First time growing sunrise bumblebee as well. Pink Bumblebee is a prolific producer for me. Hoping the new variety doesn’t buck the trend.
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Hey, that’s a great idea!
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Thanks! When I bought my house last year the sellers left the playset but the swings were rickety and the slide had no slide to it. But I figured it would be useful as some sort of a trellis and I got inspiration from some of the great examples here.
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I support my “big” tomatoes with wires on a trellis above my beds. Some cherries go down at least one side of a cattle panel arch tunnel. A few cherries have boxes with woven field wire cages and wood stakes where they can go crazy or I can weave them around the cages if I get time.
This year I’m growing:
Kellogg’s Breakfast x Dr. Wyche’s Yellow
Barry’s Crazy Cherry x Gold Medal
Vintage Wine
Hillbilly
Lucid Gem
Sunsugar
Blueberries
Russian Queen
Pineapple
Watermelon
Delicious Hunt’s Strain
I think there’s a few more varieties, but I can’t remember what they are right now.
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I was intrigued by the Diane’s Seeds website - and ordered some tomato seeds for late season - or 2021 planting. I just hope that these are somewhat ‘wilt’ resistant . . . my German Johnsons are showing a little damage already. I am so used to growing the super resistant varieties sold everywhere - and not the heirlooms.
This year I started many in pots to use new soil. We’ll see . . . .
I probably went ‘overboard’ (as usual) . . . but I like to start LOTS and then share the overage with others. I ordered Cherokee Lime Stripe, without remembering that it was the one you asked about! It sounds great. (I like a tangy tomato.) So I’ll let you know how they do if they get planted this summer! Sometimes I order seeds - and then start them next winter.
They always germinate. Never had a problem.
I also ordered some Snapdragons and some Poppies. I have a mixed up flower garden - sort of an English flower garden. I just keep digging things up and adding things and moving everything around to make a better design!
I’ve been so busy outside that I haven’t looked at the Forum lately. Fun to see what everyone is doing! - Karen
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@Girly. I did look at the red tomato cages. I am not sure if my Texas Tomato cages are as strong. ? Or maybe stronger. I expect they are. I love the RED tho! Post pics! I’d love to see them.
I just transplanted: Brandywine, Black Beauty, Cherokee Purple, Caspian Pink, Pork Chop, and San Marzano. The soil was solarized, some nutrients added, for a couple of months to treat for verticillium wilt. The plot is angled about ten degrees South for maximum solar exposure.during solarization.
Open ended 12" x 12" x 7-1/2"h boxes were made to channel water to each plant to avoid run off.
Removal of plastic, staging of spiral cages and boxes.
Thin wire was used to prevent spirals from collapsing from the weight of the vines. Two to four stems will grow up each center, tying them off will not be necessary.
Final layout. Adjustments are made for next season after learning what happens this season.
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Very cool system!
This year my tomato stems are so thick that I am having a difficult time ‘spiraling’ them, although I wanted to try the ‘string’ method. So I fell back on my Texas Tomato Cage system, for support. Still pinching out most of the suckers though. I’ve staked a couple of the potted tomatoes, instead of using the cages.
The heirlooms are doing something I’ve never seen before. The new growth at top is very thick and ‘curly’. ? I don’t see any insects. (Maybe too much water? We have had soooooo much rain.)
Does anyone recognize this ‘condition’? Is it plain old V. wilt? Because I have always grown the disease resistant hybrids - I never have had this sort of thing before.
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Just finished planting out our tomatoes, yeah, it’s late in the season, but everything has been running behind here because of weather and other issues. We should have enough days to get a good crop before the first frosts.
Anyways, here’s a list of what we planted-
Watermelon beefsteak - 3
Black Brandywine - 2
Kelloggs Breakfast - 2
Hillbilly - 2
Chocolate Cherry - 2
Jaune Flammé - 2
Aunt Ruby’s German Green - 2
Orange KY beefsteak - 2
Giant Belgium - 2
Pink Oxheart - 2
One each of - Azoychka, Pink Brandywine, Black Cherry, Dr Wyche Yellow, Omar’s Lebanese, Jubilee, Boxcar Willie, Big Pink
My wife planted five about 3 weeks ago, three Old German, and two of a yellow variety. The OG are already 3ft tall. We also planted 7 of some unknown local pink beefsteaks, but they weren’t in good shape, so their outlook is iffy.
I had sowed more seeds, quite a few didn’t come up, plus I lost at least 6 or 7 after transplant into cups in May. I think it was because they were already leggy, and didn’t have much of a rootball. But, I think 41 plants ought to be enough.
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same here… heirlooms have the peculiar top leaf curl, but stems very sturdy… don’t know why… hopefully will not be detrimental
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@Franp Good to know that it’s not just my heirlooms that are whacky! I have tried pinching off the ‘armpit’ suckers - and the result is a very strange looking plant. Especially noticeable in Boxcar Willie. I’m not sure that heirlooms agree with my garden. Wilt is beginning to appear on my German Johnsons, even with spray. And aphids seem to affect the heirlooms, more than the disease resistant stand-bys.
I’ve been meaning to respond. My apologies for talking so long.
I usually put 300+ on the trellis. Another hundred or so on the Florida weave.
Plants are spaced 12" to 15" apart. I give sprawling cherry tomatoes a bit more space. The rows are spaced at roughly 40 inches.
I used to take produce to yhe farmer’s market. Now I just have a little stand in the back yard. My neighbor runs an old 50s style drive in - the White Turkey. I offer plants and vegetables to their customers.
Besides eating many tomatoes, we make many gallons of sauce and diced/stewed tomatoes. It’s definitely a labor of love.
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Wow! Lovely produce.
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@BeeDee, thanks so much for sharing the details of your tomato growing. That helps me a great deal.
Your produce stand looks fabulous!! Gorgeous vegetables!!
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Even spraying the heirlooms with copper or daconil or immunex I still get early blight, esp with Brandywines and I mulch to prevent splash up to lower leaves…but no noticable aphid issues.
I guess the hybrids are developed to help resist the above.
Just to balance the blight wars, I plant mountain spring… they seem to be very much disease-resistant
I’ll let you know in a few days my leaf curl results…
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Getting lots of flowers, but no fruits on mine yet. They just seems to dry up and never turn to tomatoes. Not sure what is going on.
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If it’s been hot (85+), tomato pollen loses its viability, so even tho they’ll flower, more than likely there won’t be any fruit set. You might also get this problem if the plants are too dry.
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Your produce looks delicious especially the peppers and beans but everything is incredibly well done presentation included and obviously lots of love put into that!
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