What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

[dlgoff]

The seeds of newer varieties that you buy at the store or order from a seed catalog are naturally hybridized to develop resistance to disease, have less seeds, more flesh, larger size... they are not genetically modified.

But heirloom tomatoes can be fun for different colors, odd shapes, etc... Let us know how they turn out!

Oh, and heirloom tomatoes are also hybrids. The original tomato was the size of a berry.

Do you know what verity of tomato plants who's vines are good for climbing trellises (say like 8 to 10 feet)?

 

[Evo]

Do you know what verity of tomato plants who's vines are good for climbing trellises (say like 8 to 10 feet)?

Just off the top of my head grape tomatoes are great climbers. I grew one last year, it quickly outgrew it's 6 foot trellis and I had to start creating string "webs" to tie it to.

Others I have let grow along the ground where I had the room. I'll look them up.

 

[dlgoff]

Just off the top of my head grape tomatoes are great climbers. I grew one last year, it quickly outgrew it's 6 foot trellis and I had to start creating string "webs" to tie it to.

Others I have let grow along the ground where I had the room. I'll look them up.

Thanks Evo. So far my Big Boy plants are moving up my new trellis but I don't expect them to make it all the way up.

Speaking of vines, I set out three different verities of Blue Berries today and one was a vine. They say it gets up to 8 feet tall and spreads to a 10 foot width. The other two verities tags said up to 10 feet tall; one spreading to 8 feet the other spreading to 5 feet.

 

[turbo]

One of my favorite vining tomatoes is the Moskvich. It tends to fruit early, and the tomatoes are usually quite firm and tasty. We had a crappy growing season last summer, so they didn't do that well, but they will perform well when they have have a 4-ft tall cattle-panel "fence" to climb on. Just check them every few days and tie them to the fence with some scraps of soft cloth when they stray. They will be fine.

I have started concentrating on the Moskvich tomatoes for salads, etc, and the Marianas (Roma variant) for sauces. Last summer, we got hit with late blight, so I was picking the sauce tomatoes and making marinara like crazy to stock the freezers. I hate to pay the agri-giants when I can make make much better foods at home and freeze them.

 

[HallsofIvy]

By the way, the word you want is "varieties" not "verities". If you want to discuss the "verities" go to the philosophy section!

 

[dlgoff]

By the way, the word you want is "varieties" not "verities". If you want to discuss the "verities" go to the philosophy section!

 

[Borek]

So, we ate first fresh peppers today. Keeping them in pots on the window sill wasn't completely off.

 

[Ouabache]

By the way, the word you want is "varieties" ...

In academia (aggie college) they are all called cultivars. They said the old, less sophisticated,
term is variety. I suppose cultivar's etymology came from cultivated-variety.

 

[Astronuc]

Thomas Jefferson was quite a gardener and plant/seed collector. He had quite a garden at his estate, Monticello.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/20...ferson-s-garden-a-thing-of-beauty-and-science

 

[Evo]

First squirrel devastation yesterday. Found a large branch broken off my jalepeno that was laden with baby peppers. Also I am growing giant picotee begonias from bulbs, and yesterday I noticed that the soil in one pot seemed smoother than I had left it, so I poked my finger where the bulb was and nothing. The squirrel not only stole the bulb, but he smoothed and tamped down the dirt afterward. That bulb cost $3.50. I now have metal grates over all of my bulb pots.

 

[Andre]

Talking about seeds in the catalogues, you may find the term "F1 Hybrid" for less seed that's way more expensive. Trust me, go for it. You should be rewarded with big strong plants (provided of course that you do the rest right).

 

[Ouabache]

The seeds of newer varieties that you buy at the store or order from a seed catalog are naturally hybridized to develop resistance to disease, have less seeds, more flesh, larger size... they are not genetically modified.

Oh, and heirloom tomatoes are also hybrids. The original tomato was the size of a berry.

Talking about seeds in the catalogues, you may find the term "F1 Hybrid" for less seed that's way more expensive. Trust me, go for it. You should be rewarded with big strong plants (provided of course that you do the rest right).

You're right about tomato the size of a berry. When tomatoes were first introduced to Europe from the Americas, people in England planted them in their flower gardens as ornamentals, producing colorful berries and many there believed they were poisonous, being related (same family) to deadly nightshade Atropa belladonna.

About seeds, let's remind folks there are high quality open pollinated public domain, true bred seed for our home garden. They are purposely developed for high quality produce AND with the idea that you may collect and plant their seeds to obtain plants with the very same characteristics as their parent plants. There are many sources of open pollinated true bred seed (a web search will reveal). One pioneer http://www.seedsofchange.com/enewsletter/issue_63/farmer_interview_three.aspx, has devoted 30+ years producing high quality true breeding cultivars. He has a Ph.D. in molecular biology, founding companies http://peaceseedslive.blogspot.com/2011/12/peace-seeds-list-2012.html and Seeds of Change. He was http://www.fedcoseeds.com/seeds/breeder_Kapuler.htm by FedCo seed company up there in Maine (like a modern day Luther Burbank). Here is an article he penned, describing his perspective for producing garden seeds.

 

[turbo]

FedCo is a great company. They have a lot of seeds for plants that breed true, good varieties of hard-neck garlic, fruit-tree seedlings, etc. They get much of their stock from local organic farmers/gardeners, so they are giving back to the farming community. Their annual seedling sale is a community event. The parking lot fills up pretty fast, and people end up parking on the road-side and walking back maybe 1/4 mile to get their plants.

A couple of years back, one of my neighbors went there with me because I can't tolerate the fragrances in crowds and he bought 4 blueberry plants for me. He was grinning when he got back to the vehicle, because one of the plants was a variety called "Duke", and he loves my dog.

 

[Ouabache]

Glad to hear there are local outfits selling plants that breed true. Most people used to save their seeds so they could plant them in subsequent years. It is nice to know there are companies still supporting this type of gardening. How are your blueberry plants doing?

FedCo is a great company. They have a lot of seeds for plants that breed true, good varieties of hard-neck garlic, fruit-tree seedlings, etc. They get much of their stock from local organic farmers/gardeners, so they are giving back to the farming community. Their annual seedling sale is a community event..

 

[dlgoff]

I was talking to the neighbor the other day about saving seeds. I don't remember her saying what type of plant, but her father-in-law planted 35 year old seeds he had sealed in a mason jar that germinated. Some of the seeds I've saved don't seem to do well. Like my 1980s honeydew melon seeds.

 

[Ouabache]

I was talking to the neighbor the other day about saving seeds. I don't remember her saying what type of plant, but her father-in-law planted 35 year old seeds he had sealed in a mason jar that germinated. Some of the seeds I've saved don't seem to do well. Like my 1980s honeydew melon seeds.

I am impressed with germination of his 35 year old seed.

I've noticed each kind of seed differs in viability. In my experience, smaller seeds seem to fair better than larger ones, in viability > 2 years after saving them. For seeds older than one year old, I typically test them on moist paper towels sealed in plastic zip bags. If you keep track of how many seeds you put in the towels, label and date the bags, you can generate an accurate record of % germination and days to germination by cultivar.

Generally speaking, to maximize the storage of viable seeds. it is a good to keep seeds in tightly sealed containers, in a cool, dry place.

The oldest seed I am aware of germinating and growing into a healthy plant, is the
32,000 year old arctic flower; a narrow leaved campion.

 

[turbo]

Last weekend, I let my Mass.-based neighbor borrow my Kubota (his tractor is OK, but not enough to stand the weight of this massive tiller). Later this week, I tilled my garden, and some other neighbors had hinted that they wanted some areas tilled (existing or new), but they have not been forthcoming about timing, so I'm going to remove the tiller tomorrow and put on the hilling/rowing attachment so we can get our own garden ready for planting this weekend. If they want tilling done, they can get their butts down here and help me change the implements. Taylor-way tiller is a monster. If I have my 3-pt hitch raise-lower rate set too high, I can feel the tractor rearing back when I lift it. It's a pain to hook up, but it does a wonderful job.

 

[feathermoon]

Can you use a tiller in areas that may have buried rocks or should one excavate first?

 

[turbo]

Can you use a tiller in areas that may have buried rocks or should one excavate first?

Smaller rocks are OK. Anything much bigger than 6x6x6" can bind and slip the PTO clutch. For a smaller tiller, like my old Troy Bilt Horse, you can expect to get tossed and tugged around if you don't locate and remove the rocks.

 

[Krunchyman]

I don't garden but I do grow bacteria and algae cultures in my room.

 

[Evo]

Here is my tomato plant the day I bought it 5-14-12.

Here it is today 5-25-12.

 

[Evo]

By popular demand, my ducks, Herman and Martha, outside my bedroom window. Herman has started moulting, mating season is over for him, but these two are inseparable.

 

[micromass]

By popular demand, my ducks, Herman and Martha, outside my bedroom window. Herman has started moulting, mating season is over for him, but these two are inseparable.

:!)

 

[Pengwuino]

PENG GARDEN IS PENGING!

DISCUSS! :D

 

[Evo]

Wow, looking very nice Peng! I'm jealous!

 

[Ms Music]

Turbo, when do you harvest garlic scapes?

Mine are currently approximately 4 inches long from the "nub" to tip, or 6 to 8 inches from the base of the stem to tip. Don't they get bigger and curl? Or should I cut them now?

Peng, your garden looks great! I bet you have so much luck that you turn part of that lawn into garden next year.

 

[turbo]

I harvest scapes when they curl and the center swelling is well-emerged. The part from the center swelling to the tip is stringy and tough. From the swelling to the base is the the good part. Chop and use in stir-fries, add to salads, etc.

 

[Evo]

A good reference site for plant diseases.

http://njveg.rutgers.edu/assets/pdfs/aw/Late-Blight-Webinar_07_02_09.pdf

 

[akhenaten]

My ideal solution to gardening was to let my wife take care of the front garden, the one that need mowing and weeding and I (well a handyman) takes care of the Japanese style back garden whilst is basically trees , pebbles and stones. Leaves me time to think.

 

[Pengwuino]

YAY Tomatoes! :D There are 4 so far. They look so yummy.

 

[Evo]

Nice tomato peng!

 

[Astronuc]

Good job Peng!

 

[lisab]

Excellent .

 

[rhody]

PENG GARDEN IS PENGING!

DISCUSS! :D

Peng,

That middle one in the picture (black round pot) looks like a bhut pepper plant but I am sure it isn't. I ripped out some near dead bushes and put in twenty four sweet green peppers. So I have about twenty supers growing in pots in the back yard and these on the side.

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/9220/sweetpeppers.jpg

This is a sample of super hot peppers I got from FLA:

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/3673/bluescreenj.jpg

If you look carefully lower right of this image over the light brown carpet band, that is a moruga scorpion, the worlds hottest pepper. I sampled a small sliver and in my opinion it has a nice flavor, but O God, it is way hotter than my ghost peppers I grew last year.

Evo, do you have any pics of yours ? and did the white bhut make it as well ?
In the experimental stages of starting and growing a fairly large amount of peppers indoors at my friends honey shop. He wants to go the hydro route, and I prefer soil and forced drip watering system. We will see how it plays out. We plan to grow and use and process them year round.

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/7217/peppersloose.jpg

Rhody...

 

[Evo]

I'll get a new picture of my ghost, it's been putting out weird leaves but healthy as a horse, still waiting to see if it will set peppers now that we're getting high's in the 80's. I don't want to jinx it, but... one flower does appear it might have...no, no, I will jinx it. I haven't planted the white yet, because I want to make sure I have this one figured out first.