From Dirt To Dinner :: The Tomato Interview, Part 1
i could not be any more pleased about this week's From Dirt To Dinner installment. (**want to know more about this local eating celebration, visit beth's blog for the FAQ's and then join us!**) my partner in food for this little event, beth is not only a fabulous mom and a great writer and blogger, but she's got a very green thumb. certainly much greener than mine! when i *have* attempted to grow things, it's always been tomatoes and herbs or tomatoes and zucchini. or tomatoes and flowers. you get the idea. problem is, i've never had a ton of success. i keep trying because, clearly i love the tomato. i gorge myself in summer and then don't touch them again until the next summer. (we all know the grocery store tomatoes in winter are not even worthy of being called tomatoes.)so, as part of this Dirt To Dinner experiment, we thought we'd interview each other on things we would like to know more about. i'm so glad i did. because beth has given me the most helpful tidbits i have ever read on the subject of tomato growing! and here, for you is part one of her helpful advice! read and enjoy. (and then go buy some plants, pots and soil and grow on!)
oh! and thanks, beth! you rock.
ON TOMATO GROWING, especially as it pertains to growing in containers
1. Seeds vs. Plants :: Is there any reason why doing one vs. the other will yield better results? Is it just more cost effective to use seeds?
Ok, some plants don't like to be transplanted. That means they don't want their seeds to be sewn in one place only to eventually be moved to another; they want to be "direct sewn," seeds sewn only in the spot where they are ultimately going to live. Tomatoes ARE NOT like this though. As a whole, tomatoes are just fine with being transplanted as seedlings to their ultimate location. That's why it's easy to find tomato seedlings when the growing season comes. These are seedlings that have been started early indoors in order to get a jump start on the growing season in order to ensure that they produce fruit before season's end. Most tomato seedlings you get and transplant will produce just as well as those you have grown from seed.
What is cost effective for you, though, will in large part be determined by what you want to grow and how you are set up. Starting seeds yourself takes some work and can be a bit costly if you aren't set up for it. You have to have a LOT of sunlight to start seeds, and depending on how long your season is you'll probably need to have that light available indoors - that means a greenhouse, grow lights and rigging, or possibly a window if you have one that gets, like 8 hours of sun a day. Not likely. You also need to start them in a medium specific for seed starting, which you'd have to make or buy. And not all seeds germinate - it's a little tricky - so you end up using more seeds than will ultimately be grown.
Now, is it worth it to start your own tomato seeds? Well, how many tomatoes are you planning to grow? As you know, they get pretty big, so what do you really have space for? Are we talking about 4 plants, or are we talking about a row of 10-20? And also, of the number you can grow, how many varieties do you want to include? There are so many great ones, I seldom hear of anyone that wants to grow just one kind. And you might want to do some cherries, some for canning purposes, some larger ones, some of different colors, etc.
I ask because you're gonna have to buy either a seedling (let's say roughly $2/seedling) or a pack of seeds (again, let's say roughly $2/seed packet) for every variety you want to grow. So if you want to grow say, 5 plants, all of different types, you'll spend about $10 either way. But if you do it with seeds you'd have to also get the materials necessary for starting seeds, and you'd lose seeds in germination. Plus the actual work of seed starting. If you bought 5 different tomato seedlings you'd still spend $10, but you'd have the benefit of picking seedlings that look good and have obviously survived the germination process - you'd be starting with plants that are already healthy and ready to go.
If, however, you want to grow several of one variety it might be much more worthwhile and cost effective to use seeds, assuming you have a location in which you can start them. But really, if we are talking about this season, you are limited to seedlings because I think you'd have wanted to start seeds a while back.
I personally went with seedlings this year because I wanted to grow heirlooms (more on heirlooms below) and am doing nearly as many varieties as I am plants. I only have so much space where tomatoes will fit, both in containers or outside, and I really wanted to try lots of different kinds. So of my 5-8 plants I'm doing I think . . . 6 different kinds.
2. Pots vs. Garden :: I've found that cherry tomatoes do better in pots (rather than the bigger tomatoes), but there have been times where i think they look great and then all of a sudden they start to split. There will just be a big long crack in it---what's that about? What am i doing wrong? Is it related to the pot?
Each type of tomato plant is different. Some varieties can be done in either a pot or outdoors, some prefer one or the other. Usually when you are reading about a type of tomato, either on the seed packet or seedling tag, it will tell you if it is a variety that can be done in a container. And then, of course, some have "container" in the name, and these are tomatoes that have been bred specifically to do well in pots.
A lot of these varieties that do well in the containers happen to be cherry types. The splitting you are talking about is not a correlation with the container itself as much as it is a problem people often see with cherry tomatoes in general. The splitting has to do with water - either too much water or a sporadic water supply. The split occurs, I believe and have read, when too much water has gone into the tomato and the skin cannot grow fast enough to keep up, so the little guys pop...or get stretch marks:) They are still fine to eat as long as the crack hasn't attracted bugs or bacteria, but certainly they're not as cute.
Try to keep the water supply even - you want moist soil, but not too wet, and not long periods of dryness followed by lots of water; try to be consistent. And maybe make sure you're pot/container is draining properly.
3. About pots :: Should i use terra cotta or plastic? I feel inherently against plastic, but I know some people really prefer them, but i'm not sure why. Do you have a preference?
This is a hard one. Like you, I'm inherently against plastic, especially when it comes to substances that will have contact with my food. But there are a few reasons why one might prefer it to terra cotta. The biggest 'pro' of plastic is that it keeps your plant mobile because it's so much lighter. These containers, if you're using ones that are big enough, are pretty darn heavy once filled with soil and stakes and tomatoes. If, for some reason, you needed to move your plant (like there is going to be a severe drop in temperature outside/a frost and you needed to move it in for a few nights, or you decided the spot you have it in is not getting enough sun so you want to try another) then it would still be possible to transfer your pot somewhere if it is made of plastic. If you put all that stuff in a huge terra cotta planter though, that really ain't gonna happen.
And then there's the simple problem of cost. Those terra cotta planters are just really, really expensive! They're too expensive for me, unfortunately. And I think it's safe to say that many people who are trying to grow some of their food might be doing so, at least in part, to save some bucks. I grappled with this issue again this year because I really wanted to get away from the plastic, but standing there and looking at the price tags (in several gardening supply stores, by the way) I couldn't rationalize spending that much on a pot, not even when I told myself it would be an "investment" and so forth. For the cost of one huge terra cotta pot, I can get several, I don't even know how many plastic ones. Oh, and I can get them home easily too:)
I can tell you that I don't think your tomatoes care from what material the pot is made. So it comes down to your own preference, your own budget, etc. I can also tell you that what I have found so far is that the pots, according to their number on the bottom, are made of the "safer" plastic, as opposed to the "bad" plastic types.
Ok, some plants don't like to be transplanted. That means they don't want their seeds to be sewn in one place only to eventually be moved to another; they want to be "direct sewn," seeds sewn only in the spot where they are ultimately going to live. Tomatoes ARE NOT like this though. As a whole, tomatoes are just fine with being transplanted as seedlings to their ultimate location. That's why it's easy to find tomato seedlings when the growing season comes. These are seedlings that have been started early indoors in order to get a jump start on the growing season in order to ensure that they produce fruit before season's end. Most tomato seedlings you get and transplant will produce just as well as those you have grown from seed.
What is cost effective for you, though, will in large part be determined by what you want to grow and how you are set up. Starting seeds yourself takes some work and can be a bit costly if you aren't set up for it. You have to have a LOT of sunlight to start seeds, and depending on how long your season is you'll probably need to have that light available indoors - that means a greenhouse, grow lights and rigging, or possibly a window if you have one that gets, like 8 hours of sun a day. Not likely. You also need to start them in a medium specific for seed starting, which you'd have to make or buy. And not all seeds germinate - it's a little tricky - so you end up using more seeds than will ultimately be grown.
Now, is it worth it to start your own tomato seeds? Well, how many tomatoes are you planning to grow? As you know, they get pretty big, so what do you really have space for? Are we talking about 4 plants, or are we talking about a row of 10-20? And also, of the number you can grow, how many varieties do you want to include? There are so many great ones, I seldom hear of anyone that wants to grow just one kind. And you might want to do some cherries, some for canning purposes, some larger ones, some of different colors, etc.
I ask because you're gonna have to buy either a seedling (let's say roughly $2/seedling) or a pack of seeds (again, let's say roughly $2/seed packet) for every variety you want to grow. So if you want to grow say, 5 plants, all of different types, you'll spend about $10 either way. But if you do it with seeds you'd have to also get the materials necessary for starting seeds, and you'd lose seeds in germination. Plus the actual work of seed starting. If you bought 5 different tomato seedlings you'd still spend $10, but you'd have the benefit of picking seedlings that look good and have obviously survived the germination process - you'd be starting with plants that are already healthy and ready to go.
If, however, you want to grow several of one variety it might be much more worthwhile and cost effective to use seeds, assuming you have a location in which you can start them. But really, if we are talking about this season, you are limited to seedlings because I think you'd have wanted to start seeds a while back.
I personally went with seedlings this year because I wanted to grow heirlooms (more on heirlooms below) and am doing nearly as many varieties as I am plants. I only have so much space where tomatoes will fit, both in containers or outside, and I really wanted to try lots of different kinds. So of my 5-8 plants I'm doing I think . . . 6 different kinds.
2. Pots vs. Garden :: I've found that cherry tomatoes do better in pots (rather than the bigger tomatoes), but there have been times where i think they look great and then all of a sudden they start to split. There will just be a big long crack in it---what's that about? What am i doing wrong? Is it related to the pot?
Each type of tomato plant is different. Some varieties can be done in either a pot or outdoors, some prefer one or the other. Usually when you are reading about a type of tomato, either on the seed packet or seedling tag, it will tell you if it is a variety that can be done in a container. And then, of course, some have "container" in the name, and these are tomatoes that have been bred specifically to do well in pots.
A lot of these varieties that do well in the containers happen to be cherry types. The splitting you are talking about is not a correlation with the container itself as much as it is a problem people often see with cherry tomatoes in general. The splitting has to do with water - either too much water or a sporadic water supply. The split occurs, I believe and have read, when too much water has gone into the tomato and the skin cannot grow fast enough to keep up, so the little guys pop...or get stretch marks:) They are still fine to eat as long as the crack hasn't attracted bugs or bacteria, but certainly they're not as cute.
Try to keep the water supply even - you want moist soil, but not too wet, and not long periods of dryness followed by lots of water; try to be consistent. And maybe make sure you're pot/container is draining properly.
3. About pots :: Should i use terra cotta or plastic? I feel inherently against plastic, but I know some people really prefer them, but i'm not sure why. Do you have a preference?
This is a hard one. Like you, I'm inherently against plastic, especially when it comes to substances that will have contact with my food. But there are a few reasons why one might prefer it to terra cotta. The biggest 'pro' of plastic is that it keeps your plant mobile because it's so much lighter. These containers, if you're using ones that are big enough, are pretty darn heavy once filled with soil and stakes and tomatoes. If, for some reason, you needed to move your plant (like there is going to be a severe drop in temperature outside/a frost and you needed to move it in for a few nights, or you decided the spot you have it in is not getting enough sun so you want to try another) then it would still be possible to transfer your pot somewhere if it is made of plastic. If you put all that stuff in a huge terra cotta planter though, that really ain't gonna happen.
And then there's the simple problem of cost. Those terra cotta planters are just really, really expensive! They're too expensive for me, unfortunately. And I think it's safe to say that many people who are trying to grow some of their food might be doing so, at least in part, to save some bucks. I grappled with this issue again this year because I really wanted to get away from the plastic, but standing there and looking at the price tags (in several gardening supply stores, by the way) I couldn't rationalize spending that much on a pot, not even when I told myself it would be an "investment" and so forth. For the cost of one huge terra cotta pot, I can get several, I don't even know how many plastic ones. Oh, and I can get them home easily too:)
I can tell you that I don't think your tomatoes care from what material the pot is made. So it comes down to your own preference, your own budget, etc. I can also tell you that what I have found so far is that the pots, according to their number on the bottom, are made of the "safer" plastic, as opposed to the "bad" plastic types.
FROM DIRT TO DINNER to come:
sunday may 16, part two of The Tomato Interview
friday may 21, local meal featuring rhubarb!
Labels: celebrating local eating, from dirt to dinner, how to grow tomatoes in pots
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