Comparing differential growth rates among manalucie tomatoes

Grow some food and stuff!

Moderator: matt walker

Re: Comparing differential growth rates among manalucie toma

Postby pa_friendly_guy » Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:07 pm

Can your guys in the PNM grow tomatoes under a plastic row cover? I have grown tomatos on the ground and just let them vine out. I mulched heavy under them to keep the fruit clean. They worked well not being staked. I am wondering if that would work for you there, or would the day time temps cook them with the cover on? I have never lived in your area so I am asking, not telling. Just wondered if anyone has tried that idea. I grow sun golds, they are so sweet, I love them. I also tried a 2nd yellow cherry variety but I personally liked the sun gold better. They produce early and produce alot of small sweet fruit. Great for salads. Baxter Bush is another heavy producer that is designed to be grown on patios in pots. They have smallish red fruit and produce a ton of tomatos. They might produce early enough for you to get some produce from them. Keep trying and maybe you will find something that works for you up there.
Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
User avatar
pa_friendly_guy
 
Posts: 1502
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:24 pm
Location: SW Pa They changed me to zone 6a what ever that is. I still figure zone 5

Re: Comparing differential growth rates among manalucie toma

Postby eeldip » Thu Feb 09, 2012 7:29 am

i think you hit on the main issue. building up heat units on tomatoes. you can do it with cover if you don't cook them.

my personal theory is to buy my way out of the problem by paying for large, greenhouse grown 1 gal tomato plants in june. then hoping for the best. my nighttime lows don't get as bad as matt due to the urban heat island effect. but still... i've never been happy with much but sungolds. maybe yellow/red fig tomatoes on a good year.
eeldip
 
Posts: 42
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2012 2:45 am

Re: Comparing differential growth rates among manalucie toma

Postby matt walker » Fri Feb 10, 2012 6:45 pm

Guy, I do use low tunnels, and am just starting to figure it out after a few years of trying. A couple things I learned is that the tomatoes stop growing at all under 50* or over 95* and the pollen will melt somewhere over 100*, so regulating temp is important. I now cover until around July 4th and then again around the end of september. The season is so cold for most of it though, that still the only window for harvest doesn't start until late august, no matter how early they are started. Then, they'll produce fairly well until almost November.

Like Eeldip, I have had the best success giving up on any kind of early start, and purchasing 6 or 8 monster starts from the nursery. That's because it's just consistently too cold at night until around June for them to even grow, even in the low tunnel.
User avatar
matt walker
Site Admin
 
Posts: 1806
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2012 5:50 pm
Location: North Olympic Peninsula

Re: Comparing differential growth rates among manalucie toma

Postby pa_friendly_guy » Fri Feb 10, 2012 8:30 pm

Most of my tomatos don't come on until Aug, and I am done by late Sept. We often get a frost the 1st week of Oct here so tomatos and pepers are both done at that time. I do get some early tomatos, but having them for the 4th of July doesn't always work around here. Like you said I might get some sun gold early, but most of mine produce alot later. We do get alot of tomatos when they are in season, but our season is short here.
Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
User avatar
pa_friendly_guy
 
Posts: 1502
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:24 pm
Location: SW Pa They changed me to zone 6a what ever that is. I still figure zone 5

Re: Comparing differential growth rates among manalucie toma

Postby pa_friendly_guy » Mon Feb 20, 2012 4:56 pm

Hi George, have the tomato plants germinated and started to sprout yet. Its been about 2 weeks and I was hopeing for an update, lol. Things are slow around here in the winter, what can I say. I want to live vicariously through your succsess. Hope you have a good start to the experiment. Good Luck.
Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
User avatar
pa_friendly_guy
 
Posts: 1502
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:24 pm
Location: SW Pa They changed me to zone 6a what ever that is. I still figure zone 5

Re: Comparing differential growth rates among manalucie toma

Postby George Collins » Tue Feb 21, 2012 2:40 am

The tomtatoes went 13/15 I believe. Those that sprouted are growing well. I'll take a picture in a few days. However, right now, I have the whole tribe in Houston, TX. My MIL had a follow-up appointment at MD Anderson after a recent, thus-far successful bout with cancer. Normally, my wife would be the only one to accompany her mother to an appointment but when she told us that the King Tut exhibit was in Houston, I jumped at the opportunity to drive over. We went to the exhibit this morning and had a blast.

Tomorrow is the zoo and Wednesday we'll make the drive back to MS so pictures will come after that.
"Solve world hunger, tell no one." "The, the, the . . . The Grinch!"

"If you can't beat them, bite them."
George Collins
 
Posts: 535
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:57 pm
Location: South Central Mississippi, Zone 8a

Re: Comparing differential growth rates among manalucie toma

Postby pa_friendly_guy » Tue Feb 21, 2012 2:21 pm

Thanks for the undate George. I am sorry to hear that your Mother in Law is having health concerns. Glad to hear that things are going well so far. I will keep her in my Prayers. Enjoy your vacation and the sight seeing adventures. I am sure it will be a memorable trip, enjoy the time with family.
Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
User avatar
pa_friendly_guy
 
Posts: 1502
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:24 pm
Location: SW Pa They changed me to zone 6a what ever that is. I still figure zone 5

Re: Comparing differential growth rates among manalucie toma

Postby matt walker » Thu Feb 23, 2012 2:08 am

George, I love the King Tut exhibit. It's been decades since I had the opportunity to see it, and I remember it vividly. Really glad to hear you got to experience that. Here's hoping the MIL is doing well.
User avatar
matt walker
Site Admin
 
Posts: 1806
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2012 5:50 pm
Location: North Olympic Peninsula

Re: Comparing differential growth rates among manalucie toma

Postby George Collins » Fri Feb 24, 2012 2:58 am

Image

I was right, the manalucies went 13 for 15. All 13 appear plucky.

The MIL is still cancer free thank God.

The King Tut exhibit was awesome but I was expecting more of the artifacts found in his tomb to be on display. Instead, many, maybe even most of the artifacts weren't. I wasn't disappointed so much as surprised. Regardless of the time period each item represented, the craftsmanship was amazing.

Several years ago, ancient Egypt became my research topic of choice for a time (which is how I stumbled upon the work of Wally Wallington). To finally see in real life so many of the things that I had heretofore only seen in pictures was really cool. When I get rich, I'm going to Egypt to see it all.
"Solve world hunger, tell no one." "The, the, the . . . The Grinch!"

"If you can't beat them, bite them."
George Collins
 
Posts: 535
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:57 pm
Location: South Central Mississippi, Zone 8a

Re: Comparing differential growth rates among manalucie toma

Postby George Collins » Sun Apr 01, 2012 1:17 pm

Image

Fifteen manalucie seeds were put between two dampened paper towels on 3-26-12. Early this morning they were found to be, as yet, ungerminated. Such lies outside my previous year's experience. Impatience and fear of inventory shrinkage got the better of me so 12 of those presprouted some time ago were planted out this morning. The bed as laid out will accommodate twenty-four. Twelve seeds will be planted in situ to round out this year's experiment.

Laying out the bed also gave impetus to be in the garden and an opportunity to take the above picture. Last fall, Youngblood delivered two round bales of old hay. Per Ruth Stout, one of them was spread about ~8" deep. In one spot, we spread oak leaves to a similar depth so a comparison could be made. Seems the Bermuda grass had no problem coming through the old hay and in other places, other things such as rye grass, some volunteer squash, etc. are growing thickly. NOTHING came up through the leaves.

Half of the tomato bed was positioned in the leaf mulch and half in the hay mulch. Digging under the leaves was MUCH easier than digging under the hay, the ground was more moist, the earth worms more frequent. Seems that the leaves were better than the hay in every respect.

Thankfully, there was a large pile of leaves deposited in the corner of the garden which will be used to top dress the area around those tomatoes planted in the hay.
"Solve world hunger, tell no one." "The, the, the . . . The Grinch!"

"If you can't beat them, bite them."
George Collins
 
Posts: 535
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:57 pm
Location: South Central Mississippi, Zone 8a

PreviousNext

Return to Garden, Pasture, Forest

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests

cron