Posted on 05/15/2021 6:40:39 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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I emailed it because it’s funny. Oddly, one of the more straight-laced recipients remitted a couple of even more irreverent jokes. People seem to be loosening up. (Thank you, Lord!) You could be starting an interesting trend here!
It is very pretty, but too tender (Zone 6-9) for up here on The Frozen Tundra.
I don’t plant anything lower than a Zone 4, then I’m never disappointed - or replacing landscaping shrubs. ;)
Re: Ithaca Gro: That is AWESOME! I love it! Thank you! I’m going to print it out and tack it on his stall so he knows his efforts are appreciated, LOL! :)
Re: Potatoes: I don’t think you have to wait for them to sprout, but look for little ‘indents’ where the eyes will eventually form and cut them up accordingly. I usually leave 2-3 eyes on each piece.
Also, I’m a Lazy Tater Farmer - I bought bags of seed potatoes probably two months ahead of when I actually got them in the ground, so they had PLENTY of sprouts.
I am a total, ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ gardener, sometimes!
Thanks again! So creative! :)
After I mentioned it in an earlier post I kept thinking about it. So I had some time in between working today and it did not take long. You do such a great job of running these threads and are always posting graphics to give us a smile, so this was a way to say Thanks! Appreciate the advice on the potatoes. I thought I could just plant them but wanted to be sure. Getting too old to dig them out of the ground. This way I can just tip the pot over in the fall.
“This way I can just tip the pot over in the fall.”
When my boys were little and we had our other farm, we used stacks of old tires to grow potatoes.
First ring - dirt, compost and a few spuds. Let that grow up and add another tire, more dirt, compost and a few more spuds - until we were 5-6 tires high. (There are always old tires on any old farm you buy; it’s part of the closing contract, LOL!)
They LOVED watching them grow, but pushing over the stack of tires and seeing who could gather the most potatoes first was their favorite part of the whole process. ;)
We already have compost and straw and some good garden soil but the pot must be a nice looking one. Have one down at the barn. In a couple of weeks I should have some nice pictures.
Left to Right: Cherry Tomato, Cucumber, Sweet Pepper, Sweet Pepper, Jalapeno Pepper.
Nice pics. We grew some of our best peppers in pots, they love lots of water. Our pots were were about 20 or 30 gallon ones. Early on when the plants were smaller we could grow green onions and lettuce around them and harvest as the plants got bigger.
Need some help.
My tomato plants are blooming at 12-18 inches tall even with me having pruned them.
Last yr and the yr before I had 7 foot tall tomato plants and I need them to bloom at a higher level than 12-18 inches to keep rodents from devouring the fruit later.
Will these tomatoes Co time to grow taller even with a giant batch of blooms opening on thr top of the main stem?
Is there something I can do besides normal pruning to get them to continue growing taller?
As an aside I think they started blooming because we were in 50s degree nights when I transplanted them...then we had a week of mid to low 40s at night. Even some of my new chard transplants got nervous and bolted.
I have about 75 tomato plants and about 45 pepper plants.....only thr tomatoes are having issues so far....peppers are just extra slow on their growth right now.
I just gave them a 0-10-10 shot the other day but other than that I use liquid kelp once a week and 3-4-4 at transplant time
For flower lovers, the Colorado State Univ “Flower Trails” competition winners (some nice pics):
http://flowertrials.colostate.edu/trial-winner/?y=2020&c=Annual
First of all, thank you for being HONEST about what you are doing right now. Man, I hate having to figure out a plant problem when I’m not given ALL the information, LOL!
I know it goes against everything holy, but you need to nip off those blooms, STAT!
My tomatoes are going in next week; rainy weather, not trusting my nighttime lows, just a general PITA to go out there at night in my jammies to battle wild animals and cover things up in case we have frost, which we do more seasons than not!
Whew!
Anyhow, nip those blooms off. And stop pruning. Also, STOP fertilizing for the time being, but make sure they have adequate water (1” per WEEK is plenty). You are being WAY too generous with the fertilizing for plants that originally thrived in arid, baron conditions. ;)
They will re-bloom when they hit 3’ in height, give or take.
You can keep pinching off the suckers and pruning up the lower leaves as they grow...BUT let them GROW for a while.
I know! It’s PAINFUL! But I will be pinching off blooms on my home-started tomatoes and peppers when I plant them next week and trust me - they bounce right back. :)
Speaking of which - I need to go close up the greenhouse and move the bird feeders OUT of Mr. Opossum’s grasp for the evening! :)
I was really amazed at how things grew that season, being a drought year, but looking back, it totally makes sense.
There was literally NO disease issues with those plants, either.
Hot and Dry is an awesome way to grow peppers and tomatoes and cukes, for sure - as long as we can get them adequate water.
And I would sell my kid for a 20 gallon nursery pot, LOL!
...She said as she eyed the Mule’s water bucket...
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing that! :)
I have 2-20’s and 3-30’s, but we have not used them in recent years I want to get back to that as bending over gets hard on the back. They are just terra cotta (brown looking plastic pots).
Also - it makes me a tiny bit ‘heartsick’ missing one of the most FUN parts of my job at Jung’s - picking out what annuals we’d sell each season. (And Perennials and Trees & Shrubs and Tropical Patio Plants!)
Proven Winners and Terra Nova were always my favorite ‘brands.’ A little more pricey, but in the ‘Mad Crush’ of Spring - customers weren’t looking at the prices. ;)
It’s all Eye-Candy, Baby! You’re selling the SIZZLE, not necessarily the Steak. And you only have an 8-week window to sell it all! ;)
I planted cukes on my knees the other day at the base of my big V-shaped ‘trellis’ (read: Hog Panels) and I had to pull myself UP off the ground!
When did this happen and how can I reverse it? Oy!
I keep telling Beau that my plan is to have a mild heart attack at age 70, have my ‘Come To Jesus Moment’ and then I’ll get my act together and start running Marathons and such. Yeah. Right. *SMIRK*
With all the ‘running’ I did in the Army, I’m pretty certain I’ve circled the GLOBE by now, in miles logged! ;)
Thank you. Consider those blossoms gone!!
I keep at least 2, sometimes 3 branches on the tomatoes but keep the lower branches and suckered gone as it grows....peppers I keep the bottom area clean of branches/leaves until they get about 24 inches high then lop off the top middle main stem so they bush out a little.
You’re doing it right!
I have to break the news to my tomato & pepper plants today that they’re getting a haircut prior to planting later this weekend. Yes, I spend a lot of time by myself on the farm with only the dogs, mule, birds and plants to talk to, LOL!
When I plant, I add a handful (about a cup, total) of bone meal mixed with crushed egg shells that I’ve saved all winter, to the planting hole. (Cukes, Zukes, and Eggplant benefit from this, too!) Then, I let them do their thing, making sure they have adequate water, and I don’t fertilize again until they start to set fruit. Then, I use a liquid fertilizer called AlgoFlash - also known as AlgoPlus, new packaging and formula changes - and really it depends upon their performance in the growing season (hot, cooler, dry wet, etc.) on whether I fertilize them again.
So, those are my ‘secret weapons’ for growing great tomatoes and peppers. :)
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