The Cheap Vegetable Gardener

First tomato appeared in the grow box

13.5 years ago cold season crops, tomato

I noticed a tiny tomato starting on one my plants growing in my computerized grow box under 120 watt LEDs grow lights.  Given our lower than average temperatures here in the Pacific Northwest this year (lows averaging in the low 40s) not sure if these plants will ever make it outside…

Even though I was somewhat pessimistic for my seed starting times and facing the difficult decision:

1. Keep them in the grow box where they risk becoming root bound and limited vertical space to grow

2. Let them go outside and be challenged by the poor growing environments

I do have some ideas to help make this decision easier, but I have some experimenting to do and will post on that later with accompanying photos…

How to repot tomato seedlings

13.6 years ago indoor seed starting, repot, seedling, tomato

When growing tomatoes from seed you are going to have to repot them.  The basic idea is you never want to stress the plant out by restricting the roots from getting wider.  Fortunately the process to do this between the various growth states is pretty simple and does not really change much between repotting. 

The first time you will need to repot them to a 4 inch put when the seedlings you initially planted get about 4 inches tall using the same steps I mention in detail below.

Once the tomato plant begins to grow wider than the pot (I was a couple weeks late below) or about 7-8 inches tall this is a good time to move up to a gallon planting container.

Now you may be asking, “Hey Mr. Cheap Vegetable Gardener, those fancy generic nursery containers are expensive.  I have seen them for almost $2.00 each at my local home improvement store.”  Funny you asked, I picked up a bunch of these while going for a walk with my kids that someone dumped as garbage…so I stocked up.

Step 1: The Soil:  Given I have quite a bit more volume to fill I modify my seedling mixture from 2 parts coconut coir (or peat moss) and 1 part perlite to 1 part coconut coir (or peat moss), 1 part perlite, and 1 part soil from my garden.  This is for no other reason other than I am cheap and bagged soils can be expensive.  I also add a thin layer of bone meal and a little sprinkling of eggshells to provide a boost of calcium and Phosphorous.  I also add a little water to and mix until well incorporated

Step 2: Fill the bottom:  You are only going to want to put about 1.5 inches of soil in the bottom of your 1 gallon nursery planter.  I will explain why we are putting so little shortly.

Tomatoes have a special ability to grow roots out of its stem due to the fact that it has these little white hairs growing out of it (see below)  When these are planted below the surface it will allow you to make a much stronger root system to your plants and a much more vigorous tomato plant.

Step 3: Remove leaves from plant: To take advantage of extra root growth and any leaves that will be buried are not going to help the plant anymore so remove this with knife/pruners or your fingernails in a pinch (pun intended)

Step 4: Remove plant from previous container:  Tomatoes are pretty tough for transplanting but you do want to take some care to not shock the plant during this removal.  It advisable for the roots to be moist but not soaking wet so the root ball comes out easily but not so wet that all the supporting dirt falls away when removed.  If you have some problems removing the plant try gentle inserting a butter knife around the edges to loosen its grip.

Step 5: Fill with soil:  Fill the plant all the way to the top with soil pack down lightly and repeat until you have some firm soil up to the top of your plant.

Step 6: Stake your plant (Optional).  If your plant is looking a bit unstable like the one above I like to take one of the cheapest bamboo stakes I can buy (sticks from the yard would also work) and cut them to 12 inch length and press them about 1 inch away from the plant.  Now simply attach with whatever you can find handy close to you.  Some classics are plant tie tape, twist-ties, reusable Velcro straps, yarn, and twine.  Today I happened to find a piece of yarn on the floor of my garage and a couple zip ties so I put them to good use.  You want these tight enough to support the plant but still loose enough to allow the plant to grow.

No matter how careful you are the plant will go through some shock during this ordeal and probably will look a little sick for a day or two but should bounce back shortly after that and continue expanding with its newly added space.

Seedlings thriving in the grow box

13.7 years ago indoor growbox, indoor seed starting, onions, peppers, tomato

I have almost everything planted at least germinating in my grow box.  As you may be able to see from the labels I am growing a variety of peppers this year as well as a few different onions and tomatoes.  I also have garlic and some onions I overwintered already outside and peas already in the ground.

I did successfully grow some peppers in the grow box over the winter, though as you can see below their size was lacking and the plant has been perking up a bit with some new growth once I added some better controlled heating and the LED lights.

Tags: grow lights, growbox

When to bring your vegetables outside?

13.7 years ago garlic bulbs, onions, peppers, seeds, spinach, summer, tomato

Every time I have a discussion with a beginner gardener, this is the most common question.  Typically the answer involves figuring out your last frost date then doing some backwards math when to start your seeds or purchase your plants from your local nursery.  The problem with this is there is an assumption of the rate at which temperatures will increase after this no frost date.  It doesn’t really matter how many weeks after the last frost when you bring out your tomatoes but the fact that it is over 65° F

This is good for estimation but ultimately it comes down to what temperatures various vegetables can survive and thrive at.  This is ultimately when you should decide to start bringing those fragile plants outside.  For reference the table below shows these temperatures for various vegetables.

Now that you know what temperatures your veggies grow best in, unless you can find a news station with a 2-3 month forecast this doesn’t help you too much.  Fortunately we have been saving weather data for some time now and with some simple statistics you can make a more logical prediction of when this may occur (compared to last freeze date)

One site that makes this very easy is WeatherSpark, it uses historical data with great visuals to easily determine when the best probability of picking the right date to plan on your veggies going out into the great unknown.

As you can see in my area we rarely stay in the thriving temperature zone during a 24 hour period which is the reason why I personally keep my tomatoes and peppers in my automated grow box as long as I can.

Hopefully WeatherSpark can give you some incites about predicting the best times to bring those veggies out for a successful crop this year.

Tags: seed, starting seedling

How to store your Fruits and vegetables

13.9 years ago corn, herbs, peas, peppers, spinach, storing, tomato, vegetables

Whether it is to preserve your harvest from your garden or to help extend the life of the expensive produce you purchased from your local grocery store or farmers market, a little knowledge can help keep your veggies tasty and even stretch out a couple of extra days before becoming compost.

The basic idea is pretty simple, think about where your produce is stored in the grocery store and then do the same thing at home.  For example they store carrots in a refrigerated display case…so you should store yours in your refrigerator.  They store their onions at room temperature so you would think it would be best to do the same…reality is they are best to be stored between 55-65 degrees.  During the winter time my room temperature is probably in the top part of that range but majority time my indoor temperatures will be much higher.  Depending on the age of your house, you may have a root cellar which helps to create these ideal conditions for that pesky produce that is too cold in the refrigerator but too warm in a heated house.  For the rest of us find a nice cool location in your house such as garage or spot next to a window (at least during the wintertime) otherwise you may be reducing the quality and viability of your produce.

Below is a list of the recommended storing temperatures for fruits and vegetables:

Vegetables

	Refrigerator (32-36°F)	Root Cellar (55-65°F)	Room Temp (55-70°)
Artichokes
Arugula
Asparagus — submerged in water
Beets
Bok Choy
Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Corn
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Fava beans
Fennel
Garlic
Greens (Kale, Chard, Collard Greens)
Green Beans
Green Onions (sealed bag)
Herbs (submerge in glass of water)
Leeks
Lettuce
Mushrooms (I know, not a vegetable)
Onions
Parsnips
Peppers
Potatoes
Radishes
Rutabaga
Snap Peas
Spinach
Summer Squash
Sweet Potatoes
Tomatoes
Turnips
Winter Squash

FRUIT

	Refrigerator (32-36°F)	Cool Place (45-50°F)	Room Temp (55-70°)
Apples
Avocadoes
Bananas
Cranberries
Figs
Grapefruit
Grapes
Kiwis
Lemons
Limes
Mangos
Melons
Nectarines
Oranges/Mandarins
Peaches
Pears
Plums
Pomegranates
Rhubarb
Strawberries

Summer harvest

14.2 years ago peppers, tomato

Well it hasn’t been a great year here in the Northwest for summer vegetables but got enough tomatoes and peppers to make some salsa and get stocked up with enough jalapeno pepper powder (been great on omelets) until next year.

With a larger abundance of ripe jalapeno peppers this batch of peppers have a more festive look to them.

Here are the peppers ground up, as you can see above this time I kept the seeds in for a little extra bite.

While picking my tomatoes I also picked some less ripe tomatoes which were not quite ripe but vines no longer were green.  I will let these tomatoes ripen indoors, though the flavors will not be as good as garden fresh tomatoes still better than what I can get in my local grocery store.

Tags: fall, pepper, tomato