2023 late season growing and winter indoor micros

[maxjohnson]

Nothing impressive about these plants except I started their seeds first week of August so they are approx 4 weeks old, and it's crazy to realize how fast they grew in the middle of summer as opposed to early spring. However first frost date is around mid October which is about 30 days away. Intend to save seeds from them to send to MMMM. Worst case I will keep them inside the square tomato cages and wrap frost cloth around the cages.

Queen Aliquippa (potato leaf)

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Praxx Cherry (this plant have very stiff stems and grows quite bushy

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Clear Pink (impressed by this determinate, thick main stem and lots of healthy leaves)

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Spencer

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Sweet Cherriette

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I want to grow micros more seriously this year so I jerry rigged this setup in the fireplace room.
The two UFO lights are 300w equivalent LED.

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Varieties I'm starting seeds for:
New: Rosy Finch, Lil Peeps, Tity Totem, Laura #5, Fuzzy Wuzzy
Old: Florida Petite, Red Robin, Totem F1*, Supersweet

*When I bought Totem from Tomato Growers many years ago it was labeled as hybrid, now I look at the description and hybrid has been removed, maybe it was stabilized during that time?

And Picolo Gato, actually I don't know if Dan Follette is in this forum, but this variety by him is still my current favorite micro.

Bottom of the table just some Barrina bar LED lights, 4x10watt, which should give 3000lumens, good enough to keep some miscellaneous plants alive through the winter, aloe vera, ginger, rosemary, etc.

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Lastly, I bought these blue ridge white capped corn. Evidently I didn't know much about corn because I never realized how tall these grasses grow. These things are pushing 10ft tall. Don't know if it is sweet corn or some type of field corn. Three ears on a stalk, but I planted them a bit late as they're stated to be 120 days to harvest. Would be fun to keep growing very tall corns, but they have to be sweet corn.

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My goal going forward is filling in the hunger gaps and make sure I'm always growing something throughout the year.

[bower]

Winter greens have been a super easy gap to fill under lights in the cool basement. It also surprised me what a key gap it is, I mean that it makes a big difference to have a fresh green of any kind always at hand to eat every day. It seems to crank winter wellness up by a big notch.
I'm interested to watch how it goes for you with those micros. I would be very tempted if I could find one that is super tasty, to try again for pest-free grow space in the house. I remember seeing pics of Picolo Gato at TV, what a beautiful leaf!! Nice to hear that you also find them a favorite to eat.

[GoDawgs]

This winter I'm just doing four Red Robins, starting them 2-3 weeks apart. The goal is to have a constant stream of tomatoes. I've always grown four different varieties at once but always end up with a gap in production here and there, not to mention different plant heights making for light height adjustments. So this winter a new plan!

Hope you can send some Picolo Gato to the MMMM!

[Wildcat82]

This winter I'm just doing four Red Robins, starting them 2-3 weeks apart. The goal is to have a constant stream of tomatoes. I've always grown four different varieties at once but always end up with a gap in production here and there, not to mention different plant heights making for light height adjustments. So this winter a new plan!

Hope you can send some Picolo Gato to the MMMM!

This sounds like a fun project. I really like the idea of have fresh tomatoes year round and I'm tempted to try the micros this winter as well.

BTW Dent corn is field corn. Should make some good cornmeal.

[AKgardener]

I was not going to do micro this winter since I’m growing other maters inside but hubby says I could just keep them separate from the exsperment and not spilling all over the place soooo I put grow lights in my bedroom closet haha yes I did and started new red table , Christmas tree , old Vilma. As a comarson

Good luck hope they taiste good for you

[maxjohnson]

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I picked one to see what its like, obviously still in the early stage. Taste pretty decent, not sweet like sweet corn, more chewy, but quite edible.

[maxjohnson]

I guess I should mention them again. I raved about Ranpunzel F1 in the past.

I single stemmed them at first, the fruits will be cocktail size and the trusses are long, once I let them bushed they're just exploding with fruits though smaller and shorter trusses. The most productive cherry variety I grew.

They are thick skin so no cracking from rain. I like it more than Super Sweet 100 because it is more meaty, although the flavor have a darker more earthy tone.

If you water it excessively the fruits will be prone to bottom end rot. It was due to me single stemming the plant and filling the 3 gallon reservoir of the Earthbox every day. Once I allowed the plant to bush out, the plants have more places to dissipate the water and the issue stopped.

I think in term of balancing production with flavor and fruit size, limiting to 3 stems is probably a sweet spot.

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late Sept:

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[maxjohnson]

Queen Aliquippa is roughly 2 months from germination. Really like the early producing, and seems productive. Might be a winner for patio. I didn't expected to like the pear shaped fruit but it's growing on me. They are expected to grow to a couple ounces.

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Clear Pink, determinate, is starting to fruit and with lots of blossoms. Another good patio one I think.

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Getting good success with growing Gai Choy mustard in the fall, as they always bolt quickly in spring. I actually saved these seeds from Florida during 2015, had a little left and threw them in this raised bed and these plants came up. Not sure if protection from frost is really necessary for mustards, but I need to save the seeds, I'll probably make a low tunnel over this bed so they have enough overhead space and warmth.

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Other cool weather crops growing; romanesco (hybrid), snap peas, perpetual chard, ethiopian kale. And a Telegraph english cucumbers). Normally this time of year I let everything go to disease and die, really trying to be proactive this year, it's really paying off.

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Had to spray the romanesco plants with neem oil and bt to keep it alive.

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First frost date is getting close, but hoping it won't happen during October. All microdwarves tomato plants are doing well, I will take photos once they are in their final 1 gallon pots.

[AKgardener]

Still got all 12 of my stick tomatoes they have tiny flower buds definitely growing slow but being so very patient I started ducking as well for my micro/ dwarf variety can’t wait to see how this winter project turns out

[maxjohnson]

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Picked one of the blue ridged white capped dent corn. Nothing special, just grew it for fun. Counted 40+ rows of kernel. Still early stage, but it's about the end of the season anyway, getting down to 40*F this Sunday.

[maxjohnson]

Current micros in the one gallon pots are Picolo Gato, Florida Petite, Red Robin, Supersweet, and a few random by Dan Follette.

I don't remember exactly when I started these seeds, but I guess mid August, but some are already producing blossoms, which is earlier than I expected.

Half of the plants have sign of bacterial spot on the lower leaves which I have to removed, I used new potting mix, but they were outdoor half of the time.

Other upcoming variety still in the seed trays: Tiny Totem, Laura #5, Rosy Finch, Fuzzy Wuzzy, Lil' Peep

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Picolo Gato

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Florida Petite
I find Florida Petite to be most attractive with the bushy grow habit, Tiny Totem seems like it will be similar.

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Sweet Cherriette
I thought this current tomato would be very small like Matt's Wild Cherry, but actually the fruits are big enough to be considered a cherry, maybe in between the dime and nickel in diameter. Seems to be very productive, too bad it's a bit late in the season.

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Also Rapunzel, I think 30pounds per plant throughout the whole season is a safe estimate.

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[AKgardener]

Holy moly such a big plant !! How exciting I hope you like all your varieties

[maxjohnson]

Don't ever buy these cheap thin green low tunnel hoops from Amazon, they are 100% pure trash, not even worth 1/5th of what you pay and not worth the time putting it together.

Old used pvc pipes is better.

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[maxjohnson]

May have went overkill on the micros:

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Picolo Gato

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Florida Petite

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For the outside tomatoes, Clear Pink and Queen Aliquippa, don't know how they taste yet, but judging by the productivity and earliness, they are my two new favorite.

Clear Pink

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Queen Aliquippa

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Spencer
Productivity on this one is average and not impressive, but I'm hopeful for the flavor.

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Praxx Cherry
I like the sturdy and bushy growth habit of this plant. It does seem be the midseason and later producing for a cherry, so not sure if I get many ripen before frost kill it, but I'm assuming very good flavor.

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Sweet Cherriette
This tomato isn't as early as advertised, seem to take as long as any other regular early tomatoes, or maybe it need a lot more heat, but it is very prolific.

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Celery

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[maxjohnson]

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The freeze is actually Monday morning, just want to get ready now. I don't have enough space to bring all the plants inside, and I kind of want to experiment and see if this box is adequate. Seeds have not been saved yet, I probably should pick a green one.

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[maxjohnson]

florida petite

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picolo gato 1

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picolo gato 2

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[maxjohnson]

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I'd say this is the end of outdoor growing season, except for the lettuce, kale, chard, peas, and cauliflower I still have growing. I decided to bring the tomato plants in the garage today, to save the hassle of doing it during the pouring rain and cold next few days.

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Spencer (broke a stem)

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I started these foxgloves and hollyhocks from seeds earlier this year.

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I didn't knew that hollyhocks are edible, but it made sense because I tried growing them before one year but the groundhog ate it all.

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Harvested another 4.5kilos of Rapunzel F1. There are probably still that many unripen fruits on the plants.

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RIP, I want to make fermented tabasco sauce but these things take so long to ripen and a pain to harvest, I'll probably not grow them again.

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[GoDawgs]

Right now Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning lows look like 38,33, and 35 before resuming the low to mid 40's. The beans will be toast and we'll bring in what beans and green tomatoes are out there. The brassicas and alliums will be fine but I think I'll put a light cover over the tiny carrot sprouts.

Edited to say the morning lows on those days are now looking like 37, 28 and 31 respectively. Definitely toast time!

[maxjohnson]

Halloween decoration.

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[maxjohnson]

Fuzzy Wuzzy
This one is interesting because it's classified as a dwarf, not micro, and can get to 2ft or taller. Mine is at 18in tall at the moment. Need support with chopsticks.

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Laura No#5
Supposed to be a grape cherry. I like the characteristic, slightly wispy leaves and medium height ~1ft, but still somewhat compact. From the amount of flowers looks to be productive.

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Florida Petite
I like the characteristic of this one. Compact and short despite the large fruits.

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Red Robin
I can see why it is popular, dark leaves, short and compact. You can fit more of them in a small space. From previous experience I liked the flavor of this one more than Tiny Tim.

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Supersweet
Again, I bought this micro variety at a local Florida nursery during 2017 and saved the seeds, never seen online vendor selling a micro variety by this name. And to prove it is not the same variety as Red Robin. Also dark leaves but larger plant. Fruits are more spread out throughout the plant.

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Dan Follett's 63X multiflora antho
I have grown these before, very attractive red fruits with antho blush and extremely prolific, unfortunately very little flavor. Growing it again this time to see if the flavor improved. I'm not in the 'other' forum anymore but I'm guessing a lot of Dan's variety has been further developed.

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Dan Follett's Picolo Gato

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