Red Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes

[Kate]

This is the Extra with three Red Heirloom Tomato, at 3 weeks old.
Attachment Deleted

[Kate]

I should probably start my own thread, but since I posted a pic I'd taken of my Red Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes at 3 weeks on this thread, I thought I'd post one of them at 5.25 weeks. I'd topped them just after one month. They've REALLY gone nuts this last week. I raised the hood about a week ago, I think.

[Kate]

Thanks Shawn for offering to start my own garden thread! So exciting!

[Shawn]

Your welcome! 

[MaryL]

They look very healthy.  You’ll have blossoms soon.

[Kate]

I think it said around 12-15 weeks for first harvest, but I could be wrong. They'll be 6 weeks since I started them, on Tuesday. They had a huge growth spurt after I topped them and fed their first CaliMagic. On Tuesday, I feed again. There are lots of new leaves and branches forming and they suck water like mad. I'm really impressed with them.

I actually just looked and there are clusters of tiny buds all over the place. I didn't notice them before. How exciting!

[MaryL]

Very exciting!

[Kate]

So tiny and cute! Here's one easy enough to image.

[MaryL]

That’s a fabulous photo.  Beautiful.

[Shawn]

More lovely fuzzies...

[Kate]

Feb 28, 2018 23:42:32 GMT -5 MaryL said:

That’s a fabulous photo.  Beautiful.

Believe it or not, it was taken with my iPhone 7. For a phone camera, the more recent iPhone's aren't all that shabby.

[drbanks]

Feb 25, 2018 20:38:46 GMT -5 Kate said:

I topped them and fed their first CaliMagic. On Tuesday, I feed again. There are lots of new leaves and branches forming and they suck water like mad. I'm really impressed with them.

I know others here prefer mooch, but in my experience CaliMagic works wonders with nightshades of all kinds.  I've seen one dose kick a plant that's doing essentially nothing into sprouting dozens of blossoms overnight.

[Kate]

Mar 1, 2018 11:27:33 GMT -5 drbanks said:

Feb 25, 2018 20:38:46 GMT -5 Kate said:

I topped them and fed their first CaliMagic. On Tuesday, I feed again. There are lots of new leaves and branches forming and they suck water like mad. I'm really impressed with them.

I know others here prefer mooch, but in my experience CaliMagic works wonders with nightshades of all kinds.  I've seen one dose kick a plant that's doing essentially nothing into sprouting dozens of blossoms overnight.

That was my experience. The massive growth and bud formation was shockingly fast after the first feeding. I fed again on Tuesday and today, just two days later, again an amazing amount of bushing out and more bud clusters. The plants are really sturdy and healthy. Not one leaf has been lost, or shown any damage since starting. I can't complain. 

[jcosmo]

Wow, that plant is FUZZY! What are the nutrients/proportions in CaliMagic?

This is the "Mooch" Guaranteed Analysis:

Total Nitrogen (N) 4%
Calcium (Ca) 3.8%
Magnesium (Mg) 1.2%
Iron (Fe) 0.1%  

[MaryL]

After checking, CaliMagic is the brand I have too.  I call it mooch like the other brand because I can’t remember what it’s called, lol.  And, I can’t remember to use it either, being a new thing for me.  I am missing out.

It’s such a big bottle- do you decant some into a smaller bottle to make it easier to use?

[Shawn]

Mar 2, 2018 6:10:07 GMT -5 MaryL said:

After checking, CaliMagic is the brand I have too.  I call it mooch like the other brand because I can’t remember what it’s called, lol.  And, I can’t remember to use it either, being a new thing for me.  I am missing out.

It’s such a big bottle- do you decant some into a smaller bottle to make it easier to use?

Mooch bottle is small enough that I do not do it.  I think I also have a bottle of CalMagic and think used it once.  I do want to say that Mooch and CalMag have different dispensary tables.

Mooch:   2 tsp (or 10ml) for every Gallon (or 4L of water)

CalMag:  1 tsp for every Gallon (or 1ml per liter)

Looking at that you may need less CalMag then we add Mooch.  I am horrible at figuring this out, maybe mike can assist?

[drbanks]

depending on how many gallons I'm mixing, I use either a dosing pipette or a graduated cylinder.

Guess who was once, a very long time ago, a chem major?

[Kate]

Mar 1, 2018 22:29:30 GMT -5 jcosmo said:

Wow, that plant is FUZZY! What are the nutrients/proportions in CaliMagic?

This is the "Mooch" Guaranteed Analysis:

Total Nitrogen (N) 4%
Calcium (Ca) 3.8%
Magnesium (Mg) 1.2%
Iron (Fe) 0.1%  

This is the CaliMagic Label.

1 - 0 - 0
GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
Total Nitrogen (N).....................................1.0%
1.0% Nitrate Nitrogen
Calcium (Ca).............................................5.0%
Magnesium (Mg)......................................1.5%
1.5% Water Soluble Magnesium
Iron (Fe)....................................................0.1%
0.1% Chelated Iron (Fe)
Derived from:
Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Nitrate, Iron DTPA

Directions:
Use 1ml per liter
(1 teaspoon per gallon)
for most applications

I have a quart bottle and use a graduated pipette. I have buckets of them because I decant fragrances, and every time I order decanting supplies, I get freebies of pipettes, cups and funnels. I did 2.5ml the first and second feed. I'll do about 3ml from the next feed on. The large Aerogardens hold 3.2 liters of water when full.

[Kate]

Here's a comparison of exactly one week, from 5.25 weeks to today at 6.25 weeks, It's astonishing how fast they've grown and filled out. It's like a jungle. They are so massive, next time I will do only two plants I think. They should all fit, but pollinating and picking is going to be a PITA.

I think CaliMagic is amazing stuff. I'm hooked. BTW, did I mention how much I love these little tomato plants? Seriously, like they're my children.

Red Heirloom Cherry Tomato 5.25 weeks


Red Heirloom Cherry Tomato 6.25 weeks

[jcosmo]

Impressive! I know the feeling... sometimes my plants get more attention than my cats do! I have 4 dwarf tomato varieties growing in AGs and 2 more in soil under a grow light.