this year's harvest

[crazymoon]

NS, tomatoes(24-cherries ,romas, big berthas), bell peppers(18), cukes, zucchini, yellow summer, beets, green beans and swiss chard. Same as every year and always lots to give away !

 

[Fueling Around]

Where do you get your scotch bonnet seeds? ...

I didn't start with seeds.
Local college Horticulture Club has a plant sale every spring and they added scotchies to last year's offering.
I saved seeds from last year, but they are north, and I am south until late April.

 

[Fueling Around]

...
Last year was going well until my cucumbers got overrun by moth larva. We will see how it goes this year. Going to cover the Cucumber plants at night and treat them with anti moth larva spray.

Which moth are you getting?
Cabbage loopers will feed on them, but they are from a white butterfly that is mistakenly called a cabbage moth.

I lost my summer squash the last 2 years from the squash vine borer which is larvae from a diurnal (daylight active) moth. I think I got the cycle stopped last year.

 

[WaterRat]

Hi Jim,

I haven't had a decent tomato in years. It seems as though the seed growers have cross pollinated the taste right out of them trying to "improve" them. Haven't found any with that delicious tomato taste I remember as a kid!

Any help would be appreciated,

John

I’d go with an heirloom variety for best taste. Last year I planted a German Johnson which was delicious (then the plant stopped producing but so did all my tomatoes including hybrids). The year before it was a Cherokee Purple which was great. I havent had any more issues with the heirlooms vs the hybrids but I do grow everything in buckets.

 

[Kvgsqtii]

Which moth are you getting?
Cabbage loopers will feed on them, but they are from a white butterfly that is mistakenly called a cabbage moth.

I lost my summer squash the last 2 years from the squash vine borer which is larvae from a diurnal (daylight active) moth. I think I got the cycle stopped last year.

Never saw the moths. Just the destruction from the larvae.

 

[netspyder]

I'll plant habaneros and jalapenos like I always do...and Mrs. Red likes something without much heat, so I'll be looking for some kind of mild sweet peppers as well.

Other than that, it's mostly just tomatoes and cukes.

Red

i recommend pepperoncinis - one in ten might have a light heat. my cukes did great last year until i had to go out of town for a week and they all went to seed.

i've never had much luck with tomatoes. not sure why.

 

[Fueling Around]

Never saw the moths. Just the destruction from the larvae.

Are the critters bright green or a mottled brown? Bt will work on both. just curious the source as the true cabbage critters don't usually go to the cukes.

 

[indaswamp]

Same as usual.....creole tomatoes, jalapenos, and large bell peppers. I have been building up my soil for the past 12 years. The biochar is really boosting production now. I'll be planting tomatoes this week. Collected fallen leaves off the live oak today with the mulching leaf blower. Use that for free mulch around my tomatoes....works great! Only thing I really do now is plant since my soil is so fertile. No fertilizers needed after years of 3-500# of fish carcasses trench composted in the garden bed....the biochar soaked up all the minerals and trace elements from the fish.

 

[indaswamp]

I am on the hunt for Calabrian pepper seeds....both hot and sweet.....

 

[Fueling Around]

Hi Jim,

I haven't had a decent tomato in years. It seems as though the seed growers have cross pollinated the taste right out of them trying to "improve" them. Haven't found any with that delicious tomato taste I remember as a kid!

Any help would be appreciated,

John

I have tried many varieties (super hybrid and heirloom included) of tomatoes both in Seattle area and currently in NW Minnesota.
I now only grow 2 varieties. Standard Roma and a grape variety I get from my local greenhouse. I know the owner and told her my favorites have been her Roma and grape so please don't change. She has stuck with them.

 

[seenred]

i recommend pepperoncinis - one in ten might have a light heat. my cukes did great last year until i had to go out of town for a week and they all went to seed.

i've never had much luck with tomatoes. not sure why.

Good call - pepperoncini's are one of the wife's favorites, and that may well be what we go with.

Our tomato plants did terrible last summer...and we never figured out why. The vines grew like weeds, but with sparse fruit that only got so big, and then never grew more or got ripe. We're hoping it was a one time deal...we usually have decent luck with better boys or best boys, but as poorly as they did last year, I'm thinking of going a different way this season.

Red

 

[bill ace 350]

Jalepenos and Thai Chili peppers.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Good call - pepperoncini's are one of the wife's favorites, and that may well be what we go with.

Our tomato plants did terrible last summer...and we never figured out why. The vines grew like weeds, but with sparse fruit that only got so big, and then never grew more or got ripe. We're hoping it was a one time deal...we usually have decent luck with better boys or best boys, but as poorly as they did last year, I'm thinking of going a different way this season.

Red

Been growing tomatoes here in OKC every year for past 15 years. Before that, off and on since the mid 80's. Last year was my worst year ever.

Primary reason we had a bad year was the weather. We have a two month window for plants to set fruit. That is May and June. We had a very warm May, several days that temps got around 90*. And June was also warmer.

I had other problems than weather, cuz I got inspried by YT videos to make a lot of changes to my tried and true , time proven , methods. And I've gone back to my tried and true and don't watch as many YT vids.

Tomatoes get " blossom drop " when daytime temps reach close to 95 and night time temps get over 70. That's why our plants don't produce much fruit in July. I posted this vid from OSU in another thread, it should start with her talking blossom drop.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I'm growing my Big Beef tomatoes with maybe a couple Cherokee Purple. I've not had good luck with heirlooms. The production numbers are small and my wife and I don't find the flavor to be any better than by Big Beef.

Also gonna grow some cukes for pickling, which I did for the first time last year and am looking forward to improving on both growing and pickling. Don't know why I've not done this years ago.

I've got pepper seed I found in the freezer from two years ago, jalapeno, banana , and some bells. Thinking about starting them from seed. But it may be too late as they're very slow growing.