Allotments 4 All

I am just getting ready to start sowing mini dwarf toms to grow through the winter..if anyone else is doing so perhaps we could swap info and progress.

I haven't quite made up my mind which ones yet.

What are you planning?

If you have never grown them before maybe you may join us.. it can be very interesting and there are lots of  seeds available and good choices for colour etc.

XX Jeannine

i would love to have a go but what  sort of equipment in the way of heaters lights etc as i am   limited on space and finances at the mo

Tap in University of Utah,dwarf veggies.. they give a plan for making your own light fitting, it would need a wee bit of adapting for the UK but the idea is good. They then have a really good article on growing in classrooms where the light is poor. Then if iou get the type of seeds that are OK for the fitting and there are quite a few..you are off. Utah uni says you don't need expensive lights in fact tghey say don't but Growlights, regular flourescents are enough.

Tatiannas  has a good selection of seed, her prices are good as is her postage and she will post to the UK and quickly too. She is just a three miles from me if you have any problems, I know she has been ill so don't know how well things are moving but many of us could let you ha e few seeds for a first time anyway I am sure.

I will try to find a link for you for her site and Utah uni

XX Jeannine

Link for light fitting

http://utah.agclassroom.org/cart/Details.cfm?ProdID=402&category=0

for great info about varieties on her tomaqto databsae and also a very reliable source for seeds

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Main_Page

then go to her   database for tomatoes ,look for categories, then  growth habit,then ..dwarf

I sowed some Micro Gemma this week and I also have some seedlings of the ongoing Tiny-Tiniest Toes growing. I overwintered a Sweet and Neat Yellow last winter which did well and it is still going . It must be well over a year old and still fruiting ;D

I'm going to keep my cutting from the original Tiny Toes going for as long as possible. I noticed yesterday that one branch is now growing much stronger than the rest of the plant. I'm wondering if it is doing tricks again?

Thanks for the Utah link.

Brown thumb, I second Jeannine recommendation, Tatiana's site is fantastic and her seeds and service is first rate. But if you would like just a few seeds to experiment with let me know. I found the 3 Sweet and Neat varieties all easy to grow and quite tasty (although I've only grown the yellow through the winter ) They are quite forgiving plants to grow, a little bit taller the micro plants but still quite small and compact.

I'd love to try growing toms through the winter!  I've got a south-facing conservatory which can get quite cold in winter as we tend not to specifically heat it unless we're having dinner there (in the bleakest mid-winter it occasionally gets down to 7-8 degrees C... Brrrr!  :o).  D'you reckon it's still worth a try?  It's at least always light in there!

Have a feeling the other half would not be too pleased with it though - he does grumble a bit at the moment about the six cucumber plants growing all over (even though he likes the cukes themselves!) and mutters about how nice it is in winter when it ceases being a greenhouse.  I might have to break it to him gently...  ;D

I'm up for it.   ;D

Must get those seeds today, I think, because tomorrow we're off for short break in Guernsey to celebrate our Silver Wedding anniversary. After twenty-five years, my beloved has finally learned to live in peace with my gardening tendencies. He even gave me a Growlight for my Christmas present last year.  ;D ;D

I'm new to this growing-tomatoes-into-winter business and I wonder if anyone can tell me if this plan below is the way to go?

I plan to grow Vilma, Maskotka, Sweet N Neat Cherry Red, Minibel and Venus, starting them off today and keeping the young plants in the conservatory to lower the risk of blight. I reckon on keeping them there until October (under the Growlight for perhaps a couple of weeks), before bringing them and the Growlight indoors when the nights get cold. (The conservatory is north-facing, so gets pretty chilly in autumn).

If anyone more experienced sees a flaw with this plan - perhaps with the size or habit of the varieties I've chosen, do let me know, please.  :)

Spudbash

:)

Hi Jeannine
I'm going to Bellingham WA in August, may have to visit Tatiana's if it's that close!!

Weed-Digga

Hi Weed digga, whatcha doing in Bellingham, it's not far from me but am waiting for my passport back so can't cross the line till it returns.

If you are seriously planning on visiting Tania you will find she is a charming lady and very knowledgable. She has just had a stroke though , this last month, so don't know exactly how she is, the last message I got was she was in the graden a bit, but could not use her toes. I would suggest you phone first..

You are by the way also very close to Tom Wagner the potato expert, he is in Everett just a few miles from Bellingham, I would not miss that chance..

XX Jeannine

just read your link for a grow light looks easy to set up even for me, a female

Jeannine, I  am visiting friends in Bellingham, then going to California for a week, I am going with family and friends who are not so interested in allotments so may have to negotiate my 'plant time' !!

Weed-Digga

Well you have a lot of fun..XX Jeannine

This is really interesting :) Are he lights expensive in the UK?

i have just to day planted 5 100s   and 1000s tomato seeds planning to grow them in south facing windows in hanging baskets  will they grow?  there will be radiators  on   under neath them in the winter

They may get a bit big for inside..but interesting to find out

Do you need any seeds of tinies?

XX Jeannine

Ahh...I wasn't going to bother growing any as I'm very limited with light levels in my house..
but I cannot resist now... ::) I might just try few on one windowsill that is warmerst room in house and gets the most light too..nothing losts if it don't work..but I cannot rig up any lights on that room or OH is going to have 'fit'..he is already constantly following me and flicking lights off as much as I try to put them on.. ;D
I don't like to live in 'cave envinronment'.. ::)..but I might get away on one window..if not, plants just have to sulk and survive and do their thing in spring once I can safely place them in unheated GH.
...count me in.. ;D

Count me in. The vaieties I am thinking of are
Yellow Pygmy
Red Pygmy
Red Robin
Tiny Tim
Tiny Tommy
Little Sun

Any of you know these and have any recommendations?
Thanks

oh thanks for the offer jeannine i wont take you up on your kind offer this year and just stick with  the ones ive planted as iam in the middle of moving home but may be next year when ive moved    i have plans ahead using a shed so i will be picking everyones brains then, i saw the 100s and 1000s had micro on the packet and already had them in the seed tin and hoped they would be small   the window is quite large so hopefully they wont grow too large to fit