Italophile

Tomato seedlings

* Red Dahlia * wrote (see)

My other half seems to be wanting to harvest seed from a picolini that he has from M&S I'm thinking he doesn't have time to do this. What do you think?

Time is the least of the problems, RD. Squeeze the seeds into a small glass jar with as much of the tom's juices as you can get. If need be, add a tsp or so of water so that the seeds are sitting in at least some liquid.

Leave in a warm place, uncovered, for a few days or until a scum/mould forms. Add water to the container, swirl it around till the scum/mould separates from the seeds, let the seeds settle to the bottom of the container and carefully drain off the liquid. Repeat the process till the seeds are clean or tip the seeds into a very fine strainer and rinse them thoroughly under a tap.

Spread the seeds out to dry (ideally) on some coffee filter paper. The seeds won't stick to coffee filer paper. They will stick to things like tissues and kitchen paper. When the seeds are dry, they're ready to use.

The only problem is that Piccolini are a hybrid variety so the resultant plants won't produce fruit true to type. Still, it could be interesting to see what you will get.

Tomato seedlings

Can't get the quote option to work. Nothing seems to be working here at the moment.

@ david harrison

As always, growing anything, it's whatever works for you. Transplanting deeply - down to the first leaves - for extra root structure is (or should be) standard practice anyway regardless of legginess. Light, though, impacts on more than just simple growth. It triggers the inner chemistry that develops the plant's long-term strength and health.

Tomato seedlings

Here are my wee 'uns currently. Outside, under bubble wrap in a rare moment of sunshine:

And you can see how pale they are from the lack of sunlight:

Tomato seedlings

@ tattiana

Once germinated, they need light. Preferably sunlight, but as much bright light as they can get for at least 12-14 hours a day. You can take the cover off providing there's still reasonable warmth.

@ Dove

Ah, Jaune Flammée. Forgot I'd sent those. They're the gold French golf ball-sized ones. They'll likely be the quickest of the lot. Golden Queen is medium-size, obviously Soldaki and MP are beefsteaks. Start them all, see what happens. They're only seeds!

Here's Jaune Flamée. Lovely citrusy tang to them. They look like cherries in this photo, in reality they're a bit bigger, golf ball-sized:

Dying Rockets

You don't need to change the soil at all, Mizzli. Rocket isn't the least bit fussy. If you're going to start again with it in a pot, I'd get a bigger pot. You'd be lucky to fit a couple of rocket plants in the one in the photo.

This is what you'll get from one seed:

Dying Rockets

Yep. Or even less. A lot less. Rocket turns into a very leafy little plant. I thin plants out to 4-5" apart in a large pot. The plants in the photo were both killing each other for root space and looking for light.

One good thing about rocket. It doesn't need as much warmth as you'd think to germinate. Certainly less than most green leafy things. Doesn't need as much warmth to grow either. I regularly sow it outside in late autumn and early winter.

Tomato seedlings

Morning Dove! Happy - belated - New Year. It's still bizarrely chilly and grey and damp here for the time of year. We should already be comfortably into the teens C with plenty of sun.

I started my seeds about six weeks ago, as per usual, and everything germinated, as per usual. On dry days I put them out on the terrace in a crate wrapped in bubble wrap, but, at 7C and overcast, they're only puttering along. They're probably about a fortnight behind where they would usually be.

Heirlooms or hybrids, the only difference is the flavour. Growing circumstances are identical. If you're bothered about length of season, the only factor you need to take into account is their days to maturity. Both Anna Russian and Camp Joy (the cherry, I think I sent some, didn't I?) would be fine. They won't take any longer than your average hybrid.

The larger beefsteaks, which need longer, might be more problematic in a short season. I'd try some anyway. You don't know what summer will bring and what have you got to lose? I can always send more.

Tomato seedlings

That's probably as good as you can do under the circumstances. Just try to keep them as warm as possible.

Swiss chard

Mine comes back after winter every year but bolts as soon as it warms up. I grow from seed and have replacement plants ready.

Tomato seedlings

They're going to need light as much as warmth, RD, as much light as they can get. Preferably sunlight. The longer you can keep the temps in the low to mid teens the better. But light is the absolute key.