Svalli gardening 63° N

[svalli]

Is the ice-cream tub system like a Kratky system?

Yes, it is like a Kratky, but I keep adding water with fertilizer to the tub. I have read that real Kratky is filled just in the beginning.

[bower]

I haven't started peppers or tomatoes yet but it should be soon.
We are like you Sari snow covered and a while yet before spring comes to the ground.
I do have cabbages in the greenhouse and a few other greens. They've been in the dark due to snow covering but a bit of light is coming in now on the upper side of the glazing. It can get quite hot in there on a sunny day - we had 80F days (or hours) when the sun shone in late february.
The green onions and leeks in there have grown really nicely in spite of cold and darkness. Cabbage are just holding in place.

[rossomendblot]

Is the ice-cream tub system like a Kratky system?

Yes, it is like a Kratky, but I keep adding water with fertilizer to the tub. I have read that real Kratky is filled just in the beginning.

That's how I do it too. It would need a big container to not have to add extra water through the growing cycle in summer. I think I was topping up the basil containers every 2 or 3 days during the hottest part of the year.

[svalli]

I transplanted my tomato seedlings about two weeks ago and so far it looks good. These photos were taken a week apart since transplanting, so there is two weeks between top and bottom photos.

Tomatoes 20240317-31.jpg

[Yak54]

Very nice looking plants !!! I'll be starting tomatoes in one week.

[svalli]

Tomatoes were growing too large for the small 4x4cm cells and needed transplanting to a bit bigger pots. Bigger plants got milk cartons and dwarfs and determinates got plastic containers.

Tomatoes waiting to be transplanted.jpg

Big bubba 20240413.jpg

Weather was so nice during weekend that I was able to do the planting in the greenhouse, but had to bring the plants back indoors. I carried a metal rack from greenhouse indoors and hung more lights on it to get room for all of the plants in bigger containers. It would be nice to get these into the greenhouse, but I need to do some work on it, since heavy snow has bent some of the roof beams, because I did not clean the snow in time. Anyway this week we are getting cold air from the arctic flowing in and it is going to go well below freezing during nights, so the plants have to stay indoors maybe for a week or two more.

Plants and lights.jpg

[MissS]

Those plants look like they are wanting to jump out of those pots. I hope that you weather warms up soon so that they can get some sunshine.

[svalli]

Those plants look like they are wanting to jump out of those pots. I hope that you weather warms up soon so that they can get some sunshine.

I should have sown seeds two weeks later, since I cannot get them in to the greenhouse until beginning of May. Many have buds and some have just opened first flowers. I am planning to put stickers on my tomato seed boxes where I write that "Do not sow until March 15!". Maybe then I would not sow them too early, since I seem to forget every year this struggle trying to fit them under lights indoors.

[MissS]

@svalli I think that we all get over-excited and plant too early. Many people plant their tomato seeds 6-8 weeks before plant out. I have learned over the years that I do better planting my seeds 4 weeks before plant out. I don't want my plants to be over 3-4 inches tall and their roots just starting to fill the pots.

This is not so easy for me to do! My fingers are itching and wanting to put seeds in the pots.

[karstopography]

I vow to start my seeds later every year and I want to every year, but then the time comes and I tend to jump the gun. I was only a week or so early this year so that’s an overall improvement, but the weather helped me out giving an early opportunity to transplant. Can’t count on the weather being helpful every year and It’s so much easier to manage plants that are a little on the small side than ones that are too big. Next season, I vow to start the seeds at least one week later. We’ll see how that goes when the time comes.

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

@svalli; I have half a mind to post pictures of your starts near my runts...to let 'em know what's possible...or more to the point, what I expect.

Yer Super Sauce Hybrid appears happy, and it looks like Big Bubba is living up to its name! Whaddya bet that's the 1st time either's ever been grown in Finland?

The Gotch

[rxkeith]

start early, but have the green house good to go. definitely a challenge for you, since you, and i get snow
often, and longer during the winter, and spring than most people here. i resist starting any tomato seeds before
april unless they are old, old seeds that i want to see if there is any life still in them. just sowed six more varieties
on the 15th, since six other ones did not germinate. we always want to push the season it seems. its like chicken math.
it doesn't add up. we don't really need more chickens, but we get more any way.


keith

[GoDawgs]

@svalli, your tomatoes look like mine. Fortunately I'll be able to plant mine this Saturday. It's always so hard to resist when planting temptation comes calling. An oddball warm spell comes and turns thoughts to gardening. Fingers start twitching when they come near seed packs and a little voice in the back of one's head whispers, "Sow seed! Sow seed!"

[svalli]

Yer Super Sauce Hybrid appears happy, and it looks like Big Bubba is living up to its name! Whaddya bet that's the 1st time either's ever been grown in Finland?

I believe that nobody else here has the seeds for Super Sauce or Big Bubba. Pink Gift (Rozov Dar) seems to be from Bulgaria, so someone could have them, but I have never heard about it. Variety selection here in the stores is quite limited, since they are allowed to sell only the ones found in the EU's common catalog of vegetable varieties. https://ec.europa.eu/food/plant-variety-portal/ I found that Super Sauce has been registered in Netherlands, but its not in any seed seller's list.
Some small online companies have now found a way to get around the rules by selling seeds of non listed tomato varieties as decorative plants and not as vegetables.

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

@svalli, notwithstanding, them there...um...Decorative Plants appear to be thriving!

And from all indications, you'll be the 1st of us to sample the fruits; keep us posted.

The Gotch

[Whwoz]

@svalli , the name Super Sauce rings a bell with me, would have been a commercially grown plant that I kept seed of if I am correct, will need to check seed stash. Is yours supposed to be a large pear shaped fruit? The one that I grew, if name is correct, was a large pear that I need to grow again to see how it goes in a better position.

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

@svalli , the name Super Sauce rings a bell with me, would have been a commercially grown plant that I kept seed of if I am correct,

It's a Burpee Hybrid product, and billed as a monster; https://www.burpee.com/tomato-supersauc ... 03154.html

Yer WESconsin pal just might send you's a few seeds for next season...

The Gotch

[svalli]

It is cold and wet outside with snow and sleet showers. My plants would be ready to move to the greenhouse, but I will wait few more days to see what May brings.