38 days later...Houston garden pics - Page 2

brengolio · April 22, 2012

Well Coastal bend........ last year I grew only Cherokee Purple and I didnt have alot of success...... one of the members on this forum suggested I try Spudakee and so far I'm extremely pleased with blossoms and fruit set......... the spuds look to be very healthy so far........ I'll add Indian Stripe next year............. hope this helps........ good luck w your CPs

feldon30 · April 23, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by coastal bend

brengolio, How dose the Spudakee tomato compare to Cherokee Purple. I read that they produce more fruit and can take the heat better. My CP are looking good now but can really get hot here. We have already had some 100* days which is unusual for this time of year.

Cherokee Purple sets pretty early for me, and I've seen Cherokee Purple set fruit long after I'd given up hope. I had one plant with over 20 fruit in 2008. I'd like to grow Spudakee one year just to compare the two.

ddsack · April 23, 2012

Interesting on putting the Wes in the topsy turvy thing, let us know how that does. The most droopy long-vined tomato I ever grew was Severnaya Krasavitsa from Andrey, beautiful rosy elongated plums. I'm tempted to put one in a large container on my second story deck and let it cascade as a vine over the side and see what happens. Only problem is we get a lot of wind, so I might lose some branches and fruit every time we get a storm. Too late to do it this year, but thanks for the idea.

celerystalksmidnite · May 1, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddsack

Interesting on putting the Wes in the topsy turvy thing, let us know how that does. The most droopy long-vined tomato I ever grew was Severnaya Krasavitsa from Andrey, beautiful rosy elongated plums. I'm tempted to put one in a large container on my second story deck and let it cascade as a vine over the side and see what happens. Only problem is we get a lot of wind, so I might lose some branches and fruit every time we get a storm. Too late to do it this year, but thanks for the idea.

No problem. If you do, let us know how it works out.

As for the garden, it has been a very disappointing season so far. Leaf footed bugs, disease, and furry critters (likely a squirrel made a meal out of this CP):

It's a good thing I tend to experience amnesia after 'birthing' my garden each year. I've got somewhere between 30-50 Cherokee Purples on one plant at different stages of development. If I don't get a single fruit, it will be a bitter disappointment.

In other news, I'm about to pull Florida Pink (this will be the last year I try to grow it; FP and I just don't mix, for some reason; I really wanted to get a single tomato from this variety after many years of attempting to grow it), the Dr Wyche's is dropping blossoms and baby tomatoes by the dozen, and my Brandywines may be going the way of Florida Pink. Next year obviously calls for some major rethinking. Maybe gardening cages/rooms?

ginger2778 · May 1, 2012

This looks exactly like what a rat (which turned out to be 2 rats) did to my tomatoes this past winter.(that is our growing season). I went to the pet store and bought a no kill trap that has a trigger which closes to trap doors before the critter knows what hit it. I knew it was happening after dark, so I set the trap with peanut butter, and it was only about 1/2 hour after dark when I went to check.
Lo and behold, there was a huge rat looking at me. My husband started jumping for joy, and we both took the caged critter out 5 miles to a field , and released it.
I said "lets set it again so we did, and in the morning there was what I guess was it's mate looking at us. We went to a different field and released it , both were unharmed. That's more than I can say for our tomato fruit! We had no more trouble with critters for the rest of the season, just bugs and worms.
It was so easy, apparently rats like peanut butter,and the smell is strong enough to attract them.

April 23, 2012	#18
ddsack Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Northern Minnesota - zone 3 Posts: 3,231	Interesting on putting the Wes in the topsy turvy thing, let us know how that does. The most droopy long-vined tomato I ever grew was Severnaya Krasavitsa from Andrey, beautiful rosy elongated plums. I'm tempted to put one in a large container on my second story deck and let it cascade as a vine over the side and see what happens. Only problem is we get a lot of wind, so I might lose some branches and fruit every time we get a storm. Too late to do it this year, but thanks for the idea. __________________ Dee **************

April 22, 2012	#16
brengolio Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: prairieville la Posts: 132	Well Coastal bend........ last year I grew only Cherokee Purple and I didnt have alot of success...... one of the members on this forum suggested I try Spudakee and so far I'm extremely pleased with blossoms and fruit set......... the spuds look to be very healthy so far........ I'll add Indian Stripe next year............. hope this helps........ good luck w your CPs

May 1, 2012	#20
ginger2778 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10 Posts: 9,283	This looks exactly like what a rat (which turned out to be 2 rats) did to my tomatoes this past winter.(that is our growing season). I went to the pet store and bought a no kill trap that has a trigger which closes to trap doors before the critter knows what hit it. I knew it was happening after dark, so I set the trap with peanut butter, and it was only about 1/2 hour after dark when I went to check. Lo and behold, there was a huge rat looking at me. My husband started jumping for joy, and we both took the caged critter out 5 miles to a field , and released it. I said "lets set it again so we did, and in the morning there was what I guess was it's mate looking at us. We went to a different field and released it , both were unharmed. That's more than I can say for our tomato fruit! We had no more trouble with critters for the rest of the season, just bugs and worms. It was so easy, apparently rats like peanut butter,and the smell is strong enough to attract them.