Purple Tomato Seedlings & the Clay Pot

I have a large clay pot that was given to me when my mom no longer needed it.  The first year we moved to our house I decided to use it on our deck to grow some small yellow tomatoes.  Everyone who came over was amazed at how big the tomato plant was and how much it produced.  Flash forward.  This is the fourth year I have planted a tomato in this pot.  I don't know what the deal is but this pot was made to grow tomatoes!!   

The "Amazing" Tomato Pot

Next year I want to look around and see if I can find another large clay pot similar to this one.  All the tomatoes I have grown in this pot have tripled the size of the other tomatoes I have grown.   Last week I was able to harvest 13 tomatoes from the plant (with at least 4 to 5 more to come) and then make a yummy cold salad using some of the tomatoes.  Fresh tomatoes are incredible!

Fresh Mozzarella Tomato Salad with Basil from the Garden!

Beefsteak Tomatoes

LESSONS LEARNED FROM STARTING TOMATO PLANTS INDOORS: From my previous posts you may remember that this is the first year that we have decided to start our vegetables from seed indoors.   Now that its September I have learned that the heat loving plants that we started from seed didn't do as well as years past.  We have had a cool summer so that could have something to do with it.  I also think that we should have started the heat loving plants earlier from seed and that the basement was not a warm enough environment for the seedlings. 

Tomato Seedlings growing under fluorescent light

(Our 1 Normal looking Tomato seedling)

(Tomato seedling with purplish tint)

All but one of the tomato seedlings turned a bit of a purplish color in the basement.  I read this is a result of cooler growing conditions and stress the plant is undergoing which may temporarily interfere with the plants ability to absorb nutrients.  However, everything I read stated that it would go away on its own once the plants matured.  I also read that we needed to make certain that we weren't over-watering the plants which could make it worse.
 
The pictures above were taken on May 6th when the seedlings were in the basement.  We planted (3) of the seedling outdoors in pots on May 19th.  The other (4) we later planted in a raised bed and I gave several extra seedlings to friends.   

Below is a picture of the tomato seedling that I planted in the large clay pot.  Check out the growth for yourself. 

May 19th

June 14th

In just one months time the plant had grown tremendously!

 

July 9th

August 11th

August 17th

We attempted some succession planting this year after the peas were finished growing in Raised Bed #1.  About 3-4 weeks after planting the (3) tomato plants on the deck in pots we planted (4) tomato plants in the back of the Asparagus bed.  Hopefully these tomatoes will have enough time to ripen before the cooler weather sets in.  Right now they all have some small green tomatoes on each plant.

August 27th (4) Tomato plants in Raised Bed #1

STILL GROWING! Apart from the tomatoes there are still some vegetables growing in the garden!  At first I was afraid that we were not going to get any Eggplant or Peppers this year.  However, with the burst of warmer weather these past 2 weeks I am excited to say that the plants are finally setting some fruit!  More to come on these plants in the coming weeks.

Eggplant forming on plant

Also some of the Sunflowers are still blooming producing beautiful flowers.  The next couple of weeks will mark the end of these gorgeous yellow plants reaching for the sky!  We have decided that these flowers are going to become a yearly tradition for our garden! 

Summertime Mix- Sunflower

Enjoy the rest of your summer as fall approaches!