A blog by Jorge Garcia.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Check out these sprouts!

Man, I'm gettin' pretty good at this green thumb stuff. (Except for white flies they're still attacking my peppers the jerks!) 
These are the new baby heirloom tomato plants I sprouted from seeds I had scooped out of their parents. 

Holy crap! That could result a lot of tomatoes if these all mature at the same time. 

25 comments:

Lisa-Maladylis said...

wow Jorge ! you have a great green thumb ! I wish my tomatoes grew that well this year but I think I will be lucky to have 10 tomatoes total. Love your blog btw, I totally enjoy reading it.

Nate said...

I HATE when flies do that. Try growing Bolivian Rainbow Peppers - the flies have completely avoided mine. Of course, they're so hot they make you want to die, so.

Bethany James Leigh Shady said...

"the jerks!"

hahahaha. you're cute.

Lee Anne said...

How cool that you can be starting tomatoes at this time of year! Mine are all coming to an end now in Philly :(
Love the blog - you always brighten my day!

Anonymous said...

You could always eat tomato sandwiches! YUM!

Unknown said...

For the flies, try 1 to 2 tablespoons per gallon of water...put it in a spray bottle and mist lightly. Works on tomatoes too.

Laura said...

We had the same problem with our tomatoes this year. (Also, slugs. Ugh.) My husband found this all-organic stuff at the co-op that's made from capscasin (probably misspelled), the oil that makes hot peppers hot. You spray it on your plants periodically to keep the bugs away. It worked wonders. But you do have to be careful to RINSE THE TOMATOES BEFORE YOU EAT THEM! Yow!

Avinash said...

How do you fix a broken tomato?

Tomato paste.

Quality humour right there.

ギウリヤ said...

wow, Jeorge! You definitely have a talent!
No green thumbs in my family, we are involuntary plants killers... sigh!

James Hernandez said...

Jorge,

You'll have to transplant the tomatoes before they flower. You need to allow the root system develop before they bare tomatoes.

By the way do you know what type of tomatoes your going to pluck? Cherry? Hmmm...Tomato...cherry... and pluck. That sounds like a phallic joke right there.

1001 Petals said...

Mmmm pretty heirloom tomatoes. I'm surprised that you were able to get new plants from the seeds. . seems so logical though :)

Tasha Who? said...

"Holy crap! That could result a lot of tomatoes if these all mature at the same time."

Ohhh yes. That happened to my grandmother this year. It took her forever to give as many as she could; my mom lives about 45 minutes away, and while I live closer, I'm not a tomato fan.

Reading about this makes me wish I had actually done some gardening like I promised myself earlier in the year.

Jodi said...

Yeah it sure could..Hope you REALLY like tomatoes. My sister would be in her glory. She would make and freeze loads of fresh tomato sauce.

You're doing a great job! Hope the white flies (a.k.a. the jerks) leave your tomatoes and rest of your garden alone.

Debra said...

Hey now, flies are people, too! Er...well, not really, but deep down, I think they just want to be loved, and to love the fruits of your skillz, too. ;op~~~~

Jan said...

Seeds you scooped out of their parents? Oh, Oh, Oh. That is hilarious!

I sure wish I could help you consume those beautiful heirloom tomatoes!

b ill said...

Good luck on your tomatoes, brah. I keep getting plants started here and they'll grow fungus and die. Peppers too.

Please Type Legibly said...

Jorge - For white flies, make a tea out of tobacco (maybe a couple of good size pinches in an old nylon stocking per gallon of water. Let it steep a couple of days). In a 20 gallon sprayer (the kind that attaches to your hose), put a cup of the tea in. Add one cup of REGULAR dishwashing soap (not the antibacterial or dishwasher kind - Palmolive is good) and one cup of Listerine. Spray every couple of weeks. I no longer deal with white flies.

Your sprouts are looking good! Wish I'd grown tomatoes this year!

Melissa Markham said...

Have you been getting tips from "Sun" on how to grow such lovely plants?

You will need to invest in canning equipment now so you will have yummy homegrown tomatoes all year round!

Wiconsin Gardener said...

Jorge, is this the first time you've started tomatoes from scratch? In case it is, here's a tip for when you transplant them.

Look at the stems of your tomato plants. They look like they have "little hairs" on them. Those "little hairs" will turn into roots if you plant that part of the plant underground, thus leading to a stronger root base and a healthier plant.

A caution about your starters, some of your seedlings are starting to look 'stalky" which means they need to be transplanted a little deeper into the ground right away. The stalkiness happens when the plants shoot up too quickly. As is, they they have a very shallow root base and most likely won't survive. But they can be saved with a transplant.

Use your finger to poke a hole deep enough in fresh ground to drop the stems in and cover them with dirt, while leaving the top two leaves above ground. Like I said above, the stems will develop new roots and strengthen your plants tremendously.

Give them another two to three weeks in starter mix and then transplant them into their final home, at that time, once again, plant them a bit deeper than they were in the starter pots. Make sure you don't plant any leaves underground. If there are any leaves at the base of the plant when you are ready to transplant, just break them off so they don't end up under ground.

Wish you the best of luck on the garden. If you end up with a ton of tomatoes, I can teach you how to turn it into some of the best salsa around. There is a trick to making homemade salsa so it isn't too runny. It's not hard, just takes a little time. If you are interested, I can share.

Maestra said...

I suck at planting. My mom has a green thumb I have a ....?

maría galina ♥ said...

good luck with your tomatoes!
great work on lost
lovee hurley (L

Bekah said...

Ill take some!

Jen said...

Hi Jorge, I have been following your page since my family most embarrasingly sent you some cake at my 40th birthday at Club 33, Disneyland on June 05. I am sorry for any inconvenience they caused. We only managed to travel from Melbourne to LA, Vancouver, Seattle and San Fran. so I have followed your tip with envy. I have a tip for your sprouts which works really well here in Oz - put a shallow dish of beer in your garden bed. The sugar in the beer will attract the bugs and when they drink it, they'll die. No need to use the good stuff, cheap beer will do - they're not fussy!

Charlene said...

"Scooped out of their parents"....nice, lol. Trust me, you're going to want to give them away because you'll have too many all at once! Have you tried the ones that you hang upside down?

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