Winter Micro Tomatoes

[wykvlvr]

I use the same procedure moving from pellets to cups to bigger cups then to my gallon pots for them. Others may do differently

[GoDawgs]

I start the seed in a 4x3 cup and when the plant gets about 5-6" tall it goes into the final pot.

[zeuspaul]

Are micros about 12 inches tall and dwarfs up to 24-36 inches tall? I bought seeds classified as micros. Now I think I might want to go a little larger. Large micro or small dwarf. I have more room up than out. I am thinking about something about 24 inches tall.

This is new to me. My micros are now about 1/2 inch tall. I fear I am going to like this. I am currently making custom pots to help maximize the available space.

Any suggestions? I would like good production on a vigorous plant. Not too picky about fruit size.

[mama_lor]

Dwarfs as well as microdwarfs have quite variable sizes depending on variety. Quite a few normal dwarfs will grow easily over one meter. Also, in winter, height will be bigger due to lower levels of light. Something like Lime Green Salad should be a good try for you.

[MissS]

@zeuspaul Dwarf's while bred to grow in pots can get rather tall for indoor growing. Some of them can reach 5 feet in an outdoor garden. You really have to read up on the variety to see which plants will fit your growing situation.

[zeuspaul]

I am going to use trial and error. I have read up on the dwarfs but the info is lacking. My problem is I don't have a lot of space in my indoor growing area. I have seeds for six +/- sold as micro dwarfs and another six +/- sold as dwarfs. The pots I am making are about 6x6x10 inches 1.3 actual gallons. I have room for 24 pots without expanding to another area. Tall and skinny plants would be good because I have a lot of upward space. All the dwarfs I have seen are determinate which might not be good for tall growth.

[GoDawgs]

@zeuspaul , check out the dwarfs and micros at Bunny Hop Seeds. There are a lot of both there there and Ellie gives pretty detailed descriptions. You might find some answers there.

https://heritageseedmarket.com/index.ph ... hop-seeds/

[wykvlvr]

@zeuspaul , check out the dwarfs and micros at Bunny Hop Seeds. There are a lot of both there there and Ellie gives pretty detailed descriptions. You might find some answers there.

https://heritageseedmarket.com/index.ph ... hop-seeds/

I really love her descriptions they are a big help when trying to decide what to buy. And I love her honestly about flavors...

[AZGardener]

@zeuspaul , check out the dwarfs and micros at Bunny Hop Seeds. There are a lot of both there there and Ellie gives pretty detailed descriptions. You might find some answers there.

https://heritageseedmarket.com/index.ph ... hop-seeds/

Ellie has a great selection of micros. Jochalos is one of my favorites I grow it every year.
Your plants look great.

[AKgardener]

Is anyone growing more micros ? I just ordered all new varieties I haven’t tried yet and I’m so excited to try them I can’t wait for the seeds to arrive this is what I got.

Baby Micro Dwarf Tomato -
Delice De Neuilly Micro Dwarf Tomato -
Fat Frog Micro Dwarf Tomato
Hardin's Miniature Micro Dwarf Tomato
Inkspot Micro Dwarf tomato
Micro Tina Micro Dwarf Tomato
Moment Micro Dwarf Tomato
Snegirjok Micro Dwarf Tomato

Tiny Totem Micro Dwarf Tomato -

[zeuspaul]

I have started Moment and Tiny Totem. This is the first time I am growing any micro dwarfs. I have also started some dwarfs.

[AKgardener]

Micros are so fun no work to it all, I’m growing my first white tomato indoors now. But looking forward to some dwarf varieties as well

[zeuspaul]

My micros are all purple. I am guessing it is phosphorous deficiency due to cold soil. The soil temp stays about 62 degrees F (16.5C).

I have starts:

Red Robin
Moment
Birdie Rouge
Tiny Tim
Tiny Totem
Lille Lise
Dwarf Aussie Drop
Dwarf Audrey's Love
Clare Valley Pink
Dwarf Bendigo Drop
Brandy Fred
Dwarf Arctic Rose
Chocolate Champion

The above in or to be in 6 in x 6 in 11 inch tall square pots made from surplus floor ceramic tile.

One Adelaide Festival to be placed in a 5 gal plastic nursery pot.

I was researching phosphorous fertilizer and came upon this site:

Best Dang Nute Side By Side Testing I Have Ever Seen!!!
https://www.thcfarmer.com/threads/best- ... een.73074/

All I can say about this is Wow!

He isn't researching growing tomatoes. I will have to go back and do some reading.

I have decided to try a foliar feed in an effort to mitigate the cold soil (not because of anything I read on the above site). It is from the ambient room temp. I don't heat the house. Sometimes I turn on a small electric room heater.

I am going to try Dyna-Gro Mag-Pro 2-15-4 liquid fertilizer as a foliar feed. Dyna-Gro recommends spraying the bottom of the leaves, not a recommendation specific to tomatoes. I don't know how to spray the bottom of the leaves. Perhaps if the tops are wet enough the liquid would move to the bottoms.

[zeuspaul]

I found this sprayer on Amazon

Weirran Automatic Electric Garden Sprayer with 34OZ Bottle for Multi-Purpose for Weeding, Fertilization and Household Cleaning


There is this comment from a user

I love this! I grow vegetables and when you spray vegetables you don't just spray the top leaves you have to spray the bottom of the leaves. It's so much easier to spray the bottom of the leaves with this sprayer because it's battery operated. And it's a continuous spray!

There doesn't seem to be much love for foliar feeding except for when roots don't deliver such as in cold soil. It looks like I might be on the right track because I believe cold soil is contributing to the purple leaves. I don't know if it is just phosphorous or perhaps the roots are not delivering other nutrients. I am thinking a more balance fertilizer might be better. I have some old Dyna-Gro Grow fertilizer (7-9-5). They have a dilution recommendation on the bottle for foliar feeding. I had to use an eye dropper because I needed only 1/4 teaspoon for a gallon and my spray bottle is only a quart.

I sprayed the top and as much from the side as I could. I may opt for that battery sprayer linked above. I have seen some recs for spraying every three days. Maybe I will rotate between the balanced fertilizer and the one for phosphorous. I may get Polysorbate 20 to act as a surfactant.

[AZGardener]

I use a 2 gallon bucket (outside) for my micro-tomatoes. Generally, I plant 2 per bucket. For the larger dwarfs I use a 5 gallon bucket and plant one per bucket. HTH