25Mar 2018 by RagingAdmin
The Bull’s Heart Beats Strong

The Bull’s Heart Beats Strong

Tomatoes
This monster seedling is the Riviera strain of Cuore Di Bue, a pleated oxheart-type tomato from Italy, which I've never grown before and only ate for the first time on a pizza we had in Capri last September. It grew so quickly I wasn't able to graft it onto anything (none of the plants I started for rootstock came anything close to a compatible size). [caption id="attachment_3859" align="alignnone" width="640"] Cuore Di Bue, at four weeks old. [/caption] This little bull is already 50% larger than my Amana Orange and Chocolate Stripes seedlings -- and both those types grew 9ft tall last year. Since my first batch of grafts completely failed, this critter's raw vigor might well have ensured its survival.
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17Mar 2018 by RagingAdmin
Preparing for Grafting Day

Preparing for Grafting Day

Tomatoes
This entire flat of tomato seedlings is destined for grafting. The immediate challenge is, despite each seedling having been started at the same time, differences in germination and growth rate (even between individuals of the same variety) have made for wildly different plant sizes. Half of these seedlings (the ones that lack name tags) are Estamino, a hybrid variety bred specifically for disease resistance (it's useless as a tomato and doesn't produce edible fruit) and used as rootstock. The other half are various types of heirloom. In order for the grafts to hold, I'll need to match them so that the top portion of the heirlooms I want to grow exactly match the stem diameter of the rootstock below. This morning, I sorted them into roughly matching pairs. I prefer…
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24Feb 2018 by RagingAdmin
A Legion of This Year’s Troops

A Legion of This Year’s Troops

Tomatoes, Uncategorized
Even in the dead of winter, there are a great many garden related tasks to occupy one's time. If you happen to be a tomato addict, one of the most enjoyable of those tasks is the process of deciding which varieties to grow in the following season. 2018 will be my most ambitious year yet, featuring 12 varieties of tomato and a total of 24 plants. This year, at least one of each variety will be grafted onto Estamino rootstock, which performed exceptionally well in last year's experiments -- finally allowing me to harvest some tomatoes from the more disease prone varieties, while dramatically boosting vigor even on the varieties that do not succumb to bacterial or fungal pressures. Managing all these seedlings is part of the process. In this…
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19Jan 2018 by RagingAdmin
More biological warfare: nicotine

More biological warfare: nicotine

Pest Control, Tomatoes
I love evolution and phylogeny. With animals, you can see how similar traits were adapted over time given different environmental pressures or happenstances. Now that we know T-rex was feathered and mitochondrial DNA has suggested its closest living relatives include the common chicken, that trip to KFC has new meaning. With plants, it's especially interesting because closely related groups often, as with animmals, retain the genes responsible for the production of certain chemicals. This is the reason many roses have scents with fruity undertones -- just examine the leaflets of a rose and compare with those of a blackberry, and you'll see how close these cousins really are. This is also why rose hips are so high in Vitamin C. And again for the same reasons, it turns out that…
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09Jan 2018 by RagingAdmin
It is important to always give your tomato plants a good view

It is important to always give your tomato plants a good view

Tomatoes
This happy little plant, already in bud a week into January, is the result of the latest seedling I brought into the office. My team's side of the floor has a southern exposure and all-day sunlight. Tomatoes may not love growing in pots, but they are strong and adaptable plants. What a potted plant loses in root roaming, it may partially make up for by not having to contend with insects and extreme variations in temperature. This particular plant is an Azoychka, a bright yellow Russian beefsteak variety. I last grew it in my garden during the summer of 2016, with mixed results. My plants were strong and early producers, but the tomatoes never quite obtained the sweet citrus undertones for which this variety is known. I thought it was…
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27Dec 2017 by RagingAdmin
Prepping the soldiers for battle

Prepping the soldiers for battle

Tomatoes
You have to love the week between Christmas and New Years. Four gardening catalogs arrived today. They will need to be especially convincing, as I only have space for two new varieties of tomato this year. I also need to figure out how to handle my grafting stock, now that I'm committed to grafting at least half of my tomatoes onto Estamino rootstock. Last year, the ten unlabeled seedlings were Estamino... destined for beheading. Six weeks to seed sowing. [caption id="attachment_2661" align="alignnone" width="640"] 2016's tomato seedlings. The unlabeled pods to the left were Estamino, grown for rootstock.[/caption]
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