pic of cluster of Cherokee Purple

[mikej]

I am excited to taste one of these when they ripen. These Cherokee Purple were seeded on Jan. 2 and transplanted Feb. 12. I have nine plants. I have never tasted this variety before, but from what I read here they are delicious. In fact the only heirloom tomato I have tasted was my Brandywine that I grew last fall. I guess I am spoiled now because no other tomato I have eaten has satisfied my taste buds like those Brandywines did.





So far nothing but organic pesticides have been on these plants. Next fall I want to try some more heirlooms so I am going to expand my garden adding another 600 sq. ft.. Here is a pic of how I am attempting to get rid of the Floratam grass without using chemicals. If I would have had access to a lot of cardboard I would of placed that under the hay. So I just used my mower to cut it as low as I could then placed a thick layer of hay and covered with some cheap tarps.




Here is a pic of the entire garden with my corn coming along.

[MikeInCypress]

Really looks sharp.

[TightenUp]

everything looks nice and green and healthy

[KarenO]

so jealous up here in the frozen North. I still have 2 feet of snow over everything. Looks wonderful!
Karen

[Stvrob]

That is one nice looking garden Mike!

I'm growing Cherokee Purple for the first time this year too. Plants have been in the ground about 3 weeks and at least one has managed to set a fruit (despite recent nights in the 30's!)
I am excited about Cherokee Purple!

[kurt]

Looks like that modified corn outgrew the critters you had.Real nice setup.

[mikej]

@ Karen; Sorry for all the snow ! But to tell you the truth, I only know about snow from tv and pictures. I only saw it once and it was only about 1" thick on the ground. I also saw it in 77 when it snowed here in south Florida. But then it did not stay on the ground very long. Don't really care if I see it again. It is just too dang cold for this Florida boy.

@Steve; Thanks! I can't wait to taste them. The last 2 nights here has been down to the lower 40s.

@Kurt; Still having to spray BT often. About 3 or 4 days after I spray BT I start seeing evidence of army worms again. Guess that is never ending. Gonna to stick with BT and try not to have to use any thing else.

[KarenO]

well I am a Canadian born and bred and a prairie girl besides so lots of snow and a short growing season are normal for me I guess the trade off is that I have a lot less problems with diseases and insects that can't survive our long winters so while the season is short I do not have those to contend with so it evens up a little at least I suppose. looking forward to spring and enjoying you southerner's pics in the meantime. thanks for posting!
Kareno

[kichaimsten]

I'm jealous of your early start date too, but I don't have all of the heat and humidity you have, so I'll call it even. I also have Cherokee Purple. I hope it makes it here with the fog and wind we have on the California Coast. My transplants should make into the dirt sometime this week or weekend...

[BruceinGa]

This is my second year with Cherokee Purple. It is my wife and my favorite, can't wait until late July!!

[mikej]

Dang it! The Army Worms are fierce. I sprayed Dipel BT on Monday and today I find this on my corn. Fight Fight Fight

[drlandeau]

Nice start already! Here in Wisconsin I still have snow covering my gardens. I will be a second year CP grower, and will probably grow them every year from last year on. I was very happy with them.

[kurt]

I know when I get the occasional tomatoe/tobbacco hornworm(sometimes reffered to as cutworms)they come from the earth below the plant even in containers.Mine came with a bale of non promix that I normally use and I know it came as eggs in the mix since it was a container growth.Are you spraying the plant or doing a good soil drench?I have in the past seen the worms crawl out of the ground during the day with some heavy watering in my containers.This year I got brown colored worms instead of the green camo colored that hide in the foilage during the day.Maybe dig around the base of plant to find the depth of worm hiding and make sure soil drench is getting to them.Eggs of this pest are often laid in the thickest vegetation so look at these areas first when scouting. Larvae will begin feeding during the night time on lower plant tissue and spend the daylight hours in plant debris on the ground surface. As larvae grow in size, they will spend more time feeding during daylight hours and feeding on the upper tissues of the plant. In some years larvae will cut seed heads from fescue and wheat plants. The best time to scout for this pest is at dusk, dawn, or during the night

[efisakov]

Nice looking tomatoes, Mike. They were my first Heirlooms. You will love them.
Sorry to hear about the insects problems.

[mikej]

Thanks evisakov!

Hello Kurt! I have been spraying BT about every 4 or 5 days. When I do I also spray the soil around the plants. I would not say that I drench it, but I do spray more than on the plants. Have you had the high humidity the last few days. It has been showing on the news here at 100% and very foggy. Afraid that liquid copper alone is not going to prevent the foliar diseases so yesterday I spray some Daconil. Hope we can fight them off better than last spring.