Heirlooms in the Garden

The heirlooms in the garden are growing strong!  With 2 days of gentle rain, the plants are rocketing skyward.  Who said hybrids were the only ones to grow fast?

I mentioned in my post for the last heirloom tomato report that I’d post some photos.  I just walked out to the garden, camera in hand, so here they are!

Brandywine Tomato Growth 4 Days

How Fast Have They Grown?

On this past Sunday (March 15th), I decided that I’d go around with my Sharpie permanent marker and mark how high the plants were.  That way, by Sunday the 22nd, I could tell how fast they had grown.

I decided to wander out with my camera today and Brandywine has declared its intentions to make a run to the top of the 6-foor pole.   See the red arrow?  That’s pointing to where I marked its height on Sunday.  And blossoms?  The photo doesn’t show it, but there are lots and lots on the plant.

But Kellogg’s Breakfast isn’t far behind!  Nor are my Pinapple tomatoes, for The Great Tomato Experiment.

Truth be told, every tomato plant is showing marked growth since Sunday.  The plants that have gained the least height are my Loxahatchee plants.  On the other hand, they have apparently decided that large, dark green leaves and flower buds are more important, and they are truly lovely plants.

Kellogg’s Breakfast and Loxahatchee

Here’s a photo showing Loxahatchee (foreground) and Kellogg’s Breakfast (background).  And speaking of Kellogg’s Breakfast, it’s also gotten a lot wider, as well as a fair amount taller.

(By the way, you can click on the photos to see a larger image.)

Black Sea Man and Druzba have grown, but not quite as spectacularly.  Then again, they are both much younger plants, being in the main garden for not even 2 weeks yet.  Actually, I kind of take that back — Black Sea Man has grown some huge, long leaves, and gotten quite wide.  It’s just only grown an inch taller in height (which isn’t as exciting as Brandywine growing 5 inches).

The others are also doing well; White Bush is blossoming, and I can’t wait to see the ripe tomatoes on it (getting ahead of myself, though).  Eva Purple Ball and Pruden’s Purple are about a week away from being transplanted into their final spots.

Oh, you may be wondering who won the blossom contest (i.e. which heirloom had the first open blossoms).  The winner was…Pineapple, closely followed by White Bush.  Brandywine followed and all the older plants (those that have been in the ground for at least 3 weeks) all have buds.

So that’s it for today.  And if you’re womdering if I grow any hybrids, the answer is yes…and those photos are reports are coming up shortly!