Here I'm again with my next posting on balcony gardening. I'm a newbie in gardening and I'm always looking for the easiest ways to get results. Today I will show you what I did to start growing tomatoes. A couple of weeks ago, @Diveratt gave me a very ripe tomato. I sliced it, took a pot and filled it with soil. I putted the slices and covered them with
a thin layer of soil (about 2-3 centimeter). Make sure the new pot had enough water and then just sit back and relax. I gave it every day a little bit of water. I didn't want to drown the seeds. After a couple of days I could see some little sprouts came out. I used an empty milk carton to start the process. This way I'm also reusing stuff instead of throwing everything away. Just make sure you don't forget to punch some holes in the bottom!
Of course this is just temporary, because the plants need more space. But because this was my first try and I had no idea how many seeds would germinate this was a good option. It's also more compact than having 20 pots around. So when the plants are about 5-7 centimeter I gave them a new housing in a bigger pot. And they loved it :) They kept on growing.
And now I just have to take care of them. I was told not to give them water on top of the leaves. Tomato plants seems to be very delicate. Anyway, I gave them a bit of water everyday with a self 3D printed watering can.
If you want to know more about 3D printing, you can check out this posting: 3D Printing.
Slowly I saw the plants getting bigger. Most of them are doing well, and a few stay little. The plants are in a sunny spot on my balcony as tomatoes really sunlight. Sometimes I have to move them behind a bucket because living next to the ocean can be very attractive, but when there's a strong wind coming from open ocean they need some protection.
Speaking of now, the plants can use a little bit of support. So I took bamboo chopsticks and attached each plant to a stick. And again, having a 3D printer is so easy. Instead of trying to bind them to the sticks with a tiny rope, I printed clips
So that's how for I will take you for now. I just wanted to tell you that you don't always have to go through a whole process before you can start growing plants. I know people who pick out all the seeds of the tomato, rinse them, let them dry and germinate in separate pots, ... But you can also do it directly the way I described. And to be honest buy putting a slice of (over)ripe tomato in the soil, the rest of the tomato is working as a fertilizer.
I also tried this with calamansi, but without slicing. I was using calamansi in my kitchen and I just took the seeds and put them in a pot with soil. Within a week I saw little green sprouts peeking out.
Now I just need to have more patient before I can start dreaming of a nice salad with home grown tomatoes.
