High Tunnel 2017
 

I planted my high tunnel today. Yesterday, I put the plastic back on...by myself, which I'm sure would have been comical to watch, especially given that it was 30x50 and started out laying in the mud. I was a little dirty afterward.

2017 should be the last year for this piece of plastic, which will be year #4. I tried to hose off the mud. It is still a little dirty. I'm thinking it will be ok. It has a few holes, too, but the more I do this, the more I understand how far from perfect things can be and still work.

The three rows are about 46' each. The pics below were taken right after a thunderstorm, thus the standing water.

59 plants total:

Taxi x 10
Mountain Fresh F1 x 5
Rumi Banjan x 3
Babushkin Potseluy x 1
Taos Trail x 1

Agatha x 20

Dubrava x 3
Mat-Su Super B x 3
Early Orange Stripe x 2
Mat-Su Express Plant 11, F6 x 3
Mr Bruno x 3
Poljarnij Skorospelij x 2
(Big) Russian (Red) x 3 - (I got this variety in a swap and it was labelled "Russian")


Thank you to AKMark and everyone else who traded seed with me.

Love it Cole. Looks like you got a big jump on your plants. Do you have to supply heat for a bit. The plants are outstanding! Jimbo

Thanks. Heat would be nice, but heating a greenhouse burns a ton of energy, which is out of my budget. I prefer to just plant a little later. It's going to be 38 here on both Thursday and Friday nights, which the plants will not enjoy, but should survive.

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;629544]Thanks. Heat would be nice, but heating a greenhouse burns a ton of energy, which is out of my budget. I prefer to just plant a little later. It's going to be 38 here on both Thursday and Friday nights, which the plants will not enjoy, but should survive.[/QUOTE]

They should be fine Cole. I had a Brandywine in a 3 gallon outside that went thru several random 32 degree nights. It was three inches tall when the weather hit and I totally ignored it thru cold temps and downpours and all. Now it's about eight inches and looks great. I wasn't going to grow Brandywine this year but I transplanted it today in raised bed.:lol:. Too tuff to die! :yes:. Jimbo :)

How do you water?

How did you choose which varieties to plant?

I have drip tape underneath the plastic.

Taxi, Agatha, and Mat-Su are proven performers. I have a yearn for experimentation, though, so I always try a lot of new varieties. I look mostly for early determinates, or other early, cold-tolerant varieties.

The high tunnel is great when we have normal weather. But some years, it is very cold in the spring and then suddenly very hot. In those years, the high tunnel offers not much advantage over the outdoor garden. In a typical year, I get tomatoes about a month ahead of outdoor plants.

They look great Cole. I have two Mat-Su Express plants growing out in the garden. They are big and healthy looking. You wouldn't guess they were developed in Alaska.

My Matsu Express look like they're growing in a different media. Like they are saying eat my dust and how do my taillights look to the other seedlings. Lol.

AKMark's stuff is no joke. He credits SherryAK, with his breeding efforts. Thank you, Sherry!

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;629534]I planted my high tunnel today. Yesterday, I put the plastic back on...by myself, which I'm sure would have been comical to watch, especially given that it was 30x50 and started out laying in the mud. I was a little dirty afterward.

2017 should be the last year for this piece of plastic, which will be year #4. I tried to hose off the mud. It is still a little dirty. I'm thinking it will be ok. It has a few holes, too, but the more I do this, the more I understand how far from perfect things can be and still work.

The three rows are about 46' each. The pics below were taken right after a thunderstorm, thus the standing water.

59 plants total:

Taxi x 10
Mountain Fresh F1 x 5
Rumi Banjan x 3
Babushkin Potseluy x 1
Taos Trail x 1

Agatha x 20

Dubrava x 3
Mat-Su Super B x 3
Early Orange Stripe x 2
Mat-Su Express Plant 11, F6 x 3
Mr Bruno x 3
Poljarnij Skorospelij x 2
(Big) Russian (Red) x 3 - (I got this variety in a swap and it was labelled "Russian")


Thank you to AKMark and everyone else who traded seed with me.[/QUOTE]

Cole, I appreciate the seeds I got from you too.

Your tunnel looks great, I wish you the best of seasons this year.

Sherry AK is a friend of ours that I met in my greenhouse, we had a discussion over the correct leaf type of Sasha's Altai. Shortly after that, she started showing me how to do crosses, we have really had fun with the tomatoes.

Thanks. I don't know about "great." I was going for 'adequate.'

Everyone got their lower leaves trimmed and tied up today. My cattle gates are bent and drift a little bit away from the plants in places, so the plants not close to the gates got stakes. It is rare for me to be caught up on pruning and trellising, so this is a notable moment.

Very nice. It appears to be adequately wonderful!

I bet that you enjoyed playing in the mud.

Everyone is taking off. They all got pruned and tied up again today.

Looks like you're way ahead Cole! Tomatoes soon. Jimbo

sunny day pic from this morning

Holytoledomacaroni! Those plants look great and all in just three weeks. Have you planted any outside yet?

Thanks. I have about 30 plants outside right now, but hopefully will be planting a lot more soon.

Seedlings look great! Nice deep color too! What do you prune at this stage?
Agatha seeds I got from the swap- not sure which year though- were biggest bummer, it took them 8 weeks to germinate.
Same experience for Mat Su express- that plant is on steroids.
Sasha Altai- had a bunch of PL seedlings. Tania reports RL.

Thanks. I've learned my lesson trying to fertilize them last year. The soil is so rich that they can't take any chemical ferts at all without burning.

Most of the plants are determinates, but I am pruning them to 2-3 main stems at this point. I want them up off the ground and also to maintain decent airflow around the plants. When I let them grow unpruned, I get unruly hedges.

Here are a couple pics of giant leaves. The first is Mat-Su Express, Super B, and the RL leaf is Rebelski F1.

Your plants look so good. The high tunnel really speeds things up, doesn't it? Looks like you are off to a good start!
Thanks again for the Mat-Su Express seeds. They seem to have a real growing Gene...if there is such a thing!

Thanks, and you're welcome for the Mat-Su.

I'm not super-hardcore about the high tunnel. If I had low tunnels inside it with row covers, and maybe some sort of heat, I could plant it a month sooner. But I just wait until April after the freezing temps are gone. I typically get fruit throughout the month of June, which is a month faster than the outdoor gardens.

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;635083]Thanks, and you're welcome for the Mat-Su.

I'm not super-hardcore about the high tunnel. If I had low tunnels inside it with row covers, and maybe some sort of heat, I could plant it a month sooner. But I just wait until April after the freezing temps are gone. I typically get fruit throughout the month of June, which is a month faster than the outdoor gardens.[/QUOTE]

They look great Cole. Man, with dirt like that you prolly won't need to ammend much for years! :lol:. Jimbo

High tunnel veterans Taxi (top pic) and Agatha (bottom pic) are leading the way. So far, I'm glad I planted Agatha as 1/3rd of my crop. Taxi is about 1/6th, but only because yellow tomatoes are a little harder to sell.

Question Cole. I have plants that started setting fruit in the pot and I want to transplant them. One is Granadero and they were expensive seeds. Should I just plant it normally or maybe without disturbing the roots? Just curious of your opinion and if you've any experience with this situation?

Oh and very nice! Taxi and Granadero are leading for me with Sungold right behind. Plants look great dude.

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;636757]High tunnel veterans Taxi (top pic) and Agatha (bottom pic) are leading the way. So far, I'm glad I planted Agatha as 1/3rd of my crop. Taxi is about 1/6th, but only because yellow tomatoes are a little harder to sell.[/QUOTE]

What does Taxi taste like Cole?. Grew striped German last year and loved the taste.

Thanks, guys.

What does Taxi taste like? Not much, honestly. It's not bad - juicy, nice texture, just a very mild flavor. It is not as sweet as most orange/yellow tomatoes I have grown. I ate them with a little vinegar and salt. I think the plant makes too many tomatoes for them to be very sweet. It is great as an early variety, though, especially in the high tunnel.

And Van, I would pluck off those fruit. Carolyn has posted about pinching the first blossoms, and I think it is the same idea. I pinch flowers off of any plants I set out that happen to be blooming already.

Yeah I typically do as well but these are so big already...:(
I will though. Thanks. Same here for taxi. Very mild. I market it as a low acid variety.

Looking good Cole.

Fabulous looking plants!