Well its that time of year where i can take stock of my veg patch and see whats working whats not. Then make the call on how i can do it better for the following year. So wanted to lean over the internet fence and ask your advice on a few areas i think i can improve on. I've numbered the Questions to help with answers Tomatoes. Seedlings - next year i plan to 1. sow into flats, 2. take seedling and plant into cells 3. pot on to 3". This year i didn't do stage 1 and i think the plants suffered for it. Producing top growth rather than roots. Q1. Big Tom varieties - big beef etc, i had poor fruit set on these with trusses 3 onwards not generating toms. Whilst trusses 1 and 2 had good sized fruit. I think there is two reasons for this 1. daily sprinkler watering in the morning whilst flowers were in bloom wetting the flower and stopping insect pollination or and i think this was the problem . 2. planting too close together the competition and fruit set meant the plant conserved the energy into the fruit it had. I planted 3 rows each 1ft apart with each plant being 1ft apart. I have been using sting twisted around the stems from an overhead cable to support the toms, but next year i plan to move to 2" wooden stakes. Onions My garlic worked very well although i think i need to plant more bulbs next year. Q.2 Onions, the bulbs didn't swell very large seemed to flower early and fell over during a storm. looking at the bulbs there wasn't a lot of roots. Just wondering if it was the hot spring and big swings in temperature that caused the problem. Peas Q.3 Had good results with early crop but did a follow on crop of dwarf dakota which didn't grow well and struggled to produce a crop. I planted in June in 28c temps, was wondering if anyone can recommend a main crop type to follow that can handle the heat. Pumpkin Q4. i'm growing pie pumpkins little ones, so expected at least 3-4 per plant but its working out to 1 a the moment. the female flowers formed but then died off. Wondered like the toms if it was from 1. daily drip watering being an issue? Or 2. vines need to be in contact with the ground for root formation along the vine and production of more pumpkins. thanks for any help you can provide.
About your tomatoes--tomatoes are self-pollinating, but you are right on with the overhead watering causing less pollination. The pollen gets sticky when wet, or when temperatures get over 90 degrees, and the pollen stays put. Try watering from below, and giving the tomatoes a gentle shaking to loosen up the pollen, which will fall on other flowers and help set fruit. Onions, again you are right. Onions don't like swings in temperatures. We plant onions in late fall because our winter temperatures have less fluctuation. Mulch helps to keep the soil temperature steady, so you may want to mulch heavily. Peas can't handle heat, unless they are cow peas! Plant lots in early spring, and if you want, you can try for a fall crop, which will be smaller, but still delicious. I have no idea about pumpkins.
I agree with Jane, Plant your peas near the mid to end of MARCH instead. That is when we put them in if the ground can be worked at all. They don't tolerate the heat at all. Water the tomatoes with a soaker hose. Once it is over 90f. the flowers are aborted by the plant. I have many sparse trusses right now due to the heat a couple weeks ago. I have no idea why the pumpkins don't pollinate as well as we think they should. I have the same issue with my zucchini's and cucumbers. I see many female flowers but not as many fruit as there are flowers. If you were as dry as we were the onions didn't do very well. Mine hardly got any bigger than a golf ball before they fell over. Edited to add: Do give your tomatoes more room to grow. We plant in rows and put them in cages, made out of concrete re-enforcing wire, spaced about 30" apart and the rows at least 4' apart. As to transplanting them, I don't know exactly what you are doing, so try again and when you pot up to a bigger size plant them deeper than they were growing. Also brush them several times a day or set an oscillating fan near them to mimic wind (this makes them develop sturdy stems), keep them in pretty full sun and fertilize them after they have true leaves. I don't think that not starting them in flats is the problem. When you put them out in the garden plant them as deep as you can dig or as deep as most of the stem. This is very beneficial to the plant to have as deep of roots as possible.
thanks jane, carolyn, i always look forward to your advice. toms, i was thinking of using drip spikes next year that put the water right at the base of the plant. I liked how they worked with the pumpkins this year. I don't think ours was the heat as we haven't been that hot. Thanks for the tips on shaking the plants and the spacing. Carolyn as for the seedlings, i'm doing 90% of your advice but i recently watched my fav UK show gardeners world who showed root growth difference when potting on. as i'm currently growing the seed in the cells first, when i pot on to the 3" there is minimal root growth. Where as if i grow the seed in flats first, then pot on to cells i can plant down to the seed leaves. allowing the seeling to fill the cell wit roots before planting on to the 3". Pumpkins one other consideration is that i planted them too early in the year. Although temperatures were right i probably should have waited. Onions, i was thinking about planting mine in the fall as i did the garlic, But i didn't think they would handle the zone 5 winter, being planted so shallow. But something i will test next time. peas We had a good crop and they did very well with a march planting this year. I was 50/50 as to whether they would survive a summer planting. So good to see it was the wrong thing to do Is there a traditional follow on crop to early peas? thanks again guys
When our peas are finished (and since they fix nitrogen in the soil) I try to put in a row or two of Swiss chard there. Also green bush beans, which will make a nice harvest if we don't get too hot too fast.
I agree with what everyone else said . Give the pumpkins a while if they are just starting. Losing a few blooms is not unusual early in the season. They do better if allowed to crawl in my opinion. No particular reason that I know of.
Something to try with your tomatoes next year, will save you WORK and headaches: when planting seeds, do so in LARGE styrofoam cups that have several holes poked in bottom for correct drainage. Before filling, mark right on cup lids, with Magic Marker, what variety/type they are (det. or ind.); days to maturity. Fill cups 2/3 full with a GOOD potting mixture that has been dampened to where it's moist, not soggy. Fill last 1/3 of cup with a SEED STARTING MEDIUM; make a hole in that and plant seeds; water the mixture AFTER using a spray bottle. Put cups in a warm location or on a heat mat; cover with a high plastic dome til seedlings emerge; begin a 1/2 full strength fertilization program when true leaves appear. The styrofoam cups "breathe" and this allows excellant root formation..there is NO NEED for having to repot to larger size containers: plants can stay right in cups til they go outside (please note; for best results, tomatoes should be started NO EARLIER then 6 weeks maximum BEFORE transplanting out). I use a mixture of 1 cup hydrogen peroxide; 1 tablespoon Epsom salts; and 1/4 cup of liquid fertilizer to a gallon of water for wetting potting soil in the beginning process (for all my plants actually). I plant 3 seeds per cup for the members of the nightshade family..tom's; eggplant; peppers..cull out two after, leaving only one. I use the biggest styro cups I can find (the small 8 oz. size will not do the trick), gently break up the root system with a old salad fork if too congested, then in they go! I mark the cups so that once they're empty, I can easily cut all the information off them..in a V shape..just put that "tag" right into soil next to plant for I.D.ing at a glance (the Magic Marker will NOT FADE, the styrofoam lasts til you pull it up to throw away). Have been using this method six years now..is priceless once tried, especially if you hate the thoughts of having to transplant (lol!)! Hope I've given you some ideas.....happy gardening!
Dan, We planted bush green beans after the peas were pulled. I have a couple rows of beans and a very nice WIDE patch of peas from them drying in the pods after I quit picking them (which I think I am going to put my pea fence back in) and they dropped all over the ground as I was cleaning up the patch. two pea fences I left in and planted one with pole beans and one with cucumbers. I now have both starting up the fence. Carrots, broccoli and cabbage, chards, spinach, beets, lettuce...and I am sure there are a few more that you would have time enough to get a crop from if you plant varieties that have a maturity schedule that falls in the amount of time you have before your first expected or the frost date in your area.
thx weeds and seeds, sounds like a great method, and i'm all for time savers. quick question, you mentioned breaking up the root system, do you do this after true leaf formation, and replant deeper in same pot? Do you use grow lights over your pots? Thanks carolyn, I saw pea fences in action last weekend, but i don't see the benefit vs using pea sticks. Ie less plants per area. I'm having some success with Knight peas as a summer crop. But have also planted a fall crop of carrots and beets, with luck they should be ready.
Dan..I break up the root system(IF NEEDED)when I plant my "kids" in the ground..just leave them ALONE til then, okay? I grow MUCHO plants a year; a lot are in styro cups; a LOT are in several dIfferant sized plastic cells..just have to KNOW what various plants NEED, go from there! EVERYONE has their OWN method, and we DO all LIVE everywhere..HAVE to READ; ABSORB; EXPERIMENT a bit to FIND what's BEST for you! SEE what everyone in your area says, then USE your own HEAD to decide WHAT'S what (BUGS; growing conditions CAN change FEET away! Have to get "smart"; find the remedy by YOURSELF! Do some reseach; use this GREAT site; and have at it! It's up to YOU..noone else!
thanks, weeds, just wanted to clarify your method, I think the key difference to what i did this year is the 2/3rds potting soil, where i had 100% seed mixture
