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Table of Contents
1) Editor's Comments:Wow, the seed starting season is quickly coming up. Thought it would we be a good time to take a look at some growing suggestions for your tomatoes. We'll also take a look at seed starting containers. We now have our off-line catalog available for you. You'll find it at http://rexseedco.com/catalog.htm or Click Here. We try our best to make any changes to both the web site and the off-line catalog - however, the web site is always the more accurate. We do have times when seeds are sold out for the season, and the catalog you you may have downloaded a week earlier may not reflect current seed status. By the way, if any of our readers receiving the HTML version, would rather receive a text-only version, just drop us a note and we'll make the change. The content is the same, just not as fancy. Also, our text-only version folks cannot unsubscribe online, they must do it via e-mail. As always, if you do have questions, suggestions or ideas, do not hesitate to drop us a note. Tom Krueger Rex Gregor 2) Growing Tomatoes: A Few Suggestions
Tomatoes are a warm weather vegetable - however, botanically they are really a fruit, but most everyone considers them a vegetable. Tomatoes do require a long growing season. For us in Minnesota and other "colder" climates, there is no advantage to transplanting seedlings early in the season until the ground warms to 50°. But there is a Russian variety from Siberia that is capable of setting fruit at 38°. Also, for folks in hot humid climates, there are varieties that do very well for you, as well. One of the most irritating problems with tomatoes is blossom end rot, which is a black leathery lesion that forms on the blossom end of the fruit. It causes the fruit to shrink and develop into misshapen forms. More often than not, the fruit will rot on the stem.
If you have a small garden try to rotate your crop every year. By all means, don't plant the tomatoes in the same spot you did last year - move things around. This is beneficial for many of the vegetables you grow. Also, the use of tomato cages or staking is a good idea. A relatively new variety, the Italian Tree Tomato, has been proven to be an excellent choice for a small garden. This variety has produced enormous yields on vigorous vines that can grow up to 15 ft. Each plant can produce up to 2 to 3 bushels of tomatoes; that is an amazing yield. They will definitely need to be trellised. The fruits are a rich red meaty type and medium large. They are perfect for eating or canning. VS750 Italian Tree Tomato - 25 seeds per Pkg. $2.30.
If you find it necessary to irrigate, it is important that the water be applied uniformly to reduce the incidence of blossom end rot. Also, cracking of the fruit is generally caused by over watering. What likely happens is that the plant will take up large amounts of water during the heat of the day, the fruit will swell rapidly and may cause cracking. When you transplant tomatoes, it is a good idea to trench them in. Lay your plant in a trench about two inches deep; fold the stem of the plant up until only the top one-third is showing above the ground; then cover the stem with dirt. Don't worry about any leaves being underground, they will turn into roots. Trenching allows the plant to develop roots all along the stem, which results in a stronger root system. Since the fruit of a tomato is nearly 90% water, the plant needs a strong root system to bring up the moisture needed to develop the fruit. Keeping these tips in mind should result in more and better tomatoes. http://rexseedco.com/tomato.htm Brand new this week are six dozen new items to the Gardener's Home Medicine Chest: 3) Humor for Today:A British clergyman struggled along with a small congregation in a small neighborhood. A commercial firm offered to supply free hymn books, provided they could insert a bit of discreet advertising into the hymnals. The pastor was reluctant but finally agreed. When the hymnals arrived, he eagerly examined them and was delighted to find no brash advertisements on or inside the covers. The next Sunday, his flock began to sing from the hymnals. All went well until the third song, in which the congregation lifted their voices in unison to the melodious notes of:
4) Spilling the Beans:Why do we say that someone who has revealed secret information has "spilled the beans?"
In fact, the ancient Greeks were some of history's first bean counters, especially when it came to selecting members for their many secret societies. They voted on new candidates by putting a bean in a jar. A white bean meant "yes," and a black one meant you were, well, black-balling (black- beaning?) the unlucky aspirant. Occasionally, some klutz reached over to drop his bean but managed to knock over the jar instead, spilling the beans and exposing how the secret vote was going. But how did the expression get into English? We don't know: that's still Greek to us. Source: WHY YOU SAY IT by Webb Garrison 5) Choosing Containers To Start Seeds:
You don't want to be spreading bad things to your little seeds and seedlings, so the container should be thoroughly clean and free of disease pathogens. You can sterilize containers by soaking them in a 10% household bleach solution (1 1/2 Tbsp. bleach/per cup water) for about five minutes. Use one container for each type of plant you want to start. Different seeds require different germination conditions, and it is much easier to control the environment for a particular kind of plant if separate containers are used. Its also much easier to tell what's what if a container only contains one type of plant. Click Image for Our Orchid Gallery 6) Quote for Today:"The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground." 7) How Stuff Works:We all have a curiosity on how stuff works, especially young kids. Well, we found a site to help you find out how things work at HowStuffWorks.com. The site creator and author Michael Brain understands that natural urge to figure out how stuff works. You'll find info on how cell phones work, and car engines -- everything from lava lamps to volcanoes. Go ahead and feed that urge to find out how Star Wars light sabers work, how blood types work. If you've got something that's been baffling you, this may be the place to get your answer. 8) Winter Shrub:When you go looking this spring and summer for things that will give your yard winter interest, you might want to consider a shrub or small tree that will stand up to winter weather; will offer beautiful, fragrant flowers; and delivers spectacular fall foliage. Witch hazel might be exactly what you need. This deciduous plant is hardy in zones 3 to 8, flowers in the WINTER (red, yellow, orange), and tops out around 10 to 25 feet when mature. Consider going witch-hazel shopping this year. 9) Subscribe/UnsubscribeThis newsletter, the Green Thumb Times, is sent out only to those who have requested a FREE subscription by signing up at http://rexseedco.com or specifically asked to be added PRIVACY: Your email address is held in the strictest of privacy. It is never traded or sold to anyone else. To subscribe to The Green Thumb Times To unsubscribe Tom Krueger, Editor and Publisher Rex Gregor, Contributing Editor Please feel free to forward The Green Thumb Times to a friend. Rex’s Seedco has searched the world for quality
growers of garden seeds. Many of these farmers bring together ancient
wisdom and modern science so people everywhere may have good health
and enjoyment in life. We are dedicated to providing the best wherever
they are found.
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Today's
increased understanding of genetics allows for the development of new
tomato varieties. Literally hundreds of new varieties have been developed
the last few years. Some of the more recent novelty types are a white
fruit with a pure white flesh; "Pink Grapefruit" which is
a yellow tomato with pink flesh; and, "Liberty Bell" which
is a bright red tomato that is an amazingly hollow fruit used for stuffing.
Blossom
end rot is caused by a calcium deficiency, aggravated by widely fluctuating
moisture conditions, along with an excess of nitrogen in the soil. My
Grandmother used to crush her used egg shells and place them in the
hole when she planted her tomatoes. She claimed never to have a problem
with blossom end rot. Could it be calcium from the egg shell? In fact,
most good quality eggshells from commercial layers contain approximately
2.2 grams of calcium in the form of calcium carbonate.
The
latest research demonstrates that use of a "pop-up" fertilizer
(a start-up fertilizer) is very helpful. Tomatoes do not need nor require
much nitrogen. It is rarely necessary to side-dress tomatoes. If you
have "poor" soil, a single side- dressing using a 10-52-17
fertilizer will help the plant along. It should be noted that tomatoes
do not do well when you use a high nitrogen content fertilizer -- you
may end up with beautiful foliage but no fruit.
This
expression would be obvious if it referred to giving away the location
of a great little Mexican restaurant, ruining it with overcrowding.
But that's not it, and I have to admit that before I looked it up, it
was Greek to me.
When
you think about starting your seeds for the garden, you want to be sure
to use suitable containers. First is the depth - you want a container
about 3 inches deep, and it should have holes in the bottom for both
drainage, and to give it a place for water uptake.
