What are you doing differently this year...

Qweniden · January 18, 2011

What are you doing differently this year?

Here is what Im going to do differently this year:

Use cages - Stakes were a disaster for me. I had a really hard time keeping the plants upright
No Plum tomatoes - Especially the long/skinny kind. I like the taste but these had the worst BER for me. Not worth it.
Space the plants out more. I had them too close. This didnt result in any disease but I couldnt get between some plants and missed alot of tomatoes because I couldn't reach them.
Use an irrigation system. This will allow me to have more consistent watering and will allow me to go out of town easier.
Grow less kinds of vegetables - Cucumbers, eggplants, green beans and other vegetables didnt do well for me (mostly in containers). Im going to focus on tomatoes and herbs with just a few summer squashes
Dont freak out about early season BER - Most of my plants did fine as the season went along. My morale was pretty badly effected last year early in the season.
Keep a close eye out for Tomato Horn Worms - They destroyed alot of tomato plants before I even knew such a creature existed. I hate those evil things.
Use some hay as mulch - This should help evaporation in our hot summer climate. Especially in containers.
No "Early" varieties - These had ZERO taste when I grew them. Not worth the effort.

catwabbit · January 18, 2011

I'm going to not have surgery this year, if at all possible.

I've had 10 operations since December of 2009, most major but some minor. I did my best to raise my seedlings last year despite a rebuilt left shoulder and right hand, but I had another spine surgery in June so there went my first gardening season in my first house. I'm starting again this year, and this time I hope to make it to SETTFest to meet some of the forum members and taste some of the tomatoes I've only been able to dream about.

But this year, it's gonna happen!

(I hope...)

Ruth_10 · January 18, 2011

1) Put out fewer tomato plants.

2) Have a good laugh at #1.

kygreg · January 18, 2011

Except for a couple of early varieties; not going to put seedling in ground until at least first week in May. (at least that's what I am saying now.)

Chucker · January 18, 2011

I'm switching from organic fertilizer to Miracle-gro. My plants really lacked nutrients last year. I want more control over the nutrients they receive.

rnewste · January 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chucker

I'm switching from organic fertilizer to Miracle-gro. My plants really lacked nutrients last year. I want more control over the nutrients they receive.

Chucker,

I wouldn't automatically default to a general purpose fert like Miracle-Gro. Others have good success with tomato specific type fertilizers. Damon uses (I think) Lily Miller with excellent results. Maybe he will read this Thread and post. Others report good results with Foliage-Pro fertilizer supplemented with Pro-Tekt. I am going to do trials of FloraMato vs. Tomato-tone this Season. Miracle-Gro should be the "last" one on your list, in my personal opinion.

Raybo

FILMNET · January 18, 2011

Fish/seaweed emulsion to the best you can spread this on leaves also.

Qweniden · January 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chucker

I'm switching from organic fertilizer to Miracle-gro. My plants really lacked nutrients last year. I want more control over the nutrients they receive.

What were your symptoms from lacking nutrients?

Chucker · January 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qweniden

What were your symptoms from lacking nutrients?

Well, first, I guess I should say that I'm growing in SWCs. This will be my 3rd year in SWCs. The first year, I used miracle grow potting mix (with the fertilizer built in) and Tomato-tone. I had amazing success - the plants were huge and productive. The second year, I re-used the potting mix, bit added bark fines and perlite to Raybo's proportions, I think 3:2:1,but can't really remember - and Tomato-tone. The mix is great, but it I think it lacked the fertilizer that was there the first year.

I had very thin plants - very few leaves, and while I had a ton of tomatoes, they were all smaller than they should have been. I think this is due to the lack of additional fertilizer that originally came in the mix.

So this year, while I might still use the Tomato-tone in the fertilizer strips, I plan to add liquid fertilizer when I water, hoping to get better plant growth and larger tomatoes.

I'm also going to start my seedlings a lot earlier - I would like to try to have them pot-bound by the time I plant out. It's all about experimenting and learning

.

Chucker · January 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by rnewste

Chucker,

I wouldn't automatically default to a general purpose fert like Miracle-Gro. Others have good success with tomato specific type fertilizers. Damon uses (I think) Lily Miller with excellent results. Maybe he will read this Thread and post. Others report good results with Foliage-Pro fertilizer supplemented with Pro-Tekt. I am going to do trials of FloraMato vs. Tomato-tone this Season. Miracle-Gro should be the "last" one on your list, in my personal opinion.

Raybo

Raybo -
I had decided on the Miracle-gro based on the readings Ive done in Al's threads at the other board. I wanted to give the 3:1:2 idea a try. Maybe I'll try half the plants one way, half the other. I just had disappointing results my second year vs. the first. Could have been the weather too. It was wet and cold most of the summer.

But there's still tons of time for me before plant-out in my area, so I may change my mind some more. I'm just getting excited to start growing and have been reading a ton.

husker nana · January 18, 2011

Keep a better record on what variety each plant is.
Less squash.
More Eggplant, Broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts.
Water on regular basis.
Pick fruit and vegetables when ripe.
Keep after weeds.
First time trying corn glutten meal to suppress weeds in the garden.

We live in the country and this past year the mosquitoes were so bad that you couldn't go out to the garden long enough to water or weed. We would harvest only what we needed at the time.

rnewste · January 18, 2011

Chucker,

"""Well, first, I guess I should say that I'm growing in SWCs. This will be my 3rd year in SWCs. The first year, I used miracle grow potting mix (with the fertilizer built in)"""

Don't at all count on ANY beneficial fertilizer effect from that in the Miracle-Gro Potting Mix itself. Their NPK is something like .010-.007-.05. Virtually nothing, as is required for tomatoes. In my view, this is a Marketing gimmick by the Potting Mix Companies (Sta-Green does this too).

I would attribute your last year's results to mainly the poor weather, as you report. Give Tomato-tone another go, supplemented with Grow-Big, and later, Big-Bloom liquid ferts.

Raybo

tam91 · January 18, 2011

Well before I read this thread, I was planning on posting that I was going to try for some better fertilizer. I'm growing in containers, and used miracle-grow. It did ok, but I bet I could get better production. I'm a bit short on sun too, so the plants probably need all they can get. I will be reading the forum to figure out the best ideas on fertilizers.

Florida weave all the way - the cages will stay in storage (ya never know) unless I plant early and use them to hold plastic for a while.

I'm going to try to grow my tomatoes from seed - that's brand new for me.

And I'm going to devote more of my (limited) space to tomatoes. The sweet peppers work eventually, but they take so long and are readily available in the store, I'm going to scrap them and let tomatoes take over their space (I'm keeping the hot peppers, have to make my pepper jelly!)

newatthiskat · January 18, 2011

This year I plan to do several different things. Unfortunately I can not control mother nature. I am already behind on planting seeds. I am planting in a few moments. This year I have bought my normal burpee seed starting kit. Always pulls out good results, but I did get one this year that helps control watering. My number one problem during seedling and full grown plant is not enough control over water. I have sand soil and can not do much about that. I live in Texas and can't control heat. I have been doing the hole method past three years. This year the hole will be bigger and will have peat, pearlite, composted manure and a secret blend of nutrient rich ingredients (actually what ever I have on hand). It is usually a secret to me until I plant out.

This year I am getting hay (can never find straw here for some reason) to help preserve moisture in soil. I really want to go to cages but money is limited so doubt that. Mainly I am enlising help from family to maintain and weed. If they want tomatoes, salsa, tomato sauce, they will help with the growing.
Kat

lemurian · January 18, 2011

This year I am going to PRUNE PRUNE PRUNE. I'm trying to squeeze in as many different varieties as I can and even though I spaced reasonably well last year, I had an impenetrable forest of tomato plants that made it difficult to harvest. It's so against my nature to prune anything, but I'm going to try this year. Come August, however, it might be a bit difficult to have yet another task to accomplish whilst enduring the heat and mosquitoes!

January 18, 2011	#3
Ruth_10 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MO z6a near St. Louis Posts: 1,349	1) Put out fewer tomato plants. 2) Have a good laugh at #1. __________________ --Ruth Some say the glass half-full. Others say the glass is half-empty. To an engineer, it’s twice as big as it needs to be.

January 18, 2011	#14
newatthiskat Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: texas Posts: 1,451	Reply This year I plan to do several different things. Unfortunately I can not control mother nature. I am already behind on planting seeds. I am planting in a few moments. This year I have bought my normal burpee seed starting kit. Always pulls out good results, but I did get one this year that helps control watering. My number one problem during seedling and full grown plant is not enough control over water. I have sand soil and can not do much about that. I live in Texas and can't control heat. I have been doing the hole method past three years. This year the hole will be bigger and will have peat, pearlite, composted manure and a secret blend of nutrient rich ingredients (actually what ever I have on hand). It is usually a secret to me until I plant out. This year I am getting hay (can never find straw here for some reason) to help preserve moisture in soil. I really want to go to cages but money is limited so doubt that. Mainly I am enlising help from family to maintain and weed. If they want tomatoes, salsa, tomato sauce, they will help with the growing. Kat

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January 18, 2011	#1
Qweniden Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Sacramento, California Posts: 267	What are you doing differently this year... What are you doing differently this year? Here is what Im going to do differently this year: Use cages - Stakes were a disaster for me. I had a really hard time keeping the plants upright No Plum tomatoes - Especially the long/skinny kind. I like the taste but these had the worst BER for me. Not worth it. Space the plants out more. I had them too close. This didnt result in any disease but I couldnt get between some plants and missed alot of tomatoes because I couldn't reach them. Use an irrigation system. This will allow me to have more consistent watering and will allow me to go out of town easier. Grow less kinds of vegetables - Cucumbers, eggplants, green beans and other vegetables didnt do well for me (mostly in containers). Im going to focus on tomatoes and herbs with just a few summer squashes Dont freak out about early season BER - Most of my plants did fine as the season went along. My morale was pretty badly effected last year early in the season. Keep a close eye out for Tomato Horn Worms - They destroyed alot of tomato plants before I even knew such a creature existed. I hate those evil things. Use some hay as mulch - This should help evaporation in our hot summer climate. Especially in containers. No "Early" varieties - These had ZERO taste when I grew them. Not worth the effort.

January 18, 2011	#2
catwabbit Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Fort Worth,Texas 8a Posts: 20	I'm going to not have surgery this year, if at all possible. I've had 10 operations since December of 2009, most major but some minor. I did my best to raise my seedlings last year despite a rebuilt left shoulder and right hand, but I had another spine surgery in June so there went my first gardening season in my first house. I'm starting again this year, and this time I hope to make it to SETTFest to meet some of the forum members and taste some of the tomatoes I've only been able to dream about. But this year, it's gonna happen! (I hope...)

January 18, 2011	#4
kygreg Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: kentucky Posts: 1,019	Except for a couple of early varieties; not going to put seedling in ground until at least first week in May. (at least that's what I am saying now.)

January 18, 2011	#5
Chucker Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 180	I'm switching from organic fertilizer to Miracle-gro. My plants really lacked nutrients last year. I want more control over the nutrients they receive.

January 18, 2011	#7
FILMNET Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: North Charleston,South Carolina, USA Posts: 1,803	Fish/seaweed emulsion to the best you can spread this on leaves also.

January 18, 2011	#11
husker nana Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Wisc. 5A Posts: 197	Keep a better record on what variety each plant is. Less squash. More Eggplant, Broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts. Water on regular basis. Pick fruit and vegetables when ripe. Keep after weeds. First time trying corn glutten meal to suppress weeds in the garden. We live in the country and this past year the mosquitoes were so bad that you couldn't go out to the garden long enough to water or weed. We would harvest only what we needed at the time.

January 18, 2011	#12
rnewste Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Campbell, CA Posts: 4,064	Chucker, """Well, first, I guess I should say that I'm growing in SWCs. This will be my 3rd year in SWCs. The first year, I used miracle grow potting mix (with the fertilizer built in)""" Don't at all count on ANY beneficial fertilizer effect from that in the Miracle-Gro Potting Mix itself. Their NPK is something like .010-.007-.05. Virtually nothing, as is required for tomatoes. In my view, this is a Marketing gimmick by the Potting Mix Companies (Sta-Green does this too). I would attribute your last year's results to mainly the poor weather, as you report. Give Tomato-tone another go, supplemented with Grow-Big, and later, Big-Bloom liquid ferts. Raybo

January 18, 2011	#13
tam91 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Crystal Lake IL Posts: 2,484	Well before I read this thread, I was planning on posting that I was going to try for some better fertilizer. I'm growing in containers, and used miracle-grow. It did ok, but I bet I could get better production. I'm a bit short on sun too, so the plants probably need all they can get. I will be reading the forum to figure out the best ideas on fertilizers. Florida weave all the way - the cages will stay in storage (ya never know) unless I plant early and use them to hold plastic for a while. I'm going to try to grow my tomatoes from seed - that's brand new for me. And I'm going to devote more of my (limited) space to tomatoes. The sweet peppers work eventually, but they take so long and are readily available in the store, I'm going to scrap them and let tomatoes take over their space (I'm keeping the hot peppers, have to make my pepper jelly!)

January 18, 2011	#15
lemurian Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Ida Grove, IA Posts: 55	This year I am going to PRUNE PRUNE PRUNE. I'm trying to squeeze in as many different varieties as I can and even though I spaced reasonably well last year, I had an impenetrable forest of tomato plants that made it difficult to harvest. It's so against my nature to prune anything, but I'm going to try this year. Come August, however, it might be a bit difficult to have yet another task to accomplish whilst enduring the heat and mosquitoes!