Saturday, September 24, 2011

My Sweet 100: Day 84

Putting all the eggs in one single basket is too risky. Fertilizing all my plants at the same time is no different. They may get even unhealthier if it's too much.

So, I mainly fertilized the older one, using the younger one as a control.

I hope the fertilizer will allow the branches to get thicker, the flowers to get bigger and most importantly to set fruit.

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When I transplanted the cherry tomatoes to the big pots 2 months ago, I also put a garlic into each pot. Today, I see a healthy-looking green stem shooting out from soil in the older pot. What a comforting surprise!

Friday, September 23, 2011

Rescuing my sweet 100

A lot of leaves have dried up and withered, especially the older ones. The new leaves are much smaller than their old buddies. Flowers are tiny and they drop prematurely too. I have been thinking for more than two weeks: Why is this happening?

I don't have the answer. Is the difference in daytime/nighttime temperature too big? Is the soil too try? Is the soil not fertile enough? Is the soil deficient of a particular nutrient? Are the plants contracted with a virus? Not enough sunlight? Or, it's because it's fall already? There are a lot of possibilities.

The possibilities can be classified into two categories: External vs. Controllable.

For the external factors like season, day/night temperature difference, etc. - I just can't do anything about them. So, let me rule them out and wait for the good time to come.

For the controllable factors, I have already been watering the cherry tomato plants daily since day one. So, water shouldn't be a problem. Anyway, I have started to water them at night as well as in the morning.

"The potting soil is fertile enough for the first 100 days" - there was such a statement written on the soil bags when I bought them. Although only two months have passed, some nutrients might have been leached as I watered the plants quite generously. I think - and I hope - this is the cause. It's because I can do something about this one.

Tomorrow, I am going to give the plants a nutrient boost. I will mix the organic fertilizer (chicken poo) with water, shake the bottle well, let the solution stay overnight. This bottle of solution should feed the plants well and improve their health - I hope.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Blogger - iPhone app

I am typing this from within the blogger iPhone app.

Trying out the "attach photo" feature.

Pretty good stuff.

My Sweet 100: Day 77

Taller, the two plants have grown.
Thicker, the stem and the branches have gotten.
Flowers, some are yet to open up while some have withered.

Fruits are yet to come.










Wait wait wait. What else can I do? My cherry tomatoes - when will you come?


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Last Monday was Mid-Autumn Festival. The fall has arrived. It's getting a bit cooler than the hot summer.  I am a bit worried if the flowers will still bear fruits when it's getting cooler and cooler. Pollination is another worry of mine.

P.S.: Blogger doesn't save the documents like Google Doc does. Another disappointment. I lost everything when I dragged the photos into the blogger page and Chrome loaded the photos in the same tab.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

My Sweet 100: Day 70

Hurray! Hurray! The two plants have started to flower since the beginning of the week!
The flowers are yellow. Very small. Some are still closed and waiting to open up.

I did some research on the pollination of cherry tomato flowers.  Cherry tomatoes are self-pollinators. That means both the male and female parts are in the same flower. But it still takes the power of wind or the vibration of bumble bees' wings to help to get the pollen grains to the stigma.

In indoor environment, growers shake the stem by hand or vibrate it by electrical toothbrush to help pollination.

I used my electrical toothbrush with my two plants today, and will do it again tomorrow.

I am looking forward to seeing some fruits next week.






Saturday, September 3, 2011

My Sweet 100: Day 63

Growth has slowed down a bit. They both don't make it to the next
ring. Was that because of lack of fertilizers? Or not enough sunlight?

I am going to add some fertilizers today or tomorrow.