Sadly, I've got little to nothing to show for my efforts thus far. The early extreme heat we got in Texas means so few of my tomato plants actually have any tomatoes. Part of it is my fault: this is my first gardening attempt, so I didn't water enough early on, didn't have quite the right mix for the containers, not enough fertilizer, etc. Definitely learned a lot for next year, it just sucks that I have to wait until next year to apply it.
The Sprout 2018
- Thread starter DoctorShavegood
- Start date
Don't get discouraged, every years different, it never stops being a learning experience, part of the fun.
Aaron's @DoctorShavegood in Texas as well and he's starting a second garden for the year come late summer. Check out what he's got going on to see what you might be able to apply to your garden.
dave
Aaron's @DoctorShavegood in Texas as well and he's starting a second garden for the year come late summer. Check out what he's got going on to see what you might be able to apply to your garden.
dave
- Thread starter
- #343
I know. Here in Texas we had frozen weather in April and in May we had triple digits with very little Spring...but that's Texas. Cheer up Tannhauser, the good news is that Texas has two growing seasons; Spring and Fall. You can plant tomato saplings in Mid-August to Early September and there will be plenty of time to harvest tomatoes before first frost. I use a shade cloth to help them get stared. Here in Austin first frost date is December 6th. So I count backwards from that date to arrive at a "plant date." If you buy a tomato from a nursery it should state on the tag how many days to maturity. If it says 85 days then your plant start date will need to be no later than Sept. 11. In spite of that hot weather I managed to have success (with partial failure). The tomatoes turned out absolutely wonderful, both in my raised beds and containers. My green beans not so much....one variety put on pods but was short lived. If you are interested I'll tell you my soil mix names and ratio's and the name of my fertilizers.
I'm planning out my fall garden. I want to rotate my beds and grow green beans and kale where tomatoes where this spring. All fall tomatoes will be grown in grow bags in case i need to move them. I plan to grow 4 or 5 types of lettuces all the way through the winter using a simple plastic row cover.
- Thread starter
- #345
Wow!! That's a whole lotta fried green tomatoes.
I little tip for storage; take off the stems, they will poke and damage the tomatoes next to them.
Good tip! I think we are going to do a bunch of green salsa. And given time they will ripen.
Yesterday picked my first ripe tomatoes of the year, close to three weeks earlier then the usual & probably could hav used a couple more days but they looked good to go. Tart and firm, nice taste... Tiny Tims.
Salad with the tomatoes, yellow skinned radish, arugula and mixed lettuces from the garden, all else the market.
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dave
Salad with the tomatoes, yellow skinned radish, arugula and mixed lettuces from the garden, all else the market.
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dave
- Thread starter
- #348
Nice Dave.
Thanks Aaron, so far Mother Nature has been very kind to us, almost cooperative. Have you had a chance to try any of Wild Boar Farm's creations, the two varieties we grew last year were terrific so growing again this year. If they excel again i may place an order with them for some of their truly bizarre.
Their 'Indigo Blue Berry' was our most vigorous, productive plant period, last year and this summer is already it's taking off, have two of them in the garden this year, not enough space, we need a bigger yard... Also going to go with two stems on the one plant, have always just allowed one stem per plant with our tomatoes.
dave
Their 'Indigo Blue Berry' was our most vigorous, productive plant period, last year and this summer is already it's taking off, have two of them in the garden this year, not enough space, we need a bigger yard... Also going to go with two stems on the one plant, have always just allowed one stem per plant with our tomatoes.
dave
- Thread starter
- #350
shavefan
I’m not a fan
Time for an update...
So I added some 8ft welded wire panels, attached to our fence, to give the mystery melon/zucchini vine something to crawl on. The vine is well over 10ft long with several side shoots. I also added a wire panel on the back side of the fence to give it even more growing room. I fear it will take over! I removed the cilantro that was at its base and dried it for coriander.
Also, I had to prune about 1/3 of the serrano pepper plant (tree) as it was getting way out of control. Now it's over 5ft high and about 42" across at the crown. I pruned about a 1/3rd out of the ghost pepper too as it was invading every neighbor it has. Both are covered with flowers. No fruit on the ghost pepper yet...
I transplanted the grocery store basil into a 4.5 ga pail. My neighbor gave me some Persian basil seeds that I sprouted in a small pot.
My 'shady spot' tomato experiment isn't going very well, the sucker transplant is very leggy and the 'Jet Star' that I moved there looks like it is affected with blight. Probably will pull them both...
Other than that, just general maintenance. Dead-headed the sage, and am on a weekly anti bug/anti fungal spray regime (I discovered mealy bugs in my peppermint patch). We had a break in the heat a few weeks ago and the Purple Cherokee produced a half dozen or so fruits. The Sweet 100 seems done but I should keep it going as it will produce again when the weather cools down, right?
So I added some 8ft welded wire panels, attached to our fence, to give the mystery melon/zucchini vine something to crawl on. The vine is well over 10ft long with several side shoots. I also added a wire panel on the back side of the fence to give it even more growing room. I fear it will take over! I removed the cilantro that was at its base and dried it for coriander.
Also, I had to prune about 1/3 of the serrano pepper plant (tree) as it was getting way out of control. Now it's over 5ft high and about 42" across at the crown. I pruned about a 1/3rd out of the ghost pepper too as it was invading every neighbor it has. Both are covered with flowers. No fruit on the ghost pepper yet...
I transplanted the grocery store basil into a 4.5 ga pail. My neighbor gave me some Persian basil seeds that I sprouted in a small pot.
My 'shady spot' tomato experiment isn't going very well, the sucker transplant is very leggy and the 'Jet Star' that I moved there looks like it is affected with blight. Probably will pull them both...
Other than that, just general maintenance. Dead-headed the sage, and am on a weekly anti bug/anti fungal spray regime (I discovered mealy bugs in my peppermint patch). We had a break in the heat a few weeks ago and the Purple Cherokee produced a half dozen or so fruits. The Sweet 100 seems done but I should keep it going as it will produce again when the weather cools down, right?
shavefan
I’m not a fan
shavefan
I’m not a fan
Yeah, I feel your pain. The extreme heat early on really affected yields, I got relatively few tomatoes. Another gardener I know who usually does great with tomatoes here in Dallas got one. One whole tomato this year. Like you, this is a learning year for me too.
shavefan
I’m not a fan
shavefan
I’m not a fan
Those look absolutely gorgeous dave! I'd love to try those.
Thanks BT! They are very cool, very photogenic, very sweet, as they ripen the bases go red and the deep purple looses it's intensity but they still look exceptional. Developed at Wild Boar Farms in the Napa Valley, the other one of theirs i've grown is the Amethyst Cream, so sweet and juicy you'd think you were eating a grape.
This is what i took off the one plant i had when frost was threatening last November, no other plants had anything left to speak of. (Orange ones are Cheeseman which has been a good one for us over the years.)
Welcome to Wild Boar Farms - Wild Boar Farms
7.5' foot trellis easily outreached...
Amethysts are not that big, lens distortion
dave
This is what i took off the one plant i had when frost was threatening last November, no other plants had anything left to speak of. (Orange ones are Cheeseman which has been a good one for us over the years.)
Welcome to Wild Boar Farms - Wild Boar Farms
7.5' foot trellis easily outreached...
Amethysts are not that big, lens distortion
dave
- Thread starter
- #358
These butterflies are all over my yard. They started off as worms eating my parsley. We counted 18. Over the last week they have been emerging from their crysulis's.
Swallowtail?
Gorgeous whatever it is.
dave
Gorgeous whatever it is.
dave
shavefan
I’m not a fan
Beautiful! I always leave the ‘pillers on my parsley, they don’t seem to do much damage...
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