2021 Alameda, CA Container Garden

[garyc1234]

I haven't done any plantings in a few years due to back problems and lack of time due to my family's fourth child. I showed my container garden from 2016 here (Link). I also did a planting for 2017, but that failed miserably as I have no record or memory of what happened.

My gardening methods are for no one to copy, but more for those who lack the time and/or money to do things properly. On Feb 20th, I used old seeds from 2016/2017, and put ~10 seeds each into old plastic cup with holes on the bottom (again from 2016/17). My old grow light setup wasn't working, so during the day, I put the cups outside (they were in a cardboard box from costco to make it easier to carry), and at nighttime, I put them back in the garage, so they wouldn't get too cold. On April 20th, I then potted up most of the to larger containers with one plant each. On May 21st, I potted up the rest of the plants. For my initial seeding, I just used my old potting mix which I still had from 2016/17. For my potting up, I continued to use my old potting mix, but mixed in some Miracle Grow Potting Mix (no moisture control). Barlow Japan, Druzba, Goose Creek, KBX, Margaret Curtain, Momotaro, and Sungold F1 did not germinate at all.

Here are the plants that did germinate with the # that I potted up on Apr 20th being the first number, and the May21st, the second number.

Abe Lincoln: 2, 1
Bear Creek: 1, 0
Better Boy: 5, 4
Black and Brown Boar: 2, 0
Brandy Boy: 2, 0
Brandywine: 0, 1
GGWT: 5, 0
Moreton: 2, 1
Neves Azorean Red: 1, 0
Purple Haze: 2, 0
Ramapo: 1, 1
Rutgers: 3, 0
SNFLA: 1, 0
Stump of the World: 2, 1
Sweet Million: 1, 1

Pictures for the plants are from earlier today.

[rnewste]

Gary,

Looks like you are off to a good start this Year. Weather in the Bay area has been excellent so far.

Raybo

[Koala Doug]

Lookin' nice!

[garyc1234]

Thanks, Raybo, Doug!

I've potted up about half my plants now (16). I wish I could do it faster, but I usually just have the time and energy to pot up 4 plants in one day twice a week, so 8 plants a week. The plants are stressed until they are potted up, but once they adjust to their new larger pot, they usually do really well.

[garyc1234]

Finally finished potting up all of my plants on June 30th. I really should have finished this by the end of April, not the end of June. This is obvious, but once the plants were moved to the bigger pots, they really grew a lot faster. I'm going to really have to plan this better next year.

Here are a couple of pictures of where I am now. Same plants, but different angles. Some of them already have tiny tomatoes. Hopefully, I'll be able to taste them sometime in August.

[GreenThumbGal_07]

It's almost August! Any tastes yet?
Beautiful garden. Container gardeners have to be resourceful.

[Shrinkrap]

Well done!

[simmran1]

Stump of the World was the name given by Ben Quisenberry of Syracuse, Ohio for a large rosy red beefsteak with each fruit in the 1-pound range. Under most conditions this plant grows vigorously with potato leaf foliage.
Even though it’s a favorite amongst heirloom tomato growers, seeds are hard to find, as the Sample Seed Shop, (now closed) was the only supplier. The history of his heirs state, after Ben had grown all of the different strains of Brandywine tomatoes, and being a devout Christian, he named this one ‘Stump of the World', which is a bible reference to the stump or root of Jesse as read in Isaiah 11:1.

[garyc1234]

Thanks for the background for Stump of the World! I got my seeds from Delectations in 2016/17.

[Shrinkrap]

Thanks for the update!

[garyc1234]

Finally, tasted my first tomatoes a couple of days ago. The first one here is a Sweet Million cherry tomato. A handful of these have already ripened. To be frank, these tasted like decent store bought tomatoes. It definitely had a good tomato taste to it, but didn't taste very special. Here are my initial grades:

Taste: 3/5
Productivity: 3.5/5

Summary: good tasting cherry tomatoes, but not special. a lot of tomatoes on my two plants, but cherry tomatoes are typical more productive than larger tomatoes, so I'd still say, it's only a slightly better than average for productivity.

Overall: Will not re-grow next year. Too many other potentially better cherry tomatoes to try out.

[garyc1234]

The next ripened tomato is a believe a stunted (i.e., smaller than normal) Black and Brown Boar tomato. I won't give a full grade now since I believe this is a smaller than typical for this type. The taste for this tomato that I tried was decent, but also not special. I'd give it a 3/5, but I'll wait for the larger ones to ripen to see if the grade changes any.

The bad news is that I'm starting to see some powdery mildew on my plants, which plagued me the last time I grew tomatoes. I've already "quarantined" to a different location the most affected plant (a GGWT). Hopefully, it won't spread to all of my plants. I know I should spread out the containers more to give more space between the plants, but I'm trying to save my backyard for my kids to play in rather than it being entirely devoted to my tomato plants.

[GreenThumbGal_07]

Originally Posted by garyc1234

Finally, tasted my first tomatoes a couple of days ago. The first one here is a Sweet Million cherry tomato. A handful of these have already ripened. To be frank, these tasted like decent store bought tomatoes. It definitely had a good tomato taste to it, but didn't taste very special. Here are my initial grades:

Taste: 3/5
Productivity: 3.5/5

Summary: good tasting cherry tomatoes, but not special. a lot of tomatoes on my two plants, but cherry tomatoes are typical more productive than larger tomatoes, so I'd still say, it's only a slightly better than average for productivity.

Overall: Will not re-grow next year. Too many other potentially better cherry tomatoes to try out.

You should try Gardener's Delight (Sugar Lump) if you haven't already. It's really good.

[garyc1234]

Originally Posted by GreenThumbGal_07

You should try Gardener's Delight (Sugar Lump) if you haven't already. It's really good.

Thanks for the recommendation! I think that I grew Gardener's Delight a long time ago, but I've forgotten how it tasted. I'll have to put it back on my list to try again!

[garyc1234]

Brandy Boy is the next tomato up for review. The plant has yellowed fairly quickly, but there is still decent productivity on it. This tomato had decent appearance, but another one that I had, had significant catfacing. The taste was also bland. Maybe I overwatered it.

Taste: 2.5/5
Productivity: 3/5

Overall: Will not re-grow unless later tomatoes significantly improve on the taste.

I will add that I had one huge Brandy Boy tomato that is ripening right now. I'm very curious on how that one will taste.