Hey Fellow Floridians - Year 2

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Joyce - Are those Texas Tomato Cages in the picture with a lot of plants?

Also what is that cage in the last picture?

Keep posting pictures as your plants mature.

Sorry, Barb, I thought you meant the yellow cage.
That funky galvanized thing in the last picture is a 7ft tall vine support that I scored at the antique shop down the street.
DH replaced the ‘feet’ with new rods as they were starting to rust out. The rest is in great shape for 40 years old.
I’m growing pole beans up it at the minute. I’ll get a better picture tomorrow.

[efisakov]

So nice to see you all still having some tomato.

Barb, sorry to read about the hail. Hope it would not come back for many years.

Marsha, no mangoes. That is terrible. How is the pomegranate tree doing?

PlainJain, nice setup.

Larry, what is you next broccoli variety?

This area was supposed to be the start of the permanent herb garden but I delayed that so I could fit in more tomatoes.
Matsu Express, Curtis Cheek, KARMA Pink and Peach, Primary Colors, Carbon, Solar Flare XL (x2), Emerald Evergreen and Cherokee Lime Stripes left to right.
The arch has Seychelles pole beans.

The eggplant are in 2 galvanized containers on the patio. Prosperosa (x2), Thaï Purple Ribbed and Diamond.

General veggie gardening space is where an old hickory tree had to come out. It’s about 450 sq. ft. just leveled and mulched.
All the stone lying about is because the wall and pathways are still under construction.

Barb, here’s another shot of my favorite vine support I got from the antiques shop.

I had to fit the bush beans into the orchard/pollinator garden.

[Goodloe]

Very impressive looking operation!

Thank you Goodloe!

[Barb_FL]

Joyce - Everything looks so good and healthy.

Do you get a lot of wind where you are?

We had a huge storm late afternoon until about 9PM. Over an inch of rain. I went out around 11 PM with my headlight on and my tomato plants leaves looks so much more hydrated.

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Joyce - Everything looks so good and healthy.

Do you get a lot of wind where you are?

We had a huge storm late afternoon until about 9PM. Over an inch of rain. I went out around 11 PM with my headlight on and my tomato plants leaves looks so much more hydrated.

Yes, we do get winds, and are having a whopper thunderstorm as we speak.
This storm will dump at least an inch of rain. Hoping my bigger tomatoes don’t split.

We’re a block from the St. Johns river, but elevated on a little bluff; that makes for a strange microclimate sometimes.

[Barb_FL]

We had the same storm pass through too. Last night > 1 inch; I don't think as much today (or yet).

Do your fabric bags get gross; mine grow moss - sometimes in the middle of the season, I will go and pressure wash it (with the porch kind not the heavy duty gas ones). It doesn't hurt the plant at all; so it's just cosmetic. Since the season is coming to an end, I will wait and pressure wash once they are empty.

Love your cages and the antique ones too. I have a fortune in cages too b/c I need to be able to do everything myself. DH has no interest.

I imagine at the middle / end of your season, your tomato plants by the house are really busting at the seams. Mine start out where the spacing looks good, and by the time they are full grown and producing a lot, they are so intertwined I can't even tell which belongs to each other.

Next season: less plants.

Barb, I try to walk a fine line between aggressive sucker pruning and leaving enough foliage to avoid too much sun scald. Depends on each individual tomato, of course. This morning before the storm hit I was trying to space the plants more apart from each other. Went out just now to pick off snails, what a nuisance.

Yes, my fabric bags grow moss and get stained. I got some new ones this year as I retired a bunch to worm bins.
At the end of the season I try to empty, shake out and soak in a bleach solution the bags that are really mossy. I also use my Japanese farmers knife to scrape it off, but never thought of trying the pressure washer. I’ll have to remember that!

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by efisakov

So nice to see you all still having some tomato.

Barb, sorry to read about the hail. Hope it would not come back for many years.

Marsha, no mangoes. That is terrible. How is the pomegranate tree doing?

PlainJain, nice setup.

Larry, what is you next broccoli variety?

The pomegranate is doing fine. The neighborhood rat sure likes it.

[ginger2778]

Does anyone know if using sluggo is harmful to anything that's not a snail or slug?