Watcha Growing

[Al_Smith]

From what I've seen the big tomatoes like beef steak are more prone to splitting than the smaller like early girls .I can also see it being more of a problem in some cases unless you irrigate .It's July now and the early are just starting to come on and I have the soaker hoses in operation .Of course I' m talking a raised bed not a half acre of them .  

[thecfarm]

I've never seen that either. End rot most times is black. Could be end rot? Lack of calcium? May need lime? Water problems as was posted too?
You don't compost your tomatoes plants do you? I have a OWB so all my trimmings and plants get burnt. 
Use to plant tomatoes and that was it. Now you have to prune them so the leaves don't touch the ground and make sure air can get around them. I try to keep about 6 inches of bare stem. Cages are a must now. I don't have too much problems. I am using a cooper powder as a prevention to help out. It's a Bodine product. I sell it at work.

[doc henderson]

for fun we plan to throw the egg shells in there.  we prob overplanted in the new raised beds.  great soil that had been composting with grass clippings for 4 years.  maybe too hot.  many are looking good, so I hope it is just the early ones.  the peppers are looking great.

[21incher]

Finally fresh picked peppers for the grill


 

 

 
This is a video showing the peppers I grow
YouTube    digin_2

[mike_belben]

That is one OCD garden buddy!  I cant imagine the hours u got in there. 

Doc make sure you dry your egg shells thoroughly then smash them up and turn into the finest dust you can.  Some people grind em in a blender, ive used two chunks of concrete before but its tedious no matter which way.  Youll get very little immediate relief in there from sidedressing eggshells.. The roots must be in contact and very little will wash in. 


I bought some products for troubleshooting today and there are quite a few liquid micronutrient concoctions on the shelf for under $10.  You could have issue with calcium, iron, boron deficiency, boron toxicity, magnesium, aluminum toxicity.  Theyll all kinda create similar chlorosis thatll take experimenting to cure.  Ive killed a few plants on youtube fixes thats for sure. 


 Ive finally learned my lesson.. Pay the 9 bucks for a soil analysis BEFORE planting and ammend as directed for that specific crop.  Way too much of my beautiful looking compost has only grown disappointment.  each year the winners and losers are a surprise, just when i think i got it down.  

[doc henderson]

Thanks Mike.  it is only the roma and not the cherry and big boy fruits.  we are picking them early and finish ripening in the house and that seems to work ok.  Yeah, I thought we could throw the shell in the garden as well as the trash.  

[21incher]

I am one of those people that use nothing but compost and have always had very healthy plants. The best thing I ever did was switch to all raised beds that are very easy to care for and just basically need sun, water, and compost. I make most of my own with only organic mater and the soil is very balanced. I see comments on my youtube channel from people that had soil tested and added nutrients to lets say grow big tomatoes and their peppers wont grow the next year. It takes months for most additives to become effective and crop rotation is one of the largest part of disease prevention and successful gardening so you really need to think ahead also. I don't grow 4 pound GMO tomatoes and there is no need for them because they must be cut up to fit into a caning jar. I use all heirloom seeds because many of them were bred to prosper in varied soil conditions and if I see a problem with the variety like end rot I try different varieties next year to find what works best in my compost. My only problem so far has been loss of tomato plants to the blight that year it never stopped raining. Gardening should be fun and organic not a quest to have the biggest tomato on the block. Always plant extra for the bugs.  

[mike_belben]

This was my first year trying potatoes and i did them in pure compost i make, at 7.0 PH, in tires.  

My first stack was very vigorous, 3ft tall in no time, but wilted and died a while back.  The stem was crawling in bugs and eaten to nothing.  Well my other two stacks did about the same wilty thing overnight so i pulled em today to salvage any taters i could.  Some sort of root rot got em this time. Black, hollow stem down at the bottom.  There were a few larger spuds but with defects.   Little disapointing.  


I did have a sorta successful first try at onions.  Theyre on the shelf in my kitchen anyways, just a little small.  Will worry about pumpin them up next yr.

[thecfarm]

I got one ripe tomato!!  
We bought 2 cover ups from walmart years ago, for over flow for the green house business we had. These are the one with the 2 inch tubing, was cheap to buy than. Have 2 sections up by the house than I took what was left over and put it in the garden. I think 20 feet long,10 feet wide. Kinda like a wind tunnel. We have peppers in it. I forgot how many are in there, maybe 70. I laid down black plastic and water them things just about every day. Them things are booming!!!

[doc henderson]

we have had some rain and tomatoes have lots of green and we are getting 6 a day or so.  picking them orange and finishing in the house.  only 1 in 4 roma still has end blossom rot.



  


 



 

[21incher]

Pulled the shallots today.

 

 
Nothing like eggplant, zucchini, and green tomatoes picked fresh and fried up for lunch


 
Then fresh out of the oven Zucchini cake for dessert


 

[WDH]

Very tasty looking. 

[JenLightly]

Are those zucchini cakes sweet? I have tried zucchini noodles and they were good but they had a noticeably different "tang" which i'm not sure worked with most traditional pasta dishes.

[21incher]

Are those zucchini cakes sweet? I have tried zucchini noodles and they were good but they had a noticeably different "tang" which i'm not sure worked with most traditional pasta dishes.

Yes they are sweet and they  freeze great. We enjoy them all winter.  we just saute the zucchini noodles and have  them as a side dish. Last year I started  dehydrating zucchini  slices with crazy salt that make an awesome snack like  a chip that everyone  loves. Welcome to the forestry forum.

[Chuck White]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, JenLightly!

[21incher]

Picked the potatoes. Didn't get many but the tops were drying so it was time. Drought and wind can sure do in plants. Very sweet and tender


Picked a batch of yellow squash and zucchini then made our favorite winter treats

 



 


Here is a video about making zucchini and yellow squash treats if anyone is interested
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLDk6aVxjOk

[randy d]

Well we just finished up a batch of zucchini strips taste really good. We plan on doing some more but have to wait on the zucchini. thanks for the tip. Randy

[Banjo picker]

What kind of pest eats a round hole in my green tomatoes?  About 1/4 round, what can I put on them that won't kill my pollinators as they are blooming still?  Right now it's only on my one big tomato plant ( came up volunteer) from last years tomatoes.  Deb has 5 cherry 🍒 and so far nothing has bothered them.  No leaves have been eaten. Just the green tomatoes before they get ripe.  Tim

[21incher]

What kind of pest eats a round hole in my green tomatoes?  About 1/4 round, what can I put on them that won't kill my pollinators as they are blooming still?  Right now it's only on my one big tomato plant ( came up volunteer) from last years tomatoes.  Deb has 5 cherry 🍒 and so far nothing has bothered them.  No leaves have been eaten. Just the green tomatoes before they get ripe.  Tim

Most of the time a hole like that is caused by a worm. The same worm that you find in corn. Don't  know  an organic way to get rid of them.

[21incher]

Well we just finished up a batch of zucchini strips taste really good. We plan on doing some more but have to wait on the zucchini. thanks for the tip. Randy

It's definitely a great way to use all the extra zucchini.  I have the dehydrator full of them again. Glad you like them.

[Banjo picker]

Here is a picture 

I have a cowboy doing an investigation, but he can't figure it out either.  Tim

[mike_belben]

Im gonna say thats tomato hornworm taking a light sample.. They can eat entire maters.  Beware that stinger tail.  They blend right into the plant.. Look real hard.  You can control them by hand in avg sized garden no need for chemicals. 

[Banjo picker]

I gave them a good dusting of sulfur.  Haven't seen any more holes.  Mike, when I've had the horn worms in the past the ate the leaves as well as take a sample or two off the tomatoes.  Anyway the sulfur seems to have stopped the damage for now.Tim

[mike_belben]

In the past 4yrs ive only had 3 hornworms.  One was a week ago, caught early.  Took a bite out of each in a cluster of cherry tomatoes but i didnt see any other damage.

This is looking to be the best year ive had for maters if it stays this way.  And the worst for squash!

[Banjo picker]

I didn't even plant the tomato.... it came up volunteer from one of last years that fell late.  It's either a big boy or a better boy.  That's what we had last year.  May not even follow its genetics.  Deb got 5 cherrys from a friend all are in composted horse manure....and looking good, if I can keep the worms off them.  I got a private message from one of our members that said it looked like the corn borers type of worm, and I agree with him.  I pulled a lot of corn in my younger day's.  Tim