I think I'm going no-till - Page 20

Cole_Robbie · October 10, 2016

Salt, I didn't spray, and I think I am accumulating disease spores by growing tomatoes in the same rows. The fungal issues get worse every year. Next year, I will have to spray a lot more, and do so preventatively. I am pretty sure my issues are not soil-borne, thankfully I am too far north for that to be a problem.

I just went out to try to run the riding mower through the garden paths. It took me about 20 feet to uncover a nest of red wasps in my fence, about 3"x6" and crawling with wasps. I did not get stung, but that was enough to make me want to put off garden cleanup until the weather gets cold in about a month.

Ricky Shaw · October 10, 2016

Saw this and thought of you Cole Robbie, looks like max eclipse is over southern Illinois and western Kentucky. Should be a good show.

Cole_Robbie · October 10, 2016

The university has been pouring concrete pads for observer's telescopes. I saw an article about it today: http://thesouthern.com/news/local/si...56204957c.html

NASA is setting up their observation station here as well.

Cole_Robbie · October 21, 2016

Frost tonight, so I chopped down the last of my pepper plants. I picked 4/5 of a 5-gallon bucket of Habs off two plants, and 3/5 of a bucket off 3 Crunch Sweet Orange plants. Georgia Flame and Golden Treasures had a good yield earlier in the season, but were done producing by this point.

Someone on here pointed out to me that my garden plants are not the real White Bullet Habanero, because it does not turn red when ripening. Upon reflection, that is absolutely correct. My seeds I got from a non-tville swap are apparently crossed. I had one plant in a container that was the real White Bullet, and I didn't care for it. The peppers were tiny.

So I have White Bullet x something red. The closest example I can find in searching pics is someone's White Bullet x Ghost cross. I guess there's no way to know if I am at F1, F2, etc? I had three plants total; two were the cross. I am hoping the cross version is dominant, because I like it so much better.

Pics from today:
This is one plant's root ball. It had a single stem when I planted it: http://i.imgur.com/Fm3buVK.jpg

A typical loaded branch: http://i.imgur.com/5jn0rFS.jpg

4 Gallons of Habs: http://i.imgur.com/6nQNafL.jpg

Close up: http://i.imgur.com/MzZIsie.jpg

It was the biggest pepper plant I have ever grown, the size of a small tree. And that's with no fertilizer at all, no spray of any kind, and no watering for the past three months.

Cole_Robbie · November 5, 2016

Scoring points for "hybrid vigor," my only two hybrids in the garden were Marbonne and Red Bumble Bee, and they are my best-looking plants. Both still have tomatoes on them. I picked half a dozen green, tennis ball size fruit off the Marbonne today. Hard freeze finally coming next week. To still be picking tomatoes in November in Illinois is a rare occurrence.

Redbaron · November 6, 2016

For the first time in 4 years my bell peppers went crazy productive. 1/2 my tomatoes died, but the other 1/2 are doing awesome. Since all that died were dwarfs, I am thinking it must have something to do with slow growing roots and not being deep enough when the heat hits.

JLJ_ · November 7, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redbaron

For the first time in 4 years my bell peppers went crazy productive. 1/2 my tomatoes died, but the other 1/2 are doing awesome. Since all that died were dwarfs, I am thinking it must have something to do with slow growing roots and not being deep enough when the heat hits.

Great to see you back! Assuming it *is* you and not a ghost of some sort. Do you have half your tomatoes still performing this late?

I suspect that you're right about root depths. My paternal grandmother used to grow large gardens out on the ranch in the early 20th century and had no way to supplement water. I've thought that it must have been that she was able to plant varieties that put down deep roots during the spring rain periods and used those to survive the rest of the largely rainless summer.

Redbaron · November 7, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by JLJ_

Great to see you back! Assuming it *is* you and not a ghost of some sort. Do you have half your tomatoes still performing this late?

I suspect that you're right about root depths. My paternal grandmother used to grow large gardens out on the ranch in the early 20th century and had no way to supplement water. I've thought that it must have been that she was able to plant varieties that put down deep roots during the spring rain periods and used those to survive the rest of the largely rainless summer.

Yes I am still picking tomatoes daily. Big unruly indeterminates though. None others made it through the heat this year. Oh and it's me all right. I have been lurking a bit, but mostly not posting much due to other reasons. I have missed this place though.

Cole_Robbie · November 7, 2016

I just posted my 2017 seed offer: http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...950#post598950

imp · November 8, 2016

Thank you Cole.

I love the "tree" pepper- impressive and your peppers did good!

Glad to see you back, Scott, will look forward to you posting about your work in your perma culture stuff. How this last year went and what you did.

Jimbotomateo · April 23, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Scoring points for "hybrid vigor," my only two hybrids in the garden were Marbonne and Red Bumble Bee, and they are my best-looking plants. Both still have tomatoes on them. I picked half a dozen green, tennis ball size fruit off the Marbonne today. Hard freeze finally coming next week. To still be picking tomatoes in November in Illinois is a rare occurrence.

Bumping here!

. This thread is so good for questions and answers.

. Real farming in " real time". Reread it . Again!

. It's worth a look if you haven't read it yet. . Jimbo

Cole_Robbie · April 24, 2017

Thanks, man. I left my plastic mulch on from last year, so planting should be no big deal. I am just now starting. I did not put new dirt on any of my beds, including the high tunnel, but the plants there still look great. My cow field dirt, aka Sugar's Black Magic, is some powerful stuff.

tryno12 · April 24, 2017

Cole, I see you are going to plant now? How much further south are you than me by Indianapolis? I have some 8" seedlings that could go out but am afraid it might yet frost here in central Indiana, I see "Geezer" lives here in Brownsburg also and I was going to message him and ask when he plants but can't find a post with him on it. I wrote to tville to get permission to view members list..............

Jimbotomateo · April 24, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Thanks, man. I left my plastic mulch on from last year, so planting should be no big deal. I am just now starting. I did not put new dirt on any of my beds, including the high tunnel, but the plants there still look great. My cow field dirt, aka Sugar's Black Magic, is some powerful stuff.

Cole, you should box that stuff up and sell it!

. I'd buy some.

. Jimbo

Cole_Robbie · April 24, 2017

My magic dirt is full of thorny pigweed seeds. That's the down side. I have never managed to find a way to kill those seeds. I have baked the stuff in an oven, boiled it, steamed it....those weed seeds are invincible.

I'm about to go put some more plants in the dirt outside right now. The past two nights were cold, but it is warming up. The raised ridges and black plastic mulch are a big help this time of the year to warm up the soil. In the tilled garden, tomatoes and peppers are not going to grow when the nights are still getting down to the 50's. They'll live; they just won't do anything until it warms up.

November 6, 2016	#291
Redbaron Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 4,488	For the first time in 4 years my bell peppers went crazy productive. 1/2 my tomatoes died, but the other 1/2 are doing awesome. Since all that died were dwarfs, I am thinking it must have something to do with slow growing roots and not being deep enough when the heat hits. __________________ Scott AKA The Redbaron "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison co-founder of permaculture

October 10, 2016	#286
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	Salt, I didn't spray, and I think I am accumulating disease spores by growing tomatoes in the same rows. The fungal issues get worse every year. Next year, I will have to spray a lot more, and do so preventatively. I am pretty sure my issues are not soil-borne, thankfully I am too far north for that to be a problem. I just went out to try to run the riding mower through the garden paths. It took me about 20 feet to uncover a nest of red wasps in my fence, about 3"x6" and crawling with wasps. I did not get stung, but that was enough to make me want to put off garden cleanup until the weather gets cold in about a month.

October 10, 2016	#288
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	The university has been pouring concrete pads for observer's telescopes. I saw an article about it today: http://thesouthern.com/news/local/si...56204957c.html NASA is setting up their observation station here as well.

October 21, 2016	#289
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	Frost tonight, so I chopped down the last of my pepper plants. I picked 4/5 of a 5-gallon bucket of Habs off two plants, and 3/5 of a bucket off 3 Crunch Sweet Orange plants. Georgia Flame and Golden Treasures had a good yield earlier in the season, but were done producing by this point. Someone on here pointed out to me that my garden plants are not the real White Bullet Habanero, because it does not turn red when ripening. Upon reflection, that is absolutely correct. My seeds I got from a non-tville swap are apparently crossed. I had one plant in a container that was the real White Bullet, and I didn't care for it. The peppers were tiny. So I have White Bullet x something red. The closest example I can find in searching pics is someone's White Bullet x Ghost cross. I guess there's no way to know if I am at F1, F2, etc? I had three plants total; two were the cross. I am hoping the cross version is dominant, because I like it so much better. Pics from today: This is one plant's root ball. It had a single stem when I planted it: http://i.imgur.com/Fm3buVK.jpg A typical loaded branch: http://i.imgur.com/5jn0rFS.jpg 4 Gallons of Habs: http://i.imgur.com/6nQNafL.jpg Close up: http://i.imgur.com/MzZIsie.jpg It was the biggest pepper plant I have ever grown, the size of a small tree. And that's with no fertilizer at all, no spray of any kind, and no watering for the past three months.

November 5, 2016	#290
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	Scoring points for "hybrid vigor," my only two hybrids in the garden were Marbonne and Red Bumble Bee, and they are my best-looking plants. Both still have tomatoes on them. I picked half a dozen green, tennis ball size fruit off the Marbonne today. Hard freeze finally coming next week. To still be picking tomatoes in November in Illinois is a rare occurrence.

November 7, 2016	#294
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	I just posted my 2017 seed offer: http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...950#post598950

November 8, 2016	#295
imp Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Wichita Falls, Texas Posts: 4,832	Thank you Cole. I love the "tree" pepper- impressive and your peppers did good! Glad to see you back, Scott, will look forward to you posting about your work in your perma culture stuff. How this last year went and what you did.

April 24, 2017	#297
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	Thanks, man. I left my plastic mulch on from last year, so planting should be no big deal. I am just now starting. I did not put new dirt on any of my beds, including the high tunnel, but the plants there still look great. My cow field dirt, aka Sugar's Black Magic, is some powerful stuff.

April 24, 2017	#298
tryno12 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Indianapolis Area 46112 Posts: 857	Cole, I see you are going to plant now? How much further south are you than me by Indianapolis? I have some 8" seedlings that could go out but am afraid it might yet frost here in central Indiana, I see "Geezer" lives here in Brownsburg also and I was going to message him and ask when he plants but can't find a post with him on it. I wrote to tville to get permission to view members list..............

April 24, 2017	#300
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	My magic dirt is full of thorny pigweed seeds. That's the down side. I have never managed to find a way to kill those seeds. I have baked the stuff in an oven, boiled it, steamed it....those weed seeds are invincible. I'm about to go put some more plants in the dirt outside right now. The past two nights were cold, but it is warming up. The raised ridges and black plastic mulch are a big help this time of the year to warm up the soil. In the tilled garden, tomatoes and peppers are not going to grow when the nights are still getting down to the 50's. They'll live; they just won't do anything until it warms up.