them inside, they have sprouted already and next week i will have to transplant them into individual pots and let them grow some before planting outside. Which variety/varieties of tomato do you grow ? i have 5 different types this year and as they have been inside i now have around 150 plants, i only expected half of that if i am honest.

 

[Beth_B]

Yah...about those summer temps...
I'm fine with seriously cold weather (double digits below zero...no big deal, and yes I spend time outside year round) but anything over about 75F depending on humidity makes me deeply unhappy.

Until I started reading your posts I had seriously no idea there was such a thing as too hot a climate for growing! I'm planning on visiting my friends in April or May, I understand the weather is tolerable then.

Get this...they bought a house on a rural acre lot. And have not planted a single blessed thing. They're not into gardening. I can't even wrap my head around that!

I hope your spring is good for your garden, Chuck.

I_AM, I hope you are good at canning! I have between 10-15 tomato plants each year, share tons, and still can't get to them all! But our growing season here is five months long at best.

 

[Chuck]

Yah...about those summer temps...
I'm fine with seriously cold weather (double digits below zero...no big deal, and yes I spend time outside year round) but anything over about 75F depending on humidity makes me deeply unhappy.

Until I started reading your posts I had seriously no idea there was such a thing as too hot a climate for growing! I'm planning on visiting my friends in April or May, I understand the weather is tolerable then.

Get this...they bought a house on a rural acre lot. And have not planted a single blessed thing. They're not into gardening. I can't even wrap my head around that!

Maybe they just need a little kick in the butt and since you'll be there........................................

Oh, the nighttime low temperatures are rarely below 75F. That is why tomatoes don't set fruit

 

[Chuck]

Sounds like fun, i planted my tomato seeds last week in trays, i planned to have them outside in a poly grow house, however we had really bad weather and it snowed, so i kept them inside, they have sprouted already and next week i will have to transplant them into individual pots and let them grow some before planting outside. Which variety/varieties of tomato do you grow ? i have 5 different types this year and as they have been inside i now have around 150 plants, i only expected half of that if i am honest.

I do a lot of experiments with different varieties trying to find the Holy Grail of tomatoes. This year I have 24 varieties, 6 of which are proven. The other 18 I have never heard of or planted before. I used to do a lot more but I am getting to old to maintain a garden that big anymore. My get up and go got up and went.

 

[I_AM]

Beth i already have a plan, at least i think i do, i use loads of tomatoes in our meals,also make lots of sauces, pesto etc and i always give plants and veg to my elderly neighbours. I also donate fresh fruit, veg and herbs to our local homeless drop in centre where they have cooked meals. I spoke with my kids school today and they would love to have some, and guess what everyone will be receiving as part of their birthday presents this year lol

 

[I_AM]

wow 24 varieties, that is amazing !! I often wonder about the varieties and if we have the same choices here as other countries. I always imagined Italy with a huge selection though as they use tomatoes in just about everything. I am growing one called Moneymaker, i had never heard of it, apparently it is new one. Do you grow them for a living ? Well you say you don't do much, to me it sounds like you still do more than most people i know in regards to growing, good luck with your plants this year

 

[Beth_B]

I_AM, I only tried canning once and it was a pain! However it's really easy to freeze fresh tomatoes. I also share my produce with neighbors (I think it's nice you also donate yours!) And my nearest neighbors' grandkids know they are always welcome to help themselves to the cherry tomatoes! Also at the end of the season, I know several people who will snap up my green tomatoes.

Chuck my friends did actually plant and grow some stuff up here in the frozen north because of me. Now that I'm not around I guess they forgot how to.

 

[Chuck]

wow 24 varieties, that is amazing !! I often wonder about the varieties and if we have the same choices here as other countries. I always imagined Italy with a huge selection though as they use tomatoes in just about everything. I am growing one called Moneymaker, i had never heard of it, apparently it is new one. Do you grow them for a living ? Well you say you don't do much, to me it sounds like you still do more than most people i know in regards to growing, good luck with your plants this year

I grew Moneymaker once a few years ago. It is an old indeterminate from the 1960's. It doesn't have the dense foliage needed here to prevent sunscald but I rated the taste as excellent.

Many years ago I had a 10 acre farm that I grew paste tomatoes on and sold to Heinz. Now I grow enough to can into sauces and into canned tomatoes and give away the rest to the old folks home in town. I try to grow enough vegetables each year to not have to buy at the grocery. Beans and corn mainly, stuff that freezes and cans well.

 

[I_AM]

Well Beth i have never tried canning, it seems like a lot of hard work, as i am writing this though i am thinking perhaps it is something worthwhile, perhaps i will try this year. All my friends kids love coming here, mainly for the strawberries my kids grow though haha. I always try to donate and share with my elderly neighbours because i am a huge believer in 'what we give shall be returned to us' karma if you like. What have you got growing now ?

 

[I_AM]

Chuck that is music to my ears about the moneymaker having excellent taste Really you sold to Heinz...that is great !!! i wonder if i ate any of your tomatoes then lol. This will be my first year of 'serious growing' i have always grown herbs and seasonal veg and fruit, but this year i have planted enough to hopefully last all winter as like yourself i do not want to buy from the stores, mainly because of the chemicals and all these GMO's. As you will read above, i have never tried canning, i am afraid the lids won't seal and i will waste all the tomatoes plus all the money i would have to spend on the jars. Like i said to Beth though, perhaps it would be worth it for me, and perhaps now because i know you guys are here and could maybe guide me and advise me.

 

[Chuck]

Chuck that is music to my ears about the moneymaker having excellent taste Really you sold to Heinz...that is great !!! i wonder if i ate any of your tomatoes then lol. This will be my first year of 'serious growing' i have always grown herbs and seasonal veg and fruit, but this year i have planted enough to hopefully last all winter as like yourself i do not want to buy from the stores, mainly because of the chemicals and all these GMO's. As you will read above, i have never tried canning, i am afraid the lids won't seal and i will waste all the tomatoes plus all the money i would have to spend on the jars. Like i said to Beth though, perhaps it would be worth it for me, and perhaps now because i know you guys are here and could maybe guide me and advise me.

Canning is really easy and safe if you follow directions. I have been canning or helping my can for 60+ years and have never had anything remotely bad happen except for a broken jar or two. I can corn, both cream style and kernel, greens such as spinach and chard, green beans, peppers, beets and carrots. Once set up you can really save money. Anything you want to know just ask.

 

[I_AM]

Sorry for late reply, i was on Ebay and Amazon looking at the jars. I think i am going to give this a try, thing is really i can't lose...i will win or learn. So now i have to ask, does everything i want to store need to be in pressurised jars or can i use screw lids? I love beetroot but only if it's pickled, oh my... i am going to the garden centre on Friday for some larger plant pots, now i have added beetroot , sweetcorn, and green beans to my shopping list too haha .