Hey Fellow Floridians - Year 2

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by Zone9b

Marsha,
Is Dolamite another way of getting the magnezium and calcium that appears to be available in say oyster shells?
Larry

It is a way of getting calcium and magnesium much faster than oyster or shells, which can take more than a year to dissolve and per hour enough calcium. If the shells are finely ground to a powder they will release calcium much faster.

I’ve gone back and read this entire thread again; there are so many gems buried all through.

Folks who have them: are you still using your VegiBees and do you think they really make a difference?

Is anyone contrasting the mitigation effects of crab vs oyster shell on nematodes? Asking because oyster shell is considerably cheaper.

I’m blown away by akmark’s method of putting 2 tomatoes into a small container (10 gallon I think). Are you putting multiple tomatoes into each container? (All my fabric containers are 25 or 30 gallon size.)

Eagerly looking forward to seed starting!

[Barb_FL]

Jane - AKMARK puts 2 plants in a 5 gallon bag. I think he might have even done 2 in a 4 gallon bag. He is an amazing grower.

I followed his lead, and put 2 plants in a 7-10 gallon root pouch or 1 plant in a 5 gallon root pouch. So far so good except for this hellacious wind we are having now and all day tomorrow. I took pictures of my plants yesterday because it may be the last time my plants look nice. Shown below.

Mine broke so this year I used an electric toothbrush. My daughter is here now on winter break and loves buzzing; she video it showing the pollen come out. I don't think we can post videos; if you want to see it, message me your email and I will send it to you. YES, I do think the vegibee was better, but buzzing does work especially when the nights are too hot to set fruit (>72) and we all got a lot of fruit set. There was another tomato grower (Ginny - Fishergurl) who doesn't post anymore, but she did it several times a day and had amazing fruit set.

Oyster vs Crabshell - no idea how they compare with the nematodes. I think if Oyster shells have chitten they should be comparable.

Here is a picture of Matsu Express fruit set taken yesterday. AKMARK developed Matsu Express.

Picture of my broccoli bed too.

BTW - you are sowing seeds for spring, right

Hi Barb,
Thank you so much for the feedback and your great pictures. Today has really smacked my garden around, too, plus it was still sopping wet from last weekend.

I really fight to set fruit between June and September. I’m eager to try anything to overcome the humidity and sticky pollen so looks like a VegiBee is in my future. I’ll msg my email.

I’ve seen a number of posts about Matsu Express. I already have seeds for more than 30 tomatoes I want to grow this spring... and that’s not taking into account peppers, eggplant, cukes, etc. etc. I’d love to try it in the fall so how do I go about getting seeds?

My inclination is to go with a combo of oyster and crab shell so that I can economize a bit. If the weather cooperates I’ll start mixing 5-1-1 and begin filling containers this weekend.

I’ll be starting tomato seeds in a few weeks. I always hope to plant outside by mid-March, give or take a week. I feel like we’re going to be on the colder end of things this year ... already a couple of nights in the 30’s. Judging from your plants you haven’t had anything close to that chilly yet.

Your broccoli bed is really impressive. I notice you’re using what looks like shade cloth; is that left up all year?

After really lousy, windy and wet weather for 2 weeks finally a nice day. It felt so good to get out in the garden, do some cleanup and make soil mix for the next mater season.
If we could have a couple weeks like today these greenies might ripen.

[maxjohnson]

Mixing my own grow mix is one of my favorite life activity.

Originally Posted by maxjohnson

Mixing my own grow mix is one of my favorite life activity.

YES!

[Zone9b]

Brandywine Dark fused blossom tomato. On examination looks like 4 fused into a single tomato. The variety does this with some regularity.
You can see in advance which flowers will produce this kind of tomato. The blossoms look strangely large. I guess that is what is called a mega blossom. I need to take a picture of one next season.

[ginger2778]

That is huge for a Brandywine dark. Is it Brandywine cherry dark?

[Zone9b]

Yes I believe this to what was originally thought to be a cherry. i read a while back that a breeder in Missouri had developed the Brandywine Dark Cherry but that it was thought to be unstable. What I am growing seems quite stable now and grows decent size tomatoes. I'm saving seeds and I'm hoping some others, certainly including yourself, might want to give it a try. It is a very productive and robust plant and produces quite a lot of fruit. I'm guessing that if others that grew in much more disiplined manner, than I, it could very easily produce even larger and more fruit.

[Barb_FL]

That Brandywine Cherry dark has certainly evolved. I can see if my original seeds purchased from tradewindsfruit.com still germinate and if they do will send the rest to you. Now that I found SunChocola (a hybrid very large cherry) it's doubtful that I will ever grow them.

PlainJane - What pine bark fines are you using? When I tried it, it was either the orchid kind (way too much $) or the ones I found at Walmart but really not fines. I had tried the 5-1-1 formula for one season and couldn't water enough.

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

That Brandywine Cherry dark has certainly evolved. I can see if my original seeds purchased from tradewindsfruit.com still germinate and if they do will send the rest to you. Now that I found SunChocola (a hybrid very large cherry) it's doubtful that I will ever grow them.

PlainJane - What pine bark fines are you using? When I tried it, it was either the orchid kind (way too much $) or the ones I found at Walmart but really not fines. I had tried the 5-1-1 formula for one season and couldn't water enough.

Barb, I called around to all the landscapers and stone yards in Jacksonville and got lucky on the second place, Stone Plus. HD, Loews don’t stock them. I’ll check the brand when I get home from work but I noticed it said Starke, FL. They are 3.99 for 2 cf. So not cheap but not crazy either.

They are a very nice size - truly fines - no big pieces in 4 bags so far.
My beef with ‘mini’ nuggets for the rest of the garden has been that some pieces are tree-sized.

I hear you on the watering, but this past year was exceptionally bad for tomato growing for me. When I started pulling plants I saw nematode infestation on 2 of them, but they all had issues. The only other thing it could be is the soil texture; I think it was too fine and compacted too much.

I’m going slightly heavier on the coco so it’s actually 5-2-1.
If I have to I’ll get DH to water mid-day.

[Zone9b]

Barb,
To grow them side by side would surely be interesting, to see how much it has changed, if any. I think it has changed significantly, but side by side would tell the story. I try to choose best tomato from best vine and hope for the variety to become a better tomato given the growing conditions in Florida.
I braved it and planted more Pike Snap Beans on Oct. 14, which is later than Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide suggests to plant them. They’ve done quite well and I continue to eat fresh green beans almost every day. Therefore, it appears that 2 crops of snap beans are doable in the Fall.
Larry

Originally Posted by Zone9b

Barb,
To grow them side by side would surely be interesting, to see how much it has changed, if any. I think it has changed significantly, but side by side would tell the story. I try to choose best tomato from best vine and hope for the variety to become a better tomato given the growing conditions in Florida.
I braved it and planted more Pike Snap Beans on Oct. 14, which is later than Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide suggests to plant them. They’ve done quite well and I continue to eat fresh green beans almost every day. Therefore, it appears that 2 crops of snap beans are doable in the Fall.
Larry

I’m further north and I planted beans Nov. 1st. I hate to give beans up.
Still harvesting but now you can tell the plants are getting unhappy. However, the Fava beans are loving life as are the peas.