And we are off to the races...

[SeanInVa]

thanks for the updates! The fungus gnats are something you're likely to continually battle. I find them in almost all potting mix I've tried, from Miracle Grow, to organic, to more premium Fox Farm stuff. I'm sure there's some premium mix out there that is less likely to have it, but I've not encountered it yet.

As for the cold - for what it's worth, I didn't heat my garage this winter, as it's only half-insulated and the power bill last year was a bit crazy - and while the plants I have growing are definitely affected - they are still growing, fruiting, and producing. While I don't have a thermometer out there right now, I'd say it's been down to ~35-40 degrees at night when the lights are off. I just pulled a 195g tomato off one of the plants!

Obviously, if you are growing for production, you want ideal temps/humidity - but if you're growing to move a line along and get the next generation, I would say it's not as important. Temps can affect pollination of course, but I'm getting decent pollination even with the low temps. That's just my opinion anyhow.

[wykvlvr]

Nice to hear about the temps. It was hovering around 60 most nights and yes my regular leaf plants have been flowering and fruiting, just a bit slower then I would like. Since I am battling a problem I felt the less stress on the plants the better and the move allowed me to move ill looking plants further away from the healthy blooming plants.

[HL2601]

I love the idea of a peppery tasting micro! Were all of the tomatoes red? Did I miss that?

[wykvlvr]

I also love the thought of a spicy/peppery tomato so will carry those forward. Honestly when I first took a bite of the tomato from C5 I though how did I get steak sauce on this tomato...

So far all the tomatoes have been a deep red and nope you didn't miss it, I forgot to put the colors in.

My second carrot leaf does have green tomatoes on it so it will be interesting to see what we get with that one. After it we will have to wait for the second wave of tomatoes.

[wykvlvr]

One more plant down, cute heart shaped tomatoes but lacking in flavor. AND this lanky carrot leaf drops the tomatoes shortly after breaker stage... it doesn't require a bump, or breeze they just fall off. Sorry but that is not a habit I want to carry forward.
I do have one of my better tasting tomatoes nearly ripe and I am looking forward to seeing how this second wave compares to the first one.

[wykvlvr]

Planted seeds today from the C5 plant that had the strongest mustardy/peppery flavor. Was bad and used up all I had but the plant is in bloom so hopefully I will get more seeds from it.

[HL2601]

Fingers crossed the flavor carries forward and you can keep this plant healthy!
Interesting about the other plant that simply dropped tomatoes. I haven't encountered that!!!!

[wykvlvr]

Grin I planted about 20 seeds so hopefully one will be as good as mom plant. Also planted 6 seeds of my possible cross seeds. I kept thinking they were Micro Tom x Large Barred Boar but nope the packet says Aztek x Large Barred Boar... those will be interesting to watch grow...

[HL2601]

Yes they sure will. Large Barred Boar is a favorite of mine. I like that it is somewhat compact and the flavors are just great!
Good luck with this one!

[wykvlvr]

Grin I have my first F3 seedling up for the 172X cross. Actually first in that seed starter but I don't think the others will be far behind.

[wykvlvr]

I have 16 strongly growing seedlings from the F2- C5 plant. They were moved into the 8 ounce cups I use for my intermediate step on March 18th. Everyone has settled in and are growing nicely. I can already see some differences in leaf size and shape and in growth habits. I have one rangy plant, a couple that may be the larger leafed carrot leaf, most are about the same size and have regular leaves just like their parent plant.

Sadly my possible Aztek x Large Barred Boar didn't pan out. Only 2 of the 6 seeds I planted came up and they appear to be micros.