Sowed my domestic tomatoes as well as pimpinellifolium and cheesmanie crosses on 22.5 on bare ground with small patch of peppers just to see how much there is to go before it’s viable to direct sow them this way. There is total around 30m2, most of which is 2 or 3 generation direct sown. On top these there is separate 10m2 of habrochaites crosses that I direct sowed with the help of black biofilm and cloth to give better change to ripen. Part of those are F2s and part are F1s made to domestic F1s so unstable, but first generation.
Even if the current weather is causing a little concern for some projects, highs of barely over 15C/59F and nights getting close to frost seems quite perfect way to test the cold tolerance of tomatoes and get some early selection.
Ps. sticks are different lines, traits or generations and sown depending how much space I want to give them. I expect first generation direct sown be more varied so I have them separate to give those also a fair change before mixing with those with similar background. At the end of this season there should be just different groups based on amount of certain wild species and traits like LB tolerance.
Will be interested to see how this goes. I have about 20 square meters of direct sown tomatoes, first and second generation. They have germinated about a week ago, and it’s been cold and rainy this week in Quebec with lows around 4-5C and highs around 7-12C
Tomatoes had emerged a couple of days ago. Took some 10-11 days compared to 4 days last year. Last year was unusually warm at the time of sowing so it was expected that they take longer.
Habrochaites F1/F2 crosses had also emerged, a little earlier with the help of biofilm and cloth. Removed the cloth to make it easier to take care of them. Yet to take closer look how many there are, but should be ok. I later realized that it might be a little mistake sow half wilds this way as there might be domestic volunteers. I sowed them where I had habrochaites crosses last year and far from where I had domestics, but with tilling they might be everywhere. Have to see if there are some suspect looking plants. I don’t know what to expect with F2s, whether there can be some close to domestic looking. Gotta be more careful next year.
Weeded habrochaites crosses. They had grown well dispite being quite weeded over. Also don’t seem to mind average finnish summer weather after I took of cloth. Now they should really explode into growth. Interesting to see that there is already quite a bit of variance in the F2s. Some are light green, some have purple stems and some had gone completely purple from the conditions. Some look more habrochaites and some more domestic. Interested to see how fruits turn out. Based on amount of tomato volunteers in ground cherries that are next to these, it looks like there probably aren’t many that volunteered within habrochaites cross beds. It’s also likely that those that are are also habrochaites F2s as I grew them in the same spot last year.
Tomatoes weren’t first priority for weeding/thinning as they are fast enough that little delay in growth isn’t going to matter as much. That said, it was about time to do it and would have been easier had I done first culling right after emergence. About week ago I did go through between lines with sciccors and later took some of the biggest weeds as a fast remedy, but with cool wet weather you can’t slow down the growth of weeds. Now it’s done, but there are still 10-20 times the amount of seedlings to final amounts so I’ll need to make another culling by the end of the month. At least it get’s easier now to see what I’m doing.
Compared to last year they are a little behind, but it doesn’t seem like the difference has changed that much since emergence. Last year drought slowed down early growth a bit and this year it’s been cool weather. Fastest seem to be half wilds just like last year with pimpinellifolium crosses maybe slightly faster than cheesmaniea crosses. Also possibly new F1 crosses are faster than F2s, but the differences aren’t that big. Nothing that especially stands out of all, but ofcourse there are some that stand out of their neighbours.
Wet weather has started LB season much earlier than in previous years. I could see some affected potato plants in the neighbouring plots. Not sure if weather will stay favourable for it to make difference to tomatoes. As there are plenty of extras it wouldn’t be bad if it made some early selection. Have to follow how the situation develops.
Habrochaites F2 crosses are starting to take off. Did some weeding and culling, but I’m a little unsure how to do selection. Most of the best growers look very much like habrochaites or F1s and I’m not sure if that’s indicative of also other traits like the fruit. I couldn’t really cull them over some miserable looking domestic types. I did leave some average looking to grow alongside habrochaites types. They can be a little tighter than usual and if they produce some fruits, then they are good enough. This year is more of a learning experience. I still have plenty of F2s to make a better grow-out the next year. Of the domestic types, there was one spectacular looking that ticks all the boxes at the moment. Looks like it has at least partially dwarf or bushy growth type. Like all others, it still has habrochaites smell in it’s leaves or the smell just stuck after I tried the habrochaites types. I couldn’t get tomato smell from domestic tomatoes either.
Absolutelly stunning domestic type. There is some habrochaites looking coloration in the stem, but besides possible leaf smell there isn’t other traits indicative of habrochaites at the moment.
