Spring Garden-It's time for show and tell

[crosscreekcooter]

Picked this morning.

 

[NVGator]

As of today. A couple toms on plant and a few more blooms.

 

[Concrete Helmet]

As of today. A couple toms on plant and a few more blooms.

Are Tomato plants a pain in the ass out there? Insects, pest and such? No pots?

 

[crosscreekcooter]

This years tomato bushes-No heirlooms this year, just super sweet 100's and beefsteak tomatoes plus datil, habenero, and a couple Carolina Reaper pepper plants

 

[NVGator]

I can smell those bushes through my screen. I'm sure @soflagator has a watery mouth.

@crosscreekcooter , those plant look great. Looking back to my post last year, I notice my plants don't start to produce till late June, early July. My plants don't look so good right now. I also notice you don't use any tomato cages around them. Why?

 

[crosscreekcooter]

Thanks, we have different growing seasons. I started these from seed in February and transplanted them into the final pots at 8" and moved them outside end of March. Temps were 45 low to low 80 highs. By July temps will be in the mid to high 90s here and the plants won't set fruit when it's that hot. I only grow indeterminate vines so if they don't burn up from the heat they will start blooming again sometime in September and hopefully produce more fruit til December. Usually though they become weakened from spot, blight or some fukin problem and die by then,
I started stringing and clipping them to the old grape arbor because the indeterminate vines will quickly outgrow cages. Those Sweet 100s are taller than 6 foot right now.
Amazon product

I think I bought 300 last year from Chi-Na for like $6

 

[LagoonGator68]

This years tomato bushes-No heirlooms this year, just super sweet 100's and beefsteak tomatoes plus datil, habenero, and a couple Carolina Reaper pepper plants

Sevin is safer than ice cream. Maters look yummy, but trellis needs a screw or 20. Plumbers toilet always leaks.

 

[crosscreekcooter]

Sevin is safer than ice cream. Maters look yummy, but trellis needs a screw or 20. Plumbers toilet always leaks.

I'm gonna put a couple knee braces on it maybe this weekend. The bottoms of the posts that are in the ground have rotted off and it's gonna come down if it makes it till the end of the year.

 

[grengadgy]

 

[Detroitgator]

Well you called it on the worms Auggie, but it wasn't the tomatoes, damned pickle worms struck sometime yesterday and ate holes in the first cuke that was a couple days away from being picked. I pulled it and cut it open and it had about 8 or 10 white worms inside. Damned moth lays the eggs in the bloom buds and the larvae hatch out a couple days later and away they go.

we grow it all inside the pool screen enclosure... cuts down on all the bugs, we'll find an inch worm every once in awhile.

As for the "too many tomatoes" problem, people need to relearn "canning/jarring/pickling" again. Cucumbers are the one thing we never seem to get right. You didn't have to do anything to grow them right in Michigan, down here, we're lucky if we get pickle sized stuff. We get a LOT of peppers too.

 

[bradgator2]

I gave up on the garden years ago. Just could not stay infront of the insects and other critters. We had really good luck with squash, zucchini, and okra though. We have a neighbor who does it inside the pool cage like DG and they use a Vertigro system and have terrific success.

check these out. It’s kinda like system used at Epcot:
https://www.vertigro.com/

 

[cover2]

@crosscreekcooter you mentioned using Neem oil for pests. I was looking for something organic to use on the peach trees we have out back and saw Neem recommended. I’ve got some ordered, but having never used it, I was wondering what you could tell me about it’s effectiveness? How good is it on vegetable plants? Sevin is about all I typically use. So far, a few stink bugs is about all the trouble I’ve had, but about June we should be getting a big moth flight and then the larva in all the blooms and fruit. So far, this little cool stretch has been good on our little garden where the pests are concerned.

 

[crosscreekcooter]

@crosscreekcooter you mentioned using Neem oil for pests. I was looking for something organic to use on the peach trees we have out back and saw Neem recommended. I’ve got some ordered, but having never used it, I was wondering what you could tell me about it’s effectiveness? How good is it on vegetable plants? Sevin is about all I typically use. So far, a few stink bugs is about all the trouble I’ve had, but about June we should be getting a big moth flight and then the larva in all the blooms and fruit. So far, this little cool stretch has been good on our little garden where the pests are concerned.

With the exception of the old school products (DDT, Chlordane) all pesticides are temporary at best. With regard to Sevin, I have both liquid and dust on the shelf but rarely use it. Unless there is a wet period, the dust remains visible on the foliage and for me probably gives me a false sense of security in that sense. It is considered organic, it's made from the chrysanthemun and safe up to the day of harvest. I choose not to use it very often as it affects the good pollinators.
I use neem oil, which comes from the neem tree, generally spraying in the afternoon maybe once a week. When I spray I pretty much flood the foliage and shoot around the base of the plant as well. Neem is both a pesticide and a fungicide (black spot, anthracnose, powdery mildew). I like it because it's real effective on the damned aphids that seem to come in June. It's also good for roses as a fungal prevention.
Another organic pesticide I use is Spinosad which is made from a bacteria derived from some sugar cane process. This product is the active ingredient in Trifexis (sp?) flea tick and heartworm preventative for dogs and cats. I use both neem and Spinosad days apart and keep both in a 16oz spray bottle.
I just grow mostly tomatoes and peppers so these work well for those vegetables, as far as peach trees, I would think the liquid Sevin would be your best bet although there are many benefits to also spraying neem oil for it's fungicidal and microbial properties.

 

[cover2]

@crosscreekcooter thank you sir! Sounds like Neem will be good to add to the rotation. Tomatoes and peppers (cow horn, banana, jalapeño, and bell this year) is pretty much the staple. I’m glad you mentioned it’s fungicidal properties and a use for roses, as the missus has a bed with 20 bushes. Heretofore we’d use a combination of funginex and Sevin or malathion. We don’t usually have a black spot problem unless it is overly damp. With it’s as dry as it has been, the spider mites are the biggest problem right now. But I’m looking forward to using the Neem in the cycle. I hate a buggy-looking garden.

 

[crosscreekcooter]

@cover2- I hear that about the buggy garden-20 rose bushes? I have one rose bush I planted probably 5 or 6 years ago that is finally blooming on a regular basis. Amazing what a little food will do for them.
Men are a lot like an old juniper, no care, living but real scraggly. Blooming plants are a lot like women, if you're looking for flowers or fruit they demand a lot of attention.

 

[cover2]

@cover2Men are a lot like an old juniper, no care, living but real scraggly. Blooming plants are a lot like women, if you're looking for flowers or fruit they demand a lot of attention.

A helluva lot of it ;)

 

[cover2]

This is my little plot planted up next to the playhouse. Got a few tomatoes in buckets as well and some cucumbers.



This little bush has started putting out the cherries. Husky Red, got a great acid pop. I’ve added two more younger ones. Along with them I’ve got 3 Pear tomatoes (salad size), 3 Beefsteak, 2 BetterBoys, and one I bought as a Pear that had grown into a large bush. Not quite sure what it is!



These Cowhorns were on the table at every meal during the summer growing up, usually chipped up in peas or butter beans. Got a couple of Banana peppers, a Bell, and a Jalapeño. Got two Birdeye bushes that I’ve had for several years for making pepper sauce.



A couple each Crook-Neck squash and Zucchini.



I’ve enjoyed slowly getting back into it. There’s a peaceful pleasure derived from tending, picking, sharing, and enjoying something you’ve had a hand in. I’ve also enjoyed reading about what everybody else does as well as soliciting some advice. Heck, this thread is kinda like an internet feed store where you can hang around and shoot the breeze about agricultural things. Just wish there was some way to “pull” for a short Coca Cola ;)

 

[grengadgy]

Candied Jalapeno, yum yum

 

[cover2]

As of today. A couple toms on plant and a few more blooms.

View attachment 15642

I like the square foot concept. That's what the missus wants us to eventually expand to. What are your pros and cons?

 

[grengadgy]

I like the square foot concept. That's what the missus wants us to eventually expand to. What are your pros and cons?

In a Florida growing environment those plants would be crowded as hell. :)