I thought I had missed a whole year of tomatoes because I was too busy to start any seeds.
Then, swpring and summer have been so cold that I didn 't mikss much.
Then, Fred Meyer had 6-packs of Sungold saeedlings for $3, and how could I resist 50 cent tomato starts?
A question: One cell in the 6-pack has two tomato seedlings.
Another cell has three.
They are much too tangled to split apart.
What do you think: is there any point to planting out two or three seedlings with their stems practically touching, or should I just cut the stem at soil level on 3 of the five crowded sprouts? They're all about the same size and vigor now.
I have no open bed space, so 3 or four cells will go into 5 gallon buckets (one tomato per bucket).
I use a lot of pine bark in the mix for aeration and drainage, but with containers this big, maybe I should mix in some soil-potting soil also. I plan to use soluble fertilizer.
I MIGHT try putting 1-2 cells into some not-very-good soil over clay and pebbles, and see if they can grow in partial shade and maybe climb a holly tree.
If I don't just kill the duplicate seedlings, I would put those two cells into the ground this way, making it a double-experiment. What do you think - is there any point to giving cherry tomatoes a chance this slim in a summer that will not only be cool, but short?
This vendor claioms 57 days to maturity, but I won't have ideal conditions. Two months from now is late August , getting cool and rainy again.
Or just give the extras away after potting them up to what look like 3-quart pots!
