Hey Fellow Floridians - Year 2

[kayrobbins]

Barb, for dwarfs I am growing Beauty King, Boronia, Russian Swirl and Tasmanian Chocolate. I am also growing Extreme Bush that is not a dwarf but it sounds like it is close to it. I think that is the fewest number of dwarfs I have grown in several years. I was trying to limit the number of tomatoes this fall but my Tomatoville friends make that almost impossible!

This year I am not even going to start any of my cold weather seeds until late September. It has just been so hot in the fall the last few years that it just doesn't seem worth trying to get a head start and all of them tolerate cold really well.

[efisakov]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Kay - What dwarfs are you growing this fall?

Audrey - Also never had luck with NBD after attempting ??x # of seasons. Am trying again and I have seeds from different sources this time....

Ginny - Your tomatoes are gorgeous. Good to know that the container size isn't a factor so it must be other environmental conditions.

Ella / Ginny - It may be hot by you; it may even be hotter than Florida, but keep in mind we have 5 months of it!!!! < 65 days left before good weather.

Marsha - Are you starting later this year?

Larry - when do you start broccoli?

Barb, when we purchase our first house, I was so happy and it looked to me that I grasped all that needs to be about house owning responsibilities and advantages. Good and bad...
First snow shoveling was on me. My son was at school, my DH at work. I came home before they did. I had to do it because otherwise people would walk all over it and it would be much harder to shovel.
That was the first time I realized "I am a homeowner". I am about 137 pounds. I do not like snow. My back hurts after shoveling it. Sometimes it is only 6 inches and sometimes more than 2 feet in two days period. So we have to go out and clean few times or it would become too heavy. Most of the time snow is wet.
I do not like winter. Unless it is in Florida.
Sorry, I should stop whining.
btw 1 cubic foot of snow on average weight between 2.5 pounds and 6.2 pounds, depending on how wet it is. If rain falls on top of the snow it becomes much heavier immediately. 1 cubic foot of water weighs 62 pounds give or take.

[Barb_FL]

Ella - I think it helps to think of the long summer as our bad winter weather.
So you will be trading the snow, snow shoveling for a long summer but not necessarily hotter than NJ, just way longer.

Until recent years, I remember April being the best weather of the year.

Kay - Extreme Bush is definitely a dwarf, just not from dwarf project and not with rugose leaves.

[ginger2778]

Barb- starting seeds, yes, about 2 weeks later this year.

[efisakov]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Ella - I think it helps to think of the long summer as our bad winter weather.
So you will be trading the snow, snow shoveling for a long summer but not necessarily hotter than NJ, just way longer.

Until recent years, I remember April being the best weather of the year.

There is always something.

[Zone9b]

I transplanted my first 4 tomato plants to raised beds today. 2 Skyway 687 F1 High Heat Set and 2 Tycoon F1 High Heat Set tomato plants. I’m hoping to see fruit set approximately the fourth week of September. At that point the average daily high is 88 and the average daily low is 71, which one wouldn’t think would be much of a stretch for a High Heat Set variety. If I could find what appeared to truly be a successful high heat set variety, the ultimate test would be to transplant it into the garden in June as other Spring tomatoes came out. June, July, August in Central Florida that would seem to be a stretch for any tomato variety. What do you think?
Larry

[Barb_FL]

Originally Posted by Zone9b

I transplanted my first 4 tomato plants to raised beds today. 2 Skyway 687 F1 High Heat Set and 2 Tycoon F1 High Heat Set tomato plants. I’m hoping to see fruit set approximately the fourth week of September. At that point the average daily high is 88 and the average daily low is 71, which one wouldn’t think would be much of a stretch for a High Heat Set variety. If I could find what appeared to truly be a successful high heat set variety, the ultimate test would be to transplant it into the garden in June as other Spring tomatoes came out. June, July, August in Central Florida that would seem to be a stretch for any tomato variety. What do you think?
Larry

It doesn't sound like a stretch for Skyway. I sowed Heatwave II (says to set fruit at 96 F) around March and the fruit set was limited and inedible / catfaced.

I'm hopeful for you. IMO, young tomato plants set the first fruit when hot easier than mature ones that have been producing all along.

Actually those lows should have fruit set from a lot of varities.

Looking forward to my October Forecast, there is only one night time low >72.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/mel...nyr=10/01/2016

For 2015, there were 9 days > 72 night time low. I remember last fall being really hot!!!

http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/mel...nyr=10/01/2015

[Fiishergurl]

Originally Posted by Zone9b

I transplanted my first 4 tomato plants to raised beds today. 2 Skyway 687 F1 High Heat Set and 2 Tycoon F1 High Heat Set tomato plants. I&rsquo;m hoping to see fruit set approximately the fourth week of September. At that point the average daily high is 88 and the average daily low is 71, which one wouldn&rsquo;t think would be much of a stretch for a High Heat Set variety. If I could find what appeared to truly be a successful high heat set variety, the ultimate test would be to transplant it into the garden in June as other Spring tomatoes came out. June, July, August in Central Florida that would seem to be a stretch for any tomato variety. What do you think?
Larry

Please keep us posted on how they do.

Ginny

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

It doesn't sound like a stretch for Skyway. I sowed Heatwave II (says to set fruit at 96 F) around March and the fruit set was limited and inedible / catfaced.

I'm hopeful for you. IMO, young tomato plants set the first fruit when hot easier than mature ones that have been producing all along.

Actually those lows should have fruit set from a lot of varities.

Looking forward to my October Forecast, there is only one night time low >72.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/mel...nyr=10/01/2016

For 2015, there were 9 days > 72 night time low. I remember last fall being really hot!!!

http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/mel...nyr=10/01/2015

I tried Heatwave II quite a while back when I was gardening strictly in the dirt/sand and it didn't work for me, but not much did.
I never thought at looking at long term forecast, so I did. Here towards the end of September they seem to be forecasting avg highs about the same as historical data, but for avg lows they are forecasting them a bit higher than the historic avg lows, i.e. around 73.
Nov 2015 was quite hot here, that is for November, but not hot enough to much interfere with tomatoes setting.
Here this July ran hot and avg highs appeared to run 2 to 4 degrees above the historic average. However, no records appeared to set.
But now in Aug it appears our average highs are running close to 2 degrees lower than the historic avg high, but the avg lows continue to run a couple of degrees higher than the historic avg lows.
This is just how I, an amateur, see it.
Larry

[JaxRmrJmr]

Set out a New Big Dwarf, GGWT, and Brandywine OTV today. We'll see if I was too early as the night temps are still often over 75 degrees for days at a time.

[Fiishergurl]

Originally Posted by JaxRmrJmr

Set out a New Big Dwarf, GGWT, and Brandywine OTV today. We'll see if I was too early as the night temps are still often over 75 degrees for days at a time.

How did your Sungolds do?

Ginny

[Fiishergurl]

Am I the only one?

This is my tomato life... (in between full time work and other commitments)

1. Oh so excited about which seeds to start
2. Grow seeds grow
3. I really need to transplant those (a step up)
4. Wish the weather would get better so I can plant them out
5. Oh well, now or never
6. Grow plants grow
7. Can't wait for the first blossoms
8. Can't wait for the first tomatoes
9. Can't wait for them to ripen
10. Oh boy, they are ripening. Love this one, like this one, that one not so much. What happened to that one?
11. Geez they really are ripening
12. Wow, canning is soooooo much fun
13. Hmmm, canning is time consuming
14. I can't wait to clear out all the tomatoes.
15. Ugh all this sauce, salsa and tomatoes are starting to taste the same
15. So excited about the seeds I'm going to start!

:-)

[Zone9b]

Sometimes I wonder if it is worth the cost of buying seed starting soil. The other day I planted 4 trays with Lacinato Kale seeds, trying to plant 1 seed per cell. I planted them all in 100% mediocre, at beast, compost. In three days every cell had a tiny plant and a few had 2. I'm wondering if there are some vegetables which are much more difficult to germinate and therefore require much better starting soil than others.
Larry

[kayrobbins]

Ginny, there is only one thing I would add to your list. I start tomato plants for family and friends and am happy to baby them up to a point. There comes that time when I cannot wait to get rid of them and only take care my own. Right now they are all in their homes except for my daughter. She is a teacher with young children and with school just starting wants to wait until the end of the month. I almost did a drive by drop off today but decided I would hang in there until she is ready.

[Fiishergurl]

Originally Posted by Zone9b

Sometimes I wonder if it is worth the cost of buying seed starting soil. The other day I planted 4 trays with Lacinato Kale seeds, trying to plant 1 seed per cell. I planted them all in 100% mediocre, at beast, compost. In three days every cell had a tiny plant and a few had 2. I'm wondering if there are some vegetables which are much more difficult to germinate and therefore require much better starting soil than others.
Larry

I've never bought it. I used some of those jiffy pot things but only because my dad got a bunch of them at a local auction for $3 for the whole kit and kaboodle. I do use the same mix ibuse for the pots though so I guess that is about the same as paying for seed starting mix. I think with the path uou are going you should try everything in your own and see how it goes. I'm guessing the tomatoes and cucumbers will be the most particular but I could be wrong.

Ginny