You Can Never Have Too Many Tomatoes, Right?

I have too many tomatoes. This is a fraction (OK about a third) of the tomato seedlings I've been nurturing. What's my problem? I guess I'm a sucker for branding. I visit Kings Seeds, I read the tomato names, I fall in love, buy the seeds, stay in love and grow them. Then, suddenly I have upwards of 50 tomato plants, all with fabulous names and the promise of a summer of succulence... and where to plant them? But let's get back to the branding.

Tomato Roll Call

Black zebra

Black cherry

Cherokee purple

Gardeners' delight

Green sausage

Oaxacan (waa-HAA-can) jewel 

Roma

Siberia

Tigrella

Tommy toe

Really, who could resist them? Reading seed catalogs is a bit like going to the SPCA. You see all the cats... and you're desperate to take them all home. With seeds it's much less of a commitment to indulge your desperation.

The Science, or is it the Art?

I planted these seeds on 23 Oct, roughly a month ago. This was much later than last year, when the mood struck me in July.  Tomato seed-planting wisdom here. Today they are past infancy, already gangly teenagers, overcrowded and desperate to move out on their own.

You can tell they are ready to be potted on by the look of them, and also their anti-social behaviour. They just go quiet and stop doing anything productive.

Gently remove the plants from their pots. Easier and safer if they are damp. The root systems are so amazing. And they are intertwined, so separate them gently. It's tempting to grab a tomato at the leaves and yank it out of the soil. Try holding the root ball and gently letting it fall apart. It's important not to traumatise the roots. Just separate them gently and quickly and let the plant and the soil stick to whatever roots they want to.

Now a little plant physiology. If you look closely at a tomato seedling, you'll see the stem is covered in tiny hairs. These hairs have the potential to become roots, so when you're potting on tomatoes, make the most of this root potential. I pick off the lower leaves on the stem, and plant the seedling deep in the soil. Right up to its head. Like this:

Now, all those stem hairs will become a strong root system for this plant. Strong roots are key to a strong and productive plant.

How to Break The Rules

Don't repot seedlings on a hot day
Fair enough, but today was the day, and it was really hot out there. You can get away with it if you have some empathy for the seedlings and work accordingly:

• Water the crowded seedlings before repotting.
• Work very quickly and don't leave the roots exposed for more than a few minutes.
• Give the repotted plant a good water as soon as it is settled in its new home.
• Put the pots in the shade and out of wind -- they don't need the added stress of sun stroke and wind burn after they have moved out on their own. 

Don't plant all your seeds on one day
Yes, I know, I know. But I'm not capable of following this rule. This year, though, I've discovered a remedy to the "plant everything at once syndrome". It's the timing of potting on, and it looks like it's very powerful.

This is the biggest tomato in the garden. Mid chest height to me, flowering and just starting to fruit.

It has siblings, planted from the same seed package on the same day, that are half the size, just starting to flower, because they were not potted on for a week or two later -- I guess that's arrested development.

This one was potted on a few more weeks later, and is good and leafy, but not flowering yet.

So keeping some of your teenagers cooped up while others are on the loose, is a gardening tactic to make sure all your tomatoes don't ripen at once. I don't know how much stress it causes the plants, or if it gives you weaker adult plants... that's a study for next year. Meanwhile, I decided to give the transplants a bit of herbal assistance in the form of basil and coriander.

We are just about to click over into the beginning of year three in this garden. I'm just starting to understand what permaculture means, and might mean. Not Enough Space!!. The garden is full of plants left over from last season, thriving and reproducing with no help from me. Lettuce, coriander, radicchio, self-sewn tomatoes and tomatillos everywhere. All the seeds I've planted this year are potted on and lined up waiting for a spot in real soil.

So what to do? Specialize in tomatoes or continue to extend the garden into neighbouring properties... I mean these adolescents have to live somewhere, don't they?

If you want a well-bred tomato (or tomatillo) plant, let me know. So many children, so little space.