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I found some tomatoes hiding out when I thinned out some borage that was competing with it. This plant is an Oregon Spring determinate variety. One of them was a little rotten from touching the ground. I'm going to have to figure out something with some stakes and twine to hold these up I guess.
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| # ? Jul 15, 2012 22:42 |
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| # ? May 22, 2013 09:48 |
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I was too late to do any cages on mine this year so I got some 4' rebar from the hardware store to use as stakes.
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| # ? Jul 15, 2012 23:16 |
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Yeah I'm pruning, staking and training all my indeterminates but this one is determinate and you're "supposed to" let it go all bushy. I just didn't expect to see such large fruits right on the ground.
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| # ? Jul 16, 2012 00:13 |
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Cpt.Wacky posted:Yeah I'm pruning, staking and training all my indeterminates but this one is determinate and you're "supposed to" let it go all bushy. I just didn't expect to see such large fruits right on the ground.
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| # ? Jul 16, 2012 04:23 |
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Speaking of tomatoes and cages, I'm having a problem with mine. My tomato plant is getting so big, parts of it are bending and snapping and it ends up falling over. I have it in the middle of a cage but it doesn't seem to be helping. I've started using yarn to tie the plant to the cage but it isn't really doing enough. How can I stop my plant from just having its branches break?
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| # ? Jul 17, 2012 00:19 |
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Do you mean it's growing over the top of the cage, or out the sides, then growing too long and bending under their own weight? What type of tomato is it - indeterminate or bush? You can get metal fence posts (I went with 5' ones I think) from the hardware store to attach the plant to. You can also set up a few and run string between them to create a trellis. There's lots of options, but you'll probably be stuck with the cage until it's time to clear out the garden (unless you can gently coax/pull it off the plant..) I've tried the cages before, but they're usually way too small. As for attaching parts of the plant to whatever you'll be using for support, probably the safest method for the plant is to loop some twine underneath a leaf/stem connection, and then cross the twine, and tie to your support. You want it at least a little loose so the stem can move and grow without getting bound up by the string.
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| # ? Jul 17, 2012 15:49 |
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My tomatoes are growing burly and wide as well, I'll probably end up using more bamboo/scrap+jute tripods to support them or something. I think I may experiment with them next year, I've seen some interesting methods but I suspect that I just need to go bigger and sturdier overall, rather than slinging some scraps together in half an hour.
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| # ? Jul 17, 2012 16:42 |
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I cringe a little when I see people putting in those tomato cages. They're never big enough and they don't do much to keep the plants contained. Any ideas on trellising winter squash plants? Mom planted 3 spaghetti squash in a 3x9 row and they are unsurprisingly trying to take over the world already. One guy at the garden mentioned a 3 or 4 pole teepee.
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| # ? Jul 17, 2012 17:18 |
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One of the mockingbirds in the back yard went through and pecked A SINGLE loving HOLE in every one of my red/nearly red tomatoes today while I was at work. What a jerk.
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| # ? Jul 17, 2012 22:57 |
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mischief posted:One of the mockingbirds in the back yard went through and pecked A SINGLE loving HOLE in every one of my red/nearly red tomatoes today while I was at work. He is mocking you.
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| # ? Jul 18, 2012 01:51 |
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Cpt.Wacky posted:I cringe a little when I see people putting in those tomato cages. They're never big enough and they don't do much to keep the plants contained. Contained? Why do you imagine they are trying to contain them with the cages? We have them on ours in order to allow support for them as they get taller, and the cages are staked in the ground so the plants don't snap off in the wind gusts we get. gently caress mockingbirds, let me tell you about the deer that ate our squash flowers.  kid sinister posted:A handful are perennials and will come back every year, like oregano Sweet. We started a vanilla oregano as well as a "hot pepper" oregano this year. The latter smells amazing. Starting off slowly growth-wise, but picking up now that we installed drip lassos. Drip watering rocks. ESPECIALLY with the dry hot summer we've had. I burry the lassos under about 1/2" of soil surrounding the plant stalks. Question: Are rosemary perennials? edit: nevermind. Googled it. Fog Tripper fucked around with this message at Jul 18, 2012 around 03:34 |
| # ? Jul 18, 2012 03:16 |
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Toxx posted:He is mocking you.  It's especially galling because the front yard is full of bird feeders for these ingrates, along with about a quarter of the garden planted with giant sunflowers for the goldfinches living in the back yard. All they do is poo poo on my new car and now, apparently, taste test my tomatoes for me. Thankfully it'll be easy to wrap the trellises up with some netting and tinsel, hopefully that'll solve the problem. Fog Tripper, I've said it before... not having deer in the garden is pretty much the only redeeming part of living in a suburban area. The back yard is mostly inside a 9' privacy fence and the garden itself is fenced off with a ghetto fab bamboo rabbit fence that keeps most of the neighborhood critters at bay. Interestingly enough we've started seeing a lot more coyotes and foxes in the area.
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| # ? Jul 18, 2012 03:36 |
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Mockingbirds definitely prefer berries/fruit over seeds- I've never seen a mockingbird at my feeder but they eat the poo poo out of my strawberries/raspberries. Unfortunately being birds there's not much short of covering everything in bird netting to stop them from taste-testing your tomatoes. Or you could use my (unintentional) solution of planting something else they would like better- in my case it's the two black cherry trees that the previous owners of our house let grow into the chainlink fence. Originally I planned on removing them, but since they keep the mockingbirds occupied pretty much the entire months of July/August I kept them.
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| # ? Jul 18, 2012 12:17 |
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I bought two planters of three blueberry plants each. They're doing well but the birds got every single berry over the first night. Guess I'm going to have to get some bird when I transplant them in to my half barrels.
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| # ? Jul 18, 2012 13:16 |
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cowofwar posted:I bought two planters of three blueberry plants each. They're doing well but the birds got every single berry over the first night. Guess I'm going to have to get some bird when I transplant them in to my half barrels. Yeah, if you want a good yield of blueberries you either needs so many bushes that the birds can't possibly eat them all, or netting. When my grandfather bought bird-netting for his blueberry bushes, his yield increased tenfold.
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| # ? Jul 18, 2012 13:28 |
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I'm so glad my raspberry and blackberry bushes are bouncing back. loving Japanese beetles ravaged them, but there's new growth on the canes so gently caress you beetles. Why can't you be like The Beatles and just sing love songs and smoke weed?
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| # ? Jul 18, 2012 13:40 |
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Fog Tripper posted:Contained? Why do you imagine they are trying to contain them with the cages? We have them on ours in order to allow support for them as they get taller, and the cages are staked in the ground so the plants don't snap off in the wind gusts we get. I don't imagine anything. New gardeners see them advertised as tomato "cages" (and what does a cage normally do?) and expect them to contain the plant. Never mind that they don't even know the difference between determinate and indeterminate. Anyways, that's just my experience from the community garden.
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| # ? Jul 18, 2012 14:54 |
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My pole beans have been flowering since the beginning of the month. Every single flower has wilted and dropped off thanks to this goddamn oppressive heat we've had going on. I am at least getting good tomatoes off my six San Marzano plants, though. I'm saving them in the freezer until I get enough for a batch of sauce. I've lost a few to chipmunks or squirrels but I've still got probably 15 or so in the freezer at this point, with several more on the windowsill and even more currently ripening. Has anyone else managed to actually get any beans despite the heat? One of my favorite things about summer is coming home from work and picking a handful of beans on my way into the house to snack on. I'm going to be really sad if it stays this hot and I don't get very many.
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| # ? Jul 18, 2012 20:03 |
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Chajara posted:Has anyone else managed to actually get any beans despite the heat? One of my favorite things about summer is coming home from work and picking a handful of beans on my way into the house to snack on. I'm going to be really sad if it stays this hot and I don't get very many. Mine are actually doing pretty well, but I'm in the Pacific Northwest and I think we're one of the few parts of the country not burning to a crisp. I should start picking them, I think I've let the first few that started growing sit on the vine for a bit too long.
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| # ? Jul 18, 2012 21:21 |
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Chajara posted:Has anyone else managed to actually get any beans despite the heat? One of my favorite things about summer is coming home from work and picking a handful of beans on my way into the house to snack on. I'm going to be really sad if it stays this hot and I don't get very many. I'm in zone 5, and planted my beans very early since the weather was so nice. I think I got about 50% of my crop before the heat kicked in hard. I love to snack on them raw too, and it was so depressing to see beans that were cooked dry right on the plant.  I cut them way back in hopes that the weather might cool down and I'd get a small second harvest later on, but there is NO end in sight to this 100 degree crap so I think they're gonna get pulled out. I'd like to start another crop for fall, but I'm really not sure I can keep them wet enough. It hit 105 today.
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| # ? Jul 19, 2012 03:06 |
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So after I threw out the overly buggy and small ones, I only ended up with ~15lbs of potatoes this year. Considering how bad the drought has been and the fact that I was free riding off the remainder of last years crop (don't tell on me, I think all blue is technically copyrighted) I'm not too upset or anything. Still, I'm looking forward to next year when hopefully we will get a bit more rain.
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| # ? Jul 19, 2012 04:41 |
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Strung up my  of tomatoe plants, still need to do major trimming. It recovering from the storms slowly, I still have hope for the pepper plant that snapped in half.  Some are still doing very well. 
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| # ? Jul 19, 2012 21:34 |
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I spent some time working on the squash trellis last night and today, mostly relearning my knots and lashings. There are four sets of bamboo poles crossed in an X going down the row with another pole horizontal and two diagonal bracing poles. What I can't figure out yet is how to secure twine in between the poles for the squash to climb on because the poles are very smooth and knots around them will slip down pretty easily.
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| # ? Jul 19, 2012 22:05 |
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Oh man I have some actual baby Jolokias growing. I just got that plant on a whim, now it looks like I'm going to have to figure out what to actually do with a pepper like that...
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| # ? Jul 20, 2012 00:13 |
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Was watering this evening and noticed that my artichokes are covered in aphids, ugh! I noticed a ladybird beetle on my basil nearby, so I helpfully transferred it to the artichoke for a feast, and while I was urging it off my finger, three more popped up from underneath the leaves on the same plant!  I gave the artichokes a solid misting because I keep hearing that ladybugs like to have plenty to drink.  Had a fun few minutes watching them all hunt - they seem to prefer to walk along the outer edge of a leaf until they bump into something which is suitably aphid-y (when they meet each other, it's mutually awkward and then both continue on in the same direction after a bit of flailing around, aimlessly,) and then they INHALE the aphid in about 4-5 seconds, flat! Pretty impressive since the aphids are roughly the same size as the beetle's head!  If this artichoke's a rockin' then don't come knockin'!  coyo7e fucked around with this message at Jul 20, 2012 around 00:55 |
| # ? Jul 20, 2012 00:36 |
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neongrey posted:Oh man I have some actual baby Jolokias growing. I just got that plant on a whim, now it looks like I'm going to have to figure out what to actually do with a pepper like that... I've got two bhut plants myself with a few little ones ripening up so far. Was planning on using them in something similar to piri piri chicken or a jerk marinade. I usually have to use upwards of around 7 habaneros to get the spice level I want in Jerk anyway, so one per batch will probably do nicely. Remember you can always dry them for use in the off season, too.
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| # ? Jul 20, 2012 00:45 |
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evilnissan posted:
Is there a secret to growing peppers? I can grow hot peppers really well but bell and less spicy peppers never seem to produce as much for me.
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| # ? Jul 20, 2012 00:56 |
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Some nehiboorhood children reached over my fence plucked one of my jalapeno & cantaloupe plant/vines out of the earth, all to throw their fruits at each other in the street.
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| # ? Jul 20, 2012 05:31 |
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GrAviTy84 posted:I've got two bhut plants myself with a few little ones ripening up so far. Was planning on using them in something similar to piri piri chicken or a jerk marinade. I usually have to use upwards of around 7 habaneros to get the spice level I want in Jerk anyway, so one per batch will probably do nicely. And of course everyone in my family hates jerk. And a casual google just gives me hot sauce.  I'll figure something out, I'm sure, and I don't mind drying them if it comes down to it. My tomatoes are coming along beautifully and I've got a ton of cucumbers coming in. I think I'm going to have melons too~ Also there's a good chance I could be moving to a place where I can actually put plants in the ground instead of just doing them in a pot on the deck I'm so excited 
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| # ? Jul 20, 2012 07:22 |
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Alterian posted:Is there a secret to growing peppers? I can grow hot peppers really well but bell and less spicy peppers never seem to produce as much for me. Its a crap shot for me as well. The I cant remember what kind of peppers are in that picture but they are not the standard "green bell" peppers that got wrecked in the storm. They have been plenty hardy and those peppers have been on the plant for a while now, no idea what they taste like yet. The big difference for us this year is doing a raised bed with a good soil mix from a local garden center and the results have been great, we have never had any luck with tomatoes and this year they are growing out of control and twice a many bell peppers off these plants then what we got out of the whole growing season last year.
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| # ? Jul 20, 2012 11:10 |
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I don't grow any hot peppers (my husband is a spice wuss, and my kids sure won't eat them) but for some reason I have a hard time growing bells as well. My sweet banana peppers (which are planted right next to the bells and treated the same way) produce like crazy though. Just this morning I had 9 banana peppers ready for me, and 0 bell peppers. I think bells are just finicky.
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| # ? Jul 20, 2012 13:03 |
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Marchegiana posted:I don't grow any hot peppers (my husband is a spice wuss, and my kids sure won't eat them) but for some reason I have a hard time growing bells as well. My sweet banana peppers (which are planted right next to the bells and treated the same way) produce like crazy though. Just this morning I had 9 banana peppers ready for me, and 0 bell peppers. I think bells are just finicky.
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| # ? Jul 20, 2012 17:22 |
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I'm another person who always has trouble with bell peppers. We've got one plant producing, that we got as a start. My seeds have produced little plants that haven't started flowering yet, but the habaneros, serranos and Thai birds are going nuts. I keep mine in containers so I can shelter them more easily, because they like heat and we don't get a whole lot of that in BC. I also tried bell peppers in containers on my balcony in Sydney, where it was blazing hot and I still had no luck. Damned finicky plants. So jealous of all those tomatoes too. Mine are in flower and hopefully I'll end up with at least a few before the growing season is over. Monster pea harvest though! I'm wondering whether I could do another planting this year, they were so rewarding.
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| # ? Jul 20, 2012 17:32 |
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My bells just haven't produced much in the way of flowers, and for some reason they're half the size of the banana peppers. Pollination isn't much of a problem, I have my peppers and tomatoes companion planted with borage so there's always bees all over them. The bees just actually need something to pollinate. Honestly I only planted the bell peppers because we had way too many banana peppers last year. I pickled about half of them and we still have jars of pickled peppers from last year left over. I figured if I swapped half the banana peppers for bell peppers the kids could snack on them, but I think next year I'll assign the space I have dedicated to bell peppers to some other plant.
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| # ? Jul 20, 2012 20:28 |
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The thought occurred to me as I started up a few more seeds yesterday that maybe it would be cool to have an SA seed exchange thread. At the very least, when you buy a packet of seeds there are almost always more than you'll need to use in a season, and you end up buying a lot of seeds to the get the crop diversity you want. Also, for those of us who save seeds, we have plenty just sitting around. I've heard of local seed exchanges but I've never been to one. Is there any interest in this? Does anyone know if there are any legal issues with mailing seeds?
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| # ? Jul 21, 2012 20:16 |
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I think a few people were exchanging seed in this thread back in early spring. I figure seeds keep for several years easily so I don't worry too much about the ones I don't use from a packet. I don't think there are any legal issues to worry about. Usually the quarantines are on fruit and plants (and hop rhizomes). I put some work in on the squash trellis the other day:  I went back and forth horizontally between the poles and then went down from the horizontal support while tying onto each horizontal piece of twine, basically making a twine net. I still need to do the other side and the ends but it looks like it should work.
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| # ? Jul 21, 2012 21:10 |
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I finally took pictures of my garden. Its pretty messy right now. I need to go in and do some cleaning. I'm going to blame having to crunch at work, being pregnant, and bad weather patterns. A large shot of the area. I only got about half of the area I wanted to plant actually set up for planting this year. The plot on the right hand side needs to get cleaned out and have new seeds planted. The larger one in the middle is tomatoes and peppers in half and zucchini in the other half.  My roma tomatoes are doing fantastic this year.  This is mostly cantalope with a passion flower vine that's grown into it as well. Some green beans and summer squash at the bottom.  The sweet potato patch. This was sort of accidental. I got a big box of them from the farmers market earlier this year and they started to sprout because we didn't eat them fast enough so I figured I'd plant them and see how it goes. They get bigger by the day   This ended up being about 7 pounds of tomatoes that I'm making into sauce right now. 
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| # ? Jul 21, 2012 21:39 |
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My look at this large indeterminate Big Boy tomato plant over shadowing it's smaller brother on the right. Oh what's that, only three tomatoes on the entire thing? That seems odd.  These bell peppers are coming along nicely.  This used to be an 8x4 plot in the ground but the plants are taking over the yard.  Not pictured, the cumcumber plant just making GBS threads out millions of cucumbers every day.
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| # ? Jul 21, 2012 22:03 |
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Totally TWISTED posted:My look at this large indeterminate Big Boy tomato plant over shadowing it's smaller brother on the right. If you prune more aggressively when the indeterminate plants are younger they tend to produce more fruit and less plant. And yes, we're under siege by cucumber making GBS threads plants here as well. I picked about 3 lbs worth just today.
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| # ? Jul 22, 2012 00:06 |
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| # ? May 22, 2013 09:48 |
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mischief posted:If you prune more aggressively when the indeterminate plants are younger they tend to produce more fruit and less plant.
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| # ? Jul 22, 2012 00:25 |
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