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Show The Standard's U. A. C. Bureau Articles of Interest to Farmers, Housekeepers and Others! I Written for The Standard by Experts at Utafrs Noted J Agricultural College at Logan HAHDY TOMATO PLANTS FOR TRANSPJjAIs'TIN g . By T. H. Aboil, Assistant Horticulturist, Horticul-turist, Utah Agricultural Exporlmont Station. Conditions In tho hotbed, produce soft tender plants that will quickly) succumb to the variable conditions In the field. The hotbed has warm moist soil and air, more or less shadoj and uniformity of these conditions, day and night. In the field the coll is comparatively cool and dry, the air Is dry, the temperature Is change-, able, the suns rayd are hot, drying winds blow, and conditions In generaf are pretty severe on a tender plant Tho violent change from favorable conditions in the hotbed to severe conditions in tho field, together with the disturbance of tho root system requires that tho plant must be healthy heal-thy and vigorous and In tho proper condition to undergo this change. Therefore the need for hardy plants. Hardy plants are produced by; "hardening .off." By "hardening off"' we mean the gradual subjecting of' the plants to conditions found In the. field. "Hardening off" is not accomplished ac-complished in a day, but usually rc-j quires two or more wooks. It con-: slsts In a lowering of the soil tem-J peraturo to the same as that in tho field, reducing the soil moisture, and, subjecting the plants to air condl- tlons prevalent in the field. Whero plants arc grown in tho hotbed, usually by the time "hardening "harden-ing off" is to begin, tho manure has lost all its heat so that tho soli temperature tem-perature is practically the same as In the filed. Tho rest is accomplished by reducing the water and by gradually leaving off the covers until they are left off altogether. Where plants are grown in the greenhouse, it is almost impossible to produce outside soil and air conditions, condi-tions, in this case, and where the manure ma-nure in the hotbed has" not lost its heat soon enough, cold frames must be provided. pro-vided. Cold frames may be constructed construct-ed the same as hotbeds except that no manure is used and the frame ia set on lop of the soil. The tender plants must be removed to these frames in order to gradually produce field conditions. con-ditions. ! Tendor plants are light in color, spindly in growth, have brittle light colored stems, and when set in the field they quickly wilt, slowly recover, and set a late crop of fruit. J Hardy plants are dark green, stocky and thick stemmed, have dark colored tough stems, and when set in tho field tdo not always wilt, and if tliey do, they quickly recover and so are able to set an earlier crop of fruit. , By all means, it pays to raise plants for transplanting. |
