tiny tim dwarf tomato

daveb

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well here are four of the starter plants out of the original 6 , they got a little set back a few weeks ago when i did not notice a nutrient liquid issue in the area they were in that actually caused them to dry out for i think about 4 or 5 days with no water or nutrient. I am stubborn and most would have just thrown them away and started over but i actually managed to revive them they were terribly yellowed and wilted limp and bent over when i came back after being away for a week. These 4 surviving plants are just under 4 weeks from the day i sowed the seeds, and managed to bring them back although you can see one i had to snip away the lower two branch and one other very stunted in size. they currently are in a nutrient solution of master blends 4-18-38 2.4 gram - calcium nitrate 2.4 gram - and Epsom salt 1.2 gram per gallon place in 2 inch net pot in rock wool place in a 2 inch diameter plastic vial. growing under my own combination of LED lights so as time progresses the current light will shift from a ratio of 3:1 red/blue 3500K and 6500K lights to a heavier 8:1 red/blue 3500k light to trigger blossom and fruit set plus a slight bump up in the nutrient solution of phosphorus at bloom and then nitrogen and potassium. seedling and young plants Ph i target 6.3 to 6.5 for start and then as they grow you will notice a slight change in PH downward if not as they bloom and set fruit i shift the ph gradually around 5.8 to 6.2

This is a very compact small plant in pots it will only get 10 to 12 inches(25 to 30 cm ) in an 8 inch ( 20 cm ) pot, grow outdoors you might see 14 inches (35 cm ) in height i've had a couple in hydroponics get close to 16 inches ( 41 cm ) tall . they produce the sweetest tiny tomatoes averaging only about 1/2 inch ( 1.25 cm )in diameter and very prolific heavy bearers. its considered a micro dwarf and is an open pollinator
 

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daveb

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contact sheet as per plant from above 1-2 top row 4-5 center and at bottom right is #2 lifted up out of the nutrient solution to show extent of root , showing good fan like branching and rugged solid root 10 inches in length as compared for a plant at just 3 1/2 inches tall. and shows marked improvement of #4 the shortest recovering nicely from a set back, and T5 making a decent 3/4+ inch spurt of growth in 3 days time
 

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DivingTemptress

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Hi again, Dave

I would love to see pics of your hydro setup. Am curious but will probably not try to accomplish myself. Growing in the ground is complicated enough LOL

Have a wonderful week !!
P J, the Dirt Diva and DivingTemptress
 

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how about simple way to grow basil Diving Temptress :) those plants are in a 1 gallon water jug in a 2 inch net cup sitting in hole i cut in top and nutrient added to the solution. those are 21 and 22 inches tall. i cut back about every 2 weeks approximately to about half the height and have been for the last 8 months regularly i raise 22 different herbs including rosemary in hydroponics
 

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daveb

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Hi again, Dave

I would love to see pics of your hydro setup. Am curious but will probably not try to accomplish myself. Growing in the ground is complicated enough LOL

Have a wonderful week !!
P J, the Dirt Diva and DivingTemptress

attached a few photos in the thread just to give one very simple idea how can grow
 

DivingTemptress

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Dave,
I grow in ground and have planted basil several ways.

Since I grow organically, I am not sure if I would like all the 'nutrients' that hydro needs. Sometimes from seed they usually don't do too well, but this year they did. In the past I have bought "living basil" in the grocery store with the roots still attached and planted them out. I always allow at least 1 plant to go to seed and then broadcast the seed over the flowerbed and in the spring they have come back very strong !! I also harvest every few weeks, and freeze the leaves in zip lock baggies.
I love to just grab a baggie, and make aioli which I much prefer over pesto.

P J, the Dirt Diva
 

daveb

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Dave,
I grow in ground and have planted basil several ways.

Since I grow organically, I am not sure if I would like all the 'nutrients' that hydro needs. Sometimes from seed they usually don't do too well, but this year they did. In the past I have bought "living basil" in the grocery store with the roots still attached and planted them out. I always allow at least 1 plant to go to seed and then broadcast the seed over the flowerbed and in the spring they have come back very strong !! I also harvest every few weeks, and freeze the leaves in zip lock baggies.
I love to just grab a baggie, and make aioli which I much prefer over pesto.

P J, the Dirt Diva
there are solutions that are organic based for nutrient they take a bit more work, i've worked with organic based fertilizer that work hydroponics water systemsit just takes a little more monitoring of the nutrient solutions, but even the so called chemical fertilizers are all mineral based . and a few compounds are chemical reactions of gasses and material that are naturally occuring but people still argue on organic or not even when every single compound if the fertilizer can actually be found in natural chemical compounds :)
 

daveb

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just an update photo of the tiny tim tomatoes. all gained about an inch of growth in height in the last week. later this week they will go into their final container sizes and seeing as how they are dwarf size i should have thought ahead and started then in a 3 inch net pot so i could place in a wide mouth 1 qt canning jar. well three will be going into 1 gallon water jugs with the tops cut and one as a test into the what basically is a cross of ebb & flow . and nutrient film. the pump cycles water up to a series of tubes on a timer 15 minutes on 4 hrs off during light sequence, but during the off time the excess drains down leaving a bit over an inch and a half of liquid in the bottom this has one advantage that the filling and draining partially of the tubes keep them flushed so fresh solution always moving that gets some oxygenation as it flows back into main tank from splashing , plus as the system is between cycles the tubes drain pulling fresh air in to allows oxygen to the roots. Also setting a new test light 888 LED's full spectrum white in 5000k and 3000k spectrum 2:1 ratio red/blue total watts draw at LED 172 watts, 21020 Lux at 8.5 inches from light, have not taken full reading with the whole enclosure closed where the front has reflective surface also. so at those numbers working out the aprox numbers of 370 ppfd , 13 hrs will hit the middle road for greens at with my cost of electric works $9.32 for 36 plants over a 4 week but more realistic staggered 4 plants a week once established $2.33 for about 1.5 lbs compared to stores local sell at $11.95 to $15.96 a lb

**************
Additional update
re reading my earlier post and noticed i mixed up on lights the 2:1 red to blue 3250K ( 890 nanometer ) is my lights for tomatoes fruit bearing crops and flowering stage , versus for my greens there are also an additional five strips at 6500K at 2200 lm strips which push the light output up to 407 ppfd on low setting and puts it in the Kelvin range of 4200K ( 690 Nanometer )
**************
 

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daveb

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was clearing out some items from a drawer and ran across a soil test kit. curiosity got the best of me so made a couple simple test. as tested with meters EC is 1900 ( 1.9 ) with a ph of 6.46 so i decided to try the soil test kit to test actual n-p-k comparison to their chart. i've yet to decide what the ph test kit is telling me :nuts:. needless to say the test results were interesting and as i type this the K test vial has turned a bit darker then the level K4
 

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daveb

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So for kicks i tossed the tomatoes over under the new grow light while i also start to populate the grow area T2E.jpg with lettuce and the visual difference of the plant in fullness and depth of the green was remarkable, took some photos yesterday the tiny tim tomatoes had been under the new light for 4 1/2 days and the difference is very visible did a side by side last sunday and yesterday of each plant
 

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daveb

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so got looking over the little tomato plants and they are about to bud, three of the four have at least 12 or more buds.
 

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daveb

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so new instrument in today so i could get an approximate idea of spectrum from my test LED light i am working on. just so i could see if in fact i was covering the targets of 440 to 460 i want and the 600 to 660 and i think the combo i have of 2.1 red/blue you can see the enhanced photo the light shadows start in the 420 range and still show a shadowing up around 700 to 720 nano-meter i expected a but more high end red to show it looks to be strongest at 630 Nm but this could be an issue of my camera not pulling the full photo from the small aperture of the instrument so may add a little more red spectrum 3000 or 3500K led in the future and bring it up to 3:1 ration but right now the plants seem to like it
 

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daveb

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first buds opened
 

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daveb

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this is the new test area i have the tomatoes in and a few lettuce, just waiting for the leafs to pick back up they were set in different spot while i laid the lower reflective mylar and didnt like the other light system
 

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daveb

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so decided today to slide the three larger tiny tim out of the grow area to holding vials and pollinate a few blooms as you can see in pics attached in the black collection spoon i had surplus pollen i did 8 blossoms but will go back to those 8 again a bit later to uses the pollen again. Over all these 3 plants have at present about 40 blossoms i can see at a quick glance and additional shoots with more on them starting, not going to get carried away and do them all because i have additional tomatoes plants started
 

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daveb

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9 days after pollinate
 

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daveb

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well my micro dwarfs are turning into mutant tomatoes ... pollinated some 12 days ago and the root system in the chambers getting so huge nutrient flow is an issue but also need them where i can handle single container to pollinated additional as they grow.
so that being the case her is today 12 days after pollination along with lettuce that was put into same system with new light
 

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daveb

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was working in the micro dwarf tomatoes and it wont be long i will have fresh tomatoes, this is tomatoes on plant i pollinated november 14th the first on is changing color and also was the first bud i pollinated , but knocked off a baby one while topping up the water in the containers today. 4 plants i polintaed at present **** eachvary from 22 to 35 tomatoes per plant. they were getting so top heavy i had to make some cages 10 days ago for around the water jugs i moved them into.
 

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daveb

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few more coming ripe other side on back side is as heave as this side figure i'll have probabl 22 ready for salads friday
 

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