Noobie observations and questions and progress throughout season

[AprilMayJune]

Originally Posted by lycomania

Oh, you poor babies with your TWO 90-day growing seasons! Boy do I feel bad for you! (Hehe we have one 90-day growing season and the beginning and end of that lonely season comes with caveats.

Ha! Zone 5b here myself, too. Boy do I feel you on that.

[lycomania]

Originally Posted by AprilMayJune

Ha! Zone 5b here myself, too. Boy do I feel you on that.

I really shouldn't complain because we've had a really nice spring this year, and not everybody has been so lucky.

[tlintx]

It's so hot outside right now (humidity 70%) that I'm dreading going out, and this is supposed to be the last "cool" weekend for the foreseeable future. We have our challenges at the beginning and end of each season, but you're right, we're ridiculously fortunate down here! I try not to gloat, though.

Tnkrer, are you using vibration to assist in pollination? A lot of people swear by using an electric toothbrush or similar appliance on the stems above the flowers to get good fruit set.

I don't pull anything off my plants I don't have to.

(Just double checked and no, it's not the last cool weekend of the summer. It's supposed to be 97' today!)

[tnkrer]

Been to Dallas once in summer and I know the feeling of dreading to go out.

I had not done any pollination assist to tomatoes last year. and all the flowers had turned into tomatoes. (I did paintbrush cucumber flowers when I didn't see enough honeybees.) I will use my electric toothbrush to assist pollination. One more thing my wife can call me crazy for

[dice]

Yellow Pear is not noteworthy for impressive flavor. You might want
to yank it out of there, chuck it out in an alley somewhere, and leave
the space, water, and fertilizer it would have used up for your better
tasting other tomatoes.

(I guess you could leave it growing somewhere as a trap crop for
raccoons, opossums, squirrels, and any other pests that you have
around. Doesn't deserve an earthtainer, I would say.)

They are easy to grow, though, as tomatoes go.

[tnkrer]

aphids and possibly mildew showed up

Dice ..This is my first time growing those yellow pear tomatoes, if we don't like those, they will be kicked out next year. At least they are growing well. Last year I had only two varieties, roma and husky cherry, and we did not find either of those exciting or much better than store bought ones. So searched the forums and decided on 5 varieties this year. (pink brandywine, black cherry, sunsugar, yellow pear and early girl) I want to keep to 6 plants and 4-5 varieties. That should supply our family with enough tomatoes and also some more for friends and neighbors.

sharpcheddar: Here is a double bloom peony that bloomed yesterday .. (This may not be correct name .. that is what previous owner called it)


And now I know the right place for such thread .. It should go to the photo gallery forum. I will ask the mods to move it if possible!

[tlintx]

Oh, that is SO PRETTY!

I have the worst time with beautiful flowers -- the only ones I can grow are roses.

I think you'll enjoy the Brandywine -- if you'd like some of the Cowlick's strain, or some Cherokee Purple seeds, I should have plenty soon!

[dice]

I had a Yellow Pear plant one time. It came in a six-pack
of miscellaneous tomato seedlings that included a couple of
cherries (probably sweet 100), a roma, and what may have
been a Brandywine from the way it grew (got one fruit in
November, sweet and delicious). The Yellow Pear tomatoes
simply had no flavor. It was a healthy plant, though.

While Brandywine is famous for its flavor, Sunsugar is an
excellent cherry tomato. I really liked it the one time I grew
it. I thought it had better flavor than the Sungold I grew a
couple of years before, but then they were in different spots
with different sun exposure, and grown in different weather,
so not a fair comparison.

(I will comment on the aphids, etc, in your other thread.)

[tnkrer]

Dice, Yellow pear tomato is the best grower of my bunch. Also the shape and color are interesting .. So I was already inclined to like it. After the tasting .. we will decide. (Though from what I have read, same variety of tomato can exhibit different tastes based on where/how it was grown and even on the same plant, taste would vary during the season.

So I read about "legginess" After searching a little more, I decided that when the distance between two consecutive branches is more than "normal" people will call it leggy. It happens when the plant is not getting enough light and tries to grow higher in hopes of getting more light. So even if a plant is leggy inside, after I plant it outside, the new growth should not be leggy .. right? Also if it becomes leggy, the fear is, it is not strong enough to support its height?

[tlintx]

Yep. You can always plant it deep to turn the legginess into an advantage.

Flavor is so subjective, I'd use other people's experiences as a guideline, but I wouldn't worry too much!

If you like stocky seedlings, try some dwarfs! If you like robust ones, the Boar Farms varieties are ridiculously vigorous. There's a whole thread on the most robust seedlings.


Tl

[tnkrer]

Thanks tlintx .. I haven't grown or seen a dwarf. They do sound interesting. I will start a recommendation request thread later in the season (and will remember your offer to hook me up with cowlick strain and/or cherokee purple . Next year instead of increasing tomatoes, I want to add a tainer for peppers and one for eggplants. I am hoping to grow from 1 earthtainer to 5, three with 6 tomatoes, 1 with 4 eggplants and 1 with 4 peppers.

[dice]

You can always mix bland tomatoes with some not so bland tomatoes
in sauce, soup, or juice. They are still nutritious, even if not what you
choose to snack on fresh.

[Vespertino]

Originally Posted by tnkrer

aphids and possibly mildew showed up

Dice ..This is my first time growing those yellow pear tomatoes, if we don't like those, they will be kicked out next year. At least they are growing well. Last year I had only two varieties, roma and husky cherry, and we did not find either of those exciting or much better than store bought ones. So searched the forums and decided on 5 varieties this year. (pink brandywine, black cherry, sunsugar, yellow pear and early girl) I want to keep to 6 plants and 4-5 varieties. That should supply our family with enough tomatoes and also some more for friends and neighbors.

sharpcheddar: Here is a double bloom peony that bloomed yesterday .. (This may not be correct name .. that is what previous owner called it)


And now I know the right place for such thread .. It should go to the photo gallery forum. I will ask the mods to move it if possible!

*faints*

When I was a kid mom had some beautiful peonies from Japan growing in the yard... That pic makes me miss them so much.

[tlintx]

I love the dwarfs, old and new! Quite rewarding to grow, and easier to keep fed and watered, in my experience.

dice has a good point -- I've been throwing any we don't want to eat into a bag in the freezer for saucing later or adding to stews. Getting a dehydrator pretty soon so I can see if some of the less flavorful ones perk up after being dried, too.

Vespertino, you should try growing one!

[tnkrer]

tlintx,
With 6 plants, we won't really reach the point of having any extra. So everything will be either eaten or given to friends/family/neighbors.
I will add a dwarf to next year's group. May be I will have to increase tomato to 8 plants (4 tainers, 1 or 2 earlies, 2-3 cherries, 1 dwarf, 1-2 brandywines and 1 more ..)

Vespertino, every year, my kids give these peonies to their teachers, who all seem to like those very much. (I am sure teachers would like any flowers their students give to them ) I don't know how to collect seed from those plants, but if it is possible, I can send those to you ..