Tomatoes, Peppers and Eggplant

More seeds started!

These summer vegetables~~tomatoes, peppers and eggplant~~are a little more susceptible to frosts and cold nights; but it's plenty early for me to get their seeds going in the greenhouse to transplant into the garden when the weather warms up, likely mid to late April in the hills here in Boerne.

I have this pretty cool set up where I plant seeds in these little grow plugs,

 

 

 Set them in a float tray, 

 

Place a hothouse dome over the whole thing, 

Set it on a seed heating pad 

  And place the whole contraption under my grow lamp in the greenhouse

Voila!

This is the first year I've used this set up and I'm anxious to see how it works.  I need to keep the little plugs moist but it should work like a charm in getting the seeds going.  I checked it this morning and the little plugs are moist and warm on top of the heating pad so I'm pretty confident it'll work the way it's supposed to.  But...we'll see.  Right now the greenhouse is open but if it's going to get cold, I'll just close the door and windows and it stays pretty toasty in there, especially if I turn on the two heaters.

I did a little Mickey Mouse legend in my gardening notebook so I would remember what I planted in which plugs :)

 

Anyway, here's what I planted:

"A superb sweet pimento that is a favorite for fresh eating.  Clusters of 8-10 thick-walled, juicy pimentos per plant.  Fruits are flattened globes with gentle lobing.  Green when immature, cherry red when ripe."

"The largest of the sweet stuffing peppers, these are first-rate fresh or roasted.  Long and tapering with a non-bell shape.  When they are ripe, the fruits turn a stunning red, with an occasional brilliant yellow.  Tall plants bear an abundance of fruit."

"An oversized, juicy cherry tomato with great flavor and few seeds.  Vigorous vines are highly productive and disease resistant.  Selected by the late horticultural genius, Alan Chadwick."

  "Heirloom.  An old Italian variety excellent for fresh eating.  Prolific vines are vigorous and lush.  Indeterminate."

"Rich, smooth flavor and perfect acid/sweet balance in a medium-sized beefsteak tomato.  An exceptional fresh slicer.  Extremely productive plants produce up to 50 tomatoes each.  Trellis for highest quality fruit."

"Introduced from South America in 1951, this flavorful, prolific, mid-season variety bears firm, vitamin rich, crack-resistant fruit late into the season.  Indeterminate variety needs trellising."

"A beautiful, white to pale green eggplant is creamier and less bitter than the purple types.  Extremely productive plant and the earliest maturing in our (Seeds of Change) trials.  A great choice for container gardening. 
*Note from me:  I'm not a big fan of purple eggplant, so I'm very anxious to see what these little
white ones taste like. 

Again, maybe I'm overly optimistic about my gardening abilities, but I do hope these seeds germinate and grow into little transplants that I can nurture and eventually plant in my Texas garden.  All of these varieties are new to me so I have no idea what to expect.  But I do know that I'll watch them carefully and do my best to bring them all to beautiful, healthy plants that produce an abundance of fruit that I can share with my family and friends.  I guess...stay tuned :)