All is not well. Hardening off began on Monday – outside in the day and florist shop style – all back in at night.
However there’s fading and flagging going on. The top picture is of 3 Ferline. Not good advocates for the outdoor life – they’re getting paler and waner. And a word of warning – if you’re of a sensitive disposition – do not scroll down. It’s a Lemon Tree massacre.
And it’s only the outdoor day trippers. The 10 or so I kept back ( including the grafted) are fine.
My thoughts:
- Is the compost too wet/too compacted through watering ( albeit gently) from above from a spout as opposed to a rose and with the plants transpiring more as they adjust to outside conditions and not replacing lost water quickly enough …. but that would mean wilting and this seems different from wilting.
- Is the compost too wet/compacted and the roots can’t get air – might be. So I took a skewer to the compost from above to aerate it and loosen it up. And whilst at it inserted the skewer through the base drainage holes to do the same. (There was a lesson waiting to be learnt: non-perforated drainage holes -one pot had only 3 of 8 pre perforated- so check before using !) Ever since being subjected to a matinee of Ring of Bright Water at a tender age I’ve had a dread of sharp, glinty objects being plunged into the earth without being able to see what you might be about to kill off and so in undertaking this skewering I tried hard not to bring grief to delicate young roots – but we shall see.
- Scorched by the sun….. ha, ha, ha, ha……Chance/Fine Thing…..
- And then a random element – there’s noisy and dusty demolition of hard core and foundations happening feet away from the bottom of my garden – is the dust coating the leaves and causing photosynthesis to stop….?
I don’t know the answer. Trouble is this ER is staffed not by Dr. Clooney but by Nurse Clueless…I think life has dealt The Lemon Trees a hand whereby it’s not now even possible to make lemonade but I’m hoping the others pull through.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I may have been a little hasty in hardening off, as well. The Yellow Brandywine – all of them – are doing just fine, whilst the Cream Sausage are looking very spindly. The Brandywine is possessed of large, robust potato-like leaves, however, whilst the Cream Sausage seems to produce long, thin leaves which I remember thinking last year were a bit pitiful. They seemed to work, however.
Poor Lemon Trees!
Oh dear, sorry to read of your tomato troubles. They do look rather small to be hardening off though. I wish I could suggest something other than taking them back inside. You may want to sow some fresh seeds of both varieties in fresh compost; now it’s warmer they might catch up quickly. Seed is fairly cheap and you won’t have lost much by trying – except some patience.
Have the birds been pulling them about? Sometimes they think tender plants are a tasty meal.
You won’t harm many plants simply by watering with a spout – I use mugs and bottles all the time. That’s better than sprinkling them. Keep them moist but not wringing wet though – I allow the surface to dry before watering them.
It’s sad when you lose plants; don’t feel too bad though. Some of my plants are still tiny, and one Gold Medal has halted growth suddenly, with a solitary purple leaf. And my melon seeds germinated but I lost the lot through pricking them out too soon. Sometimes, for no apparent reason, plants just won’t prosper.
I think that is just the way with Cream Sausage. Last year mine was a plant bought from the Hampshire National Vegetable society who are always winning prizes for stuff ( veg stuff) so I counted it as having ‘ pedigree’ and you have just reminded how spindly its leaves were. Based on mine last year it’s the variety not the grower that’s responsible for the spindliness ! It was almost fern like and got in a real tangle but I loved the fruit… now I’ve come over all nostalgic for it….. !
I agree – I’m going to start again with some – I want to know if its me or the variety. And I’m going to get some Jiffy 7s to sow them in ( prompted by River Cottage reminder ). Plus if we really are in for a longer than normal summer then time will still be on my side.
I don’t think it’s the birds….but like you say I did wonder if they were too small to venture outside unsupervised. But then I thought about seedlings coming up in the wild – and as long as the temperatures are warm enough they survive. But maybe indoor started ones are just that bit more tender and so need a bit of growth underway first.
I’m sorry the Melon Seeds didn’t work out – that would have been an impressive addition to the home harvest.
Aww… yeah they don’t look too happy your little trees…. I wonder if the shaking from the demolition (and jackhammers?) is giving your plants troubles. That’s definitely not very peaceful, nor expected in nature!
I am looking for info on how to grow Carbon, Lemon Boy, Oxheart Stake, and Siberian tomatoes, since I just bought some little seedlings yesterday from a local plant society sale, and I’ve never grown these kinds before! I understand three of them are heirloom varieties.
The little Siberian is looking pretty scruffy. It was raining and pouring yesterday, and it got a bit pummelled by the big raindrops. Was an outdoor sale. Well if you have any idea about it, please let me know
Thanks a lot!
Rachel
Hello
Thank you for stopping by and getting in touch. The demolition hasn’t been given me much peace either but it’s now stopped so hopefully me and the tomatoes can get back to going about our quiet business !
Great choices of tomato to be able to pick up from a plant sale. Often the varieties on offer seem to be the safe ones like Alicante and Moneymaker but yours sound much more adventurous. I’ve only grown Carbon of your 4. Lovely, juicy, big dark tomatoes that are dramatic in appearance and taste. I didn’t get very many and they took a long time to mature and ripen but worth it as they are so different . They are heavy fruit so make sure the plant is well staked and supported.
Lemon Boy looks interesting – medium sized fruit with bright yellow skin. Often the yellow ones are smaller cherry sized fruit – so interesting to get one that’s larger.
Oxheart Stake – I couldn’t find a variety by that name – but Oxhearts are pink fleshed and biggish fruit so again make sure they are well supported.
And then Siberian sounds like a good one for the impatient. Growing in Russia and Alaska (!?) it sets fruit at a lower temperature so starts to produce fruit earlier in the season than some. It takes 48 days to harvest ( from date of planting out) where as Lemon Boy for example takes 72 – and if I remember correctly Carbon takes nearly 90 – so a good choice to keep you going till some of the big ‘uns come through. Have fun seeing how they do – and it would be lovely to hear how they turn out .
Hi Sally, Wow! Thanks for all the info on the tomatoes. Sounds like the carbon tomato is really a nice one! I’ve never seen or heard of black tomatoes before, so I thought I’d try it
I like to grow interesting and different vegetables. Last year I grew some quinoa, just to see how it grew… I saved some seeds so hope to plant them again. I hope that it is quinoa and not lambsquarters (its wild cousin – well it’s edible too 
)! I’ve been growing purple potatoes that I forgot in my cupboard and sprouted 7 or 8 years ago, and keep replanting every year! The reason I went to that sale is that they were advertising that they had heritage tomatoes!
After I wrote my last comment there, I realised I also have one Sophie’s Choice tomato. I don’t know why they gave it that name, as the movie is pretty turbulent and dramatic! But I read that it’s extra early, 55 days, and the skin is orange red and the inside deep red. It’s from Edmonton! I’m from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, so it should be perfect for our area. Same with the Siberian if you say it’s that early and good for Russia and Alaska
We’re much farther south here than Alaska, but still not too hot, so they should do great here. OK, that’s a good heads-up re. needing to stake them well. I’ll make sure to do that.
Thanks again, Sally! Yeah, I’ll try and remember to get back to you about how they do!
By the bye… when I was a kid, playing pretend, I always chose Sally as my name – there’s something joyful and open about that name 
Take care, Rachel.