Back at the One Acre Ranch, a false spring has turned my thoughts to this year’s tomato crop. Along with hot peppers and eggplants, they’ve sprouted and been growing along nicely since early January, upstairs under the plumeria lights. After all, what good is a 1,000-watt metal halide bulb if you can’t make room for a few vegetables?
I’m going to have to expand the back garden to hold everything, but this year we’ll probably be growing at least twice as many ‘maters, peppers and eggplants as last. With a new freezer and renewed interest in canning, I think we’ll make good use of the added garden capacity.
Or maybe, at least for the tomatoes, there won’t be that much additional harvest after all. We must wait and see the results of this year’s ‘mater experiment. In past years I’ve leaned pretty heavily on a few hybrid varieties to assure a reliable harvest. In part that’s because we seem to have a recurring battle with nematodes and tomato wilt diseases, and there are at least a couple of hybrids with more disease resistance then I’ve been able to get from open-pollinated types.
But I’m going to give the open-pollinated heirlooms another serious try, mostly because I just don’t think the wilt-resistant plants I’ve been growing taste as good as my favorite heirlooms.
This year, I’m trying these heirlooms from one of my favorite suppliers, Tomato Growers Supply Co.: German Johnson, Mexico, Neves Azorean Red, Belgium Giant, Chapman. Belgium Giant was shipped as a bonus, and may not grow well here as it was apparently developed in Ohio. Only one Chapman plant has made it, and it’s not growing like gangbusters, so it remains to be seen whether it will be part of this experiment.
My intention is to plant the six or so most robust plants from among my 24 seedlings in a circle or two short rows, and allow them to cross-pollinate. I’ll save seeds from the best-tasting and the most disease-free of those plants, and then do some out-crossing with new varieties if warranted until I’m happy with the results. My hope is that after four or five growing seasons, I’ll have begun developing a big, tasty open-pollinated tomato that can handle south Texas heat, bugs and plant disease.
Meanwhile, I’ll probably do some similar experiments with three excellent heirloom eggplant varieties, one of which I’ve already been growing with good result since 2005.
As for the peppers, I have no interest in crossing any of the strains I like – just in saving seeds from the most trouble-free plants with the best-tasting peppers. This year I’m growing one hybrid – a green chili called Sahauro that’s billed as being big and very productive.
The rest are open pollinated and include my favorite, Jamaican Hot Chocolate, along with Mirasol, Guajillo, a purple Serrano variety and a bi-colored oddity called Fish Pepper.
This year I’m moving the tomatoes, at least, up into bigger pots as they grow, rather than allowing them to get root-bound in the 4-inch square pots in which they were started.
I’m trying to get a good jump with the tomato plants, because most varieties tend to stop setting fruit when the days get up into the 90s on a regular basis, and around here that can happen pretty early in the summer. So my current theory is that if the plants are big and starting to bud out before I plant them in the ground, I should get faster fruit set before the hot hits.
Say that fast six times: “Faster fruit set before the hot hits.” It’s today’s tongue twister.
