23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
These are tumbling tom tomatoes, special for hanging baskets. I put two plants in each basket and they do wonderful. I wouldn't worry about it if they are for hanging baskets.
I have 50 to put into hanging baskets any day now, but first we have to get rid of this cold weather!
Jay
Jay -- Your baskets look like they are the same size as mine (12" at the top, 8.5" at the bottom, and 7" high.) I wanted to plant Tumbling Tom, but the nursery didn't have them. Your plants are much bigger than mine. Mine have the leaves and stems growing much closer together; you can't see space through them.
What program is that that you are using that can even help estimate sun exposure in E-W or N-S planting? Seems interesting!
Granted, we can visualize which kind of planting might be better but to see it simulated, and even output in numbers that we can physically compare, would be fun also.
The main things I've heard about common garden crops is the tomatoes and potatoes. Some say don't use the same container soil or same plot for tomatoes and potatoes again, but others say they do and it's fine. It comes down to the issues of disease or sickness there. If the plants hadn't gotten any issues there last year, it probably is OK this year.
lacyvail, I was inspired by a post from you! I have been getting mine from Bountiful Gardens (love them!) but also found them at Cook's Garden. $4.95 for a 2 gram packet at Cook's Garden, and $2.50 for the same at Bountiful Gardens. (That's a no-brainer!)
Have you been able to save seeds yet? From the previous post it seems that if they over-winter they should bolt and produce seed. They would have to be isolated also.
Here is a link that might be useful: Which variety of swiss chard to grow
This post was edited by milehighgirl on Tue, Apr 15, 14 at 14:05
I usually like to use Mother Nature's rain to help water, so when I can see that some rain is coming in (especially with 80% chance!) then I would definitely get as many seeds/starts/seedlings planted out as much as possible.
The other part of this is that, while it's great to try to get them in before the rain, even the same day before the rain, but after the rain, you might have to wait a few days for the ground to dry more before doing other planting work.
That's a good idea but I think most are coming to help with the work. I think some of them are her good friends but not gardeners.
But I will make a point of suggesting a plant trade party for next year. (Hopefully dear son will have proposed by then, this gf is a keeper).
LOL Many moons ago, my BIL wanted to have a rugby club party at our 5 acre place (they were city folk)
We thought this would be a great opportunity for some strong young men to help us dig our garden area!
We put the keg at the far end of the garden area and a bunch of shovels at the gate with instructions to dig their way to the keg.
What we ended up with was a trompled down path from the gate to the keg!
Don't include beer, but food might be a better incentive ......or beer AFTER the garden is done! ;) Nancy
If nighttime temperatures are the issue, put the tomatoes outdoors during the day, getting them gradually used to full sun. Bring them in at night. Keep transplanting into larger (but not TOO MUCH larger) containers with good drainage and well-aerated planting mix to help the plants concentrate on growing bigger rather than flowering and fruiting. One USDA extension in Texas recommends starting plants early and transplanting up to a gallon sized container before setting out because their hot weather sets in so fast in the spring.
Definitely agree with Dave about removing the blossoms. I always remove early blossoms after I have planted in the garden, until the plants have at least doubled (or more) in size. It definitely seems to improve production in the long run.
- Anne
I grow 3 varieties of peppers that I like to eat, and about 3 varieties of basil also. So while you mentioned a general name of the plants you had, in case you were only growing one kind, now you can grow several kinds.
I also like mustard greens as well as feeding it to my birds for their greens to munch on.
Crop rotation was more of an idea for larger planting areas where it may not have been possible to replenish the nutrients there for the next season (or two), including not having enough compost to cover the entire growing area.
However, in backyard plots, you can do that with compost or other nutrient mixes for the small quantity of planting that you will do.
You can still use the idea of square foot gardening in your yard, so you can make more use of the growing space.
Agree they will grow back unless the container and all of its contents got frozen, they recover. I had damage to exposed tops the past two nights in my potato fields, and we had hilled them under when the freeze was forecast, but expect full recovery.
Dave
That's garlic you harvested last year, right?
Not sure when you harvest in San Francisco, but for me in VA, we harvest in June, so my bulbs have been sitting around for 10 months. Mine has been pushing out new "sprouts" for months. I just use the ones that are growing sprouts first and save the rest for later.
So to answer your question, what causes this is time. Garlic, onions, and potatoes will all start growing if you leave them long enough.
I used fish emulsion and it works nicely as a foliar spray. I sometimes water with fish emulsion in a watering can . It smells really bad for some time and then its OK :)
Here is a link that might be useful: Foliar Spraying Plants
Well Amish Paste is often described as a somewhat wispy plant in appearance so it could just be a plant appearance you aren't used to. I wouldn't expect it to look much like a Better Bush. In other words varietal appearances vary greatly regardless of if they are heirlooms or hybrids.
Don't know anything about Bison other than it is a dwarf determinate but if rapid wilting is the symptom then I'd sure be looking for other causes like over-exposure, less root development or root bound plants.
Dave
There could be a theoretical justification. Hybrids are a cross between two genetic lines, so you get the genetic contributions of both the mom and the dad. So-called 'heirloom' varieties are inbred lines - that's what keeps them a single consistent type. In genetics, the benefit of crossing two different lines is called 'heterozygote advantage.'
Another way to think of this phenomenon: many dog breeds suffer from genetic diseases that are the product of inbreeding. In order to get the dogs to look the way they do, you have to keep breeding the same types over and over, and eventually they get inbred. On the other hand, mutts are generally free of such medical conditions - being crosses between different types. they don't collect bad genetic mutations.
As much as the internet gardening world loves it's 'heirlooms,' hybrids have been used in agriculture and in animal breeding for a long time for good reasons.