PLANT OUT! (W. Houston)

Mojo · February 23, 2009

Couldn't stand it one more day! Lows tonight only in the mid-40s, highs all week creeping back towards mid-70s.

Prep: previous massive tillage (the worms call it the Tining Time

and make li'l sacrifices to appease my wrath). Addition of horse manure, cottonseed meal and rock phosphate. I'm stubborn, even though I'm in Houston I refuse to do raised beds --although with as nice as my furrows are this year, some 2x12s and stakes and you'd never know the difference. No gypsum this year, though, the soil is getting fairly friable after several years of amending. Furrows are 3-3.5 ft apart, with plants spaced approximately 3ft apart.

Planting: the advantage of using 24oz clear plastic cups for seedlinings is that I can clearly see when the plant roots are telling me "bury us!" Holes dug and half-filled with Green Light starter solution (mixed per instructions), then PLOP, a bit more solution, then filled back in, with a tiny bit of solution on the soil at the top. After all plants in, a light watering of entire bed.

3 x Black Krim
3 x Persimmon
1 x Chadwick Cherry
1 x Moonglow
1 x Gregori's Altai
1 x Early Goliath
2 x Cherokee Purple
3 x either Cherokee Purple or Early Goliath (I mixed up the labels

)
7 x Golden zucchini (can't make ratatouille without zucchini)

And I'm not done yet. I've only planted out about half the total available bed space. I've got about a dozen Gulf States Market in cups or pots awaiting a bit more maturity, plus I haven't even gotten around to the "miscellany" like cukes, green beans, and what-not. I do know that once the zukes give up the ship in June, they will be replaced with eggplants.

UPDATE: I took pics this morning...

--the "old" bed, not fully planted out. It's just as well, the unplanted portion doesn't get good full sun for another month yet.

"New" bed, well-spaced and fully sunlit. Note overwintered pepper near metal stake.

Rest of "new" bed. Jasmine starting to bloom.

duajones · February 23, 2009

Looking forward to the pics. Hope you are prepared to protect them if need be.

Mojo · February 24, 2009

Looks good as far out as Sunday. They were ready to go, and I didn't really want to wait much longer. If we get an April frost, I'll deal with it then (probably with sheets and contractor bags).

Mojo · February 25, 2009

update: have added pics to original post

duajones · February 25, 2009

nice pics, thanks for sharing!

veggie babe · February 26, 2009

great pictures, your plants look so healthy. i'm jealous.

my plants are still very small, i will have 1 years experience starting from seeds this time next year and boy have i learned a lot. i have been keeping my plants too wet but i think they are pulling out of it.

congratulations,
Neva

Mojo · February 26, 2009

I can't take all the credit: I had highly experienced friends, armed with grow lights and fish/kelp emulsion, who started those specimens Jan. 1 or so. The ones I did myself I started one week before the Super Bowl, without grow lights, and they are still awaiting transplant --but they are healthy.

FlipTX · February 27, 2009

I planted my first one this morning. Keeping fingers crossed for us...

Plantersville · February 27, 2009

I got 40 in the ground yesterday and today but the wind sure is high enough to do damage. Only thing I cant deal with is a long, hard freeze and I'll be eating maters by mid-April since I got 6 early girls in just so I could have some maters. Your garden is looking good.

MikeInCypress · February 28, 2009

I had planned to start setting mine out today but the weatherman says mid 30's tonight and windy so I decided to wait until Sunday or Monday. Yours sure look good. I still figure on having Kimberly, Matina, and Sungold Tomatoes by the 22 of April.

MikeInCypress

Mojo · February 28, 2009

I am so mad about the weather, because I checked several different 10-day outlooks on Monday and no one saw the lows going below 40 for this weekend. Also mad because two of my zukes were victims of vicious cutworm attacks during the night.

Some of my plants have plastic cups over them, with soil mounded halfway up and over the vent holes on top. Some have shawls of heavy plastic (contractor clean-up bags, cut to fit). A few actually have sheets in addition to the coverups. The really tall ones were too big for cups, so I took gallon milk jugs and cut off the necks and mounded up soil so that everything would fit without bending --and then covered them with a sheet.

It's going to be cold again tomorrow night, so I will probably leave them all covered until Monday morning when the sun comes up.

feldon30 · February 28, 2009

Sunday morning and Monday morning both have the chance of hitting 38 or lower. I've been tracking this since Thursday on Weather Underground.

duajones · March 1, 2009

38? I thought I saw 32 for your zip earlier today for Sunday nights forecast.

FlipTX · March 1, 2009

I've got two in the ground and they're covered with Reemay.

feldon30 · March 1, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by duajones

38? I thought I saw 32 for your zip earlier today for Sunday nights forecast.

Yeah revised for tonight is 32 now. Amazing how fast things change.

February 23, 2009	#1
Mojo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 317	PLANT OUT! (W. Houston) --NOW WITH PICS! Couldn't stand it one more day! Lows tonight only in the mid-40s, highs all week creeping back towards mid-70s. Prep: previous massive tillage (the worms call it the Tining Time and make li'l sacrifices to appease my wrath). Addition of horse manure, cottonseed meal and rock phosphate. I'm stubborn, even though I'm in Houston I refuse to do raised beds --although with as nice as my furrows are this year, some 2x12s and stakes and you'd never know the difference. No gypsum this year, though, the soil is getting fairly friable after several years of amending. Furrows are 3-3.5 ft apart, with plants spaced approximately 3ft apart. Planting: the advantage of using 24oz clear plastic cups for seedlinings is that I can clearly see when the plant roots are telling me "bury us!" Holes dug and half-filled with Green Light starter solution (mixed per instructions), then PLOP, a bit more solution, then filled back in, with a tiny bit of solution on the soil at the top. After all plants in, a light watering of entire bed. 3 x Black Krim 3 x Persimmon 1 x Chadwick Cherry 1 x Moonglow 1 x Gregori's Altai 1 x Early Goliath 2 x Cherokee Purple 3 x either Cherokee Purple or Early Goliath (I mixed up the labels ) 7 x Golden zucchini (can't make ratatouille without zucchini) And I'm not done yet. I've only planted out about half the total available bed space. I've got about a dozen Gulf States Market in cups or pots awaiting a bit more maturity, plus I haven't even gotten around to the "miscellany" like cukes, green beans, and what-not. I do know that once the zukes give up the ship in June, they will be replaced with eggplants. UPDATE: I took pics this morning... --the "old" bed, not fully planted out. It's just as well, the unplanted portion doesn't get good full sun for another month yet. "New" bed, well-spaced and fully sunlit. Note overwintered pepper near metal stake. Rest of "new" bed. Jasmine starting to bloom. __________________ There is no logical response to the question, "Why won't you let me plant more tomatoes?" Last edited by Mojo; February 25, 2009 at 04:54 PM. Reason: Added pictures

February 24, 2009	#3
Mojo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 317	Looks good as far out as Sunday. They were ready to go, and I didn't really want to wait much longer. If we get an April frost, I'll deal with it then (probably with sheets and contractor bags). __________________ There is no logical response to the question, "Why won't you let me plant more tomatoes?"

February 25, 2009	#4
Mojo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 317	update: have added pics to original post __________________ There is no logical response to the question, "Why won't you let me plant more tomatoes?"

February 26, 2009	#7
Mojo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 317	I can't take all the credit: I had highly experienced friends, armed with grow lights and fish/kelp emulsion, who started those specimens Jan. 1 or so. The ones I did myself I started one week before the Super Bowl, without grow lights, and they are still awaiting transplant --but they are healthy. __________________ There is no logical response to the question, "Why won't you let me plant more tomatoes?"

February 27, 2009	#9
Plantersville Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Plantersville, Texas Zone 8 Posts: 138	I got 40 in the ground yesterday and today but the wind sure is high enough to do damage. Only thing I cant deal with is a long, hard freeze and I'll be eating maters by mid-April since I got 6 early girls in just so I could have some maters. Your garden is looking good. __________________ Chuck I love to eat, sleep and fish........not necessarily in that order!

February 23, 2009	#2
duajones Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Corpus Christi,Texas Z9 Posts: 1,996	Looking forward to the pics. Hope you are prepared to protect them if need be.

February 26, 2009	#6
veggie babe Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: east texas Posts: 686	great pictures, your plants look so healthy. i'm jealous. my plants are still very small, i will have 1 years experience starting from seeds this time next year and boy have i learned a lot. i have been keeping my plants too wet but i think they are pulling out of it. congratulations, Neva

February 27, 2009	#8
FlipTX Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 271	I planted my first one this morning. Keeping fingers crossed for us...

February 28, 2009	#10
MikeInCypress Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Cypress, TX Posts: 963	I had planned to start setting mine out today but the weatherman says mid 30's tonight and windy so I decided to wait until Sunday or Monday. Yours sure look good. I still figure on having Kimberly, Matina, and Sungold Tomatoes by the 22 of April. MikeInCypress __________________ "Growing older, not up"

February 28, 2009	#12
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	Sunday morning and Monday morning both have the chance of hitting 38 or lower. I've been tracking this since Thursday on Weather Underground. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

March 1, 2009	#13
duajones Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Corpus Christi,Texas Z9 Posts: 1,996	38? I thought I saw 32 for your zip earlier today for Sunday nights forecast.