Too Many Tomato Seeds

[karstopography]

So do you do this, order too many? It’s really all y’all’s fault since everyone talks up this or that tomato.

I’m now in a position to where I don’t have enough garden space to possibly plant all the varieties. Now what?

[Shule]

They keep for years. Just save the extras.

I've ordered way more than I have room for lots of times! It's addictive.

[eyegrotom]

You get a Bigger garden

[eyegrotom]

I think that just about every Member of Tomato Junction has more varieties of tomato seeds than garden space or Ambition, to grow them all in one season. Isn't that why we are all here anyway because of the Sickness that we Share. Mike

[kath]

Discovered tomato forums in 2010. Acquired too many seeds. Was unable to resist growing every variety I had. Planted as close as 12" apart. Continued to acquire too many seeds. Expanded the garden. Acquired even more seeds. Planted closer together. Even more seeds. Expanded the garden again. Grew so many plants I couldn't take care of them or enjoy growing them. Gradually reduced the numbers and began to plant grass seed. Plan to plant more grass this fall so the garden will be back to the original size.

[Gardadore]

My gardening buddy and I enjoy looking over my large list each year (close to 300) and selecting the old standards we can’t do without plus which new ones we will try. Makes each year a new adventure. Yes, there are some major enablers on this site but what are addictions for?
I plan to will my box to my gardening buddy when I can no longer plant and care for the plants. Pray for continued good health each day despite the aches and pains of trying to get up when weeding!
I plant about 45 varieties each year and she doubles most of mine plus adds some others I don’t want from the list for 90-100 plants.
Kath, maybe find a gardening friend, ideally with a farm! She has the space and I inspired her addiction! She grows additionally about 10 -15 more varieties that I request and I can go over and sample mine. She gets to keep the rest after my sampling which is fine with me!

[karstopography]

I think I’m at 23 varieties on the seed orders, but then I look at more tomato seed lists and descriptions and think about getting yet even more. This number doesn’t really count the more well known varieties that I might also want to grow and are normally readily available as sets at the feed store. I don’t think I want to try and save any tomato seeds from current plants in production. I spend enough time as it is on the garden without adding yet another layer of time, effort and organization saving tomato seeds.

I’m caring for 20 tomato plants now, 16 varieties. I plan on planting some of my newly acquired seed in little set containers soon to get ready for a try at an Autumn production. Most of my Spring tomatoes will peter out in the coming weeks. We’ve actually had a pretty benign Spring, but eventually the humid heat and bugs will get the upper hand, no sense continuing to play a losing hand. I took out my summer squash yesterday. I don’t like looking at beat up, diseased, and declining plants.

Then there are the many other things I like to grow, peppers, squash, beans, eggplant, etc. Twenty tomato plants at any one time might be all I can fit in the garden or want to do. Okay, maybe twenty-five.

[worth1]

I planted over two hundred one year in two different places.
Not including squash peppers and cucumbers.
Too hot and too much work.

[Ginger2778]

So do you do this, order too many? It’s really all y’all’s fault since everyone talks up this or that tomato.

I’m now in a position to where I don’t have enough garden space to possibly plant all the varieties. Now what?

Hah! Join the club!

[EdieJ]

Welcome to my world! The "I-Wants" always seem to greatly outnumber the "I-Cans" so I always have way more than I can plant anyway but the lure of the catalogs gets me every late winter. I keep saying I will only grow what I already have. Yeah right

[AZGardener]

So do you do this, order too many? It’s really all y’all’s fault since everyone talks up this or that tomato.

I’m now in a position to where I don’t have enough garden space to possibly plant all the varieties. Now what?

Yes, every year.
I share extras with friends and family, it helps justify my addiction.

[fluffy_gumbo]

Having just a community 8'x8' garden plot curbs my impulse to buy too many seeds. I still squeezed in 9 tomato plants this year though (stingy with spacing). That and the fact that the climate/pests/diseases in the Southeast is brutal and any new varieties I'm trying is thoroughly researched so that I think they will grow decent, otherwise it's just too much work and no return. I also have all kind of other seeds beside tomatoes though, my new obsession is cut flowers

[kath]

My gardening buddy and I enjoy looking over my large list each year (close to 300) and selecting the old standards we can’t do without plus which new ones we will try. Makes each year a new adventure. Yes, there are some major enablers on this site but what are addictions for?
I plan to will my box to my gardening buddy when I can no longer plant and care for the plants. Pray for continued good health each day despite the aches and pains of trying to get up when weeding!
I plant about 45 varieties each year and she doubles most of mine plus adds some others I don’t want from the list for 90-100 plants.
Kath, maybe find a gardening friend, ideally with a farm! She has the space and I inspired her addiction! She grows additionally about 10 -15 more varieties that I request and I can go over and sample mine. She gets to keep the rest after my sampling which is fine with me!

Very creative solution, Gardadore!

[rxkeith]

i have a back log of varieties to grow. i only ordered one tomato this year, jds special c-tex
because i was out of seeds. but then, there is the ones from farmer shawn from carolyns last
seed offer, and then a surprise comes in the mail, and now i have more varieties to figure when
to grow. yeah, whaddaya do, whaddayado?



keith

[Shule]

…
I plan to will my box to my gardening buddy when I can no longer plant and care for the plants. …

That reminds me of the Roughwood Seed Collection. I just read about it, yesterday.

Have you ever thought about naming your seed collection?

[Gardadore]

Interesting thought but I don’t think my collection is that unique since there are so many members here who have as many or more varieties and probably many more unusual varieties! The problem is they are getting older so must consider resurrecting some of the old favorites to save seeds. There are just so many new ones I want to try that I don’t get back to many of the older ones. Fortunately my buddy does select some of them but needs encouragement to save seeds.
Actually “willing” is a bit of an exaggeration as when I reach the point where I can no longer deal with tomato plants I will just hand her the box and a copy of my list with notes!

[Nan6b]

If I buy the seeds, I plant them. But there are so many other ways to get seeds! When someone's offering seeds for trade, or a SASE, who can resist? Especially if you have something someone else wants. Also, sometimes when you make a trade, someone throws in some extra varieties they think you might like. Then there are the seed swaps. In the MMMM (comes out usually in November-January) you get MANY seed packets of tomatoes, familiar and new-to-you. So even if you don't over-buy, seeds happen.

If you can truly admit you're not going to plant them, or there's more in a packet than you need, you can package them up and offer them for trade, or send them in to a seed swap. But that usually nets you more seeds...

[LK2020]

Oh, boy, yes! My seed table/boxes overflowed this year. I was doing okay, but this winter I read too many mouth-watering descriptions of fabulous tomatoes and I ordered a bunch of seeds. Before the pandemic rush so they all came. Then came Farmer Shawn's offer of Carolyn's seeds, and Marcia's seed offer. Our community garden got shut down by the pandemic. But they have shut down so often in recent years that I'm used to just having my backyard plot, and as many containers as I can fill and space. But selecting which varieties get the go-ahead has been VERY difficult this year. Harder than ever. And my non-gardener friends just stare at me blankly with NO understanding of how much psychic energy this can involve! Thankfully at least here I know I'm not alone and the struggle is real ...

[Gardadore]

I, like Nan, do plant some seeds From all the varieties I order in a given season. I love to trade and share but normally we travel a lot in a given year so I have to time these things to make sure I or my buddy are available to receive them. But now that we are home and a bunch of trips have been cancelled I really should make a list of those I could trade or just give away.
I like trades where you get just enough seeds for a couple of years. If I really like the variety I can either ask for it again or save seeds.
I must admit I love my seed box! Each year I am like a kid going into a candy shop and really enjoy pouring over all the possibilities for the new season. Somehow it all works out and eacn year offers a new and old adventure. I no longer participate in every offer but once in a while something comes along I must have and people can usually find something in my box to trade for! Most of the packets have only a few seeds so can’t trade large quantities.
Like LK2020 my non gardening friends have no clue why I agonize over my choices and go to pieces if I lose a seedling of a new variety! But no longer panic. Just cut it off at a healthy part of the stem, stick it in good potting mix with plenty of water and in a few days it has started to reroot! Two are recovering and forming roots at the moment.

[habitat-gardener]

I got a bigger community garden plot this spring, so I thought I could give each tomato plant a little more space. Thirty is a good number to grow. Well, might as well start more than that, in case some older ones don't germinate. Of course I had to grow all the ones I got in trade this year. And those other ones I've always wanted to grow that I happened upon. And I couldn't plant just half a bed with tomatoes, might as well fill it with the most-anticipated varieties. And even though I gave away about 50 plants, I still ended up with about 60 in my garden!