Today it rained all day long and the wind blew a gale--poor little newly-planted beans. There wasn't much that I could do in the lottie under these circumstances, so I elected to stay at home. There were still things gardening that I could do at home--there were more flowering plant seeds that needed to be planted as well as some fall/winter veg. Having planted the seeds, I turned my attention to the sad sight of the left-over tomato plants that no one wanted to take over from me. Imagine that! When I asked around they did not look so poorly as they do today, but there were no takers...save my colleague, Karel who takes two every year to grow in a container in his back garden. The seeds for these types are a bit expensive and I am not one to waste. What to do? Well, I had a bag of fertilized garden soil down in the bike shed, so I thought I would give it a try. I have grown toms with success on my balcony before...but these are a bit far along (they already have flowers AND fruits). Expecting success may be asking a bit much, but never automatically just giving up--I elected to give them a try. These pitiful specimens were the ones that I had to choose from. You can see the street work going on below through the window. I still miss my sycamores. I removed all of the leaves below the few that I left on the distal end of the stem, which will stick out of the top of the bag. The bag needed to have drainage holes in the bottom so the plants would not sit with their feet in water, so to speak. I poured out half of the soil and then made a hole to the bottom of the bag with my hand and forearm...then lowered the plant into this hole, back-filled and finally dumped the soil that I had first removed back into the bag. At this stage, I inserted two bamboo canes and tied the tom plants in for stability. You can see the technique that I use to tie plants in. The twisting of the twine keeps the stem from abrasive damage against the cane...and the twine is anchored securely to the cane by going around it a couple of times before tying the bow. I use a bow because later on as the plant matures, its stem will enlarge and I will then need to loosen the twine to allow for this growth. It was ready now. I made a place for it on the balcony and set a tray underneath it. It's just a matter of sitting back and waiting now. I will of course; feed and water it from time to time, but since this is a determnate variety I will not have to prune and sucker it much.
Well done Sjoerd! I never know what to do with the last few Tomato plants. Last year I think I planted them into the compost pile.
My extra tomato plants all got homes this year. I planted 11 plants, gave four to my son and five to a neighbor. Usually my extra plants end up in the compost pile.
NETTY--Thanks. I usually plan it better, but I had more extras over this year. I think that I planted extra when I noticed that there was a mole in the greenhouse. I did have to replace two whole plants thanks to that varmit (or is it varmint?). PRICKLEYPEAR--Well done, finding homes for your extras. The compost pile is where the rest of mine will end up too, if I can't find anyone willing to take them. Poor things.
Oh goodness, I hate to think of those last two toms feeling all left out!!! Meanwhile, that gives me a great idea....
sjoerd, how clever! and i love the way you do the twine so not to hurt the stem. great idea! how come i count 4 tom plants in your first pics? too bad we don't live closer sjoerd...with 40 acres, we always have room for the 'extras'!
I have a few spare but I keep holding on to them in case I have a gap on the allotment, but I reakon the last ones will end up on the compost heap....mind you....I could always plant them on the compost heap?!?!?
DAISY--Yes me too. I really do have trouble just getting rid of viable plants. Did you say that you had an idea? What are you planning?...c'mon, tell. Glad you liked this simple posting. In the first pics there are actually five plants in four coffee cups...and Karel already picked-up his. I shall plant two more in a second bag that I brought home with me on the way home from work. It is indeed a pity we don't live closer..in fact when I realized that I was going to have so many left I thought of the folks on here first sort of like an automatic reflex. EJ--I'll bet that those toms will do very well on your compost pile, if the blight doesn't get them. I can hardly bring myself to throwing those toms away. If I only had a larger greenhouse...Hmmmm.....
Sjoerd, couldn't you just plant them somewhere outside the greenhouse and see what happens? My idea -- I was disappointed that I ran out of steam digging my little bitty veggie patch and didn't have room for some green beans so I was thinking I'd plant some in a couple of bags of soil placed along the fence beside my patch. If I can find some plants, that is...
Hiyah Daisy--I can't plant toms outside here at the lotties--I have tried that four years in a row. The blight kills them every time--that's why I grow them inside the greenhouse. AS for your idea--growing the beans in soil bags sounds interesting, just be sure that the soil in the bags is not pre-fertilized (the beans make their own, remember?) Too much conventional fertilizer could result in lots of green and few beans. This "rule" doesn't go for the runner bean. Now if you do try this, please, oh please document the experiment with fotos and text. I would be extremely interested to follow the progress and know the outcome. This would give the term, "beanbag", a whole new meaning. BTW--why don't you germinate beans yourself? Generally speaking, it takes only 5-7 days inside with heat on the windowsill. It could take a little longer outside.
Now I remember about the tomoato blight that you have at the lottie Sjoerd. I had forgotten. Does the whole complex have that problem? RE: the beans, thanks for that info Sjoerd -- I wouldn't have thought about the fertilizer issue at all. I was thinking I'd direct sow the seeds, actually. Your comment makes me wonder why they would take longer to germinate outside than inside... it's hotter outside than in now, generally speaking. I'll definately tell about my progress.
Well Daisy, I was thinking of here when I said that about germinating sooner inside than out. I don't actually know how they'd do in your cimate, obviously. I almost exclusively sow mine inside because I can keep control better. I have probs with mice, birds and cut worms...so I hardly ever plant them out in the full ground. I shall keep my eyes open for your sit rep's.
Yup! I'm going to do it. Maybe tomorrow. Bean bags -- ha ha. I missed that the first time! You're a hoot.
