Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
🍅 Quick take: Battling cold northern soil and verticillium wilt, a crew of backyard growers documented a 4-month collaborative trial grafting eggplants onto tomato rootstocks. Key takeaways: eggplants must be sown 7 to 14 days before tomato rootstocks to match stem calipers; younger seedlings (1-2 true leaves) take faster than woodier stems; and toothpick hole-insertion … Read more
🍅 Quick take: This thread dives into the ideal timeline for starting eggplant seeds indoors. While some growers prefer a 60-day head start to factor in transplant shock from up-potting, others find that starting them too early leads to massive, hard-to-move plants that become root-bound. The consensus is that strong grow lights and heavy feeding … Read more
📖 Diary Highlights: A first-time eggplant grower asks when to start seeds indoors for a Zone 4 climate. While some growers start them in mid-February, others warn that under strong grow lights, early-started eggplants will turn into unmanageable “palm trees” before planting out. The discussion covers essential tips for eggplants: washing the coating off treated … Read more
📌 Quick Summary: The Early Harvest Container Trick 🪴 The “Pot-on-Soil” Method: To get super early cucumbers, zucchini, or eggplants, don’t plant them directly into freezing spring greenhouse soil. Instead, plant them in black nursery pots and set those pots on top of the greenhouse beds. The black plastic absorbs the sun, heating the root … Read more
📌 Quick Summary: How Tall Does the Bibo Eggplant Grow? 🍆 Standard Height: The ‘Bibo’ white eggplant is generally a compact plant. Grown on its own roots outdoors, it typically reaches about 2 to 2.5 feet (60-75 cm) tall. ⛺ In the Greenhouse: Like most eggplants, Bibo will stretch noticeably taller inside a greenhouse or … Read more
📌 Quick Summary: Troubleshooting Stalled Eggplants 🍆 The Root of the Problem: If your eggplant or pepper seedlings stall and stop growing, it is almost always an issue below the soil line (poor root development). 🪴 Potting Up: Don’t leave seedlings in tiny 6-cell plug trays for too long. They need to be moved into … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Diagnosing Spots on Eggplant Leaves 🔦 Light Burn vs. Pests: Many growers mistake tiny white spots on indoor seedlings for LED light burn. However, true light burn usually causes larger, solid bleached patches on the topmost leaves. 🦠 The Invisible Enemy: A fine, speckled “mottling” or “stippling” pattern is the hallmark … Read more
📌 Quick Summary: Eggplant Chat Germination: Eggplant seeds are notorious for uneven germination. Surprisingly, growers often report older seeds sprouting faster than fresh ones. Diseases: Fusarium Wilt is a major killer of greenhouse eggplants. Grafting onto hardy rootstock is becoming a popular solution. Culinary Note: Never eat eggplants raw (due to alkaloids like solanine). Also, … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Eggplant Care & Container Tricks 🍆 Eggplant Spacing & Pruning: Avoid heavy pruning—just snip out weak inner shoots to improve airflow. Space them about 16 inches (40 cm) apart, or try the “two per hole” trick (planted 4 inches apart sharing a single stake). Make sure tall indeterminate tomatoes don’t shade … Read more
📌 Thread Summary: Grafting Eggplants onto Tomato Rootstock The Problem: Eggplants are highly susceptible to soil-borne fungal diseases like Verticillium and Fusarium wilt, which cause the plants to droop and die prematurely. The Solution: Grafting an eggplant scion onto a vigorous tomato rootstock. Tomatoes generally have much stronger, more disease-resistant root systems. The Results: Complete … Read more