Dreaming of Tomatoes

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hnorth

hnorth

Chirping
Oct 19, 2023
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It's been a long, wet winter. I've been dreaming of succulent summer tomatoes. This year, the plan is to maximize my yield by growing them in oversized containers using coco coir based potting soil with amendments. In the past, the clay based soil in my garden has given ok results. But I want to see how the tomato plants do in "gourmet" soil and mulch
I've always gardened in beds in plain dirt, the way my grandfather showed me, when I was eleven whilst visiting his garden.

A local cannabis warehouse store had a big clearance/going out of business sale. So I loaded up a truck with "dope soil" and amendment, growbags, etc.

The variety (so far) list is: Amish Paste, Black Brandywine, Momotaro, Blue Beech. Cosmonaut Vokov, Pineapple and Weisnicht's Ukranian. We like to freeze them in ziplock bags and enjoy them into the winter.




























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Me too! It was too cold and windy to do this on the porch, so we planted seeds inside today. This system did an okay job of containing the dirt.
PXL_20250324_203315740.jpg
 
MountainWoman73 said:
Me too! It was too cold and windy to do this on the porch, so we planted seeds inside today. This system did an okay job of containing the dirt. View attachment 4081425
Click to expand...
After doing some research on indoor grow lights, I happened upon a youtube video that recommended LED shop lights. It turns out that anything with the designation "grow lights" comes at a steep premium. The guy made a recommendation of an inexpensive shop light. A normal 4 foot, 5000 lm 6500K cost me around $17 at Lowes. I went ahead and bought two. On a timer, they seem to work well during these cool muddy early spring days..
 
hnorth said:
After doing some research on indoor grow lights, I happened upon a youtube video that recommended LED shop lights. It turns out that anything with the designation "grow lights" comes at a steep premium. The guy made a recommendation of an inexpensive shop light. A normal 4 foot, 5000 lm 6500K cost me around $17 at Lowes. I went ahead and bought two. On a timer, they seem to work well during these cool muddy early spring days..
Click to expand...
Pictures of your set up and plants?
 
hnorth said:
After doing some research on indoor grow lights, I happened upon a youtube video that recommended LED shop lights. It turns out that anything with the designation "grow lights" comes at a steep premium. The guy made a recommendation of an inexpensive shop light. A normal 4 foot, 5000 lm 6500K cost me around $17 at Lowes. I went ahead and bought two. On a timer, they seem to work well during these cool muddy early spring days..
Click to expand...
+1 for the shop lights, I got a bunch this year for less than the price of one Ferry Morse grow light and so far? No complaints! They’re actually cooler to the touch too!
 
Note to self: Dont use pure coco coil to start seeds in. Despite what the Portlandia guy with the massive arms covered with sleeve tattoos- at the grow shop claims.

For whatever reason, sprouts came up fine but then stalled and yellowed and had to be transplanted into regular potting soil. We're back on track now.

Further reading indicates that weed growers use coco coil as a substrate and infuse nutrient into it regularly; it contains no nutrients of its own.
 

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