Big Beef Hybrid

[dipchip2000]

This is why I grow a lot of BigBeef and grow them from seed and use the Cold Treatment. Pictures really dont do justice. Every plant has at least 50 tomatoes on them now and still blooming. Because of health issues I am forced to neglect them but they just keep on producing more

ron

[Ricky Shaw]

Righteous, especially considering the heat we've had in the West.

[Hudson_WY]

Nice looking plants with lots of large tomatoes! Thanks for sharing the photos! Yes - I can see why you like Big Beef!

[jmsieglaff]

My Big Beef is doing great. It is about 5' tall very heavy leave coverage and they are rather large leaves. I counted 32 set fruits.

[Hudson_WY]

I agree - your plant looks very healthy! You found a great spot nestled in against your home!

[xellos99]

Very nice greenhouse. I cannot afford to heat my GH because gas and electricity are super expensive in my country. However I would do it if I had the means to do so.

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by xellos99

Very nice greenhouse. I cannot afford to heat my GH because gas and electricity are super expensive in my country. However I would do it if I had the means to do so.

Yes, costs are important factors. But there are design factors too.
If I wanted to build one , it has to be according to engineering principles. Well, I am an engineer.
Not all of the roof and walls need to be galsss/ plexi or whatever. Why would one want the walls and roof facing North /Northwest to be transparent /glass ? Actually some of those parts need to be thick walled and well insulated.
And how about an automatic black curtain/drapes at night !
And I would install a solar water heating system to store warm water during the day and circulate it inside ( through baseboards at night) .
I can design and build a greenhouse with least amount of backup heating. But then it will require additional upfront costs.

Gardeneer

[JRinPA]

I got first blushes a day or two back. I planted a bunch of different varieties this year, all grown from seed, and the three I noticed with blushers are stupice, big beef, and sungold. Big beef keeping up with those two is something. Time to start some sour dough starter for BLTs.

[Hudson_WY]

Originally Posted by xellos99

Very nice greenhouse. I cannot afford to heat my GH because gas and electricity are super expensive in my country. However I would do it if I had the means to do so.

Can you post of photo of your Greenhouse? I would like to see how it is structured.

[xellos99]

Originally Posted by Hudson_WY

Can you post of photo of your Greenhouse? I would like to see how it is structured.

I got lucky and found it used. New these cost thousands because it is built like a tank. 14.3 x 12.3 3 or 4mm glass, fully powder coated, massive automatic roof vents on both sides ( I don't like auto though since you cant open them when you want ) adjustable side vents on both sides.
Now for the negative, there is a massive tree not far away that blocks sunlight for part of the day, the base is concrete so water does not drain away, when you close the doors there is a small gaps at the bottom where air gets through, and a little gap on the roof vents so it is not 100% air tight. Condensation is awful in there at night and the plants are often soaking wet every morning so I have a fan running in there 24/7 now to try and stop grey mold and other disease getting hold in there.


They are called Rhino greenhouses, here is a pic from google :

[Hudson_WY]

xellos - Wow - your GH looks brand new - what a deal! I can relate to your issues though - every GH has them - it seems. If you can figure out a way to correct/improve them?

Concrete Floor - We love our concrete walks because the water drains on each side of the walk - that's a hard problem to fix without redoing the floor!

Ventilation - we have both manual and automatic. The automatic is great when away from home and when the manual isn't enough. We have windows at both ends of the GH and place box fans in the windows in the south end to pull air from the north to the south for cross ventilation during the hottest months. We also have two ceiling fans running 24/7 to keep air circulating. The automatic system has a fan up high in the south gable end with two shutters at the bottom on the north end. The air is pulled from the north end where the air is cooler and exhausted out the south end where the air is warmer like the window box fans. Ventilation is so important to prevent disease/mold! If there is a way to replace some of the glass on both ends with windows?

Our thermostats are located in the center of the GH

The heating system we use needs attic space. It works wonderful! The heat comes on at night and the ventilation fans come on during the day. I set the heat at 60 degrees and the ventilation at 85 degrees Fahrenheit year round. During cold months - both systems are active. I do have to be careful not to have plants planted to close to either the heater or the cold air ventilation shutters though. I both froze and cooked some plants when I started using the GH year round.

[Hudson_WY]

Big Beef is producing well on our 2nd crop too !!

[Fred Hempel]

I became a Big Beef believer this year.

[Salsacharley]

+1

Originally Posted by Fred Hempel

I became a Big Beef believer this year.

[Gardeneer]

Big beef is also used as root stock for some soil borne diseases. This meant that it has aggressive root system.