Author Topic: Tomato Growing Project (Read 15142 times)

Randy · « **Reply #20 on:** April 18, 2010, 04:59:44 PM »

Growing tomatoes is a load of crap.

LOL I mean go get you some bag manure and work that into your soil before planting.

Don't forget your County agent. They will have loads of free information. Online do a search for your states Ag school, thier you will probably find even more information. here is the link to the national center for food preservation at the university of Georgia.

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/freeze/tomato.html

Watch out, I started with tomatoes, now I have an orchard, with apples, peaches and pecans as well as a garden. It is addicting. Wait and see how good it feels to eat something you have grown yourself. You will never gain a single pound by what you grow in your garden. Excellent exercise.

Don't forget next year to plant your tomatoes in a different location. If you have room grow red potatoes as well.

Weed a little everyday, and it is so much easier than waiting and fighting it.

Farmer Tramman sounds pretty good.

Have a great time with your garden.

Randy

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #21 on:** April 18, 2010, 05:16:06 PM »

Randy you are too funny! I come from a long line of farmers. Of the 3 of us kids, I was the only one who help garden and cook when I was a kid so it won't be a suprise if I get addicted to gardening. As a kid, my folks would often make a trip to the rural farms for manure and a pig. I always thought it was weird as a kid to have dung all over the yard, but I guess my parents knew what they were doing.

We have a big front patio, that I will slowly convert to a garden so the the Mrs. doesn't lose her mind. She's getting the backyard landscaped for the new house so maybe I can make an argument for the front yard.

Those are some great tips for places to look for info for the new farmer. I'll have to check it out and see if they have any special recommendations for my local soil and climate.

ninapizza23 · « **Reply #22 on:** April 18, 2010, 09:13:32 PM »

Tranman,
here are some pix of my simple hydroponic unit, I call it flood & drain. The basil is now much bigger since I took these pix 2 weeks ago. It looks like basil on steroids. Last year I started some summer squash and then I trasferred outside because they grow big. Last year these squashes were 6 ft tall. Let me know if you need any help.

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #23 on:** April 18, 2010, 10:32:28 PM »

Ninapizza that is just too too cool! I love it! I'll definitely be hitting you up for some plans in a month or so. I'll do some research on my own in the meantime. If it's as easy as you say it is, I'm really excited to make one. It sounds like a really fun project.

When you grow herbs and veggies hydroponically, do the herbs have a strong flavor or do they just look like they are on steroids? Meaning would they have more, less, or the same amount of flavor compared to growing them the tradtional way?

Tran

ninapizza23 · « **Reply #24 on:** April 18, 2010, 11:12:37 PM »

Tranman,
I assure you it is easy! Start with the easy one first, then you can make expandable ones if you need to grow a lot. You can also do cuttings hydroponically and cut down some time. You can do tomato cuttings and have 2 seasons in one.

In regard to flavor, I tested the genovese and the lettuce leaf, genovese had stronger flavor!
It must be the variety! You can also try the globe basil, it has strong flavor too. The water from hydroponics doesn't wash flavor from the herbs or veggies. They get all the nutrients. One thing I want to admit that the tomato plants grow more stocky or thicker in soil.

I am convinced that the dry air from the Mediterranean makes a difference in veggies and herbs. The oregano from the mountains of Sicily have better flavor there, if you bring the same plant here (in NY) it will never be the same because the weather here is humid. I have oregano plants from Sicily, the buds are soft and humid.

There is a company in Arizona that grows tomatoes hydroponically in the desert in greenhouses, they have thousands of acres of greenhouses.

At the end of May I'll be in Italy for 6 weeks just in case you don't get any answer from me.

mmarston · « **Reply #25 on:** April 19, 2010, 12:41:21 PM »

These are now out of stock at this supplier but you might try to find some for next year.
They are an heirloom variety developed by Amy Goldman and are great for eating and sauce.

http://www.underwoodgardens.com/Goldmans-Italian-American-Tomato-Lycopersicon-lycopersicum/productinfo/V1157/

I grow 6-8 different heirloom varieties each year allthough the "late blight" in the northeast was devastating last year.

The Goldman's tomato resisted the blight much better than my other tomatoes.

Michael

BrickStoneOven · « **Reply #26 on:** April 19, 2010, 02:21:26 PM »

Have you guys used/heard of the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter? I was wondering if they work well. I have a lot of little critters in my back yard so if I were to use this they wouldn't be able to get to the tomatoes. Its either that or I'm going to Walmart and buying a pellet gun to kill them all...

sear · « **Reply #27 on:** April 19, 2010, 02:29:20 PM »

i just started mine too, also i bought a small siberan tomato plant that promises fruit early ... well see

once the tomato plant gets a bunch of new branches on it you can clone them easily..
and its way quicker than waiting for seedlings.

last year i had nice beautiful green tomatoes on about 6 plants , then blight hit and ruined most of them

i had more basil and oregano then i knew what to do with tho

... and cucumbers which made some nice dill pickles, maybe i should grow some dill too ..

Randy · « **Reply #28 on:** April 19, 2010, 03:53:05 PM »

Quote from: BrickStoneOven on April 19, 2010, 02:21:26 PM

Have you guys used/heard of the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter? I was wondering if they work well. I have a lot of little critters in my back yard so if I were to use this they wouldn't be able to get to the tomatoes. Its either that or I'm going to Walmart and buying a pellet gun to kill them all...

The ones I have seen have not survived long enough to make tomatoes but I don't now how good of care they got. I have been tempted myself.

Randy

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #29 on:** April 19, 2010, 04:07:00 PM »

Quote from: BrickStoneOven on April 19, 2010, 02:21:26 PM

Have you guys used/heard of the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter? I was wondering if they work well. I have a lot of little critters in my back yard so if I were to use this they wouldn't be able to get to the tomatoes. Its either that or I'm going to Walmart and buying a pellet gun to kill them all...

I just took a look at some photos on their website. Looks like you have to hang them up pretty high (~8 feet). Even then, the plants extend all the way down to the ground so the critters could still get to them. Also I wonder how people are watering these things. It seems more of a novelty than anything. I'm sure it works but I wouldn't think it would be better than the traditional method.

BSO, you should look into hydroponics! Grow your tomatoes in the garage or something with artificial lights.
That or the pellet gun. Both would be fun!

mmarston · « **Reply #30 on:** April 19, 2010, 04:17:50 PM »

Tomatoes in a container (upside down or not) can dry out very quickly so they need to be checked for water content every day when it's hot.

ninapizza23 · « **Reply #31 on:** April 19, 2010, 05:26:29 PM »

START A HYDROPONIC GARDEN AND GO ON VACATION ! NO bugs to worry about, animals, watering, weeds,slugs, etc CLEAN PRODUCE & ORGANIC ! ALL YEAR ROUND RAIN OR SHINE

BrickStoneOven · « **Reply #32 on:** April 19, 2010, 05:50:55 PM »

I saw the links that Norma put up and I don't have the patience to build one of those. I don't have a garage either.

ninapizza23 · « **Reply #33 on:** April 19, 2010, 06:41:05 PM »

Brickstoneoven,
come on, how hard is it to drill 2 holes 3/8" wide in a plastic container ? Connect a little pump through one of those holes.....put one container on top of the other...put some water in the bottom container where the pump will suck it up and circulate it through the second hole,then you put the netpots with the seeds on the top container. I do not use my garage for hydroponics, I put it on a stand close to a receptacle to plug the pump into a timer and the timer into the wall receptacle. IS THAT SO HARD TO DO? Take a better look at the pix above.

norma427 · « **Reply #34 on:** April 19, 2010, 06:51:16 PM »

Here are a few more for hydroponic gardening. If you search the web, there are many.

http://www.hydroponics-at-home.com/
http://www.essortment.com/all/hydroponicsgard_rvxf.htm
http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Homemade-Hydroponics-System

ninapizza23,

What nutrients do you use to feed your plants and do you need a pH meter and TDS?

Norma

BrickStoneOven · « **Reply #35 on:** April 19, 2010, 07:30:46 PM »

Quote from: ninapizza23 on April 19, 2010, 06:41:05 PM

Brickstoneoven,
come on, how hard is it to drill 2 holes 3/8" wide in a plastic container ? Connect a little pump through one of those holes.....put one container on top of the other...put some water in the bottom container where the pump will suck it up and circulate it through the second hole,then you put the netpots with the seeds on the top container. I do not use my garage for hydroponics, I put it on a stand close to a receptacle to plug the pump into a timer and the timer into the wall receptacle. IS THAT SO HARD TO DO? Take a better look at the pix above.

I stopped reading your reply after the first sentence... I have so much pizza stuff around if I were to make this my mom will go over the edge and throw everything away.

Bob1 · « **Reply #36 on:** April 20, 2010, 09:38:38 AM »

Tranman,
I saw on another post that you were looking at alternate watering methods. Here is something that I bought at Walmart years ago. You can customize it for your own design. I then cover the ground and hose with mulch or weed guard. It works very well.

http://www.mrsoakerhose.com/standard.htm

Bob

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #37 on:** April 20, 2010, 11:37:50 AM »

Norma thanks for the added links.

Bob that set up is sweet. I love things I can customize. I'll have to chk Walmart out for that. It seems much easier than watering by hand and less costly than a sprinkler system. Thanks for the post.

BrickStoneOven · « **Reply #38 on:** April 20, 2010, 04:34:31 PM »

I couldn't wait till the end of the month so I did all my sowing today. I went to Home Depot and got the same thing that Tranman got, the Jiffy Green house. The one I got is pretty cool. I sowed 162 Basil seeds, 72 Heirlooms, 48 strawberry tomatoes, then 36 thyme, rosemary, and parsley seeds. I had marjoram but misplaced it before I started, then found the packet after I was done. The good thing is you can buy refill peats so when I have more room I will grow the marjoram.

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #39 on:** April 20, 2010, 05:00:13 PM »

WTG (Way to go) BSO! That's a lot of stuff you're growing!

I like the heating element to the greenhouse. I would have picked it up had I seen it.