Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.
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October 5, 2018 | #1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Zone 5A, Poconos
Posts: 959
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Breaking new ground
I haven't been on this site for a while. My car got rear-ended the day after Memorial Day and I suffered bad whiplash for the next few months (still only about 85%, but much better). The weekend following I would have been transplanting and seeding my raised beds, but that never happened and my started plants just rotted away in their containers.
Anyhow, fast forward to present day... I ran across a great deal on some "prime" farmland nearby and jumped on it. I should be closing by the end of next week. Waiting on the current owners to remove old tires and other trash and to get the well water tested. I'd like to turn about a 1/8 acre (~100' x 50') into a garden area for 2019 and then expand later. The well and electric are about 500 feet away from where I plan to place the garden so that might be a bit of a hindrance. The main concern is prepping the ground this Fall for next year's garden. I've heard that if you can till in the grass before it goes dormant, then it will only require another tilling in the Spring and it should remain mostly grass/weed free opposed to tilling in the grass only in the Spring and fighting the regrowth all season. Any of that true? Should I just wait until Spring, cover it up for a couple weeks, then till ... I just don't want to be fighting regrowth next year. The bad news is that we will probably get our first frost soon and it will be too late to get the first tilling done (if that part of what I heard is true). Or maybe just plow the area in the Spring, remove the grass/weeds and then till. Any advice there? Tractors and attachments will also come into play - it seems a 25hp PTO with attachments might be in order instead of separate machines for different tasks (log splitting, tilling, post hole digging, etc...) |
October 5, 2018 | #2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Tomato Cornhole
Posts: 2,550
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Congratz!!!
If you plan on buying a tractor then your garden will grow bigger than 1/8th acre. They make gardening a breeze and too easy to put another row in within a few hours. I wouldn't waste money on a disc, go with a tiller from the start and you'll be glad you did. I would get a ripper/middle buster strong enough to use to trench water and power to the garden. Just run it a few times to make a ditch, till over it and use hippers to cover the ditch then pack it down with the tractor. Besides a tiller, middle buster(to make furrows to plant seeds, dig potatoes/trenches) and hippers(to make rows) you might want a set of cultivators for weeds. Check into plant a row skip a row, that makes it easy to tend plants and you can either run the tiller between rows or let the grass grow and mow it. Make it wide enough to fit the tractor or a gold cart to make picking easy. As far the weeds, you're gonna have some for a few years. Tilling will bring up new seeds and it's a constant battle. They best thing to do is till and let the seeds sprout and grow a little then till again. Try to do this as often as possible and eventually you'll get them knocked back. Do research on cover crops too. They help building the soil and you might be able to get the garden planted with a fast growing crop now. Just some things to consider. I know you'll have a blast and learn lots along the way. keep us up to date on your progress..
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Rob |
October 5, 2018 | #3 | ||
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Zone 5A, Poconos
Posts: 959
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Quote:
Quote:
Unless the weather forecasters are wrong (never happens right?), I'll miss the boat by a couple weeks for planting any cover crop this year, but it's in the plan for next Fall. |
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October 5, 2018 | #4 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: MA
Posts: 4,966
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Borrow Worth's flamethrower. It'll heat the well water and kill the weeds.
My guess is no matter what you do, you just might be fight fighting weeds next year. What's been laying dormant that you'll be churning up? |
October 5, 2018 | #5 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Zone 5A, Poconos
Posts: 959
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Quote:
I can only imagine what might be dormant, the land hasn't been farmed in over 30 years. |
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October 5, 2018 | #6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Southeastern PA
Posts: 1,420
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I have a garden about that size and it is about 200' from the house but it is slightly downhill so I have a 330 gallon tote which collects rainwater from the house roof. It attaches to a hose which I ran to the garden by just laying it on top of the ground. By the end of the first summer the grass had grown over the hose to the point that we can mow right over it and you can not see it.
The long white pipe from the tote is an overflow so that excess water does not pool at the foundation when we get hard rains. I have a shorter hose right at the garden which I put away for the winter and the main hose is drained but stays buried. The water comes out of the hose due to gravity but a small pump could be attached at the tote if I wanted. I don't like to use my well water for watering the garden. |
October 5, 2018 | #7 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Zone 5A, Poconos
Posts: 959
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Quote:
There is a 24x50 pavilion on the property that I could get 700 gallons or so per inch of rain from - but that is also around 500 ft from the planned garden area and would have to be pumped over too. A storage tank there might also be unsightly. I am planning to build a small green house and at least one small shed closer to the garden area and could definitely store rainwater from those. A few dedicated bulk water storage tanks will also be placed around the garden area along with solar powered pumps for irrigation. Might take a couple of years to put together the complete system I want but that's part of the fun. |
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November 10, 2018 | #8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2013
Location: New Mexico
Posts: 2,052
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What's that suspicious looking plant in front of your tote?
The long white pipe from the tote is an overflow so that excess water does not pool at the foundation when we get hard rains. |
October 5, 2018 | #9 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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Well water is cold in the north.
needs heating. Worth |
October 5, 2018 | #10 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Zone 5A, Poconos
Posts: 959
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October 5, 2018 | #11 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: SE PA
Posts: 53
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Corn gluten meal might be an option. It won't allow seedlings to live. It's effective for about 5 weeks. Once the season is over and the garden is cleared, I spread it on the soil. By early spring there are only a few weeds.
Not sure if this will be cost effective for an area your size. I got a big bag from an Amway in horse country over in Jersey and it was pretty inexpensive. |
October 5, 2018 | #12 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Zone 5A, Poconos
Posts: 959
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Quote:
I found many different internet sources, one in particular is from Iowa State University which contains numerous links .. an important one to note is "Get The Real Thing", apparently most commonly sold Corn gluten meal is ineffective: https://www.hort.iastate.edu/horticu...meal-research/ Last edited by rhines81; October 5, 2018 at 09:22 PM. Reason: Further invesstigation |
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October 5, 2018 | #13 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Cuyahoga Falls,Ohio
Posts: 818
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Farmers around here plant winter rye.It can be planted late fall as it will continue to grow come spring.Just till in weeks before planting.Check with local farmers and see what and how late they can plant around your area.
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October 5, 2018 | #14 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Omaha Zone 5
Posts: 2,514
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Quote:
Good info for me as well. After the garlic harvest next July (fingers crossed with all the wet weather), the soil will need replenishment. - Lisa |
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October 5, 2018 | #15 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Zone 5A, Poconos
Posts: 959
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I've always thought that cover crops needed to be sown about a month before 1st frost ... I've already had 1st frost on my deck, but not on the ground yet .. any day now. I'll contact the co-op to check, something I haven't thought of. They are just now planting cover crops about 2 hours south of me (and 1500 less elevation).
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