Let's Move Them Out, Gunny!

Heirloom Tomato Plant Starters Under Cover

One of my favorite Clint Eastwood movies from all time would have to be Heartbreak Ridge. I simply cannot get enough of Eastwood's character. I find myself invariably repeating lines from time to time, as you may have guessed with the title. When it comes to the Bird 2013 Heirloom Tomato plant starters? Gunny has indeed, "moved them out.

You'll notice that this year's crop of heirloom tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, five varieties of basil, three varieties of eggplant and numerous flower plant starters are covered by a thick plastic sheeting. This is for their protection. This is the all important "hardening off" time for the starters that Venus and I planted from seed last February. This also happens to be a new addition to the hardening off process.

Basil Plant Starters

One wrong move during this process can result in exactly 120 DEAD AS A DOOR NAIL plant starters. It's either DEAD or severely sunburned and shocked to the point where it will take weeks to recover, resulting in the loss of precious growth time that vegetable plants need to become healthy, large and, ultimately, productive.

I did my best job of hardening off tomato starters during the first year that I planted tomato varieties from seed. That was 2003. I started exactly two varieties that year -- both Livingston originals. I'm not exactly sure what I did right, but I grew 12 champion starter plants that spring. It was pretty darn close to nursery quality.

Paragon Starters: 2003

Call it beginner's luck I guess, because I've never been able to duplicate that success. Hardening off tomato and vegetable plant starters can be difficult for folks who work a full work week, which would include me and the wife that is Venus. The "hardening off" process involves moving plants into sunlight for a few hours each day, then moving them back under cover, away from the harmful UV rays that result in sunburn and shock.

The hardening off process, if done correctly, results in tomato and vegetable plant starters that are completely hardened off and resistant from UV rays in about a week's worth of time. Done incorrectly? A whole host of problems can develop. And I've managed to experience most of them as I majored in gardening errors.

Vegetable Plant Starters 

Bottom line? We simply don't have the time to move plants into sunlight and back under cover over the course of a five or six day period. If we're lucky? We get three days. On the fourth day when both of us return to work? It's a case of "you're on your own, fellas." I can't begin to tell you the disappointment that washes over me when I see the results of this rushed process pop up a day or two later and worsen over time. Leaves that were once lush, healthy and green turn a none-too-pleasant shade of brown and curl up and die. Starter plants wilt. New growth slows to a crawl.

Although the plants do eventually recover, time has been lost. Worse yet, some plants will recover and grow but not fruit much during the summer. Growing heirloom tomatoes, as I've come to find out, is really hit and miss. Some plants fruit up a storm, while others planted right next to them do very little. Or worse yet, produce fruit that is eventually lost to Blossom End Rot (BER) or other disease.

I'll admit, it's frustrating.

Some Good Advice?

But this year? This year represents a new hope in the hardening off process. It is the result of some very good advice from a retired rocket engineer turned heirloom tomato grower who lives in New York and posts on gardening forums under the name of "Hotwired." I tend to trust retired engineers like my father-in-law who passed away a few years ago. I've never forgiven him for doing that. I wasn't quite ready to let Gale go. I guess we never are when it comes to people who make a meaningful impact in our lives.

I was immediately drawn to the title of one of Hotwired's articles titled "Harding Off Tomato Plants for People Who Work Full Time." His suggestions took me into an area that I never would have dreamed of going. It was a simple fix, really. And since he practices this method with great success, why not give it a try?

Plastic Sheeting

His advice was aimed at growers who produce 50-500 plant starters, not the novice beginner who is growing out tomatoes for the very first time. His suggestion? Purchase rolls of plastic sheeting found in the paint departments of any big box or hardware store and cover the plants for at least five or six days. At first I was a bit dubious. There are many types and sizes of this sheeting. If you've ever painted your own house before (never again!), you go through miles of this stuff it seems.

Hotwired's advice was quite specific. The plastic sheeting, sold in thickness that ranges from 1 ml to 6 ml, would have to be at least 4 ml in thickness. His instructions promised that as long as the plants are covered with 4 ml plastic sheeting, it would result in starter plants that were completely hardened off within five or six days.

2013 Bird Vegetable Starters

Color me interested. A solution like this had never dawned upon me before. I shared this advice with other gardeners, who also found it unique, but also believed it just might work. Gardening is, after all, a gamble and leap into the unknown. Why not give it a try?

As you can tell by the numerous photos above, it was high time to move the starters outside anyway. They had grown quite large and lush during the month of March in a room that doubles as our home office. Plus, the weather has been just a tad strange this year. Our winter came to a rather abrupt end in January. It turned moderately warm in February, and other than a couple of spring rainstorms, it's been downright pleasant.

Wire Rack with Wheels: Genius!

Home Depot offered two types of 4 ml sheeting. One roll came in a size that was three feet long and 50 feet wide. The other, larger roll, offered enough 4 ml sheeting to cover our entire house. I went with the cheap option because, well, I'm cheap. After an investment of $12 bucks, I was at home taping sheets together with duct tape. You thought those were racing stripes? Hardly! It's called the cheap man's way to harden off vegetable plant starters. Three feet wouldn't be wide enough to completely cover our four-foot wide and six-feet high, tiered gardening rack. But two three foot sections taped together with duct tape offered the cheap dude's solution.

The first problem we faced, which I'd given some thought to, was the wind. I had believed that the rocks that I placed on the bottom rack of our tiered gardening rack would be enough. WRONG! A rainstorm blew in the next day and left the sheeting on the other side of the yard. Meanwhile? Our tomato starters were getting pelted with a spring rain. Back underneath the patio they went.

A Jumbled Mess!

By the way, there's nothing quite like getting out in the middle of a severe downpour right after you've woken up for the upcoming workday. It works better than a strong jolt of java. But, I digress.

Fortunately, I still hadn't cleaned up from last spring's addition of extra sidewalk space in the Bird Back 40. There were heavy chunks of concrete to be found. I would discover that putting heavy chunks of concrete on top of the gardening rack, as well as the bottom rung, would be solution to our "wind and rain" problem.

One might point out that I've constructed a "mini-greenhouse." Perhaps. But not quite. The sides to this plastic sheeting contraption are not banded together. There's plenty of air circulation that blows through. And although the flaps to this contraption will sometimes blow open, exposing the starters to the dangers of direct sunlight, they quickly close up again.

So far? There's been no telltale sign of sunburn. The plants are green. The plants are lush. They do require daily watering now (they tend to dry out rather quickly in full sunlight, covered or not). But I haven't lost one to sunburn. There's been no wilt or any other problems that come with not hardening off plants correctly.

The big test, of course, will come on Tuesday or Wednesday when the cover is removed and the starters are exposed to the direct rays of warm sunshine. And, yes, it's supposed to be quite warm, with temperatures approaching 90 degrees by the middle of next week.

Will this solution work? Only time will tell. But if it does, Clint Eastwood would approve.

A Haircut That HURT!

Leggy Heirloom Starter Plants Flopping Over

It was time. I just couldn't bear to look at them anymore. "Them" is pictured to your right. This is how my heirloom tomato starter plants look at the moment as I put them through the "hardening off" process by introducing them to the harsh sunlight of outdoor life.

I was hoping that the introduction to outside conditions would be the kind of "tough love" my heirloom tomato starter plants would need to develop tough stems at the base. And while the "tough love" approach of direct sunlight, cool spring temperatures and breezy days is having the desired effect -- it's not going to result in the kind of stem growth we need that will allow these plants to stand upright.

Leggy starters like these aren't a problem if you've finally arrived at the magic "plant out" date. You can take a variety of actions when faced with the problem of "leggy" starter plants. You can either dig a deep hole and plant the root system and most of the stem deep into soil. Or -- you can dig a long trench and bury most of the plant in soil except for the top four or five inches.

There's just one problem. We're not at "plant out" date yet. In fact, as much as I hoped for an early plant out date -- it ain't gonna happen children. It's still too cold outside. Oh -- sure -- the afternoons (like this afternoon) are wonderful. But our nights are still cold. There's also a chance of another cold rainstorm or two in the long-range forecast. To plant out now? That's like rolling the dice at a craps table. And I don't want to come up snake eyes -- not after caring for these starter plants for as long as I have.

A Leggy Stupice Heirloom Starter

So -- what's the alternative? Continue to let them flop over like they have been? That's a three foot long Stupice starter plant that I'm holding in my fat paw in that photo to the left! Do you know what happens to starter plants that flop over like that? Eventually -- they break in two. Or worse yet -- they snap at the base of the plant. Know what that means? GAME OVER!

No thanks.

The second option? Transplant into larger pots. In my case? I would need much LARGER pots that would allow me to plant these leggy starters deeply. Stems that are planted into soil WILL develop a secondary set of roots. That's one of the nice things about tomato plants -- you can bury them deeply and not hurt them. But -- there's just one problem. I didn't have that many half-gallon pots. I certainly did not have the extra soil on hand. Finally, transplanting into that large of a new pot could possibly delay plant out which should come at the end of this month.

Time for a haircut? Mebbe!

Transplanting is only half the battle. Once transplanted, you've got to allow the starters to expand and grow a new set of roots -- otherwise you can shock them by removing the plants from starter cups during plant out. Even worse -- you can snap a tender starter in half. Know what that means? GAME OVER!

So -- what's a tomato nutcase like Bill Bird to do? I suddenly remembered that I had rooted several varieties of basil in a glass of water during the last growing season. Sacramento area gardener Carri Stokes assured me it would work. And -- it did work. Rooting those basil starters brought back an even more distant memory where Venus and I had taken the same steps with a cutting of lemon thyme that Venus received from a colleague at work. The cutting developed root systems while placed in a cup of water before we transplanted it into the herb bed. Today, it's one of the most prolific herbs in the backyard bed (it's also a good pollen source for the bees -- but more on that later).

And so the inevitable thought crossed my mind. If you can root herbs like basil and thyme by placing cuttings in a glass of water -- can you do the same with tomato plant cuttings? Will they take root in a glass of water? Can they successfully transplanted into starter cups after rooting in water?

Snip, Snip!

For questions like these and more -- I usually turn to the TomatoMania forum or Group on Yahoo. It's a community of like-minded heirloom tomato nutcases like myself -- where you can ask questions and get quick answers. Sure enough -- they all answered in the affirmative -- so the haircut activity took place in earnest earlier today.

Trust me when I tell you: this was anything but EASY. Venus and I have babied these starters from seed for months. We've made every effort to provide them with good soil, light, water, heat -- all the elements one needs for producing starter plants indoors. To suddenly WHACK them back by several feet seemed a little inhuman -- but it had to be done.

And if the action resulted in additional starter plants for family and friends???? Well -- there could be an upside to this endeavour. At least 300 people at work have asked me to "put them on the list" for starter plants. This is one impressive list -- and no I won't be able to fill every last order or desire -- even if every plant roots.

Will They Take Root?

So today -- the three-foot long Stupice got a nice "haircut." So did the two-foot Brandywine. Tigerella also offered up a nice top stem -- as did Bradley, Kelloggs Breakfast, Marianna's Peace and a few others.

The cuttings from each starter plant have been placed in clear plastic cups -- as pictured -- filled with cool water -- labeled and placed on a bright and sunny location on a windowsill. A number of things could happen in the next two weeks. They could root. A marauding cat could knock them into next week (always a possibility in the home for wayward and bratty cats). Or, they could simply shrivel up and die.

As with every gardening experiment? Time will tell!