[Diana in Wisconsin]

“I have noticed all the cherry maters I’ve grown have been pretty resilient compared to full size varieties I’ve tried.”

My two potted ‘Valentine’ cherry-type tomatoes are doing great and producing well with just a little bit of disease, as is my potted Jalapeno that has NO disease issues whatsoever and is producing the biggest peppers ever in this wet, sunless season!

Could someone please Man’splain this to me? LOL!

It’s that very same ‘Bonnie’ Jalapeno plant I buy just ONE of every Spring at Walmart.

[metmom]

Something ate both of my jalapenos when they were small.

Which is very frustrating.

I’m very interested in trying some container gardening for peppers next year.

[Paul R.]

And conversely, all my peppers EXCEPT the Jalapenos are doing well. I can’t figure out if the Jalapenos tend to like more or less sun than other varieties. (Eye roll)

Maybe I’ll try a little milk as fertilizer on the 2 Jalapenos.

[Pollard]

Considering how far away on a different continent some of our veggies originate from, we're lucky we can grow them at all. (Tropical = white sandy beach with clear blue waters. NOPE - it's mountains 8,000 above sea level near the equator)

Gonna dig up some dirt today to finally send in and get a soil test done. Gonna send in two samples. One from an area I've never touched but do plan to grow there and one from the tunnel/garden area where I've grown and amended on and off for several years. Both taken from several spots mixed together of course. They think in big farming terms of course. Recommend 15-30 samples. That would be insane for my 50' x 50' tunnel area. They have a spot for how many acres for a sample. (0.17 for 50x50)

I gotta figure out three sample crops I want recommendations for or guidelines as the form says.

Any member of the cabbage family would be an obvious choice. Tomatoes and peppers are both nightshades but I have more problems with peppers so I guess that's another. Just looked at a few lists of difficult to grow veggies but the things that make them difficult are non-soil related. Heat, cold, long growing season combined with heat/cold issues. Maybe throw beans/peas in there since they only do ok for me but not great. It's only $2 per crop for recommendations.

Regular fertility analysis: pHs, NA, OM, Bray I-P, NH40Ac-Ca, Mg, K ($15.00)

For this first test, I'll add this Zinc, Iron, Copper, Manganese (with regular analysis: $7.50) and this Sodium (with regular analysis: $3)

I highly doubt I have a sodium/salinity problem but for $3, might as well get it once. The minerals for $7.50 are worth it this once. Particle size for $15, I'll pass. Clayey Loam - silt - heavy - no sand

They have check boxes for other items to test for like boron and sulfur but no cost associated so I'll check those off this one time just to see. If they charge, it can't be much based on all the other fees -- $31.50 otherwise. Regular check ups later on will just be the base $15 test.

Most interesting thing will be to see what the pH really is. Every store bought test said 7-8 but the web soil survey, wild blueberries and veggies I can't grow, all say low 5s and even the cattle farmers here add lime so they can get a better variety of cow food.

My county extension office is a mile away from work and they're open til 4:30 and I get done at 3:30. Grocery store I shop at on one of my days off every week is even closer. I may be popping in on a regular basis to ask some question - show pic of a plant/weed and ask what it is. Find out how many wild edibles I have. Can I eat this? LOL