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Grittyville, WA

93 days left? Who else wants to win this?

12/19/2019 6:39:59 AM

Oak Grove, Mn

I think i haven’t even started the winning seed yet. Last year the winning tomato was started on Jan 1st. Glenomkins, you have a set. My best advice would to start spraying rot stop or calcium chloride on the tomato until the it gets to about 14 inches. Past few years the indoor growers have struggled with BER. I know I will be spraying mine when I finally get my first set (January).

12/19/2019 1:18:30 PM

Grittyville, WA

About marble size now. Sounds good. I know they are sensitive to wet/dry fluxes so I might water lightly around the edge or add calcium to the water and just cross my fingers. I wont be adding any ammonium which must be another thing that can also trip the calcium breaker. Under certain conditions...

12/19/2019 2:56:09 PM

Eastern Shore of VA

Don’t burn your house down Bob.

12/19/2019 6:09:17 PM

Grittyville, WA

Well... I already have a blossom end not doing very well. I see now that I should have taken your advice.

12/24/2019 6:59:18 PM

Oak Grove, Mn

Don't give up just yet Brandon, this is your first year..if you can get your plants healthy, you can get a set higher up. My first year, I finished just under 1/2 pound. Winter giant tomato growing is very difficult. I have kept going, when most gave up because I really think that the indoor growers can eventually grow bigger than the outdoor. Every time I figure something out..some new problem shows up. BER has been one of the most difficult issues. Spraying Calcium Chloride is a bandaid to a bigger issue. Unfortunately, we don't know what the issue is and we haven't figured out a better solution. A few years ago, I was spraying a majority of the plant with calcium chloride...that destroyed leaves. Since then, I have tried just spraying the fruit...that seems to stop the BER issue but ideally, figuring out the cause would gain weight. Thru the past few years...I have tried to share everything I have learned about winter growing. I am not in it to win...I would rather have much fun competition.

12/24/2019 8:22:15 PM

Grittyville, WA

Oh... Well my watering and excess potassium could be issues plus low transpiration rate under the low heat LED's. They dont match sunlight. Thanks.

12/24/2019 9:02:37 PM

Brockton, Massachusetts

I think the hardest part of a winter grow is trying to duplicate outside summer conditions. I’m running fans at different angles, different speeds, different temps not below 70. Different lighting condition, trying to get them outside in the greenhouse during the day time(not heated). I’m using my own worm compost with Lowe’s pro mix and happy frog. Gonna try to keep it organic as possible. Wow starter packs, pumpkin pro, Wonder brew

12/26/2019 3:27:13 PM

Oak Grove, Mn

I am starting to think everything is hard. I have been running my daytime rh at 65% at 75 degrees. 1/2 hour after lights out the temp has dropped to 72 degrees but the rh has gone up to 78%. That amount of change seems excessive to me. I do not know how yet to calculate air moisture vs temp/percentage rh. How many outdoor growers are concerned with VPD numbers. Outdoors it is what it is. Outdoors is so forgiving in environment. I think the difference is the "inverse square law" of light. Can all the rest of the variables match the power of the sun?

12/26/2019 8:44:10 PM

Grittyville, WA

I am not gonna underestimate you bnot! ...I just got my mostly broken LED mostly working. I think I am finally at full sun now. The blossom end is a dissapointment though.
79 degrees 21 percent humidity at the top of the plant. Probably cooler down low. My fan needs some tlc.

12/27/2019 2:18:53 AM

Grittyville, WA

Outdoor growing is more economical for tomatoes and just about everything else now. Sprouts and lettuce are surprisingly good indoor items... I think a person could come out ahead growing mini greens indoors.

12/27/2019 3:10:17 AM

Oak Grove, Mn

I have had to do some LED light fixes too. Why do they run all these banks of led
's in series as compared to parallel.. One bulb could wipe out most of the light. I have a few jumpers in my lights. Fans is another weak point. I have replaced a fan on two lights already. Fortunately, I can get them online for only a few dollars. They say LED lights are good for 50,000 hours...i think that might be the best you can hope for. It will be quite some time before I need to buy another grow light. When it is time...it might be a white led. I played with my PAR meter at one at the grow store awhile back. The had a light I that was real impressive.Really good numbers, easy to see the plant condition with the natural light, low heat and efficient energy usage. The negative- it was priced at $1500 for 500 watt light. Fortunately...best tech gets cheaper in time.

12/27/2019 6:02:29 PM

Oak Grove, Mn

I should have said...fortunately, todays best tech gets cheaper in time....as tomorrow's best tech becomes the expensive one

12/27/2019 6:04:13 PM

Grittyville, WA

Buy a security spotlight at the 6000 k spectrum and blast the crap out of them no way it would cost 1500... thats 10 or 20 times what you need to spend. Not exactly sure on the spectrum but I know the specs for some security lights are the same as those sold as grow lights. Any led that is not rated 50,000 hrs is a consumer scam peice of junk!

12/27/2019 8:53:54 PM

Vernal, Ut

Any idea how many lumens these plants need to grow well? I have been playing with it this winter and the leaves don't look very well, thinking needs more light. thanks

12/29/2019 7:43:51 PM

Oak Grove, Mn

ralph, it depend on what spectrum your lumens are at. If you know that you can convert it to Umols and figure out the DLI

If you know the lumens and spectrum...this site can get you to a better understanding of indoor light.

https://www.waveformlighting.com/horticulture/convert-lumens-to-ppf-online-calculator

12/29/2019 7:52:05 PM

Vernal, Ut

thanks for the help

12/30/2019 9:59:24 AM

Eastern Pennsylvania

Don’t forget if you’re using LED lights the leaves will always look funny in the grow chamber. You either need to pull them out or switch over to white light to periodically assess the leaves and plant conditions.

12/30/2019 12:53:49 PM

Grittyville, WA

Since you guys are bored... My tomato only made it to about 2 oz. Pollen was flying a few days ago so about 3 dap now. That should help you catch me, regardless of any trouble you're having... No worries because I'm not setting the bar too high.

1/3/2020 10:26:32 PM

Grittyville, WA

The one that made it to 2 oz did have blossom end rot. I attribute it to excess potassium, unhealthy/insufficient roots, and less-than-perfect watering.

1/3/2020 10:30:32 PM

Grittyville, WA

The new blossoms are on a secondary branch & probably my last shot.

1/3/2020 10:31:51 PM

Grittyville, WA

One more note about my grow. The soil tested closer to neutral. Not neutral yet but in the 6's now. It tested very low in phosphorous, as I expected, and surprisingly high/excess in nitrate. I am using rapitests by lusterleaf not an endorsement. Just letting you know what I am up to.

1/4/2020 1:50:39 AM

Grittyville, WA

Dang. Blossom end rot...again.

1/11/2020 11:01:44 PM