My tomato grow log (3)

Nova · Jan 19, 2010

Noice, watch the humidity wizza

bentalphanerd · Jan 19, 2010

It sounds like my kind of grow log, I planted mine exactly "a few weeks ago" theres 5 varieties & 12 plants all up. 2 plants are from the monster cherry tom that overgrew the old chook shed year before last - seed came from one of them that regrew of itself after the chook shed had gone (they should be really good stock) Rest are store bought seedlings of different shapes & sizes. They'll get the nerd {worlds laziest gardener} treatment and whatever survives will be seed I can pass around.

The week after I put them in the ground it rained all week & was high humidity as well, they really liked that, now its 30C+ & dry & humidity through the roof, they're looking a little floppy. Some are flowering at 6" high, I dont suppose thats a good thing????

I'm keen on seeing how another tom grower goes about it so keep us posted wordwiz

wordwiz · Jan 29, 2010

Eleven days later and at least three plants, a Goliath, Celebrity and First Prize have buds forming. ??? Huh? It's just a little over 30 days from transplanting from the coty stage to 3" containers and they are only about a foot tall. I would like to get a picture but I have two choices (three, if we ever get a real sunny afternoon when I'm home: take pictures in the dark or take them under the 400 watt HPS with three walls lined with Mylar). Options 1 & 2 have not worked, so hopefully that thing in the sky that has been mostly MIA the last six weeks will show up. Son Number One asked me if this is a good thing or bad. TBO, I don't know. It's not unusual to see a bloom on a plant this size, but these are clusters of 3-4 pre-blooms. My only answer was I would have to let him know - if I get 40 pounds from each plant in the next 12 weeks, it is good. If I get 20 pounds, it isn't!

Mike

Mjdtexan · Jan 30, 2010

If that 400W HPS were left on 24 hours a day how much do you think that cost you to run it every month?

wordwiz · Jan 30, 2010

$30. But that would be a waste of money and in time would hurt the plants. For real good production, maters need 20-22 mols per day. That's a measure of the amount of PAR light the plant receives times the number of hours. Mine started out getting ~19.5 and are now up to about 20.2 It's costing just over $19/mo., which should translate into about $80 during a four-month grow. Figuring $1.25/lb. for toms, I would need 64 pounds of fruit from the six plants to break even. At 30 pounds per plant (quite decent) I would net $145. Forty pounds, which may or may not be attainable, would be $220 in profit.

Mike

Mjdtexan · Jan 30, 2010

wordwiz said:
$30. But that would be a waste of money and in time would hurt the plants. For real good production, maters need 20-22 mols per day. That's a measure of the amount of PAR light the plant receives times the number of hours. Mine started out getting ~19.5 and are now up to about 20.2 It's costing just over $19/mo., which should translate into about $80 during a four-month grow. Figuring $1.25/lb. for toms, I would need 64 pounds of fruit from the six plants to break even. At 30 pounds per plant (quite decent) I would net $145. Forty pounds, which may or may not be attainable, would be $220 in profit.

Mike

I see. For me I just want to start them indoors and then evict them and make em move to a lower rent property (my outdoor garden).

I bet I could get by with a 250W HPS just for starting raising seedlings for about 6 weeks. Am I thinking right or do I need to do some research?

wordwiz · Jan 30, 2010

Mjd,

Simple shop lights are enough, no need for high output, relatively expensive systems. Two lights, which would cost about $30 total, would use 160 watts and cost you about $17 for the six weeks. You could raise from 72 (3" nursery trays) to 288 (72 cell flats) plants.

Mike

wordwiz · Feb 9, 2010

I made a big gaffe, though I may need to try to repeat it to see if it was just a coincidence. I wanted to add CO2 and to keep it the chamber, I hung a blanket across the front. It was blue, a deep blue. The three plants in front seemed to turn into ostriches, getting real leggy. I'm talking about 3" between nodes. The two on the edges - both were First Prize, have become cuttings for cloning and the rest turned into compost. The one in the middle, that didn't get quite so leggy, has about a half-dozen blooms on it, so I'm letting it go. The ones on the edges have been replaced by a clone (Sacramento) and seedling (Legend). The Celebrity and Better Boys have several blooms starting to form, the Goliath has several flowers. I need to water the four original tonight.

As a side note, and for those who might be interested in plant development, the two plants I pulled up had hardly any roots at all. I'm considering that absorption and thus the lack of blue spectrum light, might inhibit root development. In a related test, I grew some seedlings under an all-blue LED and for their size, they had an exceptional root ball. Another area to study, as I would love to grow short, squatly plants that stand the best chance of rapid development after transplantation!

Mike

wordwiz · Feb 25, 2010

I'm starting to get baby tomatoes on the Celebrity and both Better Boys but haven't had the Goliath to set a fruit yet. Just a bit over a month from transplant and probably another month to grow and ripen.

Mike

wordwiz · Mar 1, 2010

The Goliath is turning out to be a bummer of a plant. It's growth has been great, both under a 150 watt HPS and a 400 watt HPS. Gets lots of blooms but so far has dropped every one. Not sure why as it gets the same light, water and nuits as the others, the temps are the same and I use a small vibrator on it just like I do othe other ones.

Mike

Hinky · Mar 1, 2010

Mjdtexan said:
If that 400W HPS were left on 24 hours a day how much do you think that cost you to run it every month?

Here's a good electricity calculator. Bear in mind that electricity rates vary anywhere from 7¢ to 25¢.