Bill's Garden in June - Page 3

bower · June 26, 2014

Bill, Your garden is amazing... great setup, and gorgeous plants loaded up with fruit.

It raises my spirits to see your great harvest of ripe fruit! Cheers.

Dewayne mater · June 27, 2014

Well, its definitely squirrels, I've caught them multiple times doing the crime! We have a creek with lots of large trees that create a fuzzy tailed rats' paradise.

My biggest tomato this year was, of all things, a Cherokee Green weighing in at 14.6 ounces. (many more close to that size, especially Terhune, this year's superstar) I got that one, but it had a twin on another branch that was at least as big and they got it yesterday. GRR! This is why the boy was given his first bb gun for Christmas.

Dewayne Mater

b54red · June 27, 2014

Happy hunting Dewayne.

Bill

b54red · July 4, 2014

These are my last pics from June.

1st. shows some fruit right on the mulch because of having to lower the plants with my new support system.
2nd shows just a nice cluster of fruit.
3rd shows a few days of picking before most will end up in the sauce pot or given away to friends.

JJJessee · July 4, 2014

Looks fantastic, B54!

Now, I'm a new MaterMan, so do you pick with the green shoulders to prevent splittling, that's just the varietal trait, or some other reason?

I'm really liking those trellis clips my first year. I have about 80 plants and most of them are about head-high. Some I have about 4 clips per runner with one or two runners per plant, and I thought I'd be able to leap frog the bottom clip up the string. But it seems the plants are just get too heavy the support by a just by the neck, and shoulder. My tops are slowing down some and suckering too. The fruit set is big and green but not especially numerous.

Should I be feeding them some type of organic tea at this point?

Keep on gardenin'

efisakov · July 4, 2014

How many varieties this year?

peppero · July 4, 2014

Pix 3 looks great. Envy is knocking ay my door. I will try to ignore it.

Jon

b54red · July 5, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by JJJessee

Looks fantastic, B54!

Now, I'm a new MaterMan, so do you pick with the green shoulders to prevent splittling, that's just the varietal trait, or some other reason?

I'm really liking those trellis clips my first year. I have about 80 plants and most of them are about head-high. Some I have about 4 clips per runner with one or two runners per plant, and I thought I'd be able to leap frog the bottom clip up the string. But it seems the plants are just get too heavy the support by a just by the neck, and shoulder. My tops are slowing down some and suckering too. The fruit set is big and green but not especially numerous.

Should I be feeding them some type of organic tea at this point?

Keep on gardenin'

I give mine a good dose of Texas Tomato Food at least once a week and during heavy production I try to do it more often if I am able. It seems that when they are producing heavy they don't want to set much new fruit unless I keep them fed well. It is a tricky business because I have to be careful not to over water any at this point except on new plants which only have small fruit on them.

My fruit set since I started using Texas Tomato Food is easily twice as heavy on most varieties as it used to be with other fertilizers. I highly recommend it for increasing fruit set. You could also try using an electric toothbrush ever morning to stimulate the blooms. I started doing this on my latest plants I set out and despite the nights in the 70s and 80s and days near 100 those plants are setting pretty good and some are even setting fairly heavy which is a surprise in this heat.

Bill

Bill

b54red · July 5, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by efisakov

How many varieties this year?

I have a total of 35 varieties set out this year. I have reduced my number of varieties greatly this year and will reduce again next year. I am leaning heavily toward planting only the varieties that taste great to me and that have a history of producing well for more than just one or two years. I only planted two varieties that I have not grown before instead of my usual 10 or more.

Bill

b54red · July 5, 2014

JJJessee, i have had better results especially when I have had to lower my plants by having a clip about every foot up each supported stem. I badly damaged one plant when trying to lower it with only two clips on a 8 ft stem. It kinked to the breaking point between the two clips when I lowered it a bit. I bought a lot of clips but I have been really going through them fast with over 70 plants. I am also using the clips on my peppers and so far I am liking them much better than trying to tie them up to a support; but they were set out late and are only 3 ft tall right now so problems might develop with them yet.

Bill

b54red · July 5, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by peppero

Pix 3 looks great. Envy is knocking ay my door. I will try to ignore it.

Jon

Jon, I have had a terrific season so far and the last ten days I have had to clear that table twice. I picked over three 5 gal. buckets the first 3 days of July but now they have slowed down considerably. Below are a few pics taken on the third of July. The first two show my main ripening table. The least ripe fruits are placed in the corner where they get a bit more light in the mornings and they will usually be fully ripe within two days. The last pic shot from above shows 5 KBXs picked off one cluster the morning of the third along with a Zogola and all of them are over one pound.

I usually pick my tomatoes a little early when they are blushing good if it is hot and dry to avoid so many bird pecks. When it is this hot delaying picking too long can result in some of them getting over ripe. The fruit are kept on the porch away from birds, squirrels and other pests to finish ripening for from one to three days. Then I need to bring them inside in the air conditioning or they will start rotting in the heat or get over ripe. I used to try leaving them on the vines til they were fully ripe but I just lost too many to birds or just plain rotting. I really can't tell any difference in the flavor as long as I let them stay on the vine til they have a good blush going.

Bill

Heritage · July 5, 2014

Bill, It must be very rewarding to get such a beautiful harvest in your less-than-ideal growing conditions. Great job!

Steve

jmsieglaff · July 6, 2014

Great looking tomatoes! The picture of the table full of them would make nice wall art. Is that just a black sharpie you write on them with and cut that part off or is it some sort of edible marker? --Nevermind, those labels look to identify crosses, so you're probably not eating them anyway.

Tania · July 6, 2014

Bill,

This is such a fantastic harvest. And very lovely garden too!!! It is obvious that you are getting a very nice 'return' on your efforts.

Tatiana

AKmark · July 6, 2014

Great pics Bill, nice set up. Looks like your effort paid off big time, keep the pics coming.

July 4, 2014	#36
efisakov Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: NJ, zone 7 Posts: 3,162	How many varieties this year? __________________ Ella God comes along and says, "I think I'm going to create THE tomato!”

July 6, 2014	#44
Tania Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Anmore, BC, Canada Posts: 3,970	Bill, This is such a fantastic harvest. And very lovely garden too!!! It is obvious that you are getting a very nice 'return' on your efforts. Tatiana __________________ Tatiana's TOMATObase

June 26, 2014	#31
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	Bill, Your garden is amazing... great setup, and gorgeous plants loaded up with fruit. It raises my spirits to see your great harvest of ripe fruit! Cheers.

June 27, 2014	#32
Dewayne mater Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2008 Location: DFW, Texas Posts: 1,212	Well, its definitely squirrels, I've caught them multiple times doing the crime! We have a creek with lots of large trees that create a fuzzy tailed rats' paradise. My biggest tomato this year was, of all things, a Cherokee Green weighing in at 14.6 ounces. (many more close to that size, especially Terhune, this year's superstar) I got that one, but it had a twin on another branch that was at least as big and they got it yesterday. GRR! This is why the boy was given his first bb gun for Christmas. Dewayne Mater

June 27, 2014	#33
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Happy hunting Dewayne. Bill

July 4, 2014	#35
JJJessee Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Abingdon, Va Posts: 184	Looks fantastic, B54! Now, I'm a new MaterMan, so do you pick with the green shoulders to prevent splittling, that's just the varietal trait, or some other reason? I'm really liking those trellis clips my first year. I have about 80 plants and most of them are about head-high. Some I have about 4 clips per runner with one or two runners per plant, and I thought I'd be able to leap frog the bottom clip up the string. But it seems the plants are just get too heavy the support by a just by the neck, and shoulder. My tops are slowing down some and suckering too. The fruit set is big and green but not especially numerous. Should I be feeding them some type of organic tea at this point? Keep on gardenin'

July 4, 2014	#37
peppero Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: selmer, tn Posts: 2,944	Pix 3 looks great. Envy is knocking ay my door. I will try to ignore it. Jon

July 5, 2014	#40
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	JJJessee, i have had better results especially when I have had to lower my plants by having a clip about every foot up each supported stem. I badly damaged one plant when trying to lower it with only two clips on a 8 ft stem. It kinked to the breaking point between the two clips when I lowered it a bit. I bought a lot of clips but I have been really going through them fast with over 70 plants. I am also using the clips on my peppers and so far I am liking them much better than trying to tie them up to a support; but they were set out late and are only 3 ft tall right now so problems might develop with them yet. Bill

July 5, 2014	#42
Heritage Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: San Diego Posts: 1,255	Bill, It must be very rewarding to get such a beautiful harvest in your less-than-ideal growing conditions. Great job! Steve

July 6, 2014	#43
jmsieglaff Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Southern WI Posts: 2,742	Great looking tomatoes! The picture of the table full of them would make nice wall art. Is that just a black sharpie you write on them with and cut that part off or is it some sort of edible marker? --Nevermind, those labels look to identify crosses, so you're probably not eating them anyway.

July 6, 2014	#45
AKmark Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Wasilla Alaska Posts: 2,010	Great pics Bill, nice set up. Looks like your effort paid off big time, keep the pics coming.