Latest Pics of Container Garden and Indoor Plants

As a follow up to my post of earlier today, latest pictures - 16 Oaks today - amazing growth considering the cool wet conditions we have experienced for some time now ......






And here are a few pics of my indoor tomatoes

Container Tomatoes Outside the Box

I'm back .....

Lots of changes ... retired last June and moved to an apartment (with only a fire escape) in November. Needless to say I went through a period of tomato growing withdrawal. Then started thinking - we now live in a wonderful bright sunny apartment!! So, why not try growing tomatoes indoors.

Started Dwarf Gem, Yellow Plum and Mano on December 29th and have harvested two tomatoes from Dwarf Gem to date. Yellow Plum and Mano are now just starting to colour up.

Check out the pictures:

Also, I noticed a community garden a few blocks from our new home. The waiting list for a garden plot was closed, but due to my extensive experience in container tomato growing , I was invited onboard to assist with the garden's "Growing Outside the Box" project for this year. How exciting - and something totally new for me.

Anyhoo, there are seven of us in total, and after deciding on the best location and set up for our containers, the biggest challenge was filling those containers. I stressed the need for a freely draining mix, and also noted the benefits of both compost and leafmould - which I have used extensively in my previous growouts. Unfortunately, neither compost nor leafbould was available - so we went with 3 in 1 Master Gardener Mix, perilite, and a dedicated container mix. I also added additional peat to my containers to further assist with drainage. Some members opted to fill their own containers - this should provide some interesting comparisons as the summer progresses.

I must say the weather here in the PNW has been on the cool side, and wet, wet, wet. Considering the amount of rain we have had since our early May plant out, I would say the tomato plants are doing OK. Oh, and some members chose to start or purchase their own plants.

The plants I offered were started March 28th - a bit later than my usual start time - and all were grown inside my apartment with just the available light. We have hot water heat, so the temperature remains at about 72 F. The varieties were choosen to demonstrate the many different qualities of tomatoes, i.e. leaf shape, fruit colour, plant size. Grow outs include: Grub's Mystery Green, Mano, Sylvan Gaume and Indian Stripe. I am also trying out Smarty F1 from Randy Gardener to test its disease resistance.

Anyhoo, another pictorial essay on progress to date ...........

Harvest Big Time

Time for some eye candy ..... you're probably tired of my comments about what a fabulous tomato growing year we've had here on the West Coast, but heh - how often do I get to do this :-)

Anyhoo, some harvest pics

The colander of red tomatoes are Kimberly - which were slow roasted in a 225 F degree oven for 3 1/2 hours - and now stored in freezer; they should keep up to 6 months (but I doubt they will last that long)

First Big Slicer

Well, here is Crnkovic Gold, I guess these fruits would be F3 and saved seed F4 - received seed of F2 in 2004 and grow out of F2 seed resulted in both a pink and a gold from a bi-colour - another grow out provided a white. While this tomato can't compete with the biggies like Cherokee Purple for taste, I love the colour, the plant is healthy and prolific and the fruits are juicy, creamy on the sweet side - and perfect for a tomato sandwhich (on white bread with mayo) ..... a nice light snack :-)

Papageno

Not a tomato, but couldn't resist - made it through our extreme winter and came back better than ever ......

Tomato Plants Mid August

And a pic of some of my plants providing the bounty, staying remarkable healthy thanks to the dry hot weather ....... one plant showing a wee bit of something??

All plants grown in 5 gallons containers, and all have received a very dilute feed of Schultz 10-15-10 with each watering - which during the hot weather has been daily - started out with 1 quart per plant and upped to 2 quarts with our record breaking temperatures - last Wendesday was 34.4 C !! hottest day ever recorded in Vancouver BC

The Harvest Begins

What a fabulous year for tomatoes - thought I'd post a pic of my first harvest ..... from 1 o'clock:

2 Ben Gantz

1 Sylvan Gaume

2 Galina x Grub's Mystery Green

2 Kimberly

1 Psamathe

1 Crnkovic Gold