The EarthTainer "Farm" - June 1 (pics) - - Topping Plants Already

[rnewste]

After a pretty dismal April and early May here in Northern California, we've warmed up a bit this past 2 weeks. Bloody Butcher looks like it will be my first plant to blush in a few weeks (we are perhaps 3 weeks behind last year due to the 2-times amount of rainfall we have had in 2010):



My Paul Robesons are over 78 inches tall, and I will be topping them back to about 65 inches to encourage filling out in the middle of the plants:



The German Red Strawberry likewise is over 72 inches and will be topped back to 65 inches tomorrow:



Japanese Black Trifele is loaded with fruit:



First time growing it this Season, so I am anxious to see the fruit shape and taste:



The fertilizer trials are going well with Fertilizer "A" left, Fertilizer "B" center, and Fertilizer "C" on the right. All are identical Goose Creek plants:



The over-wintered Bell Peppers are prolific, significantly ahead of the seed started ones from January (in the 'Tainer to the left):



And the NuMex Heritage 6-4 Peppers are now flowering:



Sweetcorn is kicking it with tassels now appearing:



I am glad I stayed with 3 rows of 5 plants each as the stalks are quite robust:



If I had crowded in more, they would have been less productive, I believe.

So as we are now into June when it starts to really warm up here, I am looking for about an inch a day of plant growth:



I'll file another report in about 2 weeks, and by that time, I will possibly be "lost" in the jungle:



Raybo

[dokutaaguriin]

Looking very good, Raybo!
I was finally able to plant mine up in my 'tainers in the greenhouse.
I will be planting my outdoor 'tainers this weekend. I am looking forward to see their progress as I have never tried them outside before. I made about 8 more during the winter.

Jeff

[rnewste]

Great Jeff. Did you use the 3:2:1 Combo Mix in them?

Raybo

[lefty_logan]

Originally Posted by rnewste

Great Jeff. Did you use the 3:2:1 Combo Mix in them?

Raybo

I dont have any earthtainers built but I used this mix in all my normal containers using Miracle Grow Potting Mix and all my plants are doing great.

[rnewste]

lefty,

I have been trying for the past 5 Seasons to come up with an optimized Combo Mix for self-watering containers that will deliver just enough moisture to the root system - - but not too much as the tomatoes would taste "watered down". The 3:2:1 Combo Mix of Potting Mix, Decorative Groundcover Bark, and Perlite I am using this Season seems to be close.

Yesterday afternoon with two straight 85 degree days, the Paul Robesons showed some wilting at the top-most stems. By the next morning, they had recovered. This is great!! The 3:2:1 Combo Mix is giving the plants just barely enough moisture - so the tomatoes should taste great this Season.

Raybo

[amideutch]

Ray, you better be careful with that corn. You may hear a knock at your door and somebody is outside with a JOHN DEERE parked in your driveway. Ami

[rnewste]

Ami,

Here in Silicon Valley, we are about 100 miles from the nearest commercial cornfields in Brentwood - - so I don't think I'll see any Harvesters locally coming down my street. Actually, the CornTainers are a pretty poor return on investment as I may get 2 crops per Season totaling 30 ears per 'Tainer.

That's about $15.00 worth of corn per Season. I figure tomatoes at about $50.00 value per 'Tainer as a comparison. The only "justification" of using the real estate for CornTainers is that it is literally a multi-hour drive for me to find fresh-picked sweetcorn - not the several day-old stuff you get at Safeway. So, I rationalize the (poor) ROI for the CornTainers in this context.

Raybo

[sprtsguy76]

Ray it looks like you have a jungle there already! I'm loving the weather for sure, I hope we are done with that cool wet overcast stuff! I found a couple Danko's blushing today. I should be plating them up in a few days, yahoo! Looks like its time to stop by and check out the 'earthtainer' farm soon.

Damon

[rnewste]

Damon,

I plan to be in town Saturday and Sunday. Please feel free to come on over (but be sure to bring that ripe Danko with you).

Raybo

[attilla1000]

Wow they look great! I have 16 containers with your 3.2.1 mix and 2 with mg and perlite. The difference is night and day. What I used to think of as light and fluffy is forever changed. Although it's still early I have no doubts at all about this mix. A big thank you for sharing.

[Dewayne mater]

Plants look awesome as usual Ray. So, the topping you refer to is a several inch cut back at the top of the stems? Does that encourage more fill out and less run up? I've got black cherry shooting out the tops and black and brown boar not far behind (pictures taken this a.m. to be posted soon) and may want to do that too.

[rnewste]

attilla,

What you will need to be on the lookout for with the 3:2:1 Combo Mix is on very hot days, the plant's top portions may exhibit some wilt. For the first time in 5 Seasons, I experienced this a day ago on the pair of Paul Robesons. I am VERY HAPPY as for years, the straight Potting Mix always kept the plants too wet, resulting in this:



You may need to add a quart of top water per plant occasionally if you experience wilt, but trust me, you will get better tasting tomatoes as a result. As the Vineyard owners in Napa do in the late Summer, by restricting moisture to the grapes they achieve sweeter fruit. I believe the same holds true with tomatoes. Think about the bland taste of Hydroponic tomatoes, and you will understand my goal of starving the tomato plants just enough to survive, thus producing excellent tasting fruit.

Raybo

[Wargamer777]

Ray,

Does the topping help the tomatoes ripen? Or are you just trying to contain the jungle?

My tomatoes are just starting to hit the tops of the first cage, and I still need to set up the second cage upside down on the first cage.

[rnewste]

Originally Posted by Wargamer777

Ray,

Does the topping help the tomatoes ripen? Or are you just trying to contain the jungle?

I have no scientific evidence that topping the tomato plants will hasten the ripening of other fruit on the remaining vines. Although intuitively, one could conclude that the plant's energy will now be redirected to the remaining plant mass.

I've given all of the "offending" plants a haircut, down to 65 inches tall. My hope is that rather than just allowing them to get tall and lanky, the brush-cut will encourage them to fill out more in the middle:



Also, in the past 2 days the sweetcorn has started to expose many tassels:



I understand that approx 30 days from this stage, the corn may be ready for picking. If so, that would put home grown corn on the Fourth of July dinner table.

Someone had asked about the over-wintered Peppers vs. newly started from seed. Here is a comparison photo showing both:



Guess I'll be over-wintering Peppers again this year.

Raybo

[gill_s]

I am interested that you are wanting to restrict water to your plants so that you are getting slight wilting. Is this after the tomatoes have formed? I thought that if the plants are light on water while the fruit are growing you would get Blossom End Rot. This has happened to me in the past if I have not kept the plants quite wet.
Gill S