Branching Out's Seeds and Sprouts

[digitS']

It looks like a day with little opportunity to open the greenhouse but I do have the heat off at 8 AM. We have had 4 April days with above average temperatures and this day and the remainder hardly look like they will add to that number.

Thinking of the need up-pot the remainder of the tomatoes in 4 packs, the questionable chance that I will have to set them out into the garden in the next 3 weeks, and your wealth of varieties -- it made me think of one variety that will not be in my garden after years of being out there: Gary O Sena.

I have the need to save seed from too many varieties. That doesn't mean there will be a lot out there but I am risk-averse to relying on one plant to be of use for seed saving. Some of my plants had real problems in the too hot/dry Summers the recent 2 years. What is with these serious departures from normal Seasons? Anyway, I am missing Gary O in '23. Here's how Delectation of Tomatoes describes it:
"Larger than many “blacks” (up to 1. lb.), this is also one of the best according to many who have tried it. Flavor is excellent: bright, rich and compelling. Potato leaf, indeterminate vines are fairly productive; 77 days. A stabilized cross between Cherokee Purple and Brandywine & better than either in every regard."

I wouldn't call it a "black" - it is a pink with dark shoulders. Keith Mueller who did the crosses wrote that his primary focus was "taste." It's also earlier than the day-to-maturity of the parents. A big plus for dodging unfavorable weather.

Two seed companies in Oregon also carry the seed and have good things to say about Gary O.

Steve
ETA: @baymule might want to take note, with her fondness for Cherokee Purple.

 

[Branching Out]

Gary O Sena--- I have never heard of this cross, but does it ever sound interesting. Kind of the best of both worlds. Are you not growing it this year due to lack of space in your garden? Like you I am pondering seed saving when I am only growing one or two plants of any given variety. I am thinking that I should save the seeds every year, but each year only sow seeds from the original packet for as long as they are viable. That way I would achieve genetic diversity over the course of several years.

I also share seedlings with friends and neighbours, and could save seeds from those plants as well, provided that they are labelled in a reliable manner. Trusting others to save the seed and return it to me could be risky, especially because if there is an error it would take at least a year to detect it. So far this year I have managed to mix up my seedlings of Andrina and Sub-Arctic Plenty, despite each tomato supposedly having a distinct form (one is supposed to be a nano dwarf, however I have quite a mixture in terms of plant height in the ones that I think are the dwarf). Hopefully once they start fruiting it will be obvious, but I may have to keep them all until that point if I want to know with certainty which is which.

 

[ducks4you]

It would appear that each year in April and May I am a little short of room on my small seed starting heat mat, so last year I borrowed my mom's vintage Salton Hotray food warmer, and transformed it into a seed starting station. The lowest setting is still crazy hot, so I use a series of stainless steel and aluminum muffin pans, cookie cooling racks, and recycled food containers to add layers of air to diffuse the heat above the tempered glass surface. A thermometer placed inside the plastic humidity dome allows me to monitor the temperature, so I don't overheat the seeds-- and as a precaution I always unplug it when I leave the house.

The best part is the information manual that came with this little gem of an appliance, that was made in The Bronx, NY in 1972. So hilarious. I was rolling on the floor as I read through it. Things in the kitchen have sure changed since then!

P.S. I see that Salton is still in business, and their warming trays sell for $169.99USD

That is Very clever!

 

[Branching Out]

That is Very clever!

Thank you!

 

[ducks4you]

Friday, when I transplanted tomatoes for DD who was visiting yesterday, I put her 6 plants in 3 inch pots and in a tray with 1/2 inch of water on top of a chick warming plate.
THEN, I found out that the chick warming plate registers 125 degrees F!
So, I rush downstairs after dinner and I discover that the chick warming plate is upside down, so it's not as hot.
They were FINE!!

 

[flowerbug]

...
P.S. I see that Salton is still in business, and their warming trays sell for $169.99USD

an adjustable one would be really nice. not that i'm looking looking but at least i am looking aka curious...

 

[digitS']

Are you not growing it this year due to lack of space in your garden?

Not really — there is more space than needed. Several plants had split fruit in 2022. Some were damaged by hail. Still, we also had more tomatoes than we needed.

This year, I might have 30% more plants than 2022. Partly, I had to limit myself to those from which I need fresh seed. And, favorites had to be limited. Only the new Lemon Boy will be an untried variety.

By the way, I have grown Sub-arctic Plenty. There are some others closely related with similar names. They were mainstays when I lived at an elevation about 500' higher. Polar Vee sweet corn and Sub-arctic tomatoes .

Steve

 

[Phaedra]

This year, I might have 30% more plants than 2022. Partly, I had to limit myself to those from which I need fresh seed. And, favorites had to be limited. Only the new Lemon Boy will be an untried variety.

Same here, I have even more than 30% (especially perennial flowering plants) so I might give up sweet corn this year, even potatoes.

There are still a lot of vegetables waiting to be sown. I will keep the resources more for the autumn/winter crops than too much for the summer months.

 

[digitS']

I might give up sweet corn this year, even potatoes

Oh no. 30% more tomato plants !

Staying with percentages, my gardening enthusiasm is probably 50% generated by foooddd! Activity and exercise are important, decorative goals are down there in fairly low numbers. I mean, even as George Washington's second cousin eleven times removed (or whatever it is), I ain't tryin' to be a neighborhood showboat.

Summertime Sweet Corn would be very disappointing to give up. Potato planting will depend a good deal on what the garden center has available. Even if it comes down to only what is available in the soopermarket aisles 12 months out of the year, we would still enjoy New Potatoes about the time the Peas are coming off the vines.

Steve

 

[Branching Out]

Popped by to visit my folks and my mom, who loves flower arranging, had made a lovely bouquet using daffodils and boxwood out of the garden. The boxwood looked great as filler foliage and did an excellent job of keeping the daffodils in place. My mom kept commenting on how varied the different daffodil varieties are-- such a cheery sight.

Mom took a bunch of tulips to our local public library as well. We try to keep the library check-out counter in fresh flowers from spring until fall, as a thank you gesture to the hard working staff that source reading material for my parents. My parents are older now and spend a lot of time sitting by their front window with their books, looking out on the flowers.