Hey Fellow Floridians - Year 2

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by efisakov

Small world ha. Just this Sunday we noticed couple crossing road with suitcases here in Bayonne, NJ. Looked as they were planning to board one of the cruise ships. The only problem was that they were too far from where it was. Public transportation does not take you close enough. If you can see on the map where Ave E (near root 440) is and they would have to walk to the place right next to the Memorial, called Tear Drop. We offered them a ride, they were happy. It turned out they were from Germany. Their English was very dissent. Nice couple.

The Czechs spoke great English I speak no Czech but I knew they spoke at least a little German.
I am very proud of our police department it was I and the two police that were talking to them.
The two I meet every now and then and have a smoke with at the store.
These guys are a real class act the first thing they did was welcome them to Texas and the USA.
The kids were just asking for information.

[Barb_FL]

Marsha / Tomato Tone Users - Yesterday I did my first transplant to the final home and was reading the TT packaging and it said for containers to use 2 C per cubic foot. Since EB are 2 Cubic Feet, they would need 4 cups. So all this time I followed EB recommendations of 3 C if organic and it is wrong for tomato tone. I always knew my plants ran out of food after the 2nd truss. I thought yours / Ginny's did better b/c you supplemented with Calcium Nitrate.

[Fiishergurl]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Marsha / Tomato Tone Users - Yesterday I did my first transplant to the final home and was reading the TT packaging and it said for containers to use 2 C per cubic foot. Since EB are 2 Cubic Feet, they would need 4 cups. So all this time I followed EB recommendations of 3 C if organic and it is wrong for tomato tone. I always knew my plants ran out of food after the 2nd truss. I thought yours / Ginny's did better b/c you supplemented with Calcium Nitrate.

Barb, I know you werent crazy about TTF but i supplement with that too and love it.

I'm really interested to see your resilts with all the different fertilizer experiments


Ginny

[Barb_FL]

I love the Urban Farm products also. 4 gallons of it was delivered this week. They let you mix and match so I got 2 Veg, 1 Tomato, and 1 of their new Veggie Formulas not even listed on their site. I think I won't need 2 Tomatoes because of all the other types I'm trying.

The year I did a lot of TTF in the EB, I had MONSTER plants but other than cages, I had no way of staking when they are on the pool deck. Hopefully this year, I get a lot off the deck and in the back yard.

This time last year, I bought 1 Tomato, 1 Veg, 1 Apples and Oranges, and 1 Lawn - which DH didn't really use and we ended up getting a new lawn in April.

ON TTF products, the one that I really love is the dry fertilizer but I have tons of Tomato Tone that I need to use up. (Have to buy 3-4 bags so price isn't totally outrageous).

I would love to test the UrbanFarms dry fertilizer vs the Sustane that Marsha mentioned earlier.

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Ginny - Did you end up planting the Brad Gates Mix? I have 2 ROBUST PLANTS; I transplanted one late afternoon today and it was so rootbound in the white 4.5" container.

When I look at which plants to do the final transplant on, they are ALWAYS the ones in the white containers. I am hooked on the white containers.

[Fiishergurl]

Barb,

I didnt realize you used the TTF etc still. And yes i planted the one that reminded me of a mini Pink Berkeley Tie Dye. I have no idea what will come from it as they were F4 when i bought them off Mariseeds so this batch that we have is F5 which I dont think is stable. But they are supposed to already be homozygous for small size and stripes but can be any color or shape. But they were good and also very pretty. My plants are blooming like crazy. I cant wait to get home... :-)

Ginny

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[Barb_FL]

Ginny - is the Brad Mix seeds that I am growing saved from your F4 plant making it F5? If so, why would it be less stable than it's f4 parent?

How did you originally know you it would be like mini PBTD?

I really don't care what I get; I like the suspense of it. Late in the game, I also planted a few PBTD seeds just in case.

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Are all of your seedling/plants still going strong? You must have to water and feed a lot since their containers are so small. What ever ferts. were in those cups is long gone. Are you feeding them TTF? how often?

When are you coming back now?

BTW - When I had the tremendous cucumber production, after the initial ferts were used up, I ONLY fed them Veg (from TTF). I haven't found anything better than Veg for peppers.

[Fiishergurl]

Hi Barb

The F4 was unstable also. I planted 3 seedlings from the package and all 3 produced something different but all were small and striped. One was yellow saladette size with faint stripes and sort of flattened globe. One produced the ones that looked and tasted like miniature versions of PBTD and one produced a mini heart that was about the color of pbtd. So all were small and striped. Here is the link that explains them. I saved seeds from all but only sent you the ones from the mini PBTD type. I dont know if it will produce itself or something different. I have one to transplant from the sabed mini PBTD type so will be fun to see.
https://www.mariannasheirloomseeds.c...15-detail.html

I have been feeding sparingly but the plants are very healthy so far.

My plans change daily but as of right now Im planning to get hubby moved on the 30th (friday) and leave for home on Saturday.

I use tt veg on my peppers and herbs so will use it on the cukes too... :-)




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[Fiishergurl]

I have only fed them once in the last couple of weeks with the TTF only. When they were smaller i fed them with Neptunes about once or twice a week. When i put them in the earth boxes I will feed them every watering for a few times then none for a few times then trim some for air flow, then start thr cycle again. Seems like it works for me. I can definitely tell a difference if I dont give them TTF for a couple of weeks in a row especially if they have a lot of fruit already.

Ginny

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[Barb_FL]

So the end is near..... You will get back for better weather.

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I put a tiny pinch of Tomato Maker when I transplant in the 4" containers. Every once in awhile I will feed with Neptunes also; either the seeweed or the combined one.

I have a lot of robust seedlings but also had some crap out totally; I can only think that I gave them too much sun too soon.

Actually all the seedlings from seeds from you, Marsha and Kay are doing fantastic. All have nice fat stems too.

Are you growing Painted Pink? (seeds from Kay). I grew it in the spring and am growing my saved seeds this time. I sowed it when I left for vacation and left it on the porch along with the dwarfs....it was so stringy when I got back but lost none of them.

[Fiishergurl]

I am not growing Painted Pink this time but i am growing Indigo Cherry Drop from Kay. It already has tomatoes. Some of my seedlings are 3 to 4 feet tall and leggy because of the tree canopy issue here. But no leaf diseases or fungus or mildew anything. I'm going to strip most of the leaves and plant them horizontally in the dirt in the earthboxes. I think you all would freak out (in a good way) over how little leaf diseases and issues with that there are. So many more people up here grow heirlooms because they do well in the ground here. I am kind of dreading having to fight the wetness especially where I am so close to the water. But still I cant wait to get home.

Ginny

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[maxjohnson]

Thanks god summer is over, good riddance.

tapatalk

[kayrobbins]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Marsha / Tomato Tone Users - Yesterday I did my first transplant to the final home and was reading the TT packaging and it said for containers to use 2 C per cubic foot. Since EB are 2 Cubic Feet, they would need 4 cups. So all this time I followed EB recommendations of 3 C if organic and it is wrong for tomato tone. I always knew my plants ran out of food after the 2nd truss. I thought yours / Ginny's did better b/c you supplemented with Calcium Nitrate.

Now I have to go read my Tomatotone bag. I am glad you pointed that out because I have always just planted using organic fertilizer recommended amounts.

[ginger2778]

I supplement with weekly calcinit, and sometimes even a little bloom special fertilizer. I doubt even 4 cups of TT only would be enough in our S. FL single very long season.
Did you all know that on the EB forum they say you don't have to dig out the fertilizer strip if organic? I still do anyway.

[Fiishergurl]

I have a confession to make... i never dug out anything in my swcs that I used for 6 seasons. By seasons i mean spring, fall, etc so really 3 years with 2 seasons each year. I just added to it and everything grew fine. I didnt even replace the top few inches of soil or solarize them ever. I have thrown those away now (or going to when i get home) because they were deteiorating (the plastic) and my earthboxes are solarizing now and will get proper treatment with top soil dug out. But i never did it in my 18 gallon swcs and everything grew just fine.

Ginny



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[Barb_FL]

Confession #1 - After the first season or so, I dug out the fert strip and reused it on my strawberry plants.

Confession #2 -I add the new PROMIX in the middle, so it will get more than one season.

I'm able to do this b/c I remove ALL potting mix. I also wash out the EBs between seasons or use.

Confession #3 - This is really hard for me to admit as I love EB and am up to 15, but I do better with Root Pouches. I think it is the too wet and food thing.

Confession #4 - If I am reusing > 70% mix, I don't even bother with dolomite anymore. I've switched to the using Neptune's Harvest Crab Shells which I mix up when I solarize giving it months to break down.

Confession #5 - For my cukes this Summer and Peppers, I didn't even bother with the fert strip. I just mixed the food. For cukes I supplemented A LOT!!!

Confession #6 - My entire EB cleaning procedure takes forever and makes a mess.

Potential Confession #7 - I'm considering adding some Osomocote along with the tomato tone.

Potential Confession #8 - I'm considering not using the fert strip for tomatoes especially if I have to supplement weekly.

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Problem #1 - No matter how nice I make the bread loaf when I am planting, it always compacts after awhile. Should I be compacting the mix like I do when I solarize the EB? When Solarizing, I compact very tightly with my fists as I add the mix. I can fit 2 EB mix (I ditch the top part b4 I solarize). It stays nice a loafy until I'm ready to use the mix.