The Sprout 2018

[shavefan]

Mystery of the opportunistic vine solved...

Looks like some sort of Cantaloupe variety


Spied this under a thick cover of leaves...

My first (and only) Ghost Pepper fruit. The plant is huge and is covered with blossoms, hopefully it will be a good producer.

I took out the 'Jet Star' tomato, it was hit with blight and the lower 1/3 of the plant was toast. The Sweet 100 and Purple Cherokee still hangin' in there...

 

[cleanshaved]

Mystery of the opportunistic vine solved...

View attachment 896586
Looks like some sort of Cantaloupe variety


Spied this under a thick cover of leaves...
View attachment 896587
My first (and only) Ghost Pepper fruit. The plant is huge and is covered with blossoms, hopefully it will be a good producer.

I took out the 'Jet Star' tomato, it was hit with blight and the lower 1/3 of the plant was toast. The Sweet 100 and Purple Cherokee still hangin' in there...

I'm picking the Ghost Pepper should do well in Texas, as it is from India.
I tried to grow one a few years ago and only got a few peppers. It was a rubbish summer here that year.

 

[kelbro]

Found these little hornworm devils on a couple of my tomatoes yesterday. Apparently they transform into large moths later but the wasp larvae that you see attached will ultimately destroy the thing.

 

[shavefan]

Found these little hornworm devils on a couple of my tomatoes yesterday. Apparently they transform into large moths later but the wasp larvae that you see attached will ultimately destroy the thing.

View attachment 896714

Nature at it's best. Or worst, if you're the caterpillar...

 

[DoctorShavegood]

I don't get the hornworm in big numbers, but the ones that show up really know how to party and can wreak a tomato plant.

 

[kelbro]

Yep. Look at the ends of those stalks. I thought it was birds until last night when I spotted these guys. My scarecrows are keeping the birds out which allows these guys to live. They were up near the top of the plants too. Right where the birds could get them. Circle of life

 

[cleanshaved]

Did you remove them?

 

[kelbro]

Did you remove them?

I think so. Thumped a couple across to the back garden floor and stepped on one. Checked this morning and didn't see any more. Will check again this evening. Odd thing was that I have ten tomato plants back in that garden. They were only on the three plants that were under a big hickory tree. Before I read up on them, I thought that they must have dropped out of the tree. Every couple of weeks I shake a little Sevin dust out around the bases of those plants. Didn't seem to work or maybe it's time to re-apply.

 

[shavefan]

I always leave the hornworms that have the wasp cocoons on them...

 

[kelbro]

One of them (with wasp cocoons) was back out there this morning. He's on one of the plants that, although 7' tall, has never produced any fruit so I left him. I'll monitor his progress this evening.

 

[shavefan]

One of them (with wasp cocoons) was back out there this morning. He's on one of the plants that, although 7' tall, has never produced any fruit so I left him. I'll monitor his progress this evening.

Ensuring the destruction of future hornworms, nice!

 

[shavefan]

When I was watering this morning I saw, a first time for me, a Robber Fly perched on my melon vine eating a honey bee. I hate to see a honey bee get eaten but those flies eat a whole lot more than bees.

Kinda like this...

 

[davent]

Fourth variety of tomato ready to start giving up ripe ones. This is a Totem Hybrid, last of the three patio tomatoes in pots, maybe twice the size of the Siderno which we've had 15 tomatoes from so far. Hard to tell how long any these ones will go on producing. Siderno's are a crack under 1 oz., 25g.

Totem

dave

 

[martym]

Those r purdy, Dave

 

[davent]

Those r purdy, Dave

Thanks Marty, i can't take credit for that, i can only try keep the plants happy. Picked five of them today, 10.5 oz/300g worth, around billiard ball size, maybe a touch smaller. Will give then a try tomorrow.

dave

 

[DoctorShavegood]

Yep, those are purdy Dave. I'm done until Fall.

 

[davent]

Thanks Aaron. Glad to see you've got plans to go with a fall garden again, my email notification had me wondering. (And plans for an all winter tunnel, cool!)

How did the Amish paste tomatoes work out for you? We went through all kinds of different paste tomatoes before arriving at those as the ones for us, our two growing zones are so vastly different no telling how they would translate to Austin.
Take care!
dave

 

[DoctorShavegood]

Thanks Aaron. Glad to see you've got plans to go with a fall garden again, my email notification had me wondering. (And plans for an all winter tunnel, cool!)

How did the Amish paste tomatoes work out for you? We went through all kinds of different paste tomatoes before arriving at those as the ones for us, our two growing zones are so vastly different no telling how they would translate to Austin.
Take care!
dave

Dave, the Amish paste are terrific. It was actually one of the last producing until I pulled everything. It's not the first to produce but has a steady output all the way. We used them in sauce and salsa. Meaty, very little seed and not too juicy. They will be a default regular in the garden for sure. Thanks for the recommendation.

I liked to see how your dwarfs are fairing.

 

[cleanshaved]

@DoctorShavegood did you have any luck with the Russian Red?

 

[DoctorShavegood]

@DoctorShavegood did you have any luck with the Russian Red?

Yes, excellent producer. It was the last plant I pulled earlier today. I plan on growing it in the fall. They put out small fire engine red colored fruit great for salads. Some were large like a golf ball and others were more cherry sized.