My 2016 Container Garden (vines, cucumber, insects, fruits)

[phonelady61]

Well my maters are done for the year pulled the plants yesterday . But am certainly not disappointed with the crop I got this year and will grow again next year only next year I'm doing stump of the world and not cream sausage I'm sorry to say that plant did nothing but catch BER and I tried the calcium being added and everything within my power and I prayed over it but to no avail . God blessed us with an overflow so I am not at all disappointed . I think I just did get in under the radar before the big heat started destroying the blooms . When you get 100 + degree weather the tomato plants definitely start taking a hit and going down hill . I mean we had 100+ degrees for like 3 days in a row and bam the blooms started dropping and turning brown . I knew they were done .

[Cambium]

FYI .. My Topped Off Potted Peppers aren't doing better than the non topped off ones. I kinda had a feeling about that.

Will update my thread Saturday with a look.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by phonelady61

Well my maters are done for the year pulled the plants yesterday . But am certainly not disappointed with the crop I got this year and will grow again next year only next year I'm doing stump of the world and not cream sausage I'm sorry to say that plant did nothing but catch BER and I tried the calcium being added and everything within my power and I prayed over it but to no avail . God blessed us with an overflow so I am not at all disappointed . I think I just did get in under the radar before the big heat started destroying the blooms . When you get 100 + degree weather the tomato plants definitely start taking a hit and going down hill . I mean we had 100+ degrees for like 3 days in a row and bam the blooms started dropping and turning brown . I knew they were done .

our temps haven't gotten much above the low 90s yet. We should be fine for a few more months and then in early fall we will get a few more. I do have to say, this is our second year attempting container gardening and I am encouraged. I will certainly give it another try next year. It is a learning game for sure.

[NickMan7]

Originally Posted by phonelady61

Well my maters are done for the year pulled the plants yesterday . But am certainly not disappointed with the crop I got this year and will grow again next year only next year I'm doing stump of the world and not cream sausage I'm sorry to say that plant did nothing but catch BER and I tried the calcium being added and everything within my power and I prayed over it but to no avail . God blessed us with an overflow so I am not at all disappointed . I think I just did get in under the radar before the big heat started destroying the blooms . When you get 100 + degree weather the tomato plants definitely start taking a hit and going down hill . I mean we had 100+ degrees for like 3 days in a row and bam the blooms started dropping and turning brown . I knew they were done .

Wow, your tomatoes are already done? Mine are only now setting some nice sized tomatoes, some maybe as large as tennis balls, though only a few. The rest are still small.

I am so happy to hear you got lots of tomatoes from your garden this year, though, and that you still had more than enough to not miss the Cream Sausage. I am disappointed to hear it did so poorly for you with BER - mine look good so far, but they're still tiny..

As always, I love to hear you are happy with SOTW. What a great tomato.

[NickMan7]

Originally Posted by Cambium

FYI .. My Topped Off Potted Peppers aren't doing better than the non topped off ones. I kinda had a feeling about that.

Will update my thread Saturday with a look.

I am sorry to hear that, Cam!! Did you top them outside or when you still had them under your grow lights? I top them long before they go outside, just after the first two sets of true leaves are established. There is always a distinct difference in my peppers that have been topped vs. those that have not. I am sorry yours aren't faring as well..

I will say that beyond the first topping, I generally don't do it again, unlike others who top consistently until their plants create a sort of "canopy" that spreads wide, but stays short. I do, however, remove leaves on a regular basis to keep good airflow and promote new growth. We had a hailstorm a few weeks ago that damaged most of the leaves on all 18 plants. I've since been diligently removing a few damaged leaves at a time and the plants now look robust and full and gorgeous - not a single sign of hail damage remains. They didn't do much healing until I began removing the damaged foliage.

I find peppers to be extremely resilient and have had excellent results from consistent light pruning. Damaged leaves and buds that clearly won't develop peppers are removed every 1-2 days and areas that become dense with foliage are thinned every 3-5 days.

Now, keep in mind, our spring and early summer has been quite hot so far with most days since early June above 80º and 15 have hit 90º or higher, so my peppers have really responded to that. Our summers in general are quite a bit warmer and drier than yours. In cooler and wetter climates, I'm not sure peppers would perform the same way.

[NickMan7]

Originally Posted by nmnita

our temps haven't gotten much above the low 90s yet. We should be fine for a few more months and then in early fall we will get a few more. I do have to say, this is our second year attempting container gardening and I am encouraged. I will certainly give it another try next year. It is a learning game for sure.

nmnita, I am so glad you're sticking with it! I highly recommend setting up some sort of timed drip system to make it even easier. There is no way I could have the garden I have without some kind of automatic watering system. If I were retired, that might be a different story, but then I'd have to find someone willing to water for me when I'm not home and that would be an intimidating task for someone not used to my particular way of gardening..

In the past couple years when we've had highs over 95º, my tomatoes have had a very hard time setting fruit, but this year they've set fruit in temps over 100º. I think it's a combination of the extremely dry air and the fact that my garden has 70/30 shade cloth over it this year, something that is really cutting down on the intense burning sun. I think the plants are LOVING it.

[Cambium]

Originally Posted by NickMan7

I am sorry to hear that, Cam!! Did you top them outside or when you still had them under your grow lights? I top them long before they go outside, just after the first two sets of true leaves are established. There is always a distinct difference in my peppers that have been topped vs. those that have not. I am sorry yours aren't faring as well..
.

Long before they went outside. End of April. Almost all my other pepper plants have little peppers on them right now, the ones that I chopped don't. I am going back to the reasons of our climate here. Soil and air don't warm up fast enough for Peppers so chopping (or topping) is a no no I guess. We need as must growth as possible.


We'll see. Plenty of summer left!


On May 7th I was excited about the new growth on it.

[NickMan7]

Originally Posted by Cambium

Long before they went outside. End of April. Almost all my other pepper plants have little peppers on them right now, the ones that I chopped don't. I am going back to the reasons of our climate here. Soil and air don't warm up fast enough for Peppers so chopping (or topping) is a no no I guess. We need as must growth as possible.


We'll see. Plenty of summer left!


On May 7th I was excited about the new growth on it.

Well, I am certainly sad to hear they aren't doing as well. It was worth a shot and you proved me wrong. It's just strange that we have/had such different results, especially during the period before they went outside. Maybe it's the growing medium playing a factor, too. Oh well, I don't tend to get into the scientific aspect of any of this, so I'll just chalk it up to our vastly different climates, too.

[NickMan7]

I'm going to try and get an update out every 2-3 weeks, but it's tough this season because I am so much busier doing things other than gardening; unlike last season when most of my time was devoted to the garden. I wish it were always that way, but some things take priority..

Our weather has been amazing for the most part. We had a brief cool down on July 01 and July 02 with highs only at 80º with substantial cloud cover, but otherwise, most highs have been at or above 90º since the last update. Nighttime temps have remained in the upper 50s to lower 60s, a few degrees above average for this time of year. We've had no appreciable thunderstorms, but areas surrounding us have, as usual. The next week is looking hot and mostly dry with highs between 90º and 95º and lows between 60º and 65º. Perfect.

The garden is doing extremely well this season. The shade cloth is helping to keep the searing sunshine from scorching the plants/fruit, but it may be at the cost of more vigorous fruit growth. The plants are exceptionally healthy, but I feel that they are behind last season's plants as far as number of fruit per plant. It's hard to say and only time will tell. I will say that I appear to be losing less blossoms to the heat since the sunshine is slightly filtered. I lost quite a few blossoms last season during our hottest periods - not so this season, at least so far.

Listed below are the varieties I'm growing, along with the type(s) of container I'm growing them in. I am beginning my harvest count with this update because things are already coming out of the garden! I'll also include my thoughts as I go along.

TOMATOES - EARTHBOXES (2 per Earthbox - all indeterminate):

1. 1884
2. Brandywine Cowlick's - This is the only indeterminate tomato plant yet to set fruit, but it has an absolute ton of blossoms, so I am hopeful for a late bumper crop
3. Brandywine Sudduth's
4. Chianti Rose
5. Dr. Wyche's Yellow
6. Grandfather Ashlock
7. Gregori's Altai
8. Moskvich
9. Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye
10. Rebel Yell
11. Red Pear Piriform - These have a very interesting dumpling-like shape to them. Plant is the tallest of all Earthbox plants so far at about 6'.
12. Rutgers Select
13. Shilling Giant - This has about 50 golf ball sized tomatoes on it. Excited to see how this shapes up.
14. Stump of the World (x2) - Both plants are setting many fruit. I just can't even wait!!
15. Stupice - This plant has already begun setting fruit.
16. Uncle Mark Bagby (x2)

TOMATOES - 5-GALLON BUCKETS (1 per bucket - all determinate):

1. Abu Rawan
2. Bush Early Girl (x2) - In an effort to be proactive and prevent any major issues, I removed one of these plants. It was developing brown "sores" on the main stems and fruit. I have my containers relatively close together and I am not willing to sacrifice multiple plants to save one, so I got rid of it. Only "fatality" so far.
3. Cream Sausage - So far, none have come down with BER, though I understand this variety, like many paste tomatoes, is prone to it. Knock on wood.
4. Krasnodar Titans - The most productive bucket tomato so far with 2-3 dozen golf ball sized fruit setting.
5. La Roma III
6. Oregon Spring V
7. Paisano
8. Stump of the World (MYSTERY - I labeled it SOTW, but it is regular leaf - true SOTW is potato leaf - this will be a mystery tomato plant) - This plant is approaching 5' tall in the bucket and is setting dozens of fruit. Doesn't really appear to be SOTW, but I think it is a beefsteak. I will be interested to see how these turn out.
9. Yaqui

PEPPERS - EARTHBOXES (6 per Earthbox):

Hot:

1. Craig's Grande Jalapeno (x2)
2. Jalafuego Jalapeno (x2) - 9 count
3. Serrano - 6 count
4. Poblano (x2)

Sweet:

1. Purple Beauty (x4)
2. Early Sunsation (x4)
3. Red Knight (x3)
4. Sweet Banana

MELON - WHISKEY BARRELS (3 per barrel):

1. Charentais
2. Hearts of Gold
3. Kajari
4. Rugoso di Cosenza - I direct-seeded this variety in place of the Prescott Fond Blanc I had originally transplanted. They never made it, so I am trying this different variety.
5. Sakata's Sweet
6. Snow Leopard

CUCUMBERS - WHISKEY BARRELS (2 per barrel):

All of the cucumbers are doing extremely well in the barrels. All are setting small fruit and tons of flowers. I am having some issues with getting pollinators in, but that should change once the plants grow a bit more.

1. Dar
2. Empereur Alexandre
3. Gele Tros
4. Hmong Red

SQUASH/ZUCCHINI - WHISKEY BARRELS (1 per barrel):

1. Crookneck Squash - This plant appears to be struggling a bit, but it's still growing. It's about a fifth the size of the other two plants.
2. Golden Zucchini - I am having issues getting pollinators to my plants. I've had to remove 5 zucchinis that didn't get pollinated.
3. Honey Bear Acorn Squash - See notes on Golden Zucchini. One fruit removed.

EGGPLANT - 5 GALLON BUCKET:

1. Listada de Gandia

STRAWBERRIES - WHISKEY BARRELS (12-16 per barrel - all ever-bearing):

1. Evie 2 - 15 count
2. San Andreas - 25 count
3. Tristar - 3 count

ONIONS - WHISKEY BARRELS (8-12 per barrel):

1. Yellow of Parma (x2 barrels)

STRAWBERRIES - IN-GROUND (16 plants):

1. Surecrop - The massive hailstorm we had back in early June really damaged these plants. They have recovered nicely, but will not produce again until fall or next spring. They are a June-bearing variety, so I expected that. If they don't make it, I will replace.

STRAWBERRIES - IN-GROUND (16 plants):

1. Cabot - 4 count - DELICIOUS!!

CORN- IN-GROUND (10 plants):

1. Dorinney Sweet - These are about 4' tall, which is about as tall as they'll get, and most are setting at least one ear of corn; several have two.

ONIONS - IN-GROUND (20-30 plants total):

1. Milestone
2. Red Bull
3. Yellow of Parma

So that's where the garden is so far this season. I think I need to update the types and numbers of pepper plants I have, though. I think I left out one or two in my list, but I am not home to check on them right now, so I will include them in my next update.

Below are some photos that were taken on July 04.

[NY to LA]

NickMan your garden is so impressive. I really like the netting, does this protect against animals and birds?