Papa Tomato and the Tomato Factory

How can I quickly tell the Papa Tomato's story without so much background? Suffice it to say that I first had ripe tomatoes indoors in the winter of 2013 from  plants started late summer 2012, on nice determinate plants that were meant to grow in containers.

Summer of 2014 I took a Better Boy sucker off a garden plant and started a new venture with an indeterminate tomato that would have no ending point. I'll spare you its baby pictures.

By the end of August, it was in the greenhouse corner. 5 feet tall, corralled by shelves and GH walls with a metal fence post and a piece of PVC pipe as stakes in a 4 gallon bucket.

Before mid-December, we were eating tomatoes.

By mid-April of this year I'd already decided that first tomato plant could not last forever and had 4 rooted suckers growing, planted in containers and on their way toward producing tomatoes enough we could share with the neighbors.

I didn't reckon with Papa Tomato's determination. The other day I mistook some of his branches for new growth on one of the newer plants. Not so. Papa Tomato reached out and mingled and produced tomatoes, hanging onto a bungee cord that secures the roof vent.

Lower branches look dead but there is a green canopy above.

This trunk supports life and tomatoes.

I do not expect that Papa Tomato will last into next winter. 

The heritage of Papa Tomato will persist as new plants put on tomatoes. These plants are experiencing stress from heat and bright sunlight -- the blue is a plastic tablecloth for a little shade from afternoon sun. I've already passed on Papa Tomato's DNA in tomato plants produced from suckers off these plants to Marvin's Gardens. 

 Papa Tomato will soon be a year old. How many years is

that in people years?

Holiday Cactus

Schlumbergera and its cultivars are labeled as Christmas Cactus or Thanksgiving Cactus according to who does the labeling. I decided to call them Schlumbergera or Holiday Cactus because blooms on mine coincide with no particular holiday.

Some of these are trying to open for Christmas.

Behind the Red Cactuses on the middle shelf is a tray of light colored Cactuses that may not bloom by Christmas.

Another look at my newly constructed planter on the left, the blue pot with a pale colored Cactus with very young buds. The Christmas Tomato in the corner just keeps putting on more fruit.

As I moved the pots around I found some kind of black mold on one and a tiny worm on a cutting. Inevitable broken pieces are lying on small pots where they'll be stuck after they callus a bit.

Greenhouse Update on a Wet and Raw Day

It was wet and raw outside today. It was damp in the greenhouse and not much warmer because the sun never peeked out.

Thanksgiving Cactuses are beginning bloom.

Just a bouquet -- some of these may root.

Tomatoes

 

Paper whites in a pot of soil with roots and shoots.

These are homegrown bulbs from a neighbor, not purchased.

I did not hang around after I filled the water jugs and set heaters back in place in preparation for colder nights near Thanksgiving. I've been doing more reading about heat loss, temperature mediation and insulation techniques.

Greenhouse Update, a Sort of Peek

I rearranged the Burro Tails:

Bromeliad Tree below with a drape of Spanish Moss. I gathered more Spanish Moss yesterday that was in easy reach while I waited for the end of the chain-sawing/moving trees that He-Who-Mows and Saws was completing. I have not found a good place to hang it that doesn't look awkward. Maybe I'll just put it outside for birds to line their nests without flying nearly a mile to find some.

Schlumbergera pots below with varying stages of buds in all colors. Larger pots are on the floor in front of Bromeliad tree above.

... and bits and pieces of rooted cuttings and seedlings that almost got left outside when I was moving things around.

Looking through a mess of stems above of leggy Graptopetalum and Firecracker Fern stems into a jungle of Tomato stems and fruit. If I can remember to keep oceans of water to the Russellia it will bloom little red firecrackers all winter, below.

When cuttings like this 'take' I want to rush out ahead of the coming freeze and take more cuttings to stick. Persian Shield is tricky to root; Purple Heart will almost root without a medium.

I gave away a good pot of rooted Alternanthera 'Chartreuse' on Monday and immediately pinched two more pots full to root, and some Red. I gathered Pentas seeds yesterday. I didn't think Pentas were easy from seeds until they started coming up in the greenhouse floor.

It's a grey day outside. Maybe we'll have a little rain. There's a cold wind blowing "right out of the North" as Daddy Mack used to say, as if 'right out of the North' was somehow more disagreeable (Mama's term) than 'from' the North. How did your folks describe cold weather?

Thanksgiving Cactus?

Crammed into a Corner of the Greenhouse

I can wait no longer. You need to see these.

Appleblossom

Better Boy

A sucker rooted from an axil of the summer's plants.

It reaches the roof now.

I stuffed the tomato container into the corner. 

Tomato plant is supported by what's around it.

Encouraging Cole Crops and trying to Defeat Manduca quinquemaculata

Cabbage and Broccoli planted on Tuesday as seen today:

Green cabbage in the two trays nearest the camera.

A teeny red cabbage emerges.

Broccoli; green cabbage to the right.

After I admired the Cole Sprouts, I shook the tomato limbs

in hopes a bit of pollen would reach its goal.

Then I saw THIS. Manduca quinquemaculata caterpillar.

Tomato hornworm.

Aaack!

Tomato in Its New Space

The last post concerned a Better Boy cutting that has reached 5 feet tall and would be that wide in every direction if it was not in bondage, tied to a PVC pipe in its bucket.

Moving the tomato freed up about 38" x 38" of floor space where it sat just inside the door. I kept brushing against it going in and out which can bruise the leaves.

Squeezing into a space 27"x18" through a tiny gap between the ends of the shelving without breaking a limb was a real trick.  

Limb ends rest against the greenhouse walls. Come cold weather, bubble wrap will protect it from cold if I can work the plastic down the walls.  

Yesterday Alternanthera filled this space.

Two small tomatoes hung on through the move. 

I give it a gallon of water when it was in place.

While it isn't the best location for a tomato, it is the best use of space in a small building. Indeterminate tomatoes tend to vine upward, so the roof's the limit. Right now it's only 5' tall. Lanky limbs can be secured to the posts of the shelf unit beside it. I'll be able to reach the shelves without an obstacle.

Tomatoes in the winter of 2012-2013 were successful for 

fruit but so much in the way. Every year I rearrange. 

There's never a perfect layout.

I looked back to see when I brought in other plants last year. October 10, 2013 I was bringing in the tenderest. 

The tiniest signs of fall are here despite high temperatures. Virginia Creeper and Sassafras are dropping red leaves.  There was fog this morning.  

Alternanthera 'Purple Knight' forced to make room for a Better Boy

Alternanthera is a grand foliage plant. The smaller cultivars make great edgers, fillers and contrast material.

"Purple Knight' is usually a weaver among tall stems. I used it last year with leggy purple/pink roses.

The greenhouse has Purple Knight seedlings from years back rooted in the floor under the south bench. It filled the south side of the building. Temperatures over 100º encourage it in bright sunshine and plenty of moisture from the mist system.

I figured it shades the few little cuttings and seedlings on the shelf underneath it, so I let it grow. With fall coming on, it has to be cut back to the ground.

This tomato cutting in a bucket needs the corner space.

It tends to grow up and out until unrestrained it could fill a 75 cubit foot space: 5'x5'x5' and is in the way in the middle of the greenhouse. 

This corner must be freed for the Tomato.

Despite the heat, nighttime temps got low enough to set fruit.

Blooms keep coming. I hope for  more fruit set.

I don't know how I'll fit everything in when time comes. Amaryllis can hang out in the tool shed while they dry off awaiting time for Christmas bloom. A host of Christmas Cactus and their relatives will vie for shelf space along with some potted Calla Lilies that have stayed green but found it too hot to bloom. The Bromeliad Bunch will take up considerable room. My Bird's Nest Fern is bigger than ever, don't know if it will stuff under the lowest shelf where it was happy last year. 

I put off taking cuttings. Shrimp Plants are a must; Persian Shield may be fewer. Pineapple Sage might just be one big pot, it's been such a water hog this summer waiting for fall bloom. I'm considering how many Pentas I can squeeze in. Oh. Where will I put the pots of Begonia, Foxtail Fern and Spider Plant trios? I potted them up together last year to save space. Maybe others will have to bunk together this year. Wonder what else could share containers? 

I gave the Cat notice that traveling space to get to his favorite perch will be shorter and narrower this time.  I was hoping for a little tea table and a couple of chairs. 

Last February