Seedlings! DIY Greenhouse Early Tomato Varieties for a Southern Garden

TWINS!

Last Saturday morning brought a happy surprise:  TWINS!  No, not twin babies, but twin tomato seedlings.  Back on January 19, I planted Bloody Butcher, Mountain Fresh, and Eva Purple Ball tomatoes and the first seedling--Bloody Butcher--appeared on February 2.  I had been concerned because the greenhouse temperature had been hovering between 50 and 55 degrees and the humidity was low--about 50%.  So, the early germination, after only 2 weeks, surprised me.  Another seedling popped up on Sunday.

Two loaded shelves!

On Monday, I added a clip-on 125-watt incandescent brooder lamp to increase the temperature, and was rewarded with more tomato seedlings!

Tonight, I counted 4 Eva Purple Ball, 18 Mountain Fresh, and 17 Bloody Butcher seedlings.  As I watered the tiny tomato plants, I notice more new sprouts--in the pepper flats.

The early Jalapeno peppers have sprouted about 1 week earlier than I expected.  I am attributing this to the increased warmth since the brooder lamp seems to have added about 7-10 degrees to the greenhouse temperature level.

Freshly planted!

The lunar calendar indicated I should plant the rest of my later tomatoes on February 14 (which is my usual planting date), but, due to a commitment on that evening, I started most of my later tomatoes on Thursday:

36     Gold Currant:  very reliable, drought and heat tolerant:  good fruit set on warm nights
36     Hawaiian Currant:  also very reliable, not quite as heat tolerant as the gold
36     Rutgers Original Strain:  new to my garden:  great canning tomato
36     Black Truffle:  success from last year with complex flavor and interesting color
30     Cherokee Purple:  late season, purple, great heirloom flavor
6       Ox Heart:  new to my garden:  a pink, reputed to be a good canning tomato with few seeds
12     Mexico:  new to my garden:  a pink, reputed to be a good market tomato
12     Santiago:  new to my garden:  a pink, reputed to be good for high heat & high humidity
12     Good Old Fashioned Red:  new to my garden:  reputed to be prolific
36     San Marzano:  recommended by my friend Amy as a sauce tomato

Baby tomatoes 

Even with 7 new flats, I still have 2 empty shelves in the greenhouse.  It's a good thing, too, since the Resident Dragon put together an order from the beautiful Baker Creek Heirloom Seed catalog.  He wants to make kraut this year, and I saw a carrot variety that is alleged to be suitable for heavy soils.  There are some zebra-type tomatoes in the order, too.  At some point, I have to stop ordering seeds until I have enough dirt tilled to plant them.  Maybe next month.

After a slow January, February is shaping up to be a busy month!

What's growing in your Savory garden?

Nancy