Getting A Little Crowded Here ...

Well, they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. As you can see, I've added a blog page link for the self-described 'Mater-Master', a.k.a., dear ole Dad. I'm told that Sherrie will also be joining the ranks of the blogging world, so I'll extend the same to the Queen of the Mater Ghetto. I think it's just good form to include the links to their blogs. After all, everyone deserves an honorable mention when I accept the prize of the Great Tomato Race.

FYI - just so you two don't have to stand the embarrassment asking me, I'll take Dos Equis Lager - in bottles - I'm feeling that will go well with all the salsa I'll be making (real soon!)

Yes, Dad sure is proud of his little sprout. I would be too, so I'll extend my hands in a curt little golf clap for him. Nicely done. Although that little guy seems a bit sad, turned over looking back in the ground. Maybe he knows something we don't?

The Heat is On

The Mater-Matic is keeping the heat on this race, literally. From what I've read, you want to keep the nighttime temperature above 50 degrees, and the daytime temperature between 70 and 80 degrees, and the Mater-Matic is spot on. So far the nighttime internal temps have been around 60 degrees and the highest recorded temp has been 77 (today). That's with my thermostat set to 75, so not bad at all, especially given all the cold snaps we've had this week.

Relative Humidity is ramping up. Granted it's very dry out right now, but I'm showing a range from the lower to upper 40's. I'd like to bump that up to the 50's, but given the soil has been good and moist, I suspect I'm okay for now. That will come into play after my babies break ground.

Top Down vs. Bottom Up

One of the things I'm experimenting with is the watering system. My setup uses reservoirs, which has pluses and minuses to it. One thing I have to be careful with is too much standing water. On Tuesday morning I drained out most of the water, mainly to see what effect that would have on my flats. I was expecting to see some backflow - a higher water level and probably brown. To my surprise I saw the opposite at the end of the day. The flats had taken up most of the water, and by the end of Wednesday, the water had been completely used up and the top of the flats seemed a bit dry. Either I have a lot of evaporation going on, or my soil is wicking (drawing up the water from the bottom) very well. I've read how wicking can be a great way to water tomatoes, as it is self regulating and is an easy system to set up.

On the other hand, I'm considering a top-down approach with drip lines on top of the flats. Early on I considered using microsprayers above the flats, but I was concerned about even coverage and particularly the chance of overspray hitting the growlights, which are just a couple inches above the flats. I can create microdrip lines by using feed line tubing with holes poked in them. Last night I rigged up a fork-like set of feed lines that would run across the top of the flats with a line for each of the five rows. I quickly saw I would have a problem with keeping them straight, so this weekend I'm going to experiment with some leftover pegboard - using two or three strips  with just one row of holes - to transverse the tubes. The tubes will pass through the holes. This frame should sit only an inch above the flats, so as not to interfere with growlights. A microdrip adjustment valve added to the main line of each grow pan will allow for fine tuning the flow.

I've got a couple more days to decide on what path I'm going to take, so I'll do a little more research and continue to watch my watering intervals. I'll post my final solution this weekend, or if I get some green showing - whichever comes first. :)

Mike