[Rubber Chicken]

I'm a hobbyist gardener at best, but would like to expand my general knowledge and ability.

I have grown things for a few years but only put in minimal effort, .... hopefully i can manage a 'little' more than minimal effort from now on.

Any comments, experience, advice or anything are welcome.

This is a little project i started recently,

I started the project a while ago, too early really (eager and impatient for warmer weather), but the plants seem happy enough, even with my over crowding and bonsai pruning experiment.





There were 10 varieties in each of the small pots, 4 or 5 seeds of each were planted, and i cut the 2-3 least vigorous of each once they had grown a little.

So, I had 40 little plants in 2 pots, (20 (actually 18 )) varieties, (x2 seedlings each))

I had 20 varieties but it i took out 2 Principe Borghese because i realised they were Determinate and i don't think having mothers would work with them, a bit like autoflowers.
Also, i realized i planted Amish Paste in both pots, so, 18 varieties.


I am just aiming to keep small mothers of any 'stand out' favorite selections (so, i'm practicing with multiple varieties).

I am trying something similar with peppers too.....

Good start with the pics of the bonsai pruning, keep ‘em coming
Will you be up-canning soon or you gonna try a bit of root pruning practice and keep them where they are?


I’ve found determinate tomato plants do as well as indeterminate as far as propagation and overwintering goes so you don’t have to limit your choices. You mentioned one of my favorite tomatoes and is why I chimed in.

I’ve kept Principe Borghese genetics going for over three years by layering or taking cuttings when the parent plant starts producing fruit. Not technically a mother plant but a good way to keep the line going. Didn’t seem to affect quality or vigor but I may not have ran it out long enough to notice. I only keep peppers and cannabis mothers these days for lack of room.


Wishing you all the best with your experiments and quest for knowledge. No doubt what is a hobby now will turn into a passion to grow anything and everything at least once. A slippery slope but a enjoyable and satisfying one. Enjoy the ride brother and best of luck

[Rubber Chicken]

I will see how they go.
Maybe they will get too crowded and have problems, i don't know?

If they stay small and healthy i will up pot them once they can go outside, and then i can take a lot of cuttings and plant them into the ground.

Thanks for the info about PB, i might try a small pot of Determinates aswell now

I know it is a very fun hobby but it can be very frustrating when something like fruit fly comes around, so i need to be careful.

[packerfan79]

Starting a small veggie garden this year. I have some 100 gallon smart pots coming from Amazon, have a few zucchini, and spaghetti squash going in small pots for now going to get 1 yard of soil Thursday or Friday. And then going to add some jalapenos, pumpkins, strawberries, watermelons, tomatoes and cucumbers . It's really cool to see how excited the kids get. I have never done a veggie garden just cannabis. And only inside. Last year the wife started a bunch of stuff and never took care of it, so this year daddy's going to show her how it's done

[Rubber Chicken]

The more advanced pot started to get really bushy, taking up too much space, so i have pruned them back fairly well.
I think they can handle it..... i made sure there was a little bit of foliage and some baby shoots at least.

The younger pot is going well also.
They have only had one pruning so far, leaving 2-3 shoots on each.

This is only an experiment, to see if i can nurse them through winter an if it is even worth it, but it's only fluro lights, so not much electricity.

And also, importantly IT IS FUN.

I'll share some more pictures soon.

[exploziv]

Way too overcrowded in there. They won't fruit well if they are in competition. And don't forget tomato plants need a lot of calcium.

Good luck!

[Rubber Chicken]

I'm not going to try to fruit them in there, i think i mentioned that. IT IS WAY TOO CROWDED

It's a 'motherfest' experiment.

I will up-pot these together eventually aswell.

I have plenty more seeds of each variety too, so i'm going to compare my mother cuttings (hopefully) to ground sown seeds when it warms up a little.

[exploziv]

I admit I was high when I saw the thread so I was looking more at the pics than the text.
Good luck!

[Rubber Chicken]

To be honest, they are working out better than i expected so far.

I didn't know if they would get healthy shoots from low on the stem, or if they would get just taller and bushier without without any young nodes.

[Rubber Chicken]

Here is how they look.

Tomato pot #1,

9 varieties, 18 plants, still seem healthy to me,



Tomato pot #2,

10 varieties, 20 plants, needs to be pruned, they are getting a bit tall and falling over......

Before haircut-



After-





Peppers will be for next time.