June 5, 2016 | #181 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Chicago IL
Posts: 857
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Stole your design. Looks like it will be best of all I tried over the years.
Thanks much! |
June 5, 2016 | #182 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: San Diego-Tijuana
Posts: 2,598
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Quote:
With crab meal and dolomitic to start and CalNitrate as maintenance I've yet to see BER this year. Time to put the streak to the test with some San Marzanos. |
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June 6, 2016 | #183 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
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I am finding that the end posts of plastic pipe will need additional support, at least on my 100' rows. I am going to go back and put the 2x2 wood version of those posts for the ends. Otherwise they sag inward. It gets worse as your strings become higher, pulling inward closer to the top.
Last edited by Cole_Robbie; June 6, 2016 at 01:28 AM. |
June 6, 2016 | #184 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Greenville, South Carolina
Posts: 3,099
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I agree with the high humates comment. It seems that way for me as well after putting out so much manure/compost a little fert goes a really long way and sometimes I would swear I can see a difference in 12 hours or so.
Looking at the design of that pvc setup made me think that it would likely work well for a single row system if you made it taller and dropped strings down. Ofc then you'd have to use clips which I am learning can be tiresome. |
June 8, 2016 | #185 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
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My plants have whiteflies. I noticed them two days ago in the high tunnel, and now they are on my outdoor plants. I sprayed everything with Met 52 tonight. With 900' of row, I burn through the spray quickly. I have about 1/4th of a bottle left. I am going to buy one more $60 half-pint and see how far that gets me into the summer. I can't afford to keep spraying it all summer if it doesn't knock out the whiteflies.
Malathion is the cheap and easy choice. I hope it doesn't come to that. |
June 10, 2016 | #186 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: albuquerque
Posts: 308
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Looking at the picture in post 181, there isn't much room for the sun to hit the ground. In the space between my rows unmulched soil temp is about 140 and under the mulch somewhere between 84 and 90. I may be close to no till but unmulched areas are getting solarized.
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June 10, 2016 | #187 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
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The whiteflies have spread rapidly among my outdoor plants. The first large fruit in the high tunnel I harvested have blotchy, uneven ripening from whitefly damage. From what I read, it is the sweet potato whitefly, an invasive species.
Tonight's spray recipe was Met52 and seaweed, the latter of which whiteflies hate, at least from what I read. They won't lay eggs in seaweed residue. I was discouraged at first about the Met52's effectiveness, when I saw how rapidly the whiteflies were spreading. But then I remembered that I sprayed just the high tunnel four days ago. Even in the spot that I had them the worst, I can hardly see any whiteflies in the high tunnel. Met52 seems to work well, it just takes four days, and whiteflies reproduce and spread like mad, especially in warm weather. |
June 12, 2016 | #188 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Mid-Atlantic right on the line of Zone 7a and 7b
Posts: 1,369
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Have you considered buying the yellow sticky traps that come on a roll? Run it like a banner down each of your rows.
Start out next spring with it in your tunnel and hope that keeps them from building and heading outside? |
June 12, 2016 | #189 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
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Thanks. It's a thought, depending on cost. Reflective mulch may be another idea to try.
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June 12, 2016 | #190 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: San Diego-Tijuana
Posts: 2,598
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Don't go too high on the Met52, it can fry flowers.
Maybe a good dousing with some strong Neem? I've been using a health/beauty-topical that's undiluted (thanks Marsha!) and it seems to have way more punch than the "garden" labeled version. I've been playing the fungicide vs Met52 game and this time I had to lean towards the fungicide side of things, as it is June gloom around here. later in the summer Met52 will come in from the bullpen. |
June 12, 2016 | #191 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
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The tricky part is that Met52 *is* a fungus. It's a fungal spore. I don't think Daconil would kill the Met52, but any other fungicide would, at least I would think so.
I should have been spraying everything as soon as I planted out, and not waited until I saw the whiteflies. By the time they are visible, even to a somewhat experienced eye, the damage is done - not that you can tell until the fruit try to ripen. |
June 12, 2016 | #192 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7
Posts: 3,207
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June 12, 2016 | #193 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: San Diego-Tijuana
Posts: 2,598
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June 12, 2016 | #194 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: San Diego-Tijuana
Posts: 2,598
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This stuff: https://amzn.com/B00DUJDG0Y
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June 16, 2016 | #195 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
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I just picked Utyonok and Dwarf Wild Fred from the outdoor plants. My Utyonok is red, not orange. My Dwarf Wild Fred is also more red than I remember, and less dark.
I didn't try any of those yet, but I did try some "Sweet Cranberry." They are not good at all, mealy. not especially sweet, and not as good as a hybrid cherry. Maybe it's weather or conditions. |
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