tomato garden pics on Oct 6 2011

[kygreg]

Todays harvest:

First row left to right:

Erica d'Australie, Emma Pink, Brave General

Second row left to right:

Brandywine Liams, Garden Leader Monster, Red Barn, Athens

The BL is the last fruit for it this year, has been very productive and one of the best tasting of the year.

GLM is a hybrid variety

The Red Barn weighs 20 oz

Athens weighs 18 oz; I was disappointed because by looking at I thought it was going to weigh about 22-24 oz.

[zeroma]

Greg, how did you like the Brave General? What are the plant's good and bad issues? The Brave General in your above photo looks unique for shape. And huge! I've looked at the tomatodatabase here about the plant but there is nothing as good as a personal review.

Do you haveand seeds? I'm doing a Patriotic tomato project - you can look at the threads on that under General Dis. if you like.

That is one of the last ones I'm looking for, but would really like your experience with it. Love your bucket system. The plants all look so healthy. Great Job Greg!!!

[lakelady]

KYGreg, do you use pvc pipe for stakes? I had trouble with my stakes last year because by the time I got them in the ground (standing on a 6' stepladder) well, they were only about 5' tall. Staking allows me to prune, but I'm a little dangerous on a ladder lol...

[kygreg]

zeroma,

Brave General is a very good variety of Russian Origin. I got my original seeds from Baker's Creek. I have grown it for 2 or 3 years. It has good production and very good taste and I had no problems with it. It is mid to late season.

PM me your address and I will get some out to you.

[kygreg]

lakelady,

I stake with 6' t-posts and I use 3 ft pvc pipe for extensions on the t-posts if needed and the majority time they are needed. I get the 1 1/4 inch size which fits snugly over the t=posts. I get the cheaper class pvc pipe( am not even sure they make it any more) in 10 ft lengths.

[zeroma]

Thanks kygreg! Your fruit looked so interesting!

[coinshooter]

are those 5gal pail or smaller

[kygreg]

Originally Posted by coinshooter

are those 5gal pail or smaller

The majoritly are 5 gallon buckets but some are 8 and 9 gallon buckets. Please note that I call these bucket sleeves because I cut the buckets in half and then cut the bottom out of the the lower half. It makes it easier to cut if you do it in that oder.

So the plants grow into the ground and the base is surrounded by the bucket sleeve. It is just the method I use. I dig my 105 holes in the fall and add soil ammendments then and then dig the holes again in the spring when I plant the seedling. The bucket sleeves keep my big feet off the seedlings or plants; also when I add soil ammendments and/or water I only have to do this inside the bucket sleeves. Also I can add compost and/or potting mix inside the sleeve as the seedling grows so it kind of like potting up in a sense. I have never had a cutworm when using a bucket sleeve. One drawback is that squirrels really like to bury nuts in the soft earth mixture inside the bucket sleeves. But if it gets too bad, I can use a screen of some type to keep them out.