Bill's summer garden

[Dewayne mater]

Bill a simply amazing haul! I always have so many questions (sorry!). Do you think any of your decrease in production is related to keeping the plants trained to 2 stems? I know that's not really a knowable thing, just wondering. I'm thinking a third factor on the large size of your fruit could be keeping them trained to 2 stems. Less energy spent on plant growth leaves more for fruit development. Just a speculation. Either way, seeing your haul certainly makes me want to try it out. I've got an absolute jungle in my dirt garden and I can't see a way to prevent that with cages. The earthtainer plants on the other hand seem to much easier to keep in line...probably their growth being somewhat limited by the amount of root space. That last photo has me thinking of trying out your method next year, so expect more questions! ;-)

Dewayne

[b54red]

I think my decrease in production over the last week is due almost entirely to the age of the plants and the fact that fighting spider mites left me too little time to apply my regular doses of TTF. The plants have gotten less than half the normal amount of fertilizer the last two weeks and combined with the intense heat that means less fruit set.

I think keeping the plants trained to two stems has definitely had a beneficial impact on fruit size. A few years ago when I did a whole bed in single stem plants the fruit off of those plants averaged a larger size than off plants with multiple stems. I also think that keeping up the weekly feeding of TTF has had a big impact on fruit size and plant health. I used to fertilize when I prepared the bed and then again when the plants started blooming and then once more after most of the first round of tomatoes were picked. I think the plants do much better if they have that regular feeding. I can't leave out the benefits derived from grafting onto rootstock that help the plant withstand the soil borne diseases in my garden so now I have healthier plants for much longer.

Bill

[Heritage]

Bill,

Great to see your perseverance rewarded! An inspiration.

Steve

[JJJessee]

Sorry to hear production has slowed. I think that's coming my way too. So I've been wondering about mid-season fertilizing.

My lower two trusses are about half way through delivering on over half my plants and that seems to be where the fruit setting action has been. There's a fair amount, but lesser, of fruits above that; some even over my head. Some plants I have in raised beds but over half are in "new-clay" that I just started tilling cover crops into in the summer of 2012. If I watered in say some Fish emulsion (5-1-1) or Seabird Guano (10-12-2)would that even get into the soil in time to make a difference, but could I mess up the balance and invite problems here mid-season. I'm new on tomatoes. I've planted 2 plants to the hole, 4' between holes. The holes got close a gallon of well amended potting type soil at transplant in early May.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by JJJessee

Sorry to hear production has slowed. I think that's coming my way too. So I've been wondering about mid-season fertilizing.

My lower two trusses are about half way through delivering on over half my plants and that seems to be where the fruit setting action has been. There's a fair amount, but lesser, of fruits above that; some even over my head. Some plants I have in raised beds but over half are in "new-clay" that I just started tilling cover crops into in the summer of 2012. If I watered in say some Fish emulsion (5-1-1) or Seabird Guano (10-12-2)would that even get into the soil in time to make a difference, but could I mess up the balance and invite problems here mid-season. I'm new on tomatoes. I've planted 2 plants to the hole, 4' between holes. The holes got close a gallon of well amended potting type soil at transplant in early May.

I apply Texas Tomato Food every week after the plants start blooming and have found that they do much better with the constant feeding. Most of my plants are still setting some new fruits so if it will cool down a bit this afternoon I plan on giving them another dose. I have noticed when I go more than a week without feeding them that the new fruit setting declines dramatically.

Bill

[mari.beth]

Wow, what a fabulous harvest and great looking garden!

[JJJessee]

Thanks for the advice, Bill.

[Tracydr]

Looking good! Will be interested to see end results of grafting. Which rootstock did best. Glad you found something that works!

[b54red]

Things have slowed down considerably on the tomato picking lately. The trouble with spider mites on my tomatoes and aphids on my peppers shows little signs of letting up. We really need a few days of good rain because I am really having problems just keeping plants watered enough to stay alive with little time to apply fertilizer. I did get a good picking on the 7th and 10th and took some pics of the garden on the 10th which are listed below.

1&2. are tomatoes picked on the 7th and 10th.
3. is a top view of my garden
4. is a look at my main pepper bed and you can see a few are over the 7 ft top bar.
5. is my second pepper bed which for some reason has had no aphids at all
6. is my second tomato bed and the damage from spider mites and EB is obvious
7. is a picture of my tomato bed planted on the 31st of May and it is starting to show
some spider mite and Early Blight damage also.

Bill

[ginger2778]

Sorry to hear about your spider mite problem. That table full of luscious tomatoes is beautiful to see.

[b54red]

Those black tomatoes are exceptional right now with the heat and dry weather even if they aren't huge. I always try to plant a good selection of black tomatoes in my later plantings in the hope that they will do better in the hot dry weather of late summer and early fall. Last year we had so much rain that they were inedible except for a few very late in the fall.

Bill

[JJJessee]

Bill, you've done a great job at laying those tomatoes down. Despite the problems it looks like an enviable patch from my shoes. So far, I've only had a few twine breaks and no serious damage. But I never did any good with my pepper staking. My Marconis look like they would work like you pepper plants, but the King of the North seems to bushy for that method. I may search out another OP variety to try next year.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by JJJessee

Bill, you've done a great job at laying those tomatoes down. Despite the problems it looks like an enviable patch from my shoes. So far, I've only had a few twine breaks and no serious damage. But I never did any good with my pepper staking. My Marconis look like they would work like you pepper plants, but the King of the North seems to bushy for that method. I may search out another OP variety to try next year.

Most of my bells are Socrates and Declaration. I have a few others like Slonovo, Golda, Parks Gold and King Arthur. All of them are working with the string drops but I have had to add some more strings for some of the plants. I started with 2 or 3 at each spot. I still have the same problem when they reach the top so I am topping them about a foot above the bar which makes a few of them 8 ft tall. I have had less broken limbs with this method than any other I have tried. I wouldn't have had any if I kept them clipped when I should have; but I let a few limbs hang out with large peppers on them for too long without clipping them to the drop lines and you know what happens then.

Bill

[b54red]

Here is a pic to show you just how much damage the mites have done the last week. This is a picture of the same tomato bed in the previous post that was the last picture. I removed the worst damaged leaves from the mites along with some Early Blight. Now I have just vines with a few leaves at the top on most of them. A couple of plants fared better down at the far end but most are really defoliated now. I hope the removal of the leaves will get rid of most of the mite eggs so they don't finish the plants off. I sprayed the remaining leaves this morning in hopes of stopping the spread. Right now this is my most productive bed left but it isn't looking so good anymore.

Bill

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by JJJessee

Bill, you've done a great job at laying those tomatoes down. Despite the problems it looks like an enviable patch from my shoes. So far, I've only had a few twine breaks and no serious damage. But I never did any good with my pepper staking. My Marconis look like they would work like you pepper plants, but the King of the North seems to bushy for that method. I may search out another OP variety to try next year.

Try a big box store tomato cage. If the peppers get too big, put another upside down on top with zip ties.
I have no luck staking big peppers. The branches are just too brittle.
Bill, awesome garden! Are you canning? What do you do with all the peppers? You have to try my fermented hot pepper sauce! I let my peppers get really red and wven dry some of them for maximum sugars. Helps the fermentation process and heat.