Hello Stan – first off happy New Year and I hope you had a great Christmas! I returned from my annual Michigan Christmas excursion, I was gone from Dec 17th. Until Jan 4th., and as was the case last year, my neighbor kept an eye on things. Most everything is automatic, so the only real upkeep is training the vines. The heater I put in seems to be doing a good job, and we were blessed with mild weather in Florida while I was gone. At this time the heater’s on a timer from 8pm to 8am, utilizing the thermostat on the heater itself. I have an actual “wall type” thermostat coming that will run the heater regardless of time. I included a pic of my “
not so sophisticated” heating system. The fan rotates blowing warm air left to right and so far so good. We’ll see what the electric bill looks like shortly…. It looks like we’ve got 4 or 5 days of low 80’s coming soon (lows never below 60) so I’ll be able to leave them uncovered all day and night - they love that sunshine!!.
Anyway, from the pics you can see they’re doing well. There’s still a lot of flowering going on. I upped the
nutrients to about 75% (and I’ve run out - I’ll be making a trip to Verti Gro this month). I’ve also introduced the Epsom Salts @ 1 gram p/gallon. It’s been a challenge training them to “curve” along the roof line, but via a “network” of strings and clips, it’s working. These tomatoes really are heavy!!! Had one tomato with blossom rot, but haven’t seen any more so I’ve held off on the pickling lime. They’re consuming
nutrient pretty well too – I topped off the reservoir before I left and 19 days later when I got back it took 37 gallons! Reservoir temp maintains consistently around 68/69 degrees (F).
Lastly, I’m hoping to start the
aeroponic rail system soon, and I’ll continue cloning tomatoes via suckers to – hopefully - keep a continuous supply. Thanks again for all your help!