Mark's 2018 crop - Page 20

imp · September 9, 2018

Thanks, guess some coffee and some reading is in store for me, LOL!! I'll be using containers this next year for the first time and trying to get some decent yields to can up and share.

AKmark · September 9, 2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by imp

Thanks, guess some coffee and some reading is in store for me, LOL!! I'll be using containers this next year for the first time and trying to get some decent yields to can up and share.

I would look up Haifa's tomato guide. You should also consider Hydrogardens tomato growers manual. It is 10 dollars I think and is excellent. If you follow the directions you should be alright. However, it is really nice to own a PPM meter and a pH pen to make sure you are on track. Observation combined with knowledge of deficiency signs is very helpful too. You should polish up on that, and maybe element antagonism.

There is a learning curve, but it is not so bad. Put in a bit of effort to learn this and you will be canning tomatoes, and giving them to the neighbors too.

We have all winter to figure things out, I have a bunch of new stuff I am working on too.

Good luck

imp · September 9, 2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by AKmark

I would look up Haifa's tomato guide. You should also consider Hydrogardens tomato growers manual. It is 10 dollars I think and is excellent. If you follow the directions you should be alright. However, it is really nice to own a PPM meter and a pH pen to make sure you are on track. Observation combined with knowledge of deficiency signs is very helpful too. You should polish up on that, and maybe element antagonism.

There is a learning curve, but it is not so bad. Put in a bit of effort to learn this and you will be canning tomatoes, and giving them to the neighbors too.

We have all winter to figure things out, I have a bunch of new stuff I am working on too.

Good luck

Thanks, Mark, will spend some time looking stuff up and working it.

AKmark · September 15, 2018

Another batch of nice heirlooms heading to town. The YBW's almost glow.

Tomzhawaii · September 15, 2018

Mark,
I am very interested in the YBW. The Brandywine pink did well for me here. Now my cherokee purple are starting to pick up some steam.Hurricane surviviors times two.
Aloha,
Tom

AKmark · September 22, 2018

They just keep looking better as the season progresses. I sent quite a few of these to the market in the last 6 weeks or so.

I have to say that YBW is the best marketable yellowish- orange tomato I have found. The taste is exceptional, and they have real appeal when you look at them. Again, after growing them for 7 years, I have not found a more perfect selection for a yellow. They yield a lot, they withstand growing issues very well, and they throw some very large tomatoes.

I always hate them in Spring, they catface, and are irregular, but I love them by mid summer. LOL

KBX is good, Amana Orange is good, it goes downhill from there.

AKmark · October 11, 2018

The last new taste of the season.

I did Rebel Yell x Mat-Su Express F7.

Not quite as early as I expected, about 110 days from seed.

The flavor is exceptional.

ginger2778 · October 11, 2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by AKmark

The last new taste of the season.

I did Rebel Yell x Mat-Su Express F7.

Not quite as early as I expected, about 110 days from seed.

The flavor is exceptional.

Mark, if you get this to F6 with that same beautiful meatiness, and the exceptional flavor, I would like to be first in line for seeds. Hopefully its production is like MSE, rather than RY. I am growing MSE again this season, it made the cut!

ddsack · October 11, 2018

Good cross, Mark! I am salivating thinking about this one! Hope you can stabilize it successfully.

swordy · April 15, 2021

Wow that is indeed a nice thread. So beautiful healthy plants and a big crop! Very informative in a greenhouse conditions and possible problems one could meet. Well done!

dshreter · April 16, 2021

Mark, I’m not sure if you’re still tracking this thread. I’m trying to emulate some of your approach with 4-18-38 in grow bags with ProMix. One key difference is I have 10 gallon grow bags.

My concern is on fertilizer concentration build up since it would take an abundance of water to get it to waste out the bottom each time. The ProMix can absorb a ton before it is draining through.

Do you have any experience working with bigger containers? And how did you manage it?

AKmark · April 16, 2021

Quote:

Originally Posted by swordy

Wow that is indeed a nice thread. So beautiful healthy plants and a big crop! Very informative in a greenhouse conditions and possible problems one could meet. Well done!

We pass information. I am in a good network from Guatemala to Alaska. We do a lot of traveling to expand our business as well as knowledge. Piece of cake.

AKmark · April 16, 2021

Quote:

Originally Posted by dshreter

Mark, I’m not sure if you’re still tracking this thread. I’m trying to emulate some of your approach with 4-18-38 in grow bags with ProMix. One key difference is I have 10 gallon grow bags.

My concern is on fertilizer concentration build up since it would take an abundance of water to get it to waste out the bottom each time. The ProMix can absorb a ton before it is draining through.

Do you have any experience working with bigger containers? And how did you manage it?

Those fertilizers are really clean per say, we let just a bit drain out. What some may not know is we grow for 8 months. These fertilizers are developed by leaf samples, we double check their work with our own leaf samples.

I have grown ripe tomatoes in everything from a 4" container to a 20 gallon container, we have used many methods, fertilizers, programs, etc, over the course of 30 years. What we found is we can produce very well in four gallon, awesome in 5-6 gallon, under four gallon for me yield starts getting affected, taste remained great.

In large containers we enjoyed growing large plants with 3-4 vines. We got 50lbs from German Queen and over that from Delicious in 7-10 gallon containers.

I grow to get maximum yield from a square foot of space, so we are strict with pruning, gh layout, everything has to be well thought out.

It really is super simple and easy, but like anything, the more you do it the better you will get.

dshreter · April 16, 2021

Thanks Mark! I appreciate the reassurance

zipcode · April 16, 2021

Do overwatering not at every watering then, and dose the fertilizer according with the runoff EC when you do overwater. It's really the root zone EC that matters mostly, and runoff EC will be a good aproximation. More frequent flushing will give a more stable nutrient solution (especially in terms of nutrient balance), there's a reason they grow in rockwool in top greenhouses. Also, as long as aeration is high (coarse peat is especially important, not sure what promix has), you can have high water retention, the roots don't rot from water but from lack of oxygen.

September 9, 2018	#286
imp Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Wichita Falls, Texas Posts: 4,832	Thanks, guess some coffee and some reading is in store for me, LOL!! I'll be using containers this next year for the first time and trying to get some decent yields to can up and share. __________________ I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing.

October 11, 2018	#294
ddsack Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Northern Minnesota - zone 3 Posts: 3,231	Good cross, Mark! I am salivating thinking about this one! Hope you can stabilize it successfully. __________________ Dee **************

September 15, 2018	#290
Tomzhawaii Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: Honolulu ,Hawaii Posts: 262	Mark, I am very interested in the YBW. The Brandywine pink did well for me here. Now my cherokee purple are starting to pick up some steam.Hurricane surviviors times two. Aloha, Tom

April 15, 2021	#295
swordy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Rhodes island Greece Posts: 64	Wow that is indeed a nice thread. So beautiful healthy plants and a big crop! Very informative in a greenhouse conditions and possible problems one could meet. Well done!

April 16, 2021	#296
dshreter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2019 Location: Seattle Posts: 58	Mark, I’m not sure if you’re still tracking this thread. I’m trying to emulate some of your approach with 4-18-38 in grow bags with ProMix. One key difference is I have 10 gallon grow bags. My concern is on fertilizer concentration build up since it would take an abundance of water to get it to waste out the bottom each time. The ProMix can absorb a ton before it is draining through. Do you have any experience working with bigger containers? And how did you manage it?

April 16, 2021	#299
dshreter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2019 Location: Seattle Posts: 58	Thanks Mark! I appreciate the reassurance

April 16, 2021	#300
zipcode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Romania/Germany , z 4-6 Posts: 1,582	Do overwatering not at every watering then, and dose the fertilizer according with the runoff EC when you do overwater. It's really the root zone EC that matters mostly, and runoff EC will be a good aproximation. More frequent flushing will give a more stable nutrient solution (especially in terms of nutrient balance), there's a reason they grow in rockwool in top greenhouses. Also, as long as aeration is high (coarse peat is especially important, not sure what promix has), you can have high water retention, the roots don't rot from water but from lack of oxygen.