My First Experiment
I have been interested in hydroponic gardening for a few years and have successfully grown things hydroponically, including vegetables, including tomatoes, flowers, including roses and herbs. I have often wondered what the difference would be between plants grown in soil compared to plants grown hydroponically. So I started a bit of an experiment today.
I started with four different types of tomatoes;
Sudduth’s Strain Red Brandywine (my favourite large red),
Bonny Best,
Black Cherry ( my favourite cherry) and
Gray’s Sweet Cherry.
I have grown both the Red Brandywine, but did not know there were two different strains, and the Black Cherry before with good results - except for last year which I blame on the weather.
I purchased the seeds from Heritage Harvest Seed Company based in Carman, Manitoba. I had used another heritage seed company before but have not been 100% satisfied with the results for the past two years. Mind you last year the poor results could be mostly blamed on the weather but even the spouting was not that good, in some instances less that 50%. I had heard about this company when I was chatting with one of the farmers at Upper Canada Village and decided to give them a try.
A blurb from their web site: https://www.heritageharvestseed.com
“At Heritage Harvest Seed, all of our seed is open pollinated, non-hybrid, non GMO, untreated, natural seed.
At Heritage Harvest Seed, we specialize in rare & endangered heirloom vegetable, flower & herb seed. Our main goal is preserving these time honoured cherished heirlooms for all to enjoy. All of our seed is open pollinated, non-hybrid, non-GMO, untreated, natural seed. Heirloom Seeds, also called Heritage Seeds, are open pollinated varieties that are usually at least 50 years old.”
Their seeds may be a little more expensive but I am interested in the nonGMO, non-hybrid type of seeds. The main reason (and I keep saying that I am going to do this) is that any seeds you save will be ‘true to form’ meaning that you will get back the exact same plant that you started with. This can not always be said about other commercial seeds.
THE EXPERIMENT
HYPOTHEIS
To observe the difference between tomatoes grown in soil as compared to tomatoes grown hydroponically.
MATERIALS
Tomato seeds
Descriptions from Heritage Harvest.
BRANDYWINE (SUDDUTH'S STRAIN)
The Brandywine tomato is legendary for its delicious taste and the Sudduth’s Strain is considered by many to be the most delicious strain available. This particular strain was obtained in 1980 from Dorris Sudduth Hill. Dorris claimed that it had been in her family for 80 years. The large deep pink beefsteak fruit can grow 1-2 pounds and are quite late maturing. (Start indoors early.) It is simply an exceptional tomato that no gardener should be without! This strain is rather hard to find although Brandywine is quite common. Indeterminate, potato leaf foliage. A must have! (90 days from transplant) RARE.
BONNY BEST (1908)
One of the highlights of the season! Introduced in 1908 and still one of the best all purpose tomatoes available! The healthy plants produce loads of medium to large size beautiful red blemish free fruit with great taste. Excellent for canning and slicing. Highly recommended! Indeterminate, regular leaf foliage.
BLACK CHERRY:
One of the tastiest cherry tomatoes of the season. Our customers at the farmer’s market seem to agree. The dark purple cherry tomatoes are born in large clusters on very vigorous plants. Very sweet and delicious fruit is great for eating out of hand or summer salads. Excellent paired with red and yellow cherry tomatoes. Indeterminate, regular leaf foliage. (70 days from transplant)
GRAY’S SWEET CHERRY
Our favorite red cherry variety! The enormous plants are literally covered with clusters of small red cherries all summer long! One of the best tasting varieties there is. This would be a good variety for growing on fences or other large structures. Indeterminate.
I started with four different types of tomatoes;
Sudduth’s Strain Red Brandywine (my favourite large red),
Bonny Best,
Black Cherry ( my favourite cherry) and
Gray’s Sweet Cherry.
I have grown both the Red Brandywine, but did not know there were two different strains, and the Black Cherry before with good results - except for last year which I blame on the weather.
I purchased the seeds from Heritage Harvest Seed Company based in Carman, Manitoba. I had used another heritage seed company before but have not been 100% satisfied with the results for the past two years. Mind you last year the poor results could be mostly blamed on the weather but even the spouting was not that good, in some instances less that 50%. I had heard about this company when I was chatting with one of the farmers at Upper Canada Village and decided to give them a try.
A blurb from their web site: https://www.heritageharvestseed.com
“At Heritage Harvest Seed, all of our seed is open pollinated, non-hybrid, non GMO, untreated, natural seed.
At Heritage Harvest Seed, we specialize in rare & endangered heirloom vegetable, flower & herb seed. Our main goal is preserving these time honoured cherished heirlooms for all to enjoy. All of our seed is open pollinated, non-hybrid, non-GMO, untreated, natural seed. Heirloom Seeds, also called Heritage Seeds, are open pollinated varieties that are usually at least 50 years old.”
Their seeds may be a little more expensive but I am interested in the nonGMO, non-hybrid type of seeds. The main reason (and I keep saying that I am going to do this) is that any seeds you save will be ‘true to form’ meaning that you will get back the exact same plant that you started with. This can not always be said about other commercial seeds.
THE EXPERIMENT
HYPOTHEIS
To observe the difference between tomatoes grown in soil as compared to tomatoes grown hydroponically.
MATERIALS
Tomato seeds
Descriptions from Heritage Harvest.
BRANDYWINE (SUDDUTH'S STRAIN)
The Brandywine tomato is legendary for its delicious taste and the Sudduth’s Strain is considered by many to be the most delicious strain available. This particular strain was obtained in 1980 from Dorris Sudduth Hill. Dorris claimed that it had been in her family for 80 years. The large deep pink beefsteak fruit can grow 1-2 pounds and are quite late maturing. (Start indoors early.) It is simply an exceptional tomato that no gardener should be without! This strain is rather hard to find although Brandywine is quite common. Indeterminate, potato leaf foliage. A must have! (90 days from transplant) RARE.
BONNY BEST (1908)
One of the highlights of the season! Introduced in 1908 and still one of the best all purpose tomatoes available! The healthy plants produce loads of medium to large size beautiful red blemish free fruit with great taste. Excellent for canning and slicing. Highly recommended! Indeterminate, regular leaf foliage.
BLACK CHERRY:
One of the tastiest cherry tomatoes of the season. Our customers at the farmer’s market seem to agree. The dark purple cherry tomatoes are born in large clusters on very vigorous plants. Very sweet and delicious fruit is great for eating out of hand or summer salads. Excellent paired with red and yellow cherry tomatoes. Indeterminate, regular leaf foliage. (70 days from transplant)
GRAY’S SWEET CHERRY
Our favorite red cherry variety! The enormous plants are literally covered with clusters of small red cherries all summer long! One of the best tasting varieties there is. This would be a good variety for growing on fences or other large structures. Indeterminate.
Soil
Miracle- Gro Potting Mix 0.21 0.11 0.16
peat pots
Hydroponics
gro/dan A-OK Starter Plugs for 2 inch web pots
water for both
tinfoil trays for both
METHOD
soaked starter plugs in water
soaked soil in peat pots
placed one seed of each variety into growing medium
re-wateredplaced under grow lights
tinfoil trays for both
METHOD
soaked starter plugs in water
soaked soil in peat pots
placed one seed of each variety into growing medium
re-wateredplaced under grow lights
Hydroponic tomato seeds in starter plugs
Tomato seeds planted in soil.
DAY 1 - SETUP
Placed under grow lights
Hydroponic in separate tin foil tray
OBSERVATIONS
07 Feb 2018 - BRANDYWINE (SUDDUTH'S STRAIN)
seed in hydroponic sprouted after 7 days
07 Feb 2018 - BONNY BEST (1908)
seed in soil sprouted after 7 days
08 Feb 2018 - BLACK CHERRY
seed in soil sprouted after 8 days.
(Just poked through)
08 Feb 2018 - BONNY BEST (1909)
seed in hydroponic sprouted after 8 days
11 Feb 2018 - BRANDYWINE (SUDDUTH'S STRAIN)
seed in soil sprouted after 11 days.
12 Feb 2018 - GRAY’S SWEET CHERRY
seed in hydroponic sprouted after 12 days
Missed entering data for a couple of days
21 Feb 2018 - Up and growing well in Hydroponic
Bonny Best, Brandywine, Gray's Sweet
NOT sprouted = Black Cherry
Up and growing well in soil
Bonny Best, Brandywine, Black Cherry
NOT sprouted = Gray's Sweet
Because one type in each medium has not sprouted the questions are: reason for not sprouting, bad seed or to much water and should I try another seed in each medium?
27 Feb 2018 - Moved hydroponic based plants from original grow tray to the full time hydroponic tote.
Replanted Hydroponic = 1 Black Cherry
Replanted in soil = 1 Gray’s Sweet
03 March 2018 - Transplanted Bonny Best, Black Cherry and Brandywine to large compostable pots and placed under grow light in the dining room window. On transplanting put a banana peel and 1 tablespoon of Epsom Salts in the pot just below where the plants would grow, covered that with a bit of soil and planted the seedling on top. I purchased the compost bins at Home Hardware.
