Hey Fellow Floridians - Year 2

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by efisakov

There are toooo many people in TV that just messing me up. And, Marsha, you are one of them. Hahahaha...

Why thank you!

[MarlynnMarcks]

Leaves don't get tough if you pick them when small. They can get very big quickly, though.

[Barb_FL]

Tomatoes are in full production; I really have no room for them; We have a walk in pantry and found if I keep them there, the shelf life is much better.

I gave bunches away to 5 more people today and have several slated for tomorrow.

A lot of my plants look like crap though. By the time I took off all the bad leaves on most of my dwarf plants, especially on the east side of the house, they had no leaves. I think its some type of bug - not aphids, not fungal.
Anyway, the dwarfs looked great one day and crusty leaves the next.

I bought this cheapo magnifier / microscope and was checking out leaves on a fairly young plant. (Sweet Scarlet - sowed early November - has some fruit but not much and nothing ripe - that's the one that hates me but I was having so much tomato luck, I thought I'd give it a whirl.

Under the scope, there was definite bug activity. I would find 5 white/translucent bugs in different parts of the leaves. This bug thing looks like a hairless mole.

----
On another note, the broccoli is kicking it. So far all the ones I picked were grown in the EB. I hope the ones in the raised beds taste as good.

Larry - What size do you pick the broccoli for freezing?

[KarenO]

that broccoli could win a prize. perfect!
KarenO

[Barb_FL]

Originally Posted by KarenO

that broccoli could win a prize. perfect!
KarenO

Thanks Karen, It was yummy - steamed.

I owe it all to Larry. I use to grow broccoli - 3 in a raised bed or just in the soil (ie sand) giving them lots of room. He plants them close; I followed his success and did 1' apart and have better looking plants.

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Larry - What size do you pick the broccoli for freezing?

Barb,
your Broccoli looks great, as they say Good Enough to Eat.
I normally don’t use size alone as an indication of when to harvest broccoli. Actually I find learning when to pick Broccoli as one of the more inexact things about growing Broccoli. I try do develop a heuristic for telling when to cut the head but it is a bit frustrating to say the least. If I see any deterioration in the head or any yellowing I know I’m a day late but better 1 day late than 3. One thing that I look for, that may indicate when the head is ready, is any indication in separation of the head, that is when you can more distinctly see a suggestion of the individual florets when looking down at the head, which may mean it is time to pick. For example the Broccoli in your picture is starting to show the individual florets and possible this means that it is ready or very soon ready to pick. Especially when I have more Broccoli than I possibly eat and my freezer is filling, I think erring a day or two early is much better than a bit too late, when the taste and texture start to deteriorate.
When blanching and freezing, I like to do it with a bit of scale. I don’t want to freeze small amounts of Broccoli every day or two. Therefore, if I have room in the refrigerator I will save a day or two of Broccoli or I will try to leave it in the field another day and when I pick, I will pick what is a bit more than ready, what is ready and what I expect to be ready in the next day or two. This can result in quite a bit of Broccoli and allows me to get quite a lot into the freezer in a single session of blanching and freezing.
I’d be happy to hear what others think, because my heuristic of when to pick Broccoli is far from complete. This attempt of trying to describe when to pick Broccoli has given me an idea. In the next crop I may try to take a serious of pictures of a few plants when they are nearing time to pick, in hopes that I could look back at them and see if there truly are signs that would help in this process.
Larry

[Fiishergurl]

Barb and Marsha,

Your tomatoes are amazing this season!! Besides the good weather, the extra feeding is really helping your fruit set. I have always supplemented with TTF in addition to the fert strip since I started growing tomatoes a few years ago and I didnt know it, but I think maybe we have figured out why I was getting more fruit set. But not anymore as you two are killing it!

Barb/Larry - I just wanted to report that the plants I topped and trimmed back are setting lots of new blossoms and tomatoes. The original tomatoes are mosyle all picked but now a whole new round is setting. The blossoms are no longer dying prematurely either. So I think the issue was that the plants just had as much as they could handle on them at that particular time.

Happy New Year and Happy Growing to all!

Ginny

[ginger2778]

Ginny, I think that is exactly what happens too. Tomato plants seem to have round one, then round 2 etc.

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by Fiishergurl

Barb and Marsha,

Your tomatoes are amazing this season!! Besides the good weather, the extra feeding is really helping your fruit set. I have always supplemented with TTF in addition to the fert strip since I started growing tomatoes a few years ago and I didnt know it, but I think maybe we have figured out why I was getting more fruit set. But not anymore as you two are killing it!

Barb/Larry - I just wanted to report that the plants I topped and trimmed back are setting lots of new blossoms and tomatoes. The original tomatoes are mosyle all picked but now a whole new round is setting. The blossoms are no longer dying prematurely either. So I think the issue was that the plants just had as much as they could handle on them at that particular time.

Happy New Year and Happy Growing to all!

Ginny

Ginny
That's good to know. About mid-way through the season I put a number of cuttings in 6 gallon pots and they are producing a few tomatoes. But, most of my original fall plants are declining rapidly. Esterina Cherry is still producing some tomatoes and indeterminates Jetsetter and First Prize still have some tomatoes to go. Anyway I have had enough tomatoes for a bit. We juiced so many tomatoes that our juicer finally died. I guess it had had enough too.
I hope to get a lot of tomatoes seeds in cups this weekend.
Larry

[Barb_FL]

Larry - Thanks for all the info re: broccoli. I think you are right on re: optimal time to pick. Need to check out blanching; last time I just froze it directly but then a lot of it crumbled.

Most of my original tomato plants are declining too; none as bad as the dwarfs though. Some exceptions including both Momotaro. My cuttings are doing well and setting fruit. I picked my first 2 tomatoes (Momotaro) from a cutting.

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Ginny - Good to know; I thinned out but didn't chop and the fruit set up high has sunburn so your idea is definitely better.

BTW - Esterina is ready to get in its' final home, but this weekend they are forecasting really bad winds (30MPH) so I'm holding off.

How are your spring seedlings doing?

=====
Ginger - RE: Spider Mites - I see little spiders and sometimes small webs (not just on tomato plants, even on pineapple plants). The spider-type bug is small and have little sacs and when I see them or the string (not a web). Sometimes I just see the string. Is this the source of spider mites? I think this is the downfall of my tomato plants.

Also - another note: From the hurricane in October, I think the bugs were at bay for a long time (exception moth).

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Larry - Thanks for all the info re: broccoli. I think you are right on re: optimal time to pick. Need to check out blanching; last time I just froze it directly but then a lot of it crumbled.

Most of my original tomato plants are declining too; none as bad as the dwarfs though. Some exceptions including both Momotaro. My cuttings are doing well and setting fruit. I picked my first 2 tomatoes (Momotaro) from a cutting.

---
Ginny - Good to know; I thinned out but didn't chop and the fruit set up high has sunburn so your idea is definitely better.

BTW - Esterina is ready to get in its' final home, but this weekend they are forecasting really bad winds (30MPH) so I'm holding off.

How are your spring seedlings doing?

=====
Ginger - RE: Spider Mites - I see little spiders and sometimes small webs (not just on tomato plants, even on pineapple plants). The spider-type bug is small and have little sacs and when I see them or the string (not a web). Sometimes I just see the string. Is this the source of spider mites? I think this is the downfall of my tomato plants.

Also - another note: From the hurricane in October, I think the bugs were at bay for a long time (exception moth).

Barb I think you may have actual spiders, spider mites are not visible to the naked eye, need at least 14X magnification. They only form a web when they are really thickly populated on the plant.
What I had was Tomato Russet Mites, very different than SMs. Also microscopic. Ever cut or pull a stem and it felt powdery/grainy on your hands? Also you can see the green stem getting a brown rusty color, and leaves will start to yellow from the inside vein area outward, looking very much like an iron deficiency. Pyrethrin or permethrin spray will do them in, but once again, needs to be every 4 days for 3 times.
Also be very careful not to touch other plants with your sleeves, back, hat, as any kind of mite can hitch hike onto them from the infected one. They are also spread by strong winds.
Coming back with a link of what TRMs look like.
OK, I am back with the link: https://www.google.com/search?q=phot...VZKN2nfltpM%3A

[Barb_FL]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Barb I think you may have actual spiders, spider mites are not visible to the naked eye, need at least 14X magnification. They only form a web when they are really thickly populated on the plant.
What I had was Tomato Russet Mites, very different than SMs. Also microscopic. Ever cut or pull a stem and it felt powdery/grainy on your hands? Also you can see the green stem getting a brown rusty color, and leaves will start to yellow from the inside vein area outward, looking very much like an iron deficiency. Pyrethrin or permethrin spray will do them in, but once again, needs to be every 4 days for 3 times.
Also be very careful not to touch other plants with your sleeves, back, hat, as any kind of mite can hitch hike onto them from the infected one. They are also spread by strong winds.
Coming back with a link of what TRMs look like.
OK, I am back with the link: https://www.google.com/search?q=phot...VZKN2nfltpM%3A

THANK YOU!!! That link helped a lot; I have TRMs too; under my cheapo magnifier/microscrope, I found bugs that looked exactly like the picture on the right.

We have really strong winds too a lot of the time. This week-end the winds are suppose to be really bad.

Here's what I wrote a couple of days ago:

"A lot of my plants look like crap though. By the time I took off all the bad leaves on most of my dwarf plants, especially on the east side of the house, they had no leaves. I think its some type of bug - not aphids, not fungal.
Anyway, the dwarfs looked great one day and crusty leaves the next.

I bought this cheapo magnifier / microscope and was checking out leaves on a fairly young plant. (Sweet Scarlet - sowed early November - has some fruit but not much and nothing ripe - that's the one that hates me but I was having so much tomato luck, I thought I'd give it a whirl.

Under the scope, there was definite bug activity. I would find 5 white/translucent bugs in different parts of the leaves. This bug thing looks like a hairless mole. "

---
So the hairless mole is a TSM. I will just pull the dwarfs on the east side. The dwarfs on the west side of the house are in much better shape so I will treat them.

I have that bronze stem thing going on too but not on the dwarf plants. Again on the east side of the house; and yes, they feel gritty; even the tomatoes feel gritty.

[Barb_FL]

Marsha - Once the plants are discarded, can I still use the potting mix? I'm thinking NO or not until it is solarized at least.

[ginger2778]

I would use again but after solarizing. The hairless mole is a TRM.

[efisakov]

Happy new year to all!

I am sensing that this fall season was a success for most part. What are the plans for the spring season? Are you guys starting new seedlings soon or using cuttings, or keeping fall plants?

Marsha, how harmful is Pyrethrin to humans/animals? How long will it remain to be toxic after spraying? Does Pyrethrin wash off easily? Websites info is not consistent...
Thanks, doc.