Hey Fellow Floridians - Year 2

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

It went from HOT to sweatshirt weather in one day. Really windy too.

Kay - that is really cold.
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Zenbass - Yes, Jacaranda with the purple flowers. They have feathery seeds; the red royal poinciana have really hard seeds.
Larry - For peppers, I've had several that were 2+ years old. I leave them if they still produce. I mainly grow Charleston Bells, Marconi - Red and Yellow, and Shish****. This fall I'm not growing anything hot. I would think if you are having problems that they aren't getting enough sun. If they wilt and die, not enough water? whiteflies?

Barb,
Good to know. I'll try leaving some peppers in for the next season It appears that Henry Fields now has Premium Crop Broccoli seeds. They have a new tomato that no one else seems to have at this time. It is called Giant Beef and is said to be an improvement of Big Beef. VFFN, 70 days, 12-16oz, indeterminate, said to offer larger yields than Big Beef.
Sounds like a lot. Bigger, earlier, more productive than Big Beef. I may give it a try.
I'd sure like to hear an update on your progress with Garden Gem one of these days.
I'm sure you are already aware, but there is supposed to be a replacement to Garden Gem late next year. It is said to add resistance to nematodes. What else is improved I don't know. I would guess that they it would have larger tomatoes, but that is just a guess. You might ask what is in store over on the Garden Gem facebook page.
Larry

[Barb_FL]

Originally Posted by Zone9b

Barb,
Good to know. I'll try leaving some peppers in for the next season It appears that Henry Fields now has Premium Crop Broccoli seeds. They have a new tomato that no one else seems to have at this time. It is called Giant Beef and is said to be an improvement of Big Beef. VFFN, 70 days, 12-16oz, indeterminate, said to offer larger yields than Big Beef.
Sounds like a lot. Bigger, earlier, more productive than Big Beef. I may give it a try.
I'd sure like to hear an update on your progress with Garden Gem one of these days.
I'm sure you are already aware, but there is supposed to be a replacement to Garden Gem late next year. It is said to add resistance to nematodes. What else is improved I don't know. I would guess that they it would have larger tomatoes, but that is just a guess. You might ask what is in store over on the Garden Gem facebook page.
Larry

Hey Larry, I have been updating my GG status over at the Facebook page. If you can't see it, my plants were determinate, 3' tall, produced tons of fruit, picked the first ripe one on 11/13 and ate on 11/14. I am getting lots of ripe ones daily now. (They said plants are usually 6' tall and semi-det) When I checked the seed pack, it said produced over 6 weeks which is what it did. Loved the size of the plant. Taste is good.

Kay had mentioned she left one of the counter for 3 weeks and it was fine. I did the same for 10 days and it was really good.

Thanks for letting me know they are making a new Garden Gem. I didn't know that.

If you want any of the F2 seeds, let me know.

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Other tomato ripening: Earliest: Cole, Garden Gem , Sun Gold, and other plant that was suppose to be Bradley but is big red cherries.

First ripened bigger tomato was Park's Whopper. (What a surprise).
I have 2 Park's Whopper plants and both are very productive.

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I still have a lot plants that have not set ANY fruit. Hopefully, this cooler weather will change that.
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I will get the broccoli, just waiting of shipping special. Their shipping price is so high.

[ginger2778]

I have a few things ripening now. Sungold, Maglia Rosa, Everglades, Iraqi Heart, Remy Rouge. I also have some plants that had not set a single fruit, a few already have with the delightful cool off we have had. About time!

[Zenbaas]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

It went from HOT to sweatshirt weather in one day. Really windy too.

Kay - that is really cold.

---
Zenbass - Yes, Jacaranda with the purple flowers. They have feathery seeds; the red royal poinciana have really hard seeds.

Larry - For peppers, I've had several that were 2+ years old. I leave them if they still produce. I mainly grow Charleston Bells, Marconi - Red and Yellow, and Shish****. This fall I'm not growing anything hot. I would think if you are having problems that they aren't getting enough sun. If they wilt and die, not enough water? whiteflies?

Thanks Barb.

Picture of me on the way to work about a month ago. They're beautiful trees when they are in full bloom.
uploadfromtaptalk1448432598371.jpg

[ginger2778]

Those are beautiful trees, thank you for the lovely picture,Zenbaas. I have 2 in my yard, grown from seed. They grow so fast, it was about 3 years to full size.

[Imthechuck]

Wow this thread has exploded! Tons of great information, I have been too busy to follow........

I thought I would add an update on my fall garden:

1. Cherry tomatoes/Brandy Boys and bell peppers are coming on strong.

2. went with hybrid bell peppers this year that I researched; Declaration and Aristotle are kicking but!

3. Girls Gone Weird and Sweet Ozark Orange (Thanks Marsha!) got a lot of blossom end rot

I think this was due to calcium nitrate sitting in the garage and there was a hole in the container and it turned into a brick. I bought some new and the issue was corrected.

4. Wind has been crazy, and the bugs are the usual issue even with weekly spraying. I think I read in this thread that some of you only grow cherry tomatoes and I can see why. The bigger ones just sit there too long in the heat/humidity/wind/birds and it gives the bugs more time to do their thing Its always sad when i have to throw huge tomatoes in the composter.....

[Imthechuck]

Another Question:

Can anyone recommend a pickling cucumber variety for hot/humid conditions?

[Barb_FL]

Zenbass - That picture is gorgeous. Thanks for posting it. I've seen one on the web that must be the same street but yours is even better.

Where I live lots of people have the Red Royal Poinciana trees. Few actually have the Jacandas. They don't get that big. What is your climate like?

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Wind is horrible. This morning I woke up with 1 EB and 1 SWC knocked over. The EB contains GGWT and PBTD and the plants (but thankfully not the box) were in the pool. I was able to lift it intact; hopefully the chlorine won't kill the plant. (gives new meaning to the bleach treatment). It's raining so the leaves should get somewhat rinsed off. Maybe the chlorine will kill the aphids.

Last week I put cinder blocks on the Vorlon/KBX to stop it from being knocked over. Worked well; they were upright.

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In the Chuck - your plants are HUGE. Only a few of mine are that tall. Is that Brandy Boy? For cucumbers, I don't know what constitutes a pickling variety but I grow Beta Alphas and their normal size is not really long and have decent shelf life. Taste is really good.

Marsha/Everyone - Do you think you are ahead/behind f prior years on Fruit set? I think I'm ahead on edible fruit but it is probably due to what I planted. (I don't remember eating tomatoes in mid November prior years).

My Maglia Rose has done horrible. I've restarted them.
Actually, all the 'wispy' foliage plants have done horrible (just like last fall).

Need to remember to just plant for spring.

Kelloggs/KBX has only set 1 tomato - in 3 plants in EB and SWC. Why do I bother?

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Do you have a lot of blossoms that don't fall off but don't materialize in a tomato? I have this on Kelloggs/KBX, the Jazz lines, most / all first trusses.

What causes this? Too hot at the time of fruit set. They were being buzzed so that isn't the problem.

The only way they come off is if I cut them off.

[Imthechuck]

I guess my trellis system worked I am watching the wind trying to knock them over....

I pounded 5ft 1/2 rebar for each side into ground and put 1/2 conduit over it and connected with elbows and tied the trellising myself

Marsha/Everyone - Do you think you are ahead/behind f prior years on Fruit set? I think I'm ahead on edible fruit but it is probably due to what I planted. (I don't remember eating tomatoes in mid November prior years).)

Wow now that you mention I just looked at my numbers in my excel spreadsheet


Last Year: Brandy Boy 73 Days / This Year : 50 Days

Last Year : Black Cherry 62 Days / This Year: 42 Days

Last Year : SunGold 73 days / 42 Days (LastYear; Home Depot, This Year; I grew from seed)

I've already picked 12lbs of tomatoes


Almost three weeks ahead? WOW maybe I made a mistake?

Maybe lack of rain? and higher temperatures? crazy wind?

The Pro-Mix 5-1 ratio, 5-10-10 fertilizer, and calcium nitrate didn't change

The one thing different : I did plant them in fox farm (3.5 pot) when I moved the seedlings out side

[Zenbaas]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Zenbass - That picture is gorgeous. Thanks for posting it. I've seen one on the web that must be the same street but yours is even better.

Where I live lots of people have the Red Royal Poinciana trees. Few actually have the Jacandas. They don't get that big. What is your climate like?

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Barb Johannesburg (and Pretoria) has a massive amount of Jacaranda trees. The city and surrounds literally turn purple around this time of year. I have found that when driving to work (about a 30 min drive) at any time I can see at least one Jacaranda tree. There are dozens of streets here that look exactly like the one I posted. It really is a thing of beauty.

Our climate is relatively hot with good rains minus the current drought we are having. Winters can get quite cold with frost but we never have snow. You will find the vast majority of pictures of Jacarandas are from South Africa. One of our big local radio stations is even called Jacaranda FM

[kayrobbins]

My cherry tomatoes have really produced this fall. I am having to almost chase people down to get rid of them. The plants are starting to look worn now so they should be slowing down. The slicers have tomatoes but only Tasmanian Chocolate has had any ripen. I think I started growing it the 2nd year I planted dwarfs and it is still one of my favorites.

[Barb_FL]

Zenbass - thanks for that info; it must be so beautiful.

Kay - glad to hear your season is going well. What did you think of Brandywine Cherry dark?

I'm growing 3 plants of Brandywine Cherry Pink - what a disappointment. I thought it would be prolific like BCD but no way. I think I have 1 tomato. Pitiful.

The leaves of my 2 plants that went for a swim in the pool (PBTD and GGWT) don't look too good. They look fried. Maybe they were in the pool for a long time. The fruit on the lower branches looks OK.

My first non-red ripe tomato was Vorlorn. The plant would have been loaded if so many weren't tossed for BER.

Sungold has been producing like crazy; this is the best they ever tasted.

Yesterday, this decorative molding on our house crashed down. It was so loud; I thought the house was graving in. Anyway, it hit 3 of my tomato plants. It broke the Kellogg plant and George as well as a NAR clone. George had 2 huge tomatoes that were knocked off (green) but not destroyed. George shared an EB with NAR; NAR cage (a good one too) was destroyed but the fruit stayed on the plant and the plant was salvageable. All the cages were destroyed. It also destroyed the NAR clone container.

I need to check the EB tomorrow; I don't think it was damaged at all.

All this time, we thought that the decorative molding was some sort of Styrofoam; it was concrete slab that was nailed on with mostly tack size nails and plastic meshing. If anyone was underneath it at the time, they would have been killed.

[kayrobbins]

Barb, that is a terrible thing to happen but sure am glad no one was hurt. I always thought those decorative moldings were styrofoam.

I think the BCD is good even though I get to taste very few. My oldest son makes a beeline for those when he drops by. He ignores the red and yellow cherry tomatoes.

My Cherokee Tiger has not produce a single tomato. It continues to have leaf issues even though I have sprayed and trimmed. I do see it has a few flower buds now. The Brad Gates cross did nothing. Even though I buzzed the few blooms it produced it never formed a tomato. After it started looking scraggly I finally pulled it up.

[ginger2778]

For those of you that are Earthbox users- Did you see that they have free shipping on orders over $69? Its until Dec16. Order 2 EBs and some mulch covers and you have it. I just ordered 3 basic EBs to send to a good friend for Christmas, the free ship saved about $22!

[Imthechuck]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

For those of you that are Earthbox users- Did you see that they have free shipping on orders over $69? Its until Dec16. Order 2 EBs and some mulch covers and you have it. I just ordered 3 basic EBs to send to a good friend for Christmas, the free ship saved about $22!

I know! I'm debating......