Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
📌 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: Aster Germination Hacks The Problem: Aster seeds lose viability incredibly fast. Sowing them indoors in warm, dry house conditions often leads to near-zero germination. The Solution: Growers find massive success by sowing them directly in the greenhouse in early spring, or utilizing the “winter sowing” method (burying seed containers in the snow). … Read more
📌 Quick Summary: Growing Onions from Seed Pre-Sprouting & Varieties: Many growers pre-sprout seeds in damp paper towels or condiment cups to ensure viability. Popular varieties mentioned: Exhibition, Candy, Barito, Yalta, Banko, Carmen. Sowing Technique: The “boiling water method” is highly recommended. Pour near-boiling water directly over the potting soil to pasteurize and pre-heat the … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Sowing Carrots & Radishes 🥕 The “Medical Gauze” Warning: Sowing carrot seeds on strips of cheesecloth or medical gauze sounds like a great DIY seed tape idea, but the fabric doesn’t rot fast enough. Come fall or next spring, it will get hopelessly tangled in the tines of your rototiller! 🧻 … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Pepper Germination Troubleshooting 💦 Soaking vs. Pre-Sprouting (Chitting): These are two different steps! Soaking: Submerging seeds in water for a few hours to 2 days until they plump up and sink. Pre-sprouting: Placing the hydrated seeds in damp paper towels until the taproot emerges. 🌱 Yellow Cotyledons & Stalled Roots: If … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Onions from Seed 🧅 Leeks: Leek seeds are notoriously slow and uneven to germinate. Keep them consistently moist in a warm, bright spot and do not dig around in the dirt to check on them! They can take up to 3 weeks to fully emerge. 🧄 Shallots from Seed: Yes, you … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): The “Milk Crate & Bag” Cucumber Hack 🛡️ Vole & Mole Protection: Growing cucumbers inside plastic crates (like milk crates or harvest crates) set directly on the greenhouse soil physically prevents burrowing rodents from eating the main root ball. 💧 Preventing Stem Rot: By planting in a raised crate and using … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): The “Fridge Stalling” Hack 🌱 The Problem: When pre-sprouting (chitting) seeds in paper towels, they rarely germinate on the same day. Some pop in 3 days, others take 10. If you plant them as they sprout, your seedlings will be completely uneven in size. ❄️ The Solution (Cold Holding): As soon … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Pruning Melons for Short Seasons ✂️ Open Ground (Heirlooms): Most heirloom melons produce male flowers on the main stem and female flowers (the ones that make fruit) on tertiary vines. To force early fruiting in cooler climates, you must pinch the vines: Pinch the main stem after the 3rd or 5th … 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
J Julia62 (Julia) 🌱 Beginner (93 posts) 📍 Korolyov, Moscow Region USDA 4 Mariya Suvorova wrote: Nadya, after grafting I gradually pot them up into larger containers—1, 2, then 3-liter (1 to 3-quart) pots, then transplant them into a 5-gallon bucket. The buckets go into the greenhouse, and later when it gets really warm, I … Read more
📌 Thread Summary: Growing Giant Sweet Onions from Seed Topic: A masterclass on growing massive, sweet “Exhibition” onions from seed. Note for US Growers: This exact same method is the gold standard for growing giant sweet varieties like Walla Walla, Candy F1, Vidalia, and Ailsa Craig. The “Cold Treatment” Secret: The biggest mistake growers make … Read more