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A New Crop of Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes

Grow log by Sher · Original thread

16 visual updates18 photos51 replies
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CropTomato
VarietyAeroGarden Heirloom Cherry Tomato
MethodAeroGarden hydroponics
Equipment45-watt AeroGarden Bounty, 30-watt AeroGarden Bounty Basic
Plants4
AudienceAdvanced

What you can learnA high-value tomato diary combining propagation, light-output comparison, fruiting performance, heavy harvest, dehydration, and seed saving.

Actions:1 Planting1 Transplant1 Pruning1 Harvest
Useful practices

No information recorded.

Problems encountered
  • slower flowering under the lower-wattage light
  • dense foliage
  • surplus fruit beginning to spoil

*The days were calculated automatically and approximately.

Day 91
UPDATE#16
Grower update

Update #16

Actions taken

HarvestPicked fifteen ripe red tomatoes and planned additional picking.

S By Sher

Apparrently, my Aerogarden pod that had 4 seeds in it included one yellow heirloom. Yay! A bonus! Some of them are falling into your hand ripe. I picked 15 red ones yesterday and will pick more today. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with them all. I foresee a lot of fresh tomato containing side dishes in our future. Maybe a pasta salad tonight. Plus a lot of out of hand eating. They are so good! I plan to save some of the yellow and red seeds.
Conversation
C
campingcorgis

Wow! Plenty of tomatoes!

S
Shawn

Talk about a ton of tomatoes

P
petunia

Wow! Gorgeous crop of tomatoes!

S
Sher

Well, it looks like I will break out the dehydrator tomorrow after all. Some tomatoes are so ripe that they are falling off the bushes! I am saving a nice supply of red and yellow heirloom tomato seeds. I am not saving any orange hat seeds because I think they are hybrids.

S
Sher

Believe it or not, these tomatoes have such a long shelf life that I finally noticed 6 or 7 starting to spoil yesterday. So much later than planned, I finally got the remainder in the dehydrator today. I think I'll grow another Fairy Tale Eggplant in that Bounty.

S
Shawn

Welcome to the forum! elainev recently transplanted a lot of plants. You can see them here. Sher explained very well in this thread. Also check out the Outdoor and Container Gardening section for a Planting Outdoors thread.

S
Sher

Oops. I crossposted while Shawn was replying. pollyanna , I also transferred your question to the Outdoor and Container Garden board so more people will see it.

Day 80
UPDATE#15
Grower update

Update #15

S By Sher

These two pictures show the difference in growth under the Bounty and the Bounty Basic. I would not buy the Two Basics I have if I had known what a difference in the higher wattage of the Bounty makes.
Conversation
S
Shawn

They both look great. The Basic is 30W and the Bounty is 40W. The Elite is 50W. Let me ask, for some reason are the basics getting less light or more foliage? Just trying to figure out if there are more factors other then just the light. I never grew the same plant in two separate machines to really monitor and see a difference myself. But good to know if there were no other factors.

S
Sher

Shawn, the Bounty is the older style with the 45 watt light vs the Basic's 30 watts. I trimmed the foliage in both machines. Early on, I pruned them about the same, but did prune the one in the Bounty much more aggressively later on. I had not thought of that making a big difference, but it probably did, combined with the lower light level. Thanks for mentioning that.

S
Shawn

I aim to assist LOL even if I do not know the answers

S
Sher

Good job, Admin!

C
campingcorgis

Hmmm...maybe spreading out the harvests is a good thing!?

S
Sher

We eat all we grow, and they produce for months. If I get too many, I start cooking them with everything. I doubt I'll have enough to dehydrate Then when they start winding down, I start new cuttings.

Day 74
UPDATE#14
Grower update

Update #14

Actions taken

PruningRemoved several leaves and discovered two ripe tomatoes.

S By Sher

I didn't even realize I had two fully ripe tomatoes until I pinched off a few leaves. It was a very nice surprise!
Conversation
S
Shawn

What a great picture with all those tomatoes

C
campingcorgis

Wow!!! Your plants do look very happy...and tasty!

S
Sher

Thanks Ginny. And these are tastyy!

C
campingcorgis

If I didn't have company, I would be right over! When those tomatoes ripen, I highly recommend Rigatoni with Summer Bolognese - the color of the tomatoes certainly doesn't matter one bit! And, if you don't want to do the beef, you could chop a pound of mushrooms in a food processor and it would be equally yummy! I do that with one of my lasagna recipes for a lighter version of it.

S
Sher

Oooh! I have some shitake duxells in my freezer I could throw in with the beef, too! They need to come up with a way we could share our dinner aromas online!

C
campingcorgis

LOL...I worry about smell-o-vision, sometimes. There are certainly some that should NOT be shared!!!

Day 60
UPDATE#13
Grower update

Update #13

S By Sher

Now the LONG wait for them to turn red begins!
Conversation
C
campingcorgis

Good job, Sher! They are beautiful!

S
Sher

Thank you! The two in the Bounty are doing better than the two in the Bounty Basic.

C
campingcorgis

Hmmm...do you think the stronger lights are playing a part in it?

S
Sher

Absolutely!

Day 54
UPDATE#12
Grower update

Update #12

S By Sher

Lots of little tomatoes and flowers!
Conversation
S
Shawn

What will you do with all these incoming red gems

S
Sher

Shawn, I plan to dehydrate our extra tomatoes to add to stews, soups, and whatever while we are between fresh ones. I hope to someday grow enough peppers to do the same thing with them. Since we will also be growing them both outdoors, I may even have to resort to canning and making salsa and sauce. I had hoped my canning days were over. But I will be growing beans, too, and there is no freezer space for them. I am so spoiled to hydroponics that I would prefer to just grow indoors. But the garden beds keep calling my name! And then there are flowers to plant. I plan to plant mostly perennials this year and make next year a lot easier!

C
campingcorgis

The tomatoes certainly seem very happy!

Day 48
UPDATE#11
Grower update

Update #11

S By Sher

We are starting to get tomatoes now.
Conversation
S
Shawn

You have a ton of flowers and I see tomatoes too

S
Sher

Yes. I am hoping for a bumper crop!

Day 38
UPDATE#10
Grower update

Update #10

S By Sher

Just showing off my new babies-to-be!
Conversation
S
Shawn

Very Nice

S
Sher

These are the first heirloom tomatoes that I didn't top, so they are blooming differently. It will be interesting to see how they develop.

Day 36
UPDATE#9
Grower update

Update #9

S By Sher

I thought this was an interesting comparison of how more light produces faster flowering. On the left is the 30 watt Bounty Basic. On the right is the 45 watt Classic Bounty. The plants are all the same size, split from the same pod, but the ones on the right are already flowering.
Day 34
UPDATE#8
Grower update

Update #8

S By Sher

So far, so good!
Conversation
Q
Quantum

Hi. I started mine 19 days ago. Two of the three are very healthy and are almost the size of yours, no flowers yet of course. At what point do you plan to start pruning yours?

S
Sher

Hi, Quantum. Welcome to the Forum! Our Administrator, Shawn, has put together a tremendous tomato growing help section under the Tomatoes Board. Here's her excellent 1-12 Week and Beyond Guide. I, personally, have always pruned my tomatoes, but have decided not to this time so the plants will not be so dense.

Day 27
UPDATE#7
Grower update

Update #7

S By Sher

I can already see baby flowers forming on the tomatoes! The excess tomatoes we get from these 4 plants will be halved and go into the dehydrator, to be added to soups, stews, meat loaves, and whatever else strikes my fancy!
Conversation
S
Shawn

I can see them. I love the fuzziness of them.

S
Sher

Me, too!

Day 24
UPDATE#6
Grower update

Update #6

S By Sher

All four of the heirloom tomatoes are growing up fast!
Day 19
UPDATE#5
Grower update

Update #5

S By Sher

I decided to keep all 4 tomato plants.
Day 11
UPDATE#4
Grower update

Update #4

Actions taken

TransplantSeparated four healthy seedlings from one crowded pod.

S By Sher

There were 4 healthy seedlings in one pod. So I splt them all up. I will move two of them when they are a little bigger. These are my favorite tomato to grow in Aerogardens. The tomatoes are not the tastiest, but they are by far the most prolific and longest bearing AG tomatoes I've grown. A little salt on them helps boost the flavor.
Day 10
UPDATE#3
Grower update

Update #3

S By Sher

I have two healthy larger seedlings on the right. I plan to transplant one of the healthier ones into the pod on the left. I bet the one on the left is a yellow one, though, and I would love to have one of each. But I'll play it safe and go for healthy.
Conversation
S
Shawn

I think you have a good plan.

Day 6
UPDATE#2
Grower update

Update #2

S By Sher

One pod is up -- way ahead of the other one.
Day 1
UPDATE#1
Grower update

Update #1

Actions taken

PlantingStarted two new heirloom cherry tomato pods in a Bounty.

S By Sher

I ended the last heirloom tomato project. It had given about all it had to give. I have 4 Red Veranda tomatoes with green fruit on them. But since I never like to run out of tomatoes, I started two more heirlooms in a Bounty tonight.
Conversation
S
Shawn

YAY

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