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Heidi
May 2, 2022 13:26:59 GMT -6
Post by heavyhitterokra on May 2, 2022 13:26:59 GMT -6
Wow very impressive!
Our tomato plants are only about 8" inches tall right now and are barely ready to be transplanted. What a difference in climate!
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Post by amyinowasso on May 11, 2022 13:48:27 GMT -6
George mentioned his Heidis failed in 2020, mostly from growing in a neglected part of his garden. I think mine failed that year and also from neglect. They were in a bed with volunteer southern peas. I ignored the peas and they overtook the tomato plants. It was also the furthest from my water source and probably most often forgotten. I don't think they like too much competition. At least I got a lot of peas. My 3 year old grandson thought opening those pea pods was great fun.
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Post by macmex on May 26, 2022 4:28:45 GMT -6
Here's a photo I took yesterday evening while out in the garden (between showers).
I noticed that all of my Heidi plants now have some small tomatoes on them. They also need me to get them caged a.s.a.p.
Notice what I'm using as mulch around these plants? That's shredded paper. One has to be careful with shredded paper, as sometimes it comes with shredded plastic in it but this stuff hasn't. I like to mulch around the tomatoes the very hour that I plant them in case of rain. The splash up from rain is almost a sure way to start early blight in the tomato patch. Shredded paper seems exceptionally good for preventing splash up and it stays in place very well.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2022 7:00:31 GMT -6
Yeah, whatever works! The plants and bugs don't care. Mulch helps this rain from compacting the soil.
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Post by chrysanthemum on May 26, 2022 14:00:12 GMT -6
I’m eagerly awaiting the time when my Heidis ripen this year. I have some small fruit on each of the plants I first started and a couple more plants that I put out later that are yet to flower.
Macmex, I’ve often thought about putting shredded paper down for mulch. We have so many wood chips and so many leaves that I’ve used them instead, but the appeal of shredded paper would be that it’s even lighter in color and would reflect heat. Do you use it mostly for weed block and soil protection, or do you find that the white color is an asset as well?
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Post by macmex on May 27, 2022 7:12:40 GMT -6
I use it to prevent splash up from rain, which requires less mulch than using it as a mulch to suppress weeds. I also use to for weed suppression. Never thought about its color as keeping down soil temps, but I suppose it would. Personally, I have a very slight negative reaction to seeing the white mulch, just because it's incongruous with other mulches I use, but I use it and use it gladly because it is practical. It's also a thrifty thing to do with recycle. I personally don't have that much confidence in most institutional recycling plans, but this is definitely a positive way to recycle paper.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on May 27, 2022 10:48:22 GMT -6
I used to use cottonseed hulls as mulch on my smaller beds around the house. When I first spread that fluffy stuff out there, I thought to myself, "This will never work. The wind will blow it all away before I even get back inside."
To my surprise, the cottonseed hulls worked very nicely, and were cheap too. When they get wet, they bind together, creating a stiff mat on top of the ground that prevents many weeds from breaking through.
I think the shredded paper would act in much the same way. Good thinking, George! I like that idea. Any form of organic matter like that will be good for your soil in years to come. If the color is a problem, you could always cover them with a few leaves raked up from one of the many curbside deposits along the streets around NSU. When I worked there on the grounds crew, we shoveled up many truck loads of wet, decomposed leaves from along the curbs where people ran over them repeatedly by parking along the street sides. That stuff made great compost! Plus it made the place look nicer when we removed them from the curbs. I kept a spare garbage bag in the trunk of my car for street sweeping days, so I could take the compost home to my beds.
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Post by chrysanthemum on May 31, 2022 20:37:43 GMT -6
I decided to try the paper mulch. My younger daughter wanted a job yesterday morning while her dad and I continued work on our armadillo exclusion project. She mulched a bunch of my tomatoes with shredded paper. Her brother did a few more later in the day, but we ran out of shredding at that point. I admit that I don’t love the look of it, but if it helps the soil retain water, I’m all for it. We’ve been so hot and dry that some of my plants are getting stressed despite my diligent watering. I also noticed that my first Heidi is blushing. I’ve had a couple of other varieties where the first blushing tomato turned out to have blossom end rot, so I was really relieved to find that the bottom of this one looked quite solid. I’m excited for these fruits to ripen.
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Heidi
Jun 1, 2022 10:44:11 GMT -6
Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 1, 2022 10:44:11 GMT -6
I'm with you on the looks of the paper mulch. I absolutely despise the look of all that plasticulture that I have in my garden too, but it's a necessary evil that helps make it possible for one person to maintain that much ground. I couldn't manage it without the ugly mulch.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jun 3, 2022 16:27:06 GMT -6
I picked my first Heidi yesterday evening. It’s the one in the picture at about 5:00 that’s the more truly red tomato than the other ones on the plate. I have a few more that have begun to change colors that I picked this morning to bring in ahead of our heat wave. I know Heidi can take the heat, but I figure that lycopene is lycopene, and it’s inhibited at high temperatures, so they might ripen better on my counter than outdoors at this point. I hope that taking a few fruits off the plant might also encourage it to set more. The plants are looking good.
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Heidi
Jun 16, 2022 23:30:37 GMT -6
Post by hmoosek on Jun 16, 2022 23:30:37 GMT -6
I wonder if Heidi would grow well in a bucket?
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Post by macmex on Apr 1, 2024 7:42:11 GMT -6
Sorry, I missed your question for two years! Yikes!
I believe it might do alright in a bucket. You'd have to try.
Here's an interesting photo. These are Heidi seedlings which came up from 2013 seed. I had the seed in frozen storage for at least a few years, but suspect I had the seed on the shelf, at room temperature for a few years before that.
Due to my struggles with organization, I couldn't find any other Heidi seed, when I wanted to start seed on Feb 28. So, I started some in a damp paper towel and kept them on a heat mat. A few weeks later, I found what was left of the seed I had purchased from Victory Seeds (ten seeds) and started them the same way on March 2. These began to germinate on March 11. The 2013 seed sat here for quite some time before I saw any signs of life. By March 18, however, I had a number of plants up and going and I had planted almost all of the seed from the damp paper towel, in hopes that they might yet sprout.
March 21 my wife and I left for a week in SC, leaving the farm in our daughter's hands (big challenge for her). I placed all of my seedlings and sprouting seeds on our sun porch, where they would receive light. They might get a bit cool at night, but it was the safest, least laborious way I knew to accomodate them while we were away. This plan worked with one exception. There were mice on the porch and upon returning from our trip I found most of the Roselle eaten off by mice. Apparently the mice thought were was food in Heidi 2013's container, as they had dug it up, destroying every plant which had sprouted.
As I examined the tray, I thought I spotted a sprouting seed, so, I smoothed everything over and continued to care for the tray. By March 30, here's what I had.
I'm pleased! By the way, I believe I have ten plants from the Victory Seeds seed. We're looking good for this gardening season.
As I recall, 2013 was the first year I grew Heidi. Also, that seed came with some cherry tomato crosses (crossed with Heidi). They were resilient and productive, just like Heidi yet less than optimal, in my opinion. I had selected for the true Heidi. We'll see if this 2013 seed has any off types.
Just the other day I finally found my other Heidi seed. It should be pure. It was the only tomato seed I saved last year and, Heidi was the only tomato I managed to harvest last year.
Anyway, for those of you who live where there are really hot, summers and erratic weather, you might consider Heidi. It's dependable. It has good flavor, though, I like some others better for slicing. Heidi isn't as dry as Roma but it does make a wonderful sauce.
Plants are fairly restricted in size, attaining about 5' in height. I think they do best with a stake and support but don't doubt that Heidi would do alright without support. In spite of their restricted size, Heidi produces until killed by frost, even when blister beetles strip off most of the leaves. This tomato is custom made for our area!
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