Planting tomato seed and others this late.

iamtony

Hi lads and lassies.

I planted a load of tomato, pepper, lettuce and strawberry seeds the other day I had lying around.
They are sprouting in my hydroponic seed thing in rock wool.
I'm going to do a bit of a hydroponic system in the greenhouse and I'm wondering will I get fruit off anything this year, particularly the tomatoes. I know its too late to get the full seasons growing out of them but should I get fruit? I've planted money makers and some cherry and some bead steak varieties.
Also should I paint the greenhouse or use shade cloth during the summer?
We have stuff growing already but I'm just messing around with hydroponics at the moment.

Zzippy

iamtony wrote: »

Hi lads and lassies.

I planted a load of tomato, pepper, lettuce and strawberry seeds the other day I had lying around.
They are sprouting in my hydroponic seed thing in rock wool.
I'm going to do a bit of a hydroponic system in the greenhouse and I'm wondering will I get fruit off anything this year, particularly the tomatoes. I know its too late to get the full seasons growing out of them but should I get fruit? I've planted money makers and some cherry and some bead steak varieties.
Also should I paint the greenhouse or use shade cloth during the summer?
We have stuff growing already but I'm just messing around with hydroponics at the moment.

Cherry tomatoes should be alright and produce fruit in September through October, the moneymaker and beef steak varieties need longer to ripen and you might not get any ripe before the temps drop too much.
No need to paint a greenhouse once you have ample ventilation.

iamtony

Zzippy wrote: »

Cherry tomatoes should be alright and produce fruit in September through October, the moneymaker and beef steak varieties need longer to ripen and you might not get any ripe before the temps drop too much.
No need to paint a greenhouse once you have ample ventilation.

Great thanks. I've always wondered about the paint stuff. If the moneymaker and beefsteak are growing well I might buy some lights and heaters.
We will see how it goes.
Any idea about the other fruits I mentioned? Lettuce will be grand I'll grow that in the house under lights like I always do but the peppers I'm interested in.
I've read strawberries will take a year or two from seed to fruit is this true?

Zzippy

iamtony wrote: »

Great thanks. I've always wondered about the paint stuff. If the moneymaker and beefsteak are growing well I might buy some lights and heaters.
We will see how it goes.
Any idea about the other fruits I mentioned? Lettuce will be grand I'll grow that in the house under lights like I always do but the peppers I'm interested in.
I've read strawberries will take a year or two from seed to fruit is this true?

No idea on peppers. I've only grown strawberries from bought plants, never seed, so the plants were probably a few months old when I bought them, and would have produced fruit a couple of months later, but definitely produced a lot more the following year.
Best of luck with it. Conditions are great for growth at the moment

Grudaire

Usually strawberries are grown from runners, this gives them a massive headstart on strawberries grown from seed. Don't expect strawberries grown from seed to produce fruit this year (although I cannot attest to this as I have always taken the easy option of growing from runners!).

Wheety

Peppers need a long growing season to fully ripen.

iamtony

Wheety wrote: »

Peppers need a long growing season to fully ripen.

OK thanks. I might keep them in doors under light. I've got some in the greenhouse flowering at the moment also.

iamtony

2 months on the tomatoes are starting to fruit. Looks like I could get some to ripen if I play my cards right.
Anyone any idea if the ones flowering now should be cut off? Am I wasting my time at this stage?

They actually grew alot stronger and faster than the ones I had from earlier in the season, much thicker and stronger stems. Guess they had more heat and light than the earlier ones.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/nA8qT6ykYYXWpGk19

https://photos.app.goo.gl/z29uty58LxEmpryW6

rolion

iamtony wrote: »

2 months on the tomatoes are starting to fruit. Looks like I could get some to ripen if I play my cards right.
Anyone any idea if the ones flowering now should be cut off? Am I wasting my time at this stage?

They actually grew alot stronger and faster than the ones I had from earlier in the season, much thicker and stronger stems. Guess they had more heat and light than the earlier ones.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/nA8qT6ykYYXWpGk19

https://photos.app.goo.gl/z29uty58LxEmpryW6

Too much green foliage .... the plant engine works to feed the leafs instead of the fruit...
Cut it shorter,leave maybe one stage of leafs on each branch.

Bad news is unfortunately , you may not get the enjoyment of the red beauty as night time is goign to be too cold for flowers to blossom... i had 7 degrees one night.
Bet hey,is a learning experience,you will know how to "talk" to the plants next year adn you may get the end red beauty.
It took me almost 2 years to get here...last year,i was throwing cucumbers in the brown bin as i had too much ,this year i lost most of them,exact opposite for the tomatoes... Each plant has its own growing needs and secrets ... stay assured that they will share it and tell you if you pay attention,care and love.

Either way,enjoy the path and the journey...i cant describe the feelings of picking my first tomato of the plant...







and latest sweet juicy toys:

iamtony

Hi, thanks, that's a nice crop, well done. I've loads of ripe tomatoes also and they look just like yours but the pictures were in relation to the tomato seeds I planted in a hydroponic system 2 months and, they were just seeds lying around so I was just messing around. My post was just to show the progress of those plants which grew fast and strong and I was hoping I could get some fruit from them.
I ended up not getting around to setting up the greenhouse hydroponic system so I transferred them into soil when they were about 6 inches and they have grown really fast and strong.
Im interested to know how much foliage to remove? I've only removed the suckers on my own plants and was under the impression the leaves produced most of the energy via photosynthesis so left most of them on.

Grudaire

Better conditions when they start out - makes sense that they would grow stronger. very jealous of both of your setups!

At least you can make loads of green tomato chutney!

iamtony

Grudaire wrote: »

Better conditions when they start out - makes sense that they would grow stronger. very jealous of both of your setups!

At least you can make loads of green tomato chutney!

Yeah I guess the summer heat we had really helped, the main stem on these and the amount of flowers is so much more than what the earlier plants did, its a shame it was so late when I planted them.
I did try start the season early in the indoor hydroponic system but the snow destroyed everything unfortunately unitely. If it didn't happen I'd say they tomato plants would of been 10 foot tall my now.