On a whim, I bought a tomato growing kit as a way to distract myself from a rather nasty break up. I just needed to see something green in a world of grey. If the seedlings sprouted and died a week later, it didn't matter.
It didn't take long for the first tomato seedling to emerge.
After four weeks, more leaves started to form.
Later I was told that it was the wrong season (Southern Hemisphere) to grow tomatoes, but I was growing them indoors so it shouldn't matter so much. I also thought that it would eliminate a lot of the risk of pests and diseases.
I persisted.
I discovered the term overwatering, and lost a few seedlings along the way as a result. The lack of drainage in those pots was part of the problem, but the main issue was not knowing how much, how often, and where to water.
And how much water is "an inch of water"? In what sized container? It's a fluid, shouldn't that be in ounces or better yet millilitres? Is it a square inch of water?
Either way, it was too much for them to handle.
After replanting the seedlings in bigger pots and overwatered new soil, I discovered a small flying insect that I naively thought was harmless.
I Googled and there was mention of fungus gnats. I brought them into my home via the new soil and the watering allowed for the perfect conditions for them to start breeding.
After more Googling, I bought Neem Oil, powdered cinnamon, and sticky traps.
The sticky traps are the best visual representation of their effectiveness. You can see below how full they can get. I have 15 of these things absolutely full on both sides and ready to be thrown out.
They are still a problem.
After twelve weeks, the main surviving seedling is now becoming more of an established plant.
The flower is part of the tomato's reproductive system.
A simple tap on the stem is enough to mix the pollen from the stamen (male part) to the pistil (female part).
The tomato forms and becomes the womb of the plant, producing seeds.
It's something I can be proud of.
Along the way, I have grown other plants as well. I am not going to give up on gardening anytime soon, but I am still reluctant to call myself a gardener by any real stretch.
There's a lot of nonsense online regarding gardening, and it really pays to look at who is saying what and why.
You'd think there would be a cohesive voice regarding something seemingly as simple as growing tomatoes, the right soil, watering amounts and schedules, etc.
Before I end this post, one of my non fruit-bearing tomato plants has grown both limp (fungus gnat larvae activity?) and developed this brown scale on it's stem. Is this a specific disease or just fungus gnat activity?
Either way the plant is on it's way out and soon I will need to remove it, the soil and start again.
If you have any suggestions, or can name this disease so I can prevent it in the future I'd be very grateful.
Thank you for reading.
Shaidon
