Sometimes, changes to our gardening methods work, and sometimes, they do not. This year, I made a couple of adjustments to my tomato seed starting routine. Sadly, they did not pan out.
I started with four six-packs of seed starting cells, to produce 24 tomato plants. As usual, I filled them with seed starting mix. The first change I made was in the number of seeds per cell. In past years, I planted two seeds per cell. That gave me a backup if one did not germinate. If both seeds germinated, I would pinch off the weaker of the two. This year, I used just one seed per cell, as I usually have good germination success.
This year, my germination was very spotty. All of my Beam's Yellow Pear tomato seeds sprouted. Five of the six Italian Heirloom tomato seeds sprouted. Three of the six cells of the Sheboygan and two of the Trophy cells germinated. In last place was Tommy Toe. This red cherry tomato had a disappointing zero percent germination for the the three cells.
The next change I made was the date of seed sowing. In the past, I started tomato seeds in early April. I found this often produced leggy plants, so this year I started a week or two later. While the Beam's Yellow Pear tomatoes did well, the rest of my seedlings were rather small.
Lastly, I used a weak solution of fish emulsion to add some nutrients. By the time I planted the seedlings, most were yellow. I use a fan to blow across my seedlings and help strengthen them, but this year I stopped the fan early. I think this resulted in less evaporation of water through the soil, leaving the cells in too much water. We were also not able to move the seedlings outside in early May for more sunlight, as the days were often chilly. All of this likely contributed to the yellow pallor.
Some aspects of gardening are unforgiving. Because of our short season, we generally get just one shot at starting plants that take the whole season to bear fruit. Mess that up, and it is a trip to the garden nursery for backup plants. I tried to sow additional Tommy Toe seeds 2 weeks after the initial sowing. The loss of two weeks and starting my seeds a week or two later than usual produced seedlings that have thus far produced one set of true leaves.
We transplanted what seedlings we produced into the garden this weekend. The pepper plants came through nicely and look good after just a day in the ground. The jury is out on most of the tomatoes. We have already purchased a four-pack of Big Beef slicing tomato plants and a single Braveheart red cherry tomato plant to fill out our 18-plant tomato section of the garden. We still have a two-week window to get plants in the ground. If our seedlings are going to make it, we will know in a week. If they do not, it will be another trip to the nursery.
Gardening requires a fair amount of experimenting. There is always a new variety to try or a new technique. Fortunately, both the successes and failures make us better gardeners.
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