July 2007

Weekend Update for @007-07-28: Sacrificial Spuds Slimed by Slugs

Despite repeated dunkings, the slugs kept coming and eating my "potatoes in a bag" experiment. With an almost daily rainstorm, most of my concoctions got washed off (though the horseradish spray did work wonders on the beetles). The wet weather is also paradise for the slimy little so-and-so's. Next year, if I grow potatoes: "Sluggo" may be a part of my applications.

 The slugs can't seem to shimmy down the rope holding the inverted tomato plants, though - they're growing like crazy. Wonder how upside-down potato plants would faire... Nahhhh. Thoughts of an extremely raised bed garden, held up with copper pipes does come to mind, though.

 The Japanese Tomato Ring is going great. All have set fruit, and should be ripening soon, as my container variety have started. The Roma tomatoes got so full, they fell over (see picture below) and had to be re-tied to the cage. The tomatoes in containers seem not to be fairing as well, despite constant watering . Will need to move them into the back and see if that helps them. Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes keep growing and fruiting, but none so far are ripening. Figuring they'll all ripen at the same time (all varieties) and we'll have to make a lot of sauce, even though we got early, mid and late varieties.
Thinking that maybe I can set this variety inside the ring and let them cascade over the sides, though they may not be tall enough.

 They pale by comparison to what's going on outside, and actually are doing worse than anything inside planted in soil (ok, mother nature's got a leg up on my dabblings). For my next trick, I'll be planting into some home-made container planters that work similar to the ones sold for $39.95 and see how they do.

Approaching the "Wet Dog" Days of August...

 The fruits are starting to form, and it's holding up well. It didn't take long for the roots to reach the top of the additional soil, I see them every other day when I water it (doesn't take as much water, stays cooler and still gets plenty of indirect sunlight). Next year may try strawberry plants, too.

 They're over the top, now! The tomato plants are above the cage, all have set fruit, too. No blossom end rot as experienced on one of the containered tomato plants, and they're alot bushier and - er... fruitier? Hmmm.

 Well, at least they're not infested. The bug mix I'd made last was from horseradish, vegetable oil, dish soap and water worked quite well. It did attract another pest, though - a bear thought it was pretty tasty and pulled a fence post down that was holding a gallon of the next mix (I let it "solarize" - at least I used to). They pawed through the potatoes too, but their making a comeback.

Not before and after pictures, the second generation hydoponics are still doing better ("soil-less" mix of peat pots in the translucent cups). Once I finally make my last sandwich with these, I'll try another batch with the same plants as on the left.

Weekend Update 2007-07-15: Hanging Out in a Cool Place

The OTHER problem with upside down tomato gardens is that the container overheats (constant watering is the first problem). It's doing well now that it's on the north side of the house. It gets ample light, though not direct sunlight. It stays cooler, doesn't need as much watering. Fruits are starting to form, now just wondering which of the cherry colors it is (got a variety pack).

Japanese Tomato Rings have overtaken the containerized tomatoes in size, we'll see if they overtake them in the number of tomatoes that ripen.

  Inside one of the JTR's I've started some pumpkins that were growing in the compost pile. So far, no competition. The only problem I can think of is the pumpkins shading out the tomatoes, but some careful training will (hopefully) avoid that problem.

  Every morning, I would go out and "tickle" the flowers with my pinky, figuring I was helping them pollinate. Seemed to be working, as the fruits were forming. As it turns out, I was getting help from my yellow and black clad friends later in the day.

   I've fallen behind on the potato bags. I've found that they tend to fall over, so I'd recommend putting them into some type of container or having some kind of support arrangement.

 Placing paper towels between the two styrofoam panels has allowed most of the things to grow. Was hoping to minimize the amount of material by using the rope as wick channels, but the tolerances for this "hydro-hack" are too loose. Wrapping the paper towels differently so that there was a bit of a "tail" would work a bit better, as long as the layers weren't moved around too much.

Resources Online, Offline, by Electric Light, and Candlelight

I ran across two excellent resources that are related, though distinctly different. The first is the online edition of the "Old Farmer's Almanac" from Yankee Publishing at almanac.com, and "The Farmer's Almanac" from Almanac Publishing Company at farmersalmanac.com.

  The " Old Farmer's Almanac" is the one I remember from years gone by, with it's yellow cover and old-timey illustrations. Chock full of information, this website keeps it's printed material's simplicity, while taking advantage of the web's abilities to serve pertinent information for any given day or period.

  "The Farmers Almanac" is a newer, glossier version, the website has videos, full color pictures, and more. Also full of information, this site has more eye-candy and multimedia resources available, though slightly complicated to navigate through for the first time user.

I like both sites, and plan to get the "off-grid" versions that you can read by candle-light.

Weekend Update for 2007-07-06

 We're starting to see blossoms on the plant, right at the top of the vine. If these fruit, it'll pull the vine down about two feet, which would be interesting to see if I could do a stop-motion movie. Since it was drying out so fast, I added another coffee can to the top of the first one by cutting the bottom off, then filling it with more potting soil. "Gorilla tape" is my new jack-knife when it comes to general repairs and kludges - that stuff is strong! After the weekend the plant is still looking good.

 A slightly better picture of the Japanese Tomato Ring showing the tomatoes. Five out of the eight plants are flowering currently. They appear to be catching up to my containerized plants that started setting fruit two weeks ago, so we'll see if these "pull ahead" over the course of the summer. The pumpkin starts in the top of the smaller JTR are still growing, though they seem somewhat slow.

 The Hydroponic lettuce has been harvested three times so far, and still sends up more leaves. Four plants have yielded three sandwich toppings within one week. The brocolli has not fared so well, figuring the seeds rotted in the peat pots.

 Decided to cut some of the runners off the strawberry plants and give them a go in the hydroponics. They're actually not immersed in the solution here, but floating on a blank styro so they wouldn't get waterlogged. After the weekend, it looks as if I'd cut them off the mother plant too soon. The runners that are now starting in the garden will be staying on 'til they root, then I'll just move them to their new plot. If I have any "extra", I may try another hydroponic experiment to see how they fare.

 Difficult to see, but there are three new starts in the first three circles. The paper towels that are wrapped up in the holes each hold at least one seed, and the bottoms touch a wick on a second piece of styrofoam - at least the first three do. The others have dried out, so I'll have to revise my methods.

No LED experiments for now, maybe in the fall.