Well, it certainly has been a long time since I’ve updated you all on the tomatoes. Winter is now in its death-throws, and signs of spring are emerging more and more every day.

A lot has happened since I last checked in. The quaint little collection of pots and seedlings is now almost an indoor forest. I’ve had to move the larger plants under the long T5 fluorescent grow light, and my workshop is now mostly a greenhouse.

Watering is now a daily occurrence. That’s not to say that every plant needs water everyday. But someone is always thirsty when I check them before I leave for work in the morning, and after I get home at night. Only the largest of the tomatoes seem to slurp up their water on a daily or semi-daily basis, but that’s understandable. Look how big they are now!

It’s at this point every year that I worry less about making sure my plants thrive, and worry more about making sure they’ll survive long enough to be moved outside to harden off. It’s still too early in the year to start this process just yet. The lows are just too low right now. If we take a look at the long range forecast, however…

The last week of March looks like a promising option for starting the hardening process. See how the lows are all in the 40’s? That tells me that there shouldn’t be any risk of an overnight frost. And as many of you well know, tomatoes don’t get along too well with frost. With this forecast being two weeks out, I’ll need to keep close watch. Long range forecasts can change dramatically within just a day’s time. Regardless, this looks like a good option for now, so I’ll remain optimistic. After all, I should be able to keep these plants growing for that long, even with the leaf-scorch that is becoming more and more of a problem.

It’s not a deadly problem if you can manage the extent of it. It’s more of a nuisance to the indoor gardener than anything else. The real risk of Deadly-Leaf-Scorch comes when moving indoor plants outside. This is why hardening off is a key component of moving indoor early-started plants outdoors. But that’s a topic for a later post. I’m sure you might be wondering why plants that have yet to see unfiltered sunlight are getting leaf-scorch. Well the reason is simple: they grow up too close to the lights.

The challenge then becomes balancing the distance between the plants closest to the lights while still providing enough light for the plants to grow. If you don’t want long, leggy plants with thin stems and weak growth – plants that are straining and stretching to reach their light source – then some leaf-scorch is inevitable. Don’t let that concern you, though. Plants, like everything else, have a very strong predisposition to staying alive. So even if the extent of the damage seems severe, the plant will most likely stay living if you at least attempt to remedy the problem.

This is one of the worst-affected plants that I have. I moved it between two of the lights weeks ago to try and halt the damage. And while there are still signs of some leaf-scorch on the remaining leaves up top,the majority of the damage seems to have stopped, and it still keeps trying to grow. I’m certain this plant will benefit greatly from hardening off if I can keep it alive until then.

In addition to these tomatoes, I also have some brassicas (Cabbage, Broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts) that have just exploded in growth.

The Artichokes are coming along nicely.

And I’m sure you all are curious about the Mystery Plant!

Well…

as it turns out..

the Mystery Plant was…

A Head of Romaine Lettuce! Volunteer plants are one of my favorite ways to grow things, and often they turn out to be the strongest, heaviest producing plants. But that is yet another topic for another day.

As always, Happy Growing!