I actually haven’t ordered yet. I rooted a cutting off my seed grown one as a test first (which is the one now inground). What varieties did you end up ordering? I wanted to get Ecuadorian Gold and a purple variety since mine will likely be a white striped fruit.
Speaking of my seedling, I think it has some fruit set. Hard to tell, but it has been flowering like crazy. Very compact plant as well.
I don’t know which ones they sent me, it was just the generic 4 purple 4 gold listing.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1534071470/8-cuttings-of-pepino-melon-pepino-dulce?ref=share_v4_lx
I’ll message them and see if they respond. Maybe we can exchange cuttings if we end up having significantly different varieties.
I PTM’ed these before work this morning.
My husband and I love habañeros for fermented chili with garlic and ginger. Habeñero is nicely spicy, but still ttasting good.
Any hotter types of chilis I have tried just don’t have a good flavor!
Put the babies outside the last few warm days. The lettuce and brasicas could already be in the ground and I’ll probably get them in this weekend. I was worried my peppers, eggplants and tomatoes were getting a late start, but they are hitting their stride and will be plenty big in 3 weeks or so when I plant. The bottom tray is mostly tomato rootstocks for grafting, which is why the tomatoes behind have lots of extras still that haven’t been culled. I usually graft some then leave one remaining ungrafted one in each cell to give away or sell through FB marketplace.
Tomatoes and tomatillos are potted up and hardening off. I grow mostly pastes, but this year I added a number of long-keeping tomatoes from Italy and Catalonia that will last for several months after harvest.
Tomatoes are way too big too soon. Out of space. Started 3/7. They’ve never grown this fast, something about working out the soil blocking kinks. I usually plant 3rd week of April half this size. Really hoping they don’t start to flower. Starting a week later or more next year.
Peppers are good. Too good- they’ve been trying to flower. Also need to start later since having finally figured them out. I’ve always started them extremely early (around 1/31) because I haven’t been good at growing them.
They look pretty good. That is what my tomatoes seem to look like most years. This year I put off starting for two weeks later than normal…should have started a week sooner. There were about ten varieties that did not germinate. Now it is too late so I will have to purchase plants from a friend in the business. After twenty-eight years you would think I could get it right.
let them be big when they go out. more stem to bury!! tomatoes like the abuse i think. mine are a jungle in the greenhouse- I’ll start hardening them off in two weeks. they’ll be massive by planting time i guess.
i pull any flowers off, up into a week or so before i put them in ground
a handful of them are normal i guess!
Tomatoes grafted. Good luck little friends. Hopefully healed fully in 6-7 days.
This year I have Green Cherokee, Malachite Box, Kazula 25, Stump of the World, Biskaya Rosa, Limmony, T.C. Jones, Elbonian Mudslinger, Pale Perfect Purple, Black from Tula, Brad’s Dark Heart, Prudens Purple, Aunt Ginny’s Purple and Red Lithium #1 (striped red heart) and #2 (red beefsteak). The Red Lithiums were off types that I got in a seed swap (not the true Red Lithium), but I liked them so much I’ve been keeping them going and they seem pretty stable.
I only graft the larger indeterminate types. Cherries and determinate varieties go on their own roots. Those include 2 types of Romas - VF and Martino’s, Limbo (sort of like a mini roma, but juicier and very early) and cherries that include, Sakura, Favorita, Black Cherry, Dr. Carolyn, Maglia Rosa, Brad’s Atomic Grape and Sungold.
Sounds like this isn’t your first grafted tomato rodeo. What tangible benefits do you see?
I mentioned above I tried it once (last year), but I bought them in and they were quite expensive. I generally more vigorous plants, but couldn’t tell you “I see less of disease xyz”, just seemed a bit more robust but not significantly so.
My last place was so marginal that I wanted to try any and all leg ups I could find. I won’t be partaking this year since my new place should be much better set up for tomatoes. My stupice and tas chocolate are doing great for March plantings
——
This week my mother in law gifted me a pair of shishitos and my county master gardener plant sale is tomorrow so I plan on have a lot more to report on the tomato front soon.
My area gets pretty hot and humid and we have a lot of disease issues. The first year I tried grafting, I did 5 heirloom varieties, growing one of each variety on their own roots, plus 2 more of each variety that I had grafted - 15 plants total. By fall, most of the own root plants were dead or nearly so but all of the grafted were still alive and producing.
While grafting is often used to deal with soil borne disease, I’ve found the major benefit is the added vigor and strength the plants get from the stronger root system. This leads to fruit size staying much more consistent throughout the season vs. tomatoes seeming to get smaller toward fall. But the main thing is that plants have the strength to battle through the inevitable septoria, blight, etc. - as long as I’m consistent at making sure they are well watered in the heat and are getting enough fertility. Basically stronger plants that can keep from being taken down by disease if I treat them well and they will give me better overall production.
Most cherries I grow have enough vigor and aren’t making such large tomatoes that they seem to do okay without the grafting, but for the plants putting their energy into big beefsteaks and hearts, it pays off for me, especially since I’m growing heirlooms instead of more resilient hybrids. In another area it could very likely not be worth the effort.
Makes sense, thanks. Wasn’t really thinking about humidity since it’s non-existent here but yeah that sounds right and consistent with my (very limited) experience with grafted tomatoes
Came away with a dozen healthy starts for 2/3 - 1/2 the price you’d see at local garden centers. Today’s haul:
Goal this year is to test out known favorites in my new region. About half went in at the community garden bed and half will go in containers at home. Hope the garden ones survives the ground squirrels
Confessing that I planted a week earlier than I do every year…i always plant in the days leading up to the last weekend in August. Every year. Except this year, I had 100 reasons not to wait including the forecast I’d been seeing that only had a random mid 40’s low that I’m fine with…without checking today to see the harrowing 35 next Monday night. That I will now have nightmares about while I accumulate blankets and tarps in preparation while chanting NEVER AGAIN!
In less ominous news, the roots on some of my pumpkins on a stick were crazy long! Some had grown out maybe 10”. I only took this quick picture that I now see is pretty useless, but I will be using deeper pots upon up potting should we grow them again.
i pulled 3 flowers off a red ruffle in the greenhouse today. thing is in a half gallon and is about 18”tall
i plant very early. i like big guys to put out.
it’s in among cucrbits for some reason.
Well, bubble wrap packages and blankets/tarps over top worked. A few things that only had packing didn’t make it- 1 pepper, 1 tomato and 1 pumpkin on a stick (and a few basil). No real loss given I over planted and have a few extras still in containers. A relief.
Rawit / Bird’s eye chili (Capsicum annuum)
Dorset Pink (Capsicum chinense)
Carolina Reaper (Capsicum chinense)
And an unknown white colored pepper I saved seeds from, bought from a Surinamese shop.
One of my 4/21 frosted peppers appears to be alive and growing back near the base. It was covered, but only with one bubblewrap package (as was the other apparent death) versus everything that sailed through the upper 20’s nightmare was bagged AND blanketed.
Is that whole plant not green? If its green its alive and will grow from farther up eventually. Or is that all new growth?
