The Endzone Garden Thread

#702
#702
VolNExile said:
The slicing tomatoes (separate bed from the canners) are being hit with soil-borne fungal diseases, what with all the rain. I might be racing the clock if it doesn’t slow down a bit. I’m going to start rotating the four beds next year, leaving one fallow. This should be “interesting.”
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The slicing tomatoes in the sun or shade most of the day? Soil staying wet in that area causing the fungus? It a low area?
 
#703
#703
Orange Sunset said:
The slicing tomatoes in the sun or shade most of the day? Soil staying wet in that area causing the fungus? It a low area?
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No, it’s the sunniest bed I have, very well-drained soil; raised bed. I don’t mess with them when leaves are wet, branches are pruned off up to 12” from the ground, and I sterilize pruners and scissors between cuts.

We’ve just had so dang much rain that soil splashes up on the leaves, plus this is the second year for heirlooms in this bed. The heirlooms don’t have all the nice letters after their names for disease resistance.

And probably one big factor is that they back up to a tall fence, and even though it’s generally nice and breezy here, they’re not getting moving air on both sides.
 
#704
#704
Orangeredblooded said:
I’ll admit I don’t know all the variety, probably not many at all. If God grants me another growing season, I’ve already started planning on having a extensive container garden. Now, let’s see if that actually happens. That’ll be the true feat.
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A container garden sounds like a fantastic way to de-stress at the end of a long day.
 
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#706
#706
VolNExile said:
No, it’s the sunniest bed I have, very well-drained soil; raised bed. I don’t mess with them when leaves are wet, branches are pruned off up to 12” from the ground, and I sterilize pruners and scissors between cuts.

We’ve just had so dang much rain that soil splashes up on the leaves, plus this is the second year for heirlooms in this bed. The heirlooms don’t have all the nice letters after their names for disease resistance.

And probably one big factor is that they back up to a tall fence, and even though it’s generally nice and breezy here, they’re not getting moving air on both sides.
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LOL at the pruners & scissors. The beds are perfect. At least you're on top of it. My only suggestion would be wet newspaper around the bases as a splatter barrier
 
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#707
#707
Orange Sunset said:
LOL at the pruners & scissors. The beds are perfect. At least you're on top of it. My only suggestion would be wet newspaper around the bases as a splatter barrier
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Yeah, I should have thought of that earlier. The fun part is finding newspaper these days! We all seem to have digital subscriptions. But you’re right, I can definitely grab some freebie weeklies and spread them out. Thanks.
 
#708
#708
VolNExile said:
Yeah, I should have thought of that earlier. The fun part is finding newspaper these days! We all seem to have digital subscriptions. But you’re right, I can definitely grab some freebie weeklies and spread them out. Thanks.
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You're welcome.
Good that you found the problem & took proper action to save the plants. Figuring out what the problem is can be some work sometimes. Good point you made on the airflow being blocked by the tall fence.
There's not a Sunday paper with cartoons & coupons sold on the corners there?
 
#709
#709
Orange Sunset said:
You're welcome.
Good that you found the problem & took proper action to save the plants. Figuring out what the problem is can be some work sometimes. Good point you made on the airflow being blocked by the tall fence.
There's not a Sunday paper with cartoons & coupons sold on the corners there?
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Sure, but it’s mighty thin these days. ☹️ Plenty of Mountain Xpress freebies though. I’ll have to fight Hubs for them - he uses them to start the charcoal grill. 😁
 
#710
#710
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#712
#712
I’m so old, I still use wheat straw. I remember an elderly lady in East Knoxville (mid-70s) used peanut shells. My former neighbor, Florence used rolled up newspapers in a flower bed.
 
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#713
#713
One year, I grew only San Marzanos. They were prone to being beset by fungi. Half the plants and what they produced were discarded. Still, the surviving plants were very productive. I only put up four pints of sauce. I ate far too many fresh. Tasty maters.
 
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#714
#714
VolNExile said:
Well, it’s the Zone. Cat-herding seems futile. 🤪

I’ve got the sads about my heirloom tomatoes. The German Johnsons and Mortgage Lifter are definitely more troubled by fungal diseases. But they taste so damn good. ☹️ The Black Krims are pretty resistant so far. I guess we’ll see if planting in a new bed next year will help.

But you’re right, grocery store tomatoes just don’t get it. I call them “tomato-like objects.”

The director of our moms’ ALF has a fantastic green thumb and maintains the gardens there, including some herbs and vegetables. As the Food Lady, would that be an option for you?
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If you think herding cats is hard then try baptizing them
 
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#716
#716
VolNExile said:
I meant to ask, have you grown Rutgers before? I’ve got them in the bed with the San Marzanos and Romas, and they are humongous, way bigger than I expected. Do you use them for soups and canning, slicing, or both?
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Rutgers are typically mid-sized. Very old-fashion flavor. Was one of my dad's favorites. I've grown them once. But, there are too many intriguing heirlooms to grow. I swap around. I even passed on cherokee purple this year to grow something else. My grandad always grew better boys and big boys in railroad tie raised beds full of fresh mushroom compost from the grower. He could make hybrids taste like heirlooms.
 
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#717
#717
VolNExile said:
No, it’s the sunniest bed I have, very well-drained soil; raised bed. I don’t mess with them when leaves are wet, branches are pruned off up to 12” from the ground, and I sterilize pruners and scissors between cuts.

We’ve just had so dang much rain that soil splashes up on the leaves, plus this is the second year for heirlooms in this bed. The heirlooms don’t have all the nice letters after their names for disease resistance.

And probably one big factor is that they back up to a tall fence, and even though it’s generally nice and breezy here, they’re not getting moving air on both sides.
Click to expand...

You've done everything perfectly (I saw all your pics) except for one thing. You have to mulch the tomatoes to keep the soil splatter off. Go get a bale of hay straw and mulch them. Leave a small opening around the stem. Then, spray them for the fungus. They will recover if you get them mulched and protect them from splash up.
 
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#718
#718
GVF said:
Rutgers are typically mid-sized. Very old-fashion flavor. Was one of my dad's favorites. I've grown them once. But, there are too many intriguing heirlooms to grow. I swap around. I even passed on cherokee purple this year to grow something else. My grandad always grew better boys and big boys in railroad tie raised beds full of fresh mushroom compost from the grower. He could make hybrids taste like heirlooms.
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Did you mean mid-size fruits, or mid-size bushes? On mine, the fruits are mid-sized, but the bushes are hitting 6’ tall. The Romas and San Marzanos are also taller - hitting 5’.

I think I’m the only person in the world who can’t grow Cherokee Purples. 🤪 One of my garden center buddies told me that lots of others around here had problems last year, but I think he was just being kind.

This year I’m growing Early Girl (1), Sun Gold (2), German Johnson (2), Black Akron Krim (2), Mortgage Lifter (1), and some mystery tomato that a seed seller gave me free seeds for. 😭 (I haven’t figured out how to not plant free seeds.)

^^^ Those are all vining (indeterminate.) The bush tomatoes are 2 Romas, 2 San Marranos, and 2 Rutgers. Also 2 tomatillos that have proved to be space hogs.

Edited to fix auto-misspell
 
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#719
#719
GVF said:
You've done everything perfectly (I saw all your pics) except for one thing. You have to mulch the tomatoes to keep the soil splatter off. Go get a bale of hay straw and mulch them. Leave a small opening around the stem. Then, spray them for the fungus. They will recover if you get them mulched and protect them from splash up.
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Thanks, this is where I missed!

I bought a bale of straw that was supposed to be seedless but wasn’t. (Discovered this in another bed after nearly becoming a wheat farmer.) I’m going with the wet newspaper that Orange Sunset suggested.
 
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#720
#720
VolNExile said:
Thanks, this is where I missed!

I bought a bale of straw that was supposed to be seedless but wasn’t. (Discovered this in another bed after nearly becoming a wheat farmer.) I’m going with the wet newspaper that Orange Sunset suggested.
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Never tried the newspaper. I spray everything off and let die before tilling. I only mulch the maters. Still have weeding to do, but it can be kept in control with a upcoming freshman ag science major and giving him certain sections to do each week. Pretty weed free throughout right now.

One watering trick I've seen but not tried when mother nature isn't doing it is putting a length of pvc pipe by each tomato and filling it with water when it's time and let it soak down. Put it deep enough when planting to get straight to root ball.
 
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#721
#721
VolNExile said:
Did you mean mid-size fruits, or mid-size bushes? On mine, the fruits are mid-sized, but the bushes are hitting 6’ tall. The Romas and San Marzanos are also taller - hitting 5’.

I think I’m the only person in the world who can’t grow Cherokee Purples. 🤪 One of my garden center buddies told me that lots of others around here had problems last year, but I think he was just being kind.

This year I’m growing Early Girl (1), Sun Gold (2), German Johnson (2), Black Akron Krim (2), Mortgage Lifter (1), and some mystery tomato that a seed seller gave me free seeds for. 😭 (I haven’t figured out how to not plant free seeds.)

^^^ Those are all vining (indeterminate.) The bush tomatoes are 2 Romas, 2 San Marranos, and 2 Rutgers. Also 2 tomatillos that have proved to be space hogs.

Edited to fix auto-misspell
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Cherokee Purples are generally pretty hardy and easy to grow, but I've had bad years with them. They did better for me in GA than up here on the Plateau. But, I figure that's just part of doing heirlooms over hybrids.

Rutgers plants can get tall, but I remember the fruits to be mid-sized.

Right now I'm growing Ananas Noir, Anthony's Passionate Heart, Super Sweet 100 Cherry, Brad's Atomic Grape, Dwarf Firebird Sweet, And Dwarf Sneaky Sauce (?). One of each.

I've got seed for 1884, Velvet Night Cherry Dwarf, Some tomato that looks and feels like a Peach, San Marzano Redorta, Thornburn's Terracotta, Dwarf Tasmanian Chocolate, Cuostralee. Maybe some others, but that's pretty close. I'm gonna add Carbon and Dragon's eye to my stash. My quandry is what and how many to plant next year. If I had a green house, some would be going in now for a winter suply.
 
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#723
#723
GVF said:
Cherokee Purples are generally pretty hardy and easy to grow, but I've had bad years with them. They did better for me in GA than up here on the Plateau. But, I figure that's just part of doing heirlooms over hybrids.

Rutgers plants can get tall, but I remember the fruits to be mid-sized.

Right now I'm growing Ananas Noir, Anthony's Passionate Heart, Super Sweet 100 Cherry, Brad's Atomic Grape, Dwarf Firebird Sweet, And Dwarf Sneaky Sauce (?). One of each.

I've got seed for 1884, Velvet Night Cherry Dwarf, Some tomato that looks and feels like a Peach, San Marzano Redorta, Thornburn's Terracotta, Dwarf Tasmanian Chocolate, Cuostralee. Maybe some others, but that's pretty close. I'm gonna add Carbon and Dragon's eye to my stash. My quandry is what and how many to plant next year. If I had a green house, some would be going in now for a winter suply.
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Wow! Are you a farmer or market gardener? And having a college student handy sounds wonderful!
 
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