Last night I transplanted my extra-early tomato plants.
I should have transplanted them about a week ago but finally got the time. I think I was also waiting on a chance to buy some peat pots, which I have always liked using in the past. But I decided not to buy them because they have gone up in price and peat is not all that renewable of a resource anyway. Instead, I decided to make newspaper pots, and planted the tomatoes in them.
Honestly, I'm not pleased with these tomato plants. I did wait too long to pot them up and I think I put too much water in their tray.
The roots came out the bottom of the cell pack and because of the water, kept growing. Look at how long those roots are! This is pretty bad. I worry now that the plants will be a bit stunted as they try to re-establish root growth.
While I was planting these tomatoes, Dancing With the Stars was on television in the background. As I heard the judges giving the "dancers" their scores, I couldn't help but think I would score these tomato plants a Len Goodman "4"!
Not all of the cell packs were like that. I originally seeded the Fourth Of July tomatoes a few days later than the rest, and those roots didn't go crazy. I bet that will make Fourth Of July our first ripe tomato winner again this year.
Even though it isn't going as well as I would like with these tomatoes, it was still nice to get out my Table Top Gardener and get my hands dirty.
I like working with the seed starting mix and smelling those tomato plants. Next I will be planting all of the main season tomato varieties in mass, so I better get used to doing this. Hopefully those seedlings will get a better start, and these early tomatoes will bounce back with this transplanting.
Happy Tomato Tuesday!