The EarthTainer "Farm" Update - June 15 - Clean and Green (Oops!)

[rnewste]

Well, all development has been going on nicely the past 2 weeks:



Gary'O Sena at 86 inches today.

...but upon daily examination of the plants - I spied this today:



The start of yellow leaves - and believe it or not on Jetsetter Hybrid, which is supposed to be VFFNASt resistant!!

Perhaps I missed these back branches when spraying Daconil last week.
.

Red Boar as well as Solar Flare are setting fruit nicely:



And the pair of Goose Creek are loading up as well:



I've had to add extension cages to my pairs of Big Bertha and Colossal PepperTainers:



Putting in only 2 plants per 'Tainer turned out to be a prudent idea. Here is a 5 inch Colossal clocking in at 9 ounces:





Conversely, I jammed 5 Pepper plants into this 'Tainer and as Captain Larry would exclaim: "Whale Soup" on one his Whale-watching tours.



I've learned my lesson, and will only plant a max of 3 Pepper plants per 31 gallon EarthTainer from now on.


The sweetcorn continues at a rapid rate, now showing silks on my second set of plantings:



My initial CornTainer should be ready for the table in about 7 days:



I have two more sets sequenced at 3 week intervals in development:



These 5 are all TenderSweet 277A.


The Sweet Success cukes have added a new 35 inches over the past 14 days now reaching 73 inches tall:



Should be ready for first picking in about a week:



I've added 2 new Earthboxes as they seem the ideal size for growing Celery. Here are my Tango plants:



And a second EarthBox of Utah Tall:



It will be interesting to compare the growth habit, taste, disease tolerance of these two varieties this year.


The Dwarf Project's Tastywine and Caitydid F5 are growing like tree-stumps:




And I've put in 6 new plants this past week to load balance production throughout the Summer and Fall, until Christmas time:



Parks Whopper, Brandwine From Croatia, Burpee's Big Daddy, and Vilmorin's Dona F1 Hybrid.

Overall, things are going along pretty well:



.....now, out to clip those darn yellow leaves.

Raybo

[Chrissykin]

Just beautiful as always.

[Dewayne mater]

Outstanding as always. Fun to look around your tainer garden.

Dewayne mater

[Henri]

Look like you going to have some fresh corns for the grill this 4th of July , btw, those Tastywines, they're kind of tall for been dwarf ?
Henri.

[Riceloft]

Lookin' good as always!

[rnewste]

Thanks all - - I think I am finally getting the hang of growing vegetables.

Henri, My hope is that the Dwarf Project plants will STOP growing now - - as they seem to add an inch every other day or so. I am in a quandary as to adding extension cages to them, hoping I wouldn't need to. Today, they are 6 inches over the top of the cages, and still growing.

Raybo

[Chrissykin]

Does the watering system still work well with no mulch cover on te EB's?

[rnewste]

Originally Posted by Chrissykin

Does the watering system still work well with no mulch cover on te EB's?

Oh Chrissykin, you make a wrong conclusion!

I cut a 12.5 inch by 27.5 inch section of black plastic trash bag, and use that for the moisture barrier. On top of that goes 1 inch of bark fines to make it look pretty.

I just don't like the look of the EB "shower-cap". Don't you think I am now a sexier looking EarthBox?

Raybo

[Chrissykin]

Originally Posted by rnewste

Oh Chrissykin, you make a wrong conclusion!

I cut a 12.5 inch by 27.5 inch section of black plastic trash bag, and use that for the moisture barrier. On top of that goes 1 inch of bark fines to make it look pretty.

I just don't like the look of the EB "shower-cap". Don't you think I am now a sexier looking EarthBox?

Raybo

Very sexy and dashing...

I love that! Those shower caps are the ugliest thing.

[z_willus_d]

Ray, I missed your update six days back but came across it now when searching for "Goose Creek." I want to let you know that I planted some Goose Creek seeds that you sent me a while back. Along with most other plants in my main raised beds, they're showing signs of some disease, perhaps Fusarium (TBD). Despite that, they're loaded up with probably as many as my best (and healthiest) NAR vine. Just loaded! To boot, they were among the first to ripen, along with Red BW, Pruden's purple, several dwarfs (Perth's pride, Yukon Quest, Iditarod), the cherries, Costaluto Gen, and one or two mysteries. But unlike all those other early comers, the taste was just phenomenal on the Goose Creek -- buttery, slick, perfectly juicy, tomato-y, uncloyingly sweet, and scrumptious. Yes, all those descriptors and more good apply. These were easily the best tasting of my tomatoes to date, and just as good as I recall of any pink beefsteak. Size is great too.

Only downside, beside the disease that's par for course in these beds, was that 4 out of 5 of the tomatoes I picked had mild BER symptoms. But cutting off that end, it made no difference -- the Goose Creek tomatoes were excellent! Kinda created my "so this is why I'm doing all this" moment. Sorry, I failed to capture any pics before consumption.

Thanks for sharing this wonderful variety that will certainly be a regular in my garden henceforth.
-naysen

[PA_Julia]

Fantastic and healthy looking plants.

I hope you snipped those yellow leaves.


Julia

[sprtsguy76]

Ray- In your closed ET system I'm not surprised to see your Tastywine plants get taller than mine. Most of us seem to grow the Dwarf Project Tomatoes in traditional containers or in the ground. I'm curious to see if they will stop growing though, I dont think they are true determinates. Anyway looking good as usual!

As a side question are you using any Happy Frog ferts in your systems?

Damon

[rnewste]

Naysen,

Glad to finally hear from you. I was concerned that a swarm of Locusts had inundated your house one evening - and we would never hear from you again...

Yes, Goose Creek has been, and will likely continue to be my #1 favorite Variety. I do not have the poetic words you possess to describe it, but it just seems to be an all around "balanced" tomato which pushes the right buttons, taste-wise.

My one desire in life would be for someone to create a Dwarf Project plant using Goose Creek. Wow! Now that would be a "knock your socks off" Dwarf plant!

Hi Julia, Hey, come on out as I've saved a few pairs of cutters for those who want to volunteer to trim my plants. I am spending ALL of my time watching the Automated Water System work.

Damon,

Just took a picture of the Tastywine and Caitydid InnTainers this morning. As you can see on the ruler, they are over 52 inches tall - and growing:



One is 10 inches over the top of the cage and I think I am going to have to make some cage extensions. Hardly what I would call a "Dwarf" plant - - but I really like their vigor and production. Yet to taste either - but some are blushing right now.

Regarding fertilizers, I am using a 50/50% blend of the "Old" TomatoTone and the "New" TomatoTone. "bdank" is running some trials on a 10-10-10 alternative to TomatoTone and it looks encouraging from her posts over at the EB Forum

Raybo

[Andybear]

Hi your ET farm is looking great. Had no idea you could grow corn in an ET. Now I will have to set up one for that to. Just getting every thing ready now as I am in the middle of winter here in South Africa.

[gtnate]

I like the pics of your pepper plants. Sweet peppers just seem like one of the smartest things to grow because of how pricey they can be at the grocery store. Down there in sunny California, your peppers are really taking off!

I can also sympathize with your overcrowding in the one 'tainer. I stuck 3 pepper plants (lipstick, sweet chocolate, and a habanero) in a 20 gallon container this year, and I already regret the decision to go with more than two. When they are just those little tiny seedlings, though, it so easy to squeeze in one or two more than is prudent!