the season downunder - Page 4

Wi-sunflower · November 24, 2008

I hope all those AU tomatoes are OK today.

My TV just showed a "rare spring snow" in AU. Unfortunately they didn't say where in AU.

I also woke up to a coating of wet heavy snow, but we have been expecting it as we are heading into our winter and it's been COLD here for over a week, in the teens *F in the morning.

Anyway this board is neat because when our seasons are done, we can read about continued growing in other parts of the world. I hope your season goes better now and you didn't get hurt by the snow.

Raymondo · November 24, 2008

Wi_sunflower, much of the east coast had very cold weather for a day or two. A few places did get snow, not here luckily, although it has happened in the past.
I agree, it's great to be able to read what others are up to in their different seasons. A winter pleasure for me is reading this forum to see all the wonderful tomatoes that you NHers produce.

tessa · November 24, 2008

i think canberra got some snow...but that's no big surprise.
they've had snow at christmas!
(that will have sounded quite right to all the north americans...but down here...christmas is the height of summer)

LenaBeanNZ · November 24, 2008

Snow at christmas, thats terrible!

Somebody reccorded 29'c yesterday, our hottest day yet. I was riding my bike to work and could feel the heat coming off the road. My seedlings are noticing it too, have had some germinate after only 4 days at room temperature.

The first Bashful f2 are showing their heads, I have 10 so far

some look smaller (dwarfish) already, but maybe Im imagining it. Ill wait a bit longer untill I make any official observations.

I hope you NH gardeners are keeping warm.

Lena

Lomatia · November 25, 2008

80mm of rain in Marysville over the last few days and the fire on Sunday night but the toms are still powering away. Piling on the manure this year and hoping for good results. My tomato show will be on 21/22 Feb 2009 (Festival W/E up there) so surely there will be some fruit by then!

Medbury Gardens · November 25, 2008

Thats a great rain Lomatia, i see that there`s been rain in lots of various places around Aussie so far this growing season.

On this side of the ditch,the west of NZ have had so much rain up to 400-500mm in some areas,we had 1mm along with some damaging winds but should get some good flower set on my outside tomatoes.
How did your tomatoes fair Lena didn`t get blown out of the ground ?

tessa · November 25, 2008

my anna banana russian has started setting fruit. i'm very excited...because while i am constantly revising what i think is my favourite tomato...this one stays way up the top of the list.

aint she purdy?
just look at her eyelashes. do they mean this one is going to be a biggie?

Raymondo · November 26, 2008

She's gorgeous Tessa and what lashes! I don't think I've seen such long sepals.

Tomstrees · November 26, 2008

Anyone growin TYW down-unda ???

Hope all is well,

~ Tom

tessa · November 26, 2008

tom...i'm not growing it yet...but i might start a few seeds for 'round two' tomato crop.
stay tuned!

LenaBeanNZ · November 26, 2008

The wind was rough wasnt it, some of my sunflowers got a bit bent, and as usual my pots and buckets ended up all over the yard. Tomatoes are all ok luckily! Have been watching the little tomato, shes growing! Not quite as pretty as Tessas baby, but shes still attached and thats something to be thankful for. More blossoms have dropped from that plant. How did you survive the wind Richard?

Medbury Gardens · November 27, 2008

Yep i was ok Lena, having 130 year old pine trees helps protect my garden.
i grow my tomatoes horizontal along wires so as to make it easier to cover with netting, if i dont the black birds would eat the lot even the green ones.So to have them growing close to the ground protected them.
Crazy weather,you would have had some rain but for us here not a cloud in the sky,160kms winds and 32 c.

Raymondo · November 28, 2008

Growing them horizontally sounds like espalier Richard. Do you keep a vertical central leader?

Medbury Gardens · November 29, 2008

The plants at each end i will grow one main leader heading toward the center, the plants more towards the center i will train two leaders in both directions,when a leader gets to about 30cm high i`ll pull it down horizontal and tie it.

Its a bit of a pain in the arse and is certainly a lot more work but in the short term it will just have to do, my longer term plan is to cover my berry fruit area in a permanent bird netting and have an area within for the growing of tomatoes

In the short time i`ve been a Tomatovillan i have learnt one thing and that is we all have different obstacles that we need to over come to grow a sucessful crop, some have Deer eatting there plants,others (Aussies)beetles and for ous kiwis, bloody black birds,

Wi-sunflower · November 29, 2008

we all have different obstacles that we need to over come to grow a sucessful crop, some have Deer eatting there plants,others (Aussies)beetles and for ous kiwis, bloody black birds,

Some of us have ALL the above things and more, depending on which field we plant in.

If much of anything valuable is planted near the edge of our woods, you can count on the Raccoons and squirrels nibbling on it, especially during a dry spell. If something is near the field corn, look out for a bug overflow. But it doesn't seem to matter much which area I plant in, the black birds and crows seem to "play" with the almost ripe stuff. Tomatoes and watermelons seem to be their favs. Poke holes in plenty.

I know most "animals" are supposedly color blind, but if so, then why do they seem to only bother the almost ripe stuff ?? Birds must be able to see at least some color, as they only seem to bother the ripe tomatoes and mostly those that are rather exposed. I don't mind so much later in the season when there is too much to pick anyway. But for those first fruits you are watching, it can be heartbreaking to come out one day and see them ruined.

We also gave up trying to grow sweet corn due to all the Raccoons around us. Some old-timers say a coon can smell ripening sweet corn a mile away. All I know is we would only get maybe 10% of any we planted and they would ruin the rest.

The closer you are to population areas, the worse the animal problems too. They lose their fear of humans to a large degree, and few if any hunt them any more.

We all have our problems, tho I think the weather in the SH is a bit more extreme than what we NHs have most summers. I hope you all have a good growing summer, where ever you are.

November 24, 2008	#47
Raymondo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Saumarez Ponds, NSW, Australia Posts: 946	Wi_sunflower, much of the east coast had very cold weather for a day or two. A few places did get snow, not here luckily, although it has happened in the past. I agree, it's great to be able to read what others are up to in their different seasons. A winter pleasure for me is reading this forum to see all the wonderful tomatoes that you NHers produce. __________________ Ray

November 26, 2008	#53
Raymondo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Saumarez Ponds, NSW, Australia Posts: 946	She's gorgeous Tessa and what lashes! I don't think I've seen such long sepals. __________________ Ray Last edited by Raymondo; November 26, 2008 at 03:36 PM.

November 26, 2008	#54
Tomstrees Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NJ Bayshore Posts: 3,848	Anyone growin TYW down-unda ??? Hope all is well, ~ Tom __________________ My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~ H. Fred Ale

November 28, 2008	#58
Raymondo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Saumarez Ponds, NSW, Australia Posts: 946	Growing them horizontally sounds like espalier Richard. Do you keep a vertical central leader? __________________ Ray

November 24, 2008	#46
Wi-sunflower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 2,591	I hope all those AU tomatoes are OK today. My TV just showed a "rare spring snow" in AU. Unfortunately they didn't say where in AU. I also woke up to a coating of wet heavy snow, but we have been expecting it as we are heading into our winter and it's been COLD here for over a week, in the teens *F in the morning. Anyway this board is neat because when our seasons are done, we can read about continued growing in other parts of the world. I hope your season goes better now and you didn't get hurt by the snow.

November 24, 2008	#48
tessa Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: perth, western australia Posts: 1,031	i think canberra got some snow...but that's no big surprise. they've had snow at christmas! (that will have sounded quite right to all the north americans...but down here...christmas is the height of summer)

November 24, 2008	#49
LenaBeanNZ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 114	Snow at christmas, thats terrible! Somebody reccorded 29'c yesterday, our hottest day yet. I was riding my bike to work and could feel the heat coming off the road. My seedlings are noticing it too, have had some germinate after only 4 days at room temperature. The first Bashful f2 are showing their heads, I have 10 so far some look smaller (dwarfish) already, but maybe Im imagining it. Ill wait a bit longer untill I make any official observations. I hope you NH gardeners are keeping warm. Lena

November 25, 2008	#50
Lomatia Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 147	80mm of rain in Marysville over the last few days and the fire on Sunday night but the toms are still powering away. Piling on the manure this year and hoping for good results. My tomato show will be on 21/22 Feb 2009 (Festival W/E up there) so surely there will be some fruit by then!

November 25, 2008	#51
Medbury Gardens Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Medbury, New Zealand Posts: 1,881	Thats a great rain Lomatia, i see that there`s been rain in lots of various places around Aussie so far this growing season. On this side of the ditch,the west of NZ have had so much rain up to 400-500mm in some areas,we had 1mm along with some damaging winds but should get some good flower set on my outside tomatoes. How did your tomatoes fair Lena didn`t get blown out of the ground ?

November 27, 2008	#57
Medbury Gardens Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Medbury, New Zealand Posts: 1,881	Yep i was ok Lena, having 130 year old pine trees helps protect my garden. i grow my tomatoes horizontal along wires so as to make it easier to cover with netting, if i dont the black birds would eat the lot even the green ones.So to have them growing close to the ground protected them. Crazy weather,you would have had some rain but for us here not a cloud in the sky,160kms winds and 32 c.

November 29, 2008	#60
Wi-sunflower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 2,591	we all have different obstacles that we need to over come to grow a sucessful crop, some have Deer eatting there plants,others (Aussies)beetles and for ous kiwis, bloody black birds, Some of us have ALL the above things and more, depending on which field we plant in. If much of anything valuable is planted near the edge of our woods, you can count on the Raccoons and squirrels nibbling on it, especially during a dry spell. If something is near the field corn, look out for a bug overflow. But it doesn't seem to matter much which area I plant in, the black birds and crows seem to "play" with the almost ripe stuff. Tomatoes and watermelons seem to be their favs. Poke holes in plenty. I know most "animals" are supposedly color blind, but if so, then why do they seem to only bother the almost ripe stuff ?? Birds must be able to see at least some color, as they only seem to bother the ripe tomatoes and mostly those that are rather exposed. I don't mind so much later in the season when there is too much to pick anyway. But for those first fruits you are watching, it can be heartbreaking to come out one day and see them ruined. We also gave up trying to grow sweet corn due to all the Raccoons around us. Some old-timers say a coon can smell ripening sweet corn a mile away. All I know is we would only get maybe 10% of any we planted and they would ruin the rest. The closer you are to population areas, the worse the animal problems too. They lose their fear of humans to a large degree, and few if any hunt them any more. We all have our problems, tho I think the weather in the SH is a bit more extreme than what we NHs have most summers. I hope you all have a good growing summer, where ever you are.