2021 Alameda, CA Container Garden

[garyc1234]

I haven't done any plantings in a few years due to back problems and lack of time due to my family's fourth child. I showed my container garden from 2016 here (Link). I also did a planting for 2017, but that failed miserably as I have no record or memory of what happened.

My gardening methods are for no one to copy, but more for those who lack the time and/or money to do things properly. On Feb 20th, I used old seeds from 2016/2017, and put ~10 seeds each into old plastic cup with holes on the bottom (again from 2016/17). My old grow light setup wasn't working, so during the day, I put the cups outside (they were in a cardboard box from costco to make it easier to carry), and at nighttime, I put them back in the garage, so they wouldn't get too cold. On April 20th, I then potted up most of the to larger containers with one plant each. On May 21st, I potted up the rest of the plants. For my initial seeding, I just used my old potting mix which I still had from 2016/17. For my potting up, I continued to use my old potting mix, but mixed in some Miracle Grow Potting Mix (no moisture control). Barlow Japan, Druzba, Goose Creek, KBX, Margaret Curtain, Momotaro, and Sungold F1 did not germinate at all.

Here are the plants that did germinate with the # that I potted up on Apr 20th being the first number, and the May21st, the second number.

Abe Lincoln: 2, 1
Bear Creek: 1, 0
Better Boy: 5, 4
Black and Brown Boar: 2, 0
Brandy Boy: 2, 0
Brandywine: 0, 1
GGWT: 5, 0
Moreton: 2, 1
Neves Azorean Red: 1, 0
Purple Haze: 2, 0
Ramapo: 1, 1
Rutgers: 3, 0
SNFLA: 1, 0
Stump of the World: 2, 1
Sweet Million: 1, 1

Pictures for the plants are from earlier today.

[rnewste]

Gary,

Looks like you are off to a good start this Year. Weather in the Bay area has been excellent so far.

Raybo

[Koala Doug]

Lookin' nice!

[garyc1234]

Thanks, Raybo, Doug!

I've potted up about half my plants now (16). I wish I could do it faster, but I usually just have the time and energy to pot up 4 plants in one day twice a week, so 8 plants a week. The plants are stressed until they are potted up, but once they adjust to their new larger pot, they usually do really well.

[garyc1234]

Finally finished potting up all of my plants on June 30th. I really should have finished this by the end of April, not the end of June. This is obvious, but once the plants were moved to the bigger pots, they really grew a lot faster. I'm going to really have to plan this better next year.

Here are a couple of pictures of where I am now. Same plants, but different angles. Some of them already have tiny tomatoes. Hopefully, I'll be able to taste them sometime in August.

[Shrinkrap]

Well done!

[GreenThumbGal_07]

It's almost August! Any tastes yet?
Beautiful garden. Container gardeners have to be resourceful.

[garyc1234]

Thanks, Shrinkrap and GreenThumbGal. I was about to post another update. I took some pictures today, and here are how my tomato plants are looking. A lot of small green tomatoes, but nothing ripe yet. I'm thinking my cherries will start be ready in another week or two, but the other tomatoes may not be ready for picking until near the end of August. Pictures are for same tomato plants but different angles like before.

[garyc1234]

Here are some Better Boy. These were the seeds that germinated the best, and they've been pretty productive on most of my plants. I' m not too optimistic on the taste however. I just planted them since I wasn't sure how many of my 5 year old seeds would germinate.

[garyc1234]

Here are my Sweet Million cherry tomatoes. I only planted two cherry tomatoes this year: Sweet Million and Sun Gold F1. Unfortunately, none of the Sun Gold seeds germinated. I have two Sweet Million plants in my container pots, and both plants seem to be pretty productive so far. I'm looking forward to see how they taste.

[garyc1234]

Here are my Purple Haze tomatoes, whose seeds I got from Delectations. I think they should be smaller plum sized tomatoes. I've read good reviews on their taste, but I've never had them before. My wife often asks me why I plant tomatoes since it's a lot of work, and I can buy heirlooms in the store. I tell her that there are a bunch of different types of tomatoes that you never seen in the store, and the only way that you'll ever be able to eat them is if you grow them yourself. This is why my plan is for every year to do a nearly complete turnover of all of my types of tomato plants, and just keep a handful of the best tasting and/or most productive ones.

[garyc1234]

Here's another hybrid tomato: Ramapo. I grew three types of Jersey tomatoes this season: Ramapo, Moreton, and Rutgers. I'm curious to see how different they are, and whether they taste the same. According to the photos that I've seen online, Ramapo is supposed to be the largest of the three Jersey types.

[garyc1234]

Here are some Brandy Boys. Just looking at these tomatoes, they look delicious. I also have one Brandywine plant, but that one nearly isn't as productive as this Brandy Boy. Brandywine is one of my favorite tomatoes, which I usually want to plant annually. I'm curious to see how delicious the Brandy Boy tastes. The leaves here did yellow a lot faster than my other tomato plants, however. I've done some pruning of most of my plants, but not that frequently. I do need to spend some time adding supports to some of the trusses like you see here.

[garyc1234]

I believe this is from my Neves Azorean Red tomato plant. As you've seen from my previous photos, I've taken to labeling my plants by putting blue tape on the tomato cages. I used to just put the tape on the container, but I found that the tape would fall off or fade, and would be hard to see when the containers were bunched so closely together, so I like my new system better. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the label in the photo for this plant, so I'm not quite sure that I'm correct. I've heard really good things about NAR, so I'm hoping it tastes good. The temperature in Alameda rarely breaks 80, even all of the hot temperatures going around the nation these days. The typical day time high are usually in the low 70s during the summer. Therefore, the tomato plants here might respond with different outcomes than in places with hotter temperatures.

[garyc1234]

Here is Abe Lincoln, where I received the seeds from Baker Creek. In choosing which seeds to buy, I pored over different tomato forums and reviews, especially Tomatoville, and tried to get the ones that folks said were the best tasting. Abe Lincoln was one of those tomatoes that received good reviews, so I'm looking forward to seeing how these come out. I tend to prefer beefsteak or larger tomatoes, so this one will hopefully fit the bill. I don't make salsa or sauce, so I've also been reading up on different tomato recipes. I'm not a salad person either. In the past, my wife and I usually make BLTs or serve sliced tomatoes w/ basil and olive oil.