Lets Talk About Growing Tomatoes From Seed

Seeing I have these special Scotia tomato seeds from Tessa Thanks Again they have a thick skin so we are hoping that the fruit fly will not be able to pierce them.

Its been a few years since I have planted tomato seeds and I cannot remember how long it takes for them to germinate I do remember it was longer than other vegetable seeds I have planted..

I want to plant the seeds so that the fruit is growing and ripening from September on, so that it can be eaten all over the warmer months when the jolly fruit fly is around.

How many week for the seeds to germinate, how many weeks or months before I can put the little plants into the garden bed, and roughly how long before the first tommy comes oh and any idea how long before I will be harvesting them.

So from popping the seeds in, to eating them what would the time span be around four months or longer.

Going by these Beefsteak ones I planted 8 weeks ago they have fruit on them med size could be another 4 weeks before we are eating them, so that's 12 weeks just need to know how long the seeds take to germinate in the Winter here when temps can get as low as 3 degs some nights in those three months and as high as mid 20's in the day the last week in August the night temp go from 8 to 14 that was last year then they keep getting warmer.

I wont be leaving the little pots out in the cold either..

I don't know what that one is like but my tomato seeds generally come up within 5 to 7 days... even had 4 days in warm showery weather... closer to 7 in colder weather.

To me the rest depends on weather, the variety, where they are planted but I planted seeds a week or so ago in the hope that they will start flowering before it gets too cold... that's the plan but I also meant to plant the seeds 2 or 3 weeks ago.

Tessa is the expert around here and grows tomatoes properly... not like me who just chucks them in any old way... so will have more idea.

MA why no try bagging a few bunches at the time you get the pests,as a test ,
leave the fruit to ripen fully on the bush.

time to germination is about a week as gail mentioned, and about 6-8 weeks before you'll be planting them out MA. time to maturity depends on the variety so tessa will probably know that one for the type youre growing.

Gail thats my usual way too...
Thats a start then say 7 days to germiinate in Winter I will write that down.

Gwen... Tony is now in charge of the tomatoes, I will grow the seeds and look after the little plants, then they are his problem once in the garden bed .. We have found leaving the fruit on the vine to ripen is not the way to go here especially with the rain as they split and tend to go soft.

They taste pretty good if picked a little earlier and left to ripen in the house, I will ask Tony to bag them when the time comes, if he does well that remains to be seen..

Thanks Ota thats more of what I want to know ...Will write that down too.

I'm lazy I buy seedlings

Scotia tomatoes,would they be from Nova Scotia tessa?

Just bumping this up hoping Tessa will see it..

And tell me how long it took for those seeds to grow to maturity.

Mary-Anne wrote:

Just bumping this up hoping Tessa will see it..

And tell me how long it took for those seeds to grow to maturity.

What is "bumping this up"? I imagine it is bringing the topic to the foreground again...but how do you do it Mary-Anne?

If the skins are tough and prevent Fruit Fly - I am up for that as well.

Are the seeds available here?

mary-anne....sorry...i didn't see this thread before.

that's right...they'll take about a week to germinate.
if i recall correctly...that's a medium season tomato....so about 2 months from planting them out and you should have a tomato on your plate.

they're a nice sweet tomato...once you get past the skin.
not a single fruit fly bite on that one....while the black russian right next to it barely gave me a fruit that WASN'T bitten!

yes, richard.
it's a canadian tomato...as are many of mine...kimberley included.

That's right Daniel. Some times people put full stops there
I just wanted Tessa to see it it so wrote a little more..

Thanks for that info Tessa I have written it down.
Think I will wait till June or July before I start.

actually...thinking more on it, mary-anne...
i planted my seeds the last week of july....and i didn't get fruit from that plant until december.
so if you want tomatoes for september...um...plant now!

Ok Will do that Tomorrow and Thanks..

Are the seeds available here? If so, by what name, please?

Admin wrote:

yes, richard.
it's a canadian tomato...as are many of mine...kimberley included.

Thanks Tessa With the name like kimberley i imagined it may have been a aussie bred tomato

kimberley is the town in british columbia where the tomato was developed.

http://www.kimberleychamber.ca/

the tomato itself is a cross between a siberian tomato and a cherry.
hence...saladette size that does well in the cold.

right now i'm experimenting with growing kimberley as a winter tomato. plants are up this week and looking strong. i hope it's a successful experiment...because just having this one variety of tomato is enough to satisfy all tomato needs and requirements.

Very interesting Tessa I know you will do well..

tessa are you going to grow them under plastic? or out in the open? it sounds like an interesting experiment!

Well i will have to try Kimberley in my tunnelhouse this winter coming if they are cold hardy as you say.

Had a look at that Kimberley website and in it, it says they have wonderful snowy winters then go on to say winters are mild i wonder how that works? ,all the snow i've ever experienced has been when its really cold

Folks: are scotia tomato and kimberley tomato seeds available here? my computer is acting up and I cannot get eden seeds site up

dan...they are available right here...from tessie's seeds...not eden's.
PM me your address...and i'll pop some in the mail for you.

okay...how this mild winter thing works, richard, is that the prairie provinces (the big flat nothing in the middle of the country where very few people like to live...but where the farmland is EXCELLENT) suffer from arctic blasts that brings the temps down to scary temperatures like -35...or -46 with the windchill effect. (this, by the way, is not actually cold. it is PAINFUL.)

by contrast...a winter that hovers around the freezing mark for a canadian...is considered mild.
that makes vancouver and victoria (cities) downright TROPICAL...as their average winter temperature is somewhere around 5-10 degrees.

see how this works?

btw...the kimberley would get summer snow because of its elevation. it is a mountain city.

ota...i'm going to grow them out in the open, not under plastic.
i've had a cherry plant that lived almost 4 years out in the open...and i'm thinking that kimberley, being half cherry, should be able to do the same. also...being half siberian...i reckon she will laugh at perth's winters that don't even reach freezing overnight.

lol excellent, i clicked on that link and saw the forecast temps like 4C etc, brrrr, you go kimberly!