Cues to plant I.D? … Now, that’s a question for a tomacco professional. Let me look more closely at each variety and I’ll try to come up with a few identifiers. They only way I can keep track currently is by segregating the varieties when they’re in the early stages and by marking the containers when they’re ready for step-up. When they go in the ground, I’ll simply note what is in each row. I may need to hang a scarecrow to keep birds and wildlife away. I’m thinking something like this:




Seems to be working great in the Gulf. …or maybe a poster of mailman’s former sig tag.


A few notes so far:
1. I like the aluminum tray with a translucent ‘sticky wrap’ cover for seed germination beds. I’ll do that again, but I may opt for the larger size to accommodate an intermediate step-up.
2. Step-up to peat pots more quickly, or sow directly into them next year.
3. Step-up to larger containers. The 5 inch peat pots were ok, but the really small ones were a waste of time. For a second step, if necessary, I believe the additional space in the one gallon pots will allow for better root development and help form stronger, straighter stalks. These plants spread out quickly and need lots of space.
4. Set out in direct sun earlier for hardening off.
5. Apply fertilizer carefully in the early stages, but feed them regularly once they are established. They are heavy feeders and suck up every available nutrient.
6. Plan ground space early. It appears that these guys are going to need much more room to spread out and fully develop than I anticipated. At this point, there is too little space in the plant bed to accommodate them all. I may have to chop up part of the yard.

Attached are some of the latest photos. For some reason, I can’t locate all the images. It is likely I filed them incorrectly when I downloaded them from the camera. It’s no great loss. Check out the tomacco pr0n:

Remember the ‘wishful thinking’ photo of the lone BM that I put in a one gallon container on a whim? How do you like her now? If we do this again, I think using large containers for step-up and hardening off may be the plan for next year. I think they may be easier to move around and will have a better chance to develop strong roots. Note the leaf damage on the edge of the plastic container. It looks just like mrtr33’s.

May 08:



May 18:





Below is a smaller BM that I pulled out of the tray. It is in one of the small peat pots and desperately needs more space. Notice the yellowing leaves to the right and the small brown leaves on the top left. These need to be removed along with any other inferior leaves to promote better stalk and leaf formation. You can see that the spread on this little guy is already more than one foot. Are we stepping into the Little Shop of Tomaccos?




Here is a shot of the FS tray. Note the plants on the bottom left. Those are the TWE Smack Down contestants. The ones behind the ruler on the left are the split plants. They seem to be doing just fine. In the foreground, you can see the plant on the bottom right has leaf damage from the edge of the pot similar to the effect mrtr33 pointed out. The leaves seem to damage easily regardless of the material they contact. Note to self: Fill pots to rim to prevent leaf contact.