The EarthTainer "Farm" in Northern California - April 1
 

Well, just about everything is in the ground for the upcoming Season. Tomatoes have been in for a month now, and are doing fine:

[IMG]http://i1066.photobucket.com/albums/u405/raybo31/IMG_2366_zpseb390c41.jpg[/IMG]

Cukes have been in for 3 weeks:

[IMG]http://i1066.photobucket.com/albums/u405/raybo31/IMG_2345_zps97eab935.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1066.photobucket.com/albums/u405/raybo31/IMG_2346_zps2df292f2.jpg[/IMG]

Snow Peas on the left; Sugar Snap Peas on the right:

[IMG]http://i1066.photobucket.com/albums/u405/raybo31/IMG_2369_zpsca05c1f9.jpg[/IMG]

The Big Bertha and Colossal Peppers went in yesterday:

[IMG]http://i1066.photobucket.com/albums/u405/raybo31/IMG_2347_zps5377683b.jpg[/IMG]

A bit of color in the garden:

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I call these my "Mother-in-law" flowers - for obvious reason! Dear Wife did not think highly of this.:twisted:

Raybo

Ray

Looking great! Keep us updated. I am pretty much only growing dwarves this summer-all are in but one. Already have a couple fruit set.

Wow! I'm not that far away, but it's still too early here to start my cucumbers. Someone at the community garden mentioned that we got a freeze in mid-April last year. All I've planted so far is peas.

Raybo,

Fantastic as always!

He just likes to make me drool with envy !

Impressive!

Raybo, those Birds of Paradise flowers are gorgeous and the rest of the garden looks great too. I miss the Birds of Paradise being everywhere like in California. I think I am going to plant some here, they should do well in the tropical climate.

Hey Raybo looking good!

Most of my earth tainers are a month old as well, but 4 of my plants are wilting. I think they are goners. The second tomato plant in each is doing fine. Do I pull out the dead ones and start over? The mix is new this year.

Have you had this issue before? Any tips on a plan of action to replace them? Do I need to use a wilt resistant in its place?

- Virtex

8-)Awesome job so far, Raybo.

Great looking, Ray. :)
How tall do you predict your tomatoes are going to be? I can see from the pictures that the metal rods are reaching the pergola.

Virtex,

I think you still have time to pull any plants that look like they won't make it and replace. But I would want to do a "failure analysis" first on why these plants didn't do well. Are you using the 3:2:1 mix ratio (and nothing more) or have you added new ingredients?

efisakov,

When the plants reach 7 feet tall, I top them as I need to install the Sun shade for July / August protection from sunscald.

Raybo:D

Hi Ray, I'm already enjoying your threads this season. Nice pics!

BTW, I noticed you fit in only 2 peppers per Tainer. I'm trying three slightly offset in the row. Have you done 3 or 4 before? If so, any major drawbacks?

-naysen

Naysen,

It depends on the size of Peppers I am growing. These are Big Bertha and Colossal plants, so I want to give them a lot of room. In the past I found that size and yield were proportional to the elbow-room each plant had. If I were growing hot Peppers, etc. then tighter spacing would work fine.

BTW, all tomatoes have now produced multiple flower blooms - but can't see any fruitset yet...

Raybo:D

Everything is looking good as usual.

Thanks raybo, you mentioned the mix, have you seen this issue before? Last year I had one plant do this same thing.

Replanted 3 out of 4 of my wilting plants. The roots were brown and broke very easy. Is this a sign of rotting?

I removed some of the soil and replaced it with some new mix. I am hoping it is just localized to one side of my box and that replacing some soil will solve it.

So glad I planted early, better to have issues now than in July.

Thanks for your input

The brown roots could be a sign of too much moisture in the mix. I've not experienced this before so maybe others can give you better advice. Does the mix appear wet when you scoop out a handful? What base mix are you using?

Raybo

Black Magic potting soil from Big Lots which looks a lot like what you describe promix to be and some a kellog product which is a combination of fine bark, perlite and has dolomite added. My mix looks and feels like you describe yours to be.

Its possible I didn't mix them together good enough. When I dug out some of the dirt it did seem a bit moist that was probably it.

Thanks for the input

Virtex,

When you mention "potting soil" I get very nervous. I've never had a good experience using potting soil in a container. On the bag, what is the first ingredient listed? You want it to be Sphagnum Peat.

Raybo:o

EDIT: I stand corrected!

The first ingredient is Sphagnum Peat.

Wish I was rich so i could buy the fancy stuff. Currently unemployed so I guess I will just have to take my chance with what I got. 20 of my plants are doing great in the same mix, so its not a total loss. I have tons of extra tomato plants so replanting isn't a big deal.

My success rate is pretty high, it seems it is hard to mess up tomatoes, they just want to grow. My black cherry last year was 10 feet tall.

Thanks for the suggestions, I will post a pic so you can check mine out

Here's my concrete container garden...got a couple plants that are 2 feet tall. The brandywine is looking good, my tiger-like has got a couple fruit set. My sungold is in a 15 gallon smart pot. Looking like a real good tomato year.

[IMG]http://www.tomatoville.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=32522&stc=1&d=1365037824[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.tomatoville.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=32523&stc=1&d=1365037824[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.tomatoville.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=32524&stc=1&d=1365037824[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.tomatoville.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=32525&stc=1&d=1365037824[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.tomatoville.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=32526&stc=1&d=1365037824[/IMG]

Sun Gold

[IMG]http://www.tomatoville.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=32527&stc=1&d=1365037824[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.tomatoville.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=32528&stc=1&d=1365037824[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.tomatoville.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=32529&stc=1&d=1365037824[/IMG]

Lettuce, radishes, zuccini

[IMG]http://www.tomatoville.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=32530&stc=1&d=1365037824[/IMG]


Thanks for looking

Virtex - looks excellent!!:yes::yes::yes:

Keep us updated with photos, when you can.

Raybo:D

Virtex,
I will echo Ray. Wow, great setup! Plants look great. On your way to a "concrete jungle". Best of luck on or a bountiful harvest.

wow... nice

[QUOTE=Mark0820;337924]Everything is looking good as usual.[/QUOTE]

Mark, thanks for the seeds of Sarah black you send me. They germinated and looking good.
thank you:)

Nice looking plants Virtex! At the rate you are going, you are going to need figure out some additional means of supporting those plants. When they are blasting past 6 feet and heading for 10 plus, those green garden stakes won't be enough. Not sure if they will work on those tubs or not (think they will) but you might look into Raybos detachable tall cages made from Gurney's pea fences. I believe someone posted a coupon code the other day for a significant discount on those. Good luck!

Dewayne Mater

Dewayne,

The EarthTainer cages will not adapt to the containers Virtex is using. I would recommend an inexpensive trellis mesh netting suspended from a "Tee" support base made of 2" PVC across his container array.

Raybo;)

They all look good to me. You guys must spend a fortune on containers and mix.

b54red,

If you average out the cost of the containers over a 5 to 8 year lifespan, they are not too bad. Also, as you can see with Virtex' setup, many of us are relegated to grow on concrete patios or wooden decks so cost becomes a relative issue.

Raybo:)

Raybo - Great looking plants (as usual).

Last year you experimented with 4 of the Dwarf Project plants in one 'Tainer. I couldn't find any final conclusion as to whether or not that crowds them too much or if it works. Did it work? Are you planting the same scheme with the Dwarves this year? :?!?:

Thanks in advance - Dan

Dan,

You have a good memory!;)

Even though the Dwarf plants are more compact, growing 4 of them was just too dense. 3 would be the maximum I would recommend in the 31 gallon EarthTainer.

Raybo