A couple picture of newbie tomato plants

[Mjdtexan]

Here are a few pictures. This is my first time growing anything at all. If yall see where I can improve, please point me in that direction

[geeboss]

Looks like your off to a great start. Keep us posted of your progress to ripe tomatoes. Yum

George

[dice]

Seems like your tomato stakes could be a little taller. Nice
looking plants, though.

[Gobig_or_Gohome_toms]

Originally Posted by dice

Seems like your tomato stakes could be a little taller. Nice
looking plants, though.

Maybe some type of mulch as well? Nice looking plants.

Craig

[Barbee]

Nice looking plants.
Is that a chicken house I see behind the tomatoes?

[Mjdtexan]

Originally Posted by dice

Seems like your tomato stakes could be a little taller. Nice
looking plants, though.

Thank You. Yes, they needed to be taller. I had no idea the plants were going to get that big.

Originally Posted by Gobig or Gohome toms

Maybe some type of mulch as well? Nice looking plants.

Craig

Thank You. What kind of mulch do yall recommend? I have a bunch of straw and hay. Dont you have to remove mulch before you till it under for the next planting? Remember, I dont know exactly, this is my first time.

Originally Posted by Barbee

Nice looking plants.
Is that a chicken house I see behind the tomatoes?

Thank You. Yes, that is a chicken house. I have nineteen girls. No roosters, ya feed roosters and dont get eggs. I reckon they are about 5½ months old. Fixin to get 20 more in October so that they will turn laying age in Spring.

[dice]

Dont you have to remove mulch before you till it under for the next planting?

Straw is popular for this. You do not have to remove it, you
can till it in. If the next crop is a fall crop (if the mulch is
from the spring crop), you might get some nitrogen drawdown
tilling it in (straw is a high-carbon material), so one would need
to add a little extra nitrogen of some kind with it, maybe a
high-nitrogen amendment like grass clippings, alfalfa, etc.
If the mulch was wood chips, that is a really high-carbon
material, so one would need more nitrogen to compensate
than for the straw (for the first year it is in the ground).

A lot of people do remove it, though, because it will hold spores
from fungal and bacterial foliage diseases. Removing the mulch
completely from the garden area minimizes the risk of
reinfecting the next crop with disease spores in the mulch.

Some people don't sweat it. They figure that the chance of the
spores making it up through the soil and a new layer of fresh
mulch is minimal. (The spores frequently infect plants via
splashback from the dirt in a hard rain. That does not happen
much with fresh mulch on top of the soil.) So they just till it
in and go.

There are two theories on what to do with it if you do remove
it. One is to move it somewhere so far from the garden that
there is no chance that the spores will get carried by wind or
bugs back to the next crop. You can scatter it over pasture,
or under trees, somewhere where you still get some benefit
from the organic matter in it as it breaks down. The other
theory is to mix it into a compost pile, so that the compost
will build up a population of organisms that prey on the disease
spores or organisms, kind of like creating a vaccine in the
compost against that particular disease, that will be
incorporated into the garden as the compost is mixed in.

With plants that sprawl, rather than being staked or caged
up vertically, mulch helps protect ripening fruit against
disease organisms in the soil.

[veggie babe]

You are off to a great start. It maybe beginners luck---- but the plants look healthy and I think you are on the right track. I'm fairly new to this myself so the more seasoned gardeners will have to help with any problems you might have.
I say just have fun and enjoy

neva

[Mjdtexan]

Originally Posted by dice

Straw is popular for this. You do not have to remove it, you
can till it in. If the next crop is a fall crop (if the mulch is
from the spring crop), you might get some nitrogen drawdown
tilling it in (straw is a high-carbon material), so one would need
to add a little extra nitrogen of some kind with it, maybe a
high-nitrogen amendment like grass clippings, alfalfa, etc.
If the mulch was wood chips, that is a really high-carbon
material, so one would need more nitrogen to compensate
than for the straw (for the first year it is in the ground).

A lot of people do remove it, though, because it will hold spores
from fungal and bacterial foliage diseases. Removing the mulch
completely from the garden area minimizes the risk of
reinfecting the next crop with disease spores in the mulch.

Some people don't sweat it. They figure that the chance of the
spores making it up through the soil and a new layer of fresh
mulch is minimal. (The spores frequently infect plants via
splashback from the dirt in a hard rain. That does not happen
much with fresh mulch on top of the soil.) So they just till it
in and go.

There are two theories on what to do with it if you do remove
it. One is to move it somewhere so far from the garden that
there is no chance that the spores will get carried by wind or
bugs back to the next crop. You can scatter it over pasture,
or under trees, somewhere where you still get some benefit
from the organic matter in it as it breaks down. The other
theory is to mix it into a compost pile, so that the compost
will build up a population of organisms that prey on the disease
spores or organisms, kind of like creating a vaccine in the
compost against that particular disease, that will be
incorporated into the garden as the compost is mixed in.

With plants that sprawl, rather than being staked or caged
up vertically, mulch helps protect ripening fruit against
disease organisms in the soil.

I have these two piles of horse manure that I am composting. One is for spring 2010, it is composting fairly quickly though I might be able to use some of it for this fall. I am not quite sure what I am doing as far as compost goes but I know that I need compost piles. The other is for spring 2011 and I expect it to grow much larger. There are about 50 horses in the neighborhood. I ply the owners with some homemade wine and the stuff just becomes available.



I've noticed that some of my leaves touch the ground, do I need to remove those particular branches, I see it alot in the tomato plants that I have in planters that I've built.

Originally Posted by veggie babe

You are off to a great start. It maybe beginners luck---- but the plants look healthy and I think you are on the right track. I'm fairly new to this myself so the more seasoned gardeners will have to help with any problems you might have.
I say just have fun and enjoy

neva

Thank You.

I am currently looking for a good tiller for my tractor. This is the field that I am going to till up this fall for my spring 2010 garden. Right now I have four garden bed around my main yards. I figure I might as well put that back pasture to use instead of having to brush hog it all the time

[Barbee]

I wanna hear more about the wine

[Mjdtexan]

Originally Posted by Barbee

I wanna hear more about the wine

Well, currently I am making Hard Apple Cider (the neighborhood favorite around here), Strawberry wine, Blackberry wine, Strawberry/Banana wine and I am making a nice Blackberry Cabernet for the more sophisticated wine palates around here.

I actually have to start 3 or more gallons of Hard Apple Cider every three weeks to keep folks satisfied around the neighborhood.

Whats really funny is that my ex wife drank ALOT of wine. She would be mad to know that I have a wine closet now with gallons and gallons of the stuff. I didnt like wine, we've not yet been divorced a year yet. She's gonna be mad.

[mater-head]

Nice garden, I like the red pickup! :-)

[Mjdtexan]

Originally Posted by mater-head

Nice garden, I like the red pickup! :-)

Thank You. 63 Ford. Runs well

[dice]

If you mulch with straw, you can fork it into the manure piles
after the plants are done. Composting manure that far in
advance, the straw will be well-composted, too, by the time
you use it, and carbon-nitrogen issues will have been resolved
by then.

Hay is good stuff, too, it is simply usually more weedy (higher
seed content than straw). I like it better for a compost
ingredient than for mulch.

If you mow that field that you intend to till up, it looks like
you would have a wealth of grass clippings there. Grass
clippings are an excellent mulch that does not have any
nitrogen drawdown issues when tilled in after a crop.
(Works well in a compost pile if you remove it after a crop,
too.)

[Mjdtexan]

Originally Posted by dice

If you mulch with straw, you can fork it into the manure piles
after the plants are done. Composting manure that far in
advance, the straw will be well-composted, too, by the time
you use it, and carbon-nitrogen issues will have been resolved
by then.

Hay is good stuff, too, it is simply usually more weedy (higher
seed content than straw). I like it better for a compost
ingredient than for mulch.

If you mow that field that you intend to till up, it looks like
you would have a wealth of grass clippings there. Grass
clippings are an excellent mulch that does not have any
nitrogen drawdown issues when tilled in after a crop.
(Works well in a compost pile if you remove it after a crop,
too.)

Grass clippins as mulch huh? Never thought about that. That might work. What about when I water. I water with a sprinkler system, will the water make it past the grass clippings to the roots of the tomatoes (or any other vegetable for that matter)?

Thank You for the advice.