AK 2013 greenhouse, smart pots

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This one fell over.

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I have been picking a nice mix this week, some real winners. I have had a couple of disappointments too, OP Big Beef is just ok for me, great yield, no gain over the hybrid version I've grown off and on for 20 years, Box Car Willie is horrible for me, gave it several chances two different plants.
I like Neves Azorean Red much better than BB for a nice red slicer, great yield, very pretty, and good taste.

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In the past, for me anyway, trying a Brandywine in AK meant wasted space. However... by correcting my environment and having a good summer to boot, I was gifted a bunch of jewels. Yum, yum, yum, I love 3 out of 4 types(Sudduth's, Heirloom, OTV) and the 4th(Red) is still good, and Brandyboy the hybrid is close and is pretty good too. I am also fairly happy with the yields too, not bad, 20-30 tomatoes per plant. You lower 48 folks should appreciate being able to grow such varieties outside in a garden, pure tomato joy.
I am hooked, I want to find any seed available that is of Brandywine strains, crosses of them, even a claim of a better tomato will be tried. I have been enlightened, my tomato chakaras wide open, and have been reading alot more info pertaining to these tomatoes. Yum

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What a summer in AK, everything is looking so good this year.

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More pics of the tomatoes, so far everything is going well.

[LDx4]

Mark,

Beautiful plants. You mentioned that you achieved success when you corrected your environment. Was that by going to greenhouse growing or did you change some other things in your growing methods? You truly have an amazing garden!

Lyn

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I put a thread in Undercover Gardening which explains my thought and my fix to a common AK problem when growing tomatoes/ long cold winters, short summers. If I can do it anyone can, I am just a gardener type guy, nothing special in my house.
I used an unheated greenhouse in the past, and have had some nice crops, but I was always at the mercy of cold spring weather, and cold soil, which certainly affects growth rate and yield, so I had to throw some heat in there.
I changed to containers from raised beds, and went to a continuous feed fertilizer. Started late season stuff February 15, under a light,did not let my night time temps drop below 62, gave warm water, have alot of fan circulation with good exhaust vent, and what a difference, I was eating tomatoes by the end of May.
Start early, feed well in fluffy medium, keep the air turned over, keep temps where they love it.
Thanks, I have worked for this one.
Mark in AK

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This tree thing almost got the axe from lack of production, a good haircut changed everything.

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I had some really nice Blk Krim this year, grew bigger tomatoes on other varieties, but this is pure beefsteak beauty and my fav. of the year so far.

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A tray of color, Amana Orange, Hillbilly N . Lights, Azoychka, blks and pinks and red.

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The pressure cooker has been getting used alot, tomatoes are ripening up nice. This week I sure could feel a change in weather.

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Looks like the slab production is slowing, so I will post a few pics of my favs of the year, size wise that is.
This is the Brain, which weighed 2.975lbs, and is a Caspian Pink. CP for me was also the best producer of overall yield, but it also produced more tomatoes over a pound than all others. They were/are tricky to grow sometimes though, they hate the long length of day up here, foilage severly suffers, do not like to be over watered, who cares, they yield beautiful pink globes in abundance and taste good too. The odd shaped Brain is not the typical CP looking tomato

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1884 produced three big tomatoes over 1.5lbs; 2.13lbs, 1.69lbs, and 1.78lbs. Two plants probably exceeded 20lbs yield also, one for sure.

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My Blk Krim slab was my favorite tomato I have ever grown,(pic posted somewhere) just beautiful to look at and taste great to boot. Chocolate Stripes also stood out; visually appealing, yields good, taste great, and kicked out some slabs over a pound, very pretty.

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I just like this pic., heirlooms are fun, and you can grow any of them in the north with a few extra measures to shore up their environment. What fun