Posted on 05/22/2009 4:17:16 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
This is the second edition of the 2009 Weekly Gardening Thread. If you are a gardener or an aspiring gardener please stop in from time to time during the next week and share your experiences. Last weeks thread was a great success. Thanks to all who participated!
There are over 600 heirlooms, probably a lot less depending on your definition of “heirloom.” some make age the big mark, 50 or 100 years, in reality the one facet that must be in place is that they are open pollinated. And because of that, my germination track is 50% at best. No big deal. (I start all of my plants from seed ... a wide variety to choose from)
My favorite is Rutgers ... it is the only determinate plant I use. I prefer to grow vertically. Speckled Roman is incredible in taste .. pinch back the suckers and you will let all the energy go to the fruit.
The best cherry tomato ever is Dr. Carolyn. I dare you to try and get in from the garden with out eating a handful while picking them. Aunt Ruby's are good, though lots of typical tomato disease problems.
Big zebra is wonderful ... just know that you will live with some shoulder cracking as in all large tomatoes.
Seeds of Change is the best source I have found for seeds. Seedsavers is a good place to look as well.
Back to your Mr. Stripey. Plant DEEP in an open area. Never let water touch its leaves if you water. Give it plenty of Air circulation, i’e pinch of unnecessary shoots. You will have great success. I gurantee it. If you feel you must fertilize, find a low nitrogen fertilizer. If not low use a 10 10 10 sparingly.
Good luck
Thanks for the info-what an awesome way to grow taters. I’m
going to try my hand at sweet taters this year.
My biggest problem with tomatoes is blight. It seems that living in Nashville, TN it comes with the territory. I have had people tell me that if you are going to grow tomatoes in tennessee then you have to continually spray with daconil. Ugh.
I’ve had the most luck growing the heirloom “mortgage lifter”. Not a pretty plant but boy it can produce!
Thanks for the tater growing idea.
mary
Thanks for the tips on the Mr. Stripey.
I had very good luck with my Rutgers germination this year as well as my romas. I cried after losing 2 dozen beefsteaks, so I just started more!!!
I’ve bought seeds from both Seeds of Change and Seed Savers in the past, and in fact have a couple of hot peppers from Seed Savers coming up right now. Cost is my big drawback this year, so I didn’t do any mail order for seeds and just stuck with Burpee seeds which I can get locally.
WOO HOO!!!!!!!!
I’ve got a bunch of new growth on some old grape vines we transplanted from our Pastor’s house to our place, plus I discovered that my blueberry bush isn’t dead after all and so I have to say I know how you feel!!!!!!!!!
Diana needs to post a link to the seed company she is working for on this thread. She had posted it on one of her threads but I can’t find it.
Diana used to work for Seed Savers, and now works for Jung’s.
I’m not dissing any seed companies, all have their good strong points. For me, this year Burpee’s was the one with the strongest good point because I could get their seeds locally.
I have been looking for some Acorn squash seeds or something like it locally but no one carries them. I can find packets of a mixed bag of winter squash that has Acorn Squash included ... but I only want Acorn. I could order over the net but I only need a packet. I guess I will wait till next year.
Acorn squash seed I can get locally, but I may have some out in the greenhouse. I’ll take a look and let you know. You have a longer growing season than I do, so I could put them in the mail to you -— quicker than mail order over the net.
Thanks for the thread. May I make a suggestion? I think it would be helpful if people who post replies would put their growing zone in their remarks. Thanks
If I remember correctly, I do believe we had a discussion about zone information last year.
The problem is that there are so many different variable even within each zone itself. Someone living in Zone 7 in Tennessee is going to have very different growing issues than someone, also in Zone 7 but living on the Atlantic coast in say Virginia (where I am) or Delaware (where I used to be)
To continue........
Which is not to say giving a general idea of where we all are is not helpful to those is very different parts of the country.
Once the plant reached 6-inches tall I stacked another tire on top (sidewall removed) and filled in around the plant with more soil. I repeated the process after it grew another 6 inches. When the plant started to die back I lifted the tires and picked potatoes. Out of one tire I got 15lbs. Some varieties did better than others, but all told I got around 60lbs the first year. Now I do all of my potatoes the same way and get a couple hundred lbs a year.
This is a great way to grow potatoes as the tires tend to keep the soil at an even temperature, and the gaps between the tires provide a way for the soil to drain. I haven't had any problems with deer around the potatoes either. Not sure, but I think they just don't like the rubber. I haven't tried it with sweet potatoes yet, but might.
I have deer that are so bold they eat the hostas from 10 feet away from my front door. So controlling them in the veggies was important, especially since the veggie garden is a ways from the house.
An electric fence doesn’t have to be a big deal. Just a few poles to hold the line. We put one up, and put squares of foil on the wires. Put peanut butter on the foil to tempt the critters. They take a taste and get a whole new appreciation for your neighbor’s garden.
We have a friend who has done this for many years. He has about 8 acres with a single line of wire around the yard. The deer make a wide path around his place. He says he only needs to bait the foil about once a year.
This is our first year to try it, but the deer have left the veggies alone, even though they bed down in the grass about 25 feet or so away.
How do you store your potatoes? I have trouble keeping 5 pounds from going green and growing eyes.
Thanks. I’ll give it a try.
I converted one room in our basement to a type of root cellar/pantry. The only window in the room is occupied by a window air-conditioner. It is kept cool and dry. I keep them in there, along with root veggies, winter squash, etc...
I am getting ready to put tomatoes out that I started inside. Also will plant sweet peppers, beans, winter squash and summer squash. I am in zone 4 and it does get down to about -30F some years, but the accuweather 15 day extended forcast shows warm temperatures for the next 15 days. It can snow into June and rarely early July, but I am going to go for it now.
I will keep my fingers crossed that extended forecast is right!
Since you grow eggplant any insight you can offer me w/b appreciated. Do they need staking? You mentioned bugs—what kind?
I am in zone 7 and grow tomatoes, peppers and squash with good success.
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