Re: [tomato] what to grow in NY
Ian Stoba & Laurie Mandigo-Stoba (Tomato@GlobalGarden.com)
Tue, 16 Feb 1999 19:15:06 -0500
>Oh, yeah, *way* too early! Your seedlings will get all leggy and
>icky...unless you have a really good greenhouse and are able to
>repot in succession, or have lots of good growing lighting. :-) Last
>year, my first year growing from seed myself, I couldn't start
>hardening off until the middle to late May! And my seedlings were
>started too early (end of February). But, then again, if it's gonna be
>warm this year...(shrug) I've yet to look at the Old Farmers
>Almanac page to see when the last projected date of frost is to
>calculate when to start my seeds.
This will be my fourth year starting seeds, and I think I might actually be
getting the hang of it;) Last year I potted up about twice with tomatoes,
and because I've been accustomed to having to use a distant community plot
and having no secure outdoor space in my old apartment, I had to device all
these weird ways to transplant into the garden without having hardened off.
Basically, I used season extending techniques, but to sheild from sun and
wind mostly, rather than cool temps. Anyway, it will be such a joy to
garden in my own yard this year! Maybe I can use some of the structures
I've made in the past to protect from frost this spring. Unfortunately,
the greenhouse is going to have to wait for a while, maybe until next
house:)
>
>No, not at all! Last year, I was picking ripe tomatoes in late
>September and even a few in early October!
This isn't bad. Now that I think about it, I remember when we were
house-hunting I saw a couple of tomato and pepper plants on the sheltered
side of a brick wall that were still ripening the last few fruits, and that
was late November! It was down to that house, or the one we bought. 15
minutes closer to the train, an extra half bath and better bedrooms won out
over that sunny gardening spot. Of course, that brick wall was attaching
the house to the garage, and now that my husband has spent January and half
of February here without a garage, scraping the ice off the windsheild,
that house is looking like it might have been closer to the train afterall.
Regards, Laurie