Fall Tomato Garden Update in N. California - Oct 23 (pics)

[rnewste]

The Fall plants put in middle of August are now delivering. Here is a Black & Brown Boar picked today:



Berkeley Tie Dye:



Indian Stripe is 75 inches tall:



Fruit look to be about another two weeks to blush stage:



The Fungi Perfecti Myco Grow vs Biota Max trials continue. Here are the pair of Goose Creek inoculated with Myco Grow:



And here are the Goose Creek pair with Biota Max:



Notice any difference??

Bell Peppers have reached their prime, and I am noticing leaves are starting to fall off:



Same with the NuMex Heritage 6-4:



The pair of Siberia planted August 17 are producing ripe fruit:





I've started 12 EarthTainers with Oregon Giant Snow Peas that hopefully, will continue to grow throughout the Winter, as they did last year:



...And my trusty Big Beef, planted 200 days ago continues to produce:



Fruit are smaller now, but the longevity of Big Beef astounds me.

Raybo

[browndude3649]

Dang! Either mine arent getting enough sun or plant food, but yours look awesome! What part o nor-cal are you?

[rnewste]

I'm down here in the Los Gatos area, near San Jose. About 65 miles south of you, I think.

Raybo

[RinTinTin]

Looking mighty yummy. Those NuMex's certainly produced well for you.

Looks like you might need to rent a stump grinder to clear out those Biota Max plants @ end of season.

[FILMNET]

You will love the Berkeley Tie, my favorite this year. If you can wait the fruit are get red they are till Great, I have them inside now, with only yellow and green, the red is last color for the nice fruit.

[rnewste]

Rin,

So far, I am extremely pleased with the Biota Max progress. Still early until I can evaluate taste and yields, but I will be expanding my use of it on all plants next Season.

This pair of Snow Peas were planted on Sept 19, and today I inoculated the 'Tainer on the left with Myco Grow, and the 'Tainer in the right with Biota Max.



You can note that the Snow Peas that were inoculated today with Myco Grow have a head start in growth, so I wanted to not use the Biota Max on those, but use it on the "underdog 'Tainer on the right:



Anyway, it will be fun to watch how both Snow Pea 'Tainers develop over the next 3 months.

Raybo

[dealsgapper]

Nice!!
Do you use your 3-2-1 mix in all of your Earthtainers, regardless of what is planted in them? I've been using some perolite with my potting mix, but have had trouble finding the bark fines. Next spring I'd like to try the
3-2-1 mix to prevent what seems to be an over watering issue.

[rnewste]

deals,

I am experimenting a bit, as the Peppers were previously in the 2 'Tainers in the above photo, and the 3:3:2 mix ratio was used with them this past Season. I have also used 10 other CornTainers to grow Snow Peas now with the 3:2:1 mix, so the growth and yield comparisons will be interesting.

Raybo

[dustdevil]

Raybo, I think the Big Beef plants may need a shot of Christmas tree spray for your next set of photos Where did you get the tomato ornaments that you have hanging all over them?

[rnewste]

Dust,

Those are the "real deal" on the Big Beef vines. I've just been too busy with work and the Fall plantings to prune and clean up the Big Beef 'Tainer. Not proud of the photo - - but it is tribute to the longevity of the Big Beef variety....

Raybo

[amideutch]

Raybo, looking primo as always. The difference between the Myco Grow and Biota Max is obvious. Denser foliage and that plant on the right is up there. Later on we can do a comparison of fruit size and production which will be interesting. It looks like the Paenibacillus polymyxa in the Biota Max is definitely making more nitrogen available to the plant as can be seen by the lush growth and size of the plants.
I had freezing temperatures Thursday and Friday mornings so my plants are toast so cleanup and planning for next year are in order along with finishing up my seed saving. Ami

[dustdevil]

Raybo, I admire the work you are doing with the 'tainers. Just was ribbing you a bit over the Big Beef. The plants could be purple and I still would pat you on the back with production like that. I enjoyed the update. Dust

Originally Posted by rnewste

Dust,

Those are the "real deal" on the Big Beef vines. I've just been too busy with work and the Fall plantings to prune and clean up the Big Beef 'Tainer. Not proud of the photo - - but it is tribute to the longevity of the Big Beef variety....

Raybo

[chalstonsc]

Ray,
Do you think using Myco Grow and Biota Max together wouldproduce a better result than Biota Max only?

[rnewste]

Originally Posted by chalstonsc

Ray,
Do you think using Myco Grow and Biota Max together wouldproduce a better result than Biota Max only?

Ami (who is much more expert in this area than I) suggests combining these two, along with Actinovate. On my Snow Peas over the Winter, I will be using all three on 8 of the PeaTainers, while just Myco Grow on one, and Biota Max alone on another.



My "nose" is telling me that all three will work better than any one as a standalone. We shall see.....

BTW, just had one of the ripe Siberia with lunch today, and I like its flavor better than Stupice. Will definitely be growing Siberia for Spring.

Raybo

[sprtsguy76]

Looking good Ray. I still have a Coose Creek in a swc thats got some good fruit on it and all my inground maters are still going. It was a bit cool this morning and looks like we are headed for a cooling trend so I'm expecting to see my in ground plants to go slowly down hill from here, but they are still semi-loaded with fruit. I'm seriously dreading my clean up but I want to get my garlic in soon so I need to get it done sooner than later. Hey by the way I have some extra garlic, interested? Might make for a good ET experiment.

Damon