Mark's 2018 crop

[AKmark]

Originally Posted by Spartanburg123

Wow, absolutely gorgeous setup!! How do you keep the pollen falling, do you have fans, bees, or a giant electric toothbrush? Best of luck Mark!!

The best way to ensure pollination in a greenhouse is to keep the humidity low. The pollen just falls out, and finger flick on a flower results in a micro pollen cloud. lol

Rainy weather for weeks makes it harder to keep the humidity down, the cold air outside makes that even harder because we have heaters blowing and that raises humidity too. Venting the greenhouse a couple times a day helps some in these situations. Floor covering or concrete really helps too it keeps the moisture in the ground.
We have fans, don't want bees cross pollinating anything, I save a lot of seed every year. I will flick my trusses some, I have used a toothbrush too. In short, I usually don't have a fruit set problem when doing nothing but controlling the environment the best I can, and I use a tailored fertilizer program.

I had a cold root zone problem a few weeks ago, had some P lock up, Mg was alittle slow too. Now everything is moving right along, I will be sending in a leaf sample this week, we will see what the boss says at HG.

I think my Rebel Yell Mat-Su cross took, the immature flower was behind a couple of other flowers, but that tomato is the farthest along on the truss. Those may be interesting, the RY selection was fairly early, the MS donor, very early, nice looking fruit.

[AKmark]

This year I am having the pink beefsteak throw down, we have many of our favorites side by side. The plan is a taste test, this should be interesting. These are the best of many other great ones I have tried.

Brandywine Sudduth's
Crnkovic Yugoslavian
Rebel Yell
Elgin Pink
AK Sunrise
Marriana's Peace
Pink Bloody Butcher x Dester F4
Terhune

[MissS]

Mark we seem to have similar taste. All of your favorites are also on my favorite list except for two that I have not grown. In place of your AK Sunrise and Pink Bloody Butcher x Dester F4, I have Rose and Winsall. I think that you have a great list and will be watching to see your results for this season.

[AKmark]

I have a Rose, but never grew it, and I have tried Winsall before, they are good. We will see how it goes, I love those beefsteaks.

[AlittleSalt]

Mark, I'm going to post this here and in my containers growing thread.

I used the method of fertilizing/feeding the tomato plants you told me about yesterday morning. I used it at half strength. Today, the plants are noticeably larger. I have never seen that much growth in a 24 hour time period.

[AKmark]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

Mark, I'm going to post this here and in my containers growing thread.

I used the method of fertilizing/feeding the tomato plants you told me about yesterday morning. I used it at half strength. Today, the plants are noticeably larger. I have never seen that much growth in a 24 hour time period.

If you measure your fertilizer strength correctly, and keep a 6.2-6.5 pH you had better get ready to tie up large plants and get the canning supplies ready too. Find someone who has a TDS meter, they can test your fertilizer strength. I have a pile of those things, always have one in my pocket.
Good Luck, I wish you the best season possible

[BigVanVader]

Mark, will a cheap Amazon TDS meter suffice? Recommendations?

[AKmark]

Originally Posted by BigVanVader

Mark, will a cheap Amazon TDS meter suffice? Recommendations?

I have Blue Lab as well as Hanna. The Blue Lab is super low maintenance, the Hanna you have to calibrate frequently. BL just does PPM and EC, Hanna does those plus pH. If you get a cheap one, it may not be super accurate, so I would test it beside a calibrated quality meter. If you know your pH and adjustments with your mix, try the BL. 100.00 bucks or so.
Good luck man, I have 132 of those MSE seeds going, some are super early.

[mobiledynamics]

I actually looked at the BlueLab and consdered it but there was a bit too much negative reviews that I steered clear.

Wish me luck mark...after seeing your 5G doubles.
This year for some new tomatoes I'm trialing, I've doubled up in my 15G Root Pouchs

[Tomzhawaii]

The Blue Lab is what you want. For a hundred dollars you can't go wrong. PH changes alot, from each time you mix nutrients and add to your reservior. There's evaporation and how your medium reacts. Too much guessing... You can sleep better knowing your PH.

[BigVanVader]

Originally Posted by AKmark

I have Blue Lab as well as Hanna. The Blue Lab is super low maintenance, the Hanna you have to calibrate frequently. BL just does PPM and EC, Hanna does those plus pH. If you get a cheap one, it may not be super accurate, so I would test it beside a calibrated quality meter. If you know your pH and adjustments with your mix, try the BL. 100.00 bucks or so.
Good luck man, I have 132 of those MSE seeds going, some are super early.

Ok thanks, I will get one soon. I need it for my petunias anyway. Glad to hear about the MSE seeds. Hope you get some good ones out of there.

[AKmark]

Originally Posted by BigVanVader

Ok thanks, I will get one soon. I need it for my petunias anyway. Glad to hear about the MSE seeds. Hope you get some good ones out of there.

The Hanna can be hard for some to use, you have to calibrate them frequently, and they are pretty accurate if you do so. I have a pile of these things.

The plants are moving along, we have some fruit ripening now, and most plants are loading up (bigly). No issues right now, just need more time.

[KarenO]

I’ll take that big blusher ... mmmm
Looks great Mark
Do you have a photo of the KP?
KarenO

[ddsack]

Just beautiful growth on those plants! Looking forward to seeing ripe ones soon!

[AKmark]

Originally Posted by KarenO

I’ll take that big blusher ... mmmm
Looks great Mark
Do you have a photo of the KP?
KarenO

Hi Karen, I will have some pics of it soon. It is in a different GH, and is in the second batch for summer production. It is just crazy around here right now, but it is what it is.