2011 Earliest Tomato Contender

All 2011 Container varieties are thick and healthy, growing even better than the last season. But one is rather "very early"...

Danko. Originally brought to US from somewhere in CIS. At only 4 weeks after germination, under 6500K grow lights, it already set the flower buds on all the seedlings.

Determinate, but ever-bearing red oxheart with wispy foliage. Here it is, buried as deep as the 6" pot allowed. Exactly 5 weeks after germination:









It is regarded for it's flavor, and healthy production at only 3' to 4' tall. Well, so far it is also appears to be a possible contender to be the earliest! If everything goes as planned, mid May tomatoes maybe on the table!

2011 Tomatoes Updates

Some updates on tomatoes...

First batch of Main Garden varieties are germinated, and now transplanted into their 2.5" pots:




Five week old seedlings of "earlies" for container are now in their dedicated 6" pots:




My $2.00 garden tomatoes Beefsteak and Delicious are doing very well in their 2.5" pots at the moment, in 2-3 weeks will go into 6" pots as well.



No issues with germination on these $0.20 seeds at all, and all healthy!

2011 Tomatoes Germination

Main varieties for the garden germinated! New life has begun!

Few snaps of the life of a seedling:

The "embryo". Some rare or old seeds I bleach prior to seeding. The dormant life inside the seed:



Germination, it comes to life!



And reaches to the light:




It gains more colorful appearance and unmistakable "fur" on the main stem



First true leafs are now formed



In a week, these seedlings will be ready for transplant into a larger pots, and there will grow very quickly from that point!

New life has begun!