Gardening: My Tomatoe and Pepper Progress

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Passed pawn, your pepper plants are huge and flourishing. I guess you have a lot more time for them to grow in the south. Here in pa my pepper plants are probably half that size. I will need to adopt your fertilizing suggestions though as I don't fertilize.
 
applescrap said:
Love seeing the peppers. Appreciate your fertilizing methods too. I have to go back in the thread to find the hot sauce recipe again. Since I didn't grow any I need to buy them. Don't know if I asked you how hot they were.
Haha, saw second post. Like the spoon.
Reminds me of a story I hope i haven't told you. Our first house had a nice big Garden area and we did pretty well with the jalapenos and habaneros. We were young and didn't know what to do with them. So I was telling the weird custodian at my work about them. And he kept being like bring them in bring them in I'm just going to eat them like candy. I'll show you ill eat them like candy. So I got him a big bag of habaneros, I want to say they were Orange, and a big bag of Serranos/jalapenos. And brought them to him you know to cook with. And he starts popping them like popcorn. I was like you don't have to do that, you know I've seen you eat a bunch of them and I never didn't believe you in the first place. But never-the-less he popped both bags right there boom. Ok sorry, it really struck me as iteresting
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Your story reminds me of the year my in laws were visiting and offered to pick some tomatoes for me while I was at work. Needless to say there were habaneros growing in the garden also. My father in law was eating cherry tomatoes as he was picking them and ended up popping a whole habanero in his mouth. Apparently he started screaming and running to the house to get a drink. He doesn't really eat hot foods, so I'm sure it lit him up! I wish I could have been home to see it. Lol!
 
Oldskewl said:
Passed pawn, your pepper plants are huge and flourishing. I guess you have a lot more time for them to grow in the south. Here in pa my pepper plants are probably half that size. I will need to adopt your fertilizing suggestions though as I don't fertilize.
Click to expand...

I shouldn't imply that I know what I'm doing. I'm making this up as I go along.

But I was wondering how the hell the plants can get large, and produce all these peppers that I remove, with just that smallish bucket of dirt. It's like the rabbit out of the hat trick. That amount of dirt in the bucket is producing all of that. Eventually the plant has to die, right?

So, I figure eventually the dirt needs to be replenished. That's why I'm feeding it.

Do you guys think you can keep a plant alive indefinitely by replacing the dirt? When/if would that be necessary?
 
Here is mine. Just pulled 15 squash plants do to powdery mildew. Trying to save my daughters pumpkin plant. Planted Brussels and broccoli this weekend. Lots of green tomatoes. Moved in March this is the first year in the past decade that I have not had a tomato by the 4th of July due to the move. I start all my vegetables from seed

View attachment 1469626840957.jpg
 
Oldskewl said:
Your story reminds me of the year my in laws were visiting and offered to pick some tomatoes for me while I was at work. Needless to say there were habaneros growing in the garden also. My father in law was eating cherry tomatoes as he was picking them and ended up popping a whole habanero in his mouth. Apparently he started screaming and running to the house to get a drink. He doesn't really eat hot foods, so I'm sure it lit him up! I wish I could have been home to see it. Lol!
Click to expand...

Tee hee hee :)
 
passedpawn said:
I shouldn't imply that I know what I'm doing. I'm making this up as I go along.

But I was wondering how the hell the plants can get large, and produce all these peppers that I remove, with just that smallish bucket of dirt. It's like the rabbit out of the hat trick. That amount of dirt in the bucket is producing all of that. Eventually the plant has to die, right?

So, I figure eventually the dirt needs to be replenished. That's why I'm feeding it.

Do you guys think you can keep a plant alive indefinitely by replacing the dirt? When/if would that be necessary?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't change a thing the way they are producing. If they die start over. Just my 2 cents
 
passedpawn said:
I shouldn't imply that I know what I'm doing. I'm making this up as I go along.

But I was wondering how the hell the plants can get large, and produce all these peppers that I remove, with just that smallish bucket of dirt. It's like the rabbit out of the hat trick. That amount of dirt in the bucket is producing all of that. Eventually the plant has to die, right?

So, I figure eventually the dirt needs to be replenished. That's why I'm feeding it.

Do you guys think you can keep a plant alive indefinitely by replacing the dirt? When/if would that be necessary?
Click to expand...

Couple thoughts here. I have found the bigger the pot, the bigger the plant. My tomatoes in the 5 to 7 gallon bags are way bigger than the one in the three gallon bag. The one gallon pots don't grow huge pepper plants either. Those buckets are 5 gallons. 5 gallons is a lot of space for a pepper. Also, a lot of the secret has to do with the watering system too. By keeping them constantly watered sub irrigated they never go without. The dirt in our systems is actually potting mix. And as such I'm starting to think that it's merely a medium for transferring water and it's not really dirt at all. I have used my bags and soil for three years now. That being said I wonder if there's some blight in there. Fertilizing and adding stuff is a good idea because of potting mix. The whole theory behind using root pouch bags is that supposedly roots bind in the bucket. The way yours are producing I don't see how that is a problem. If they keep producing you don't need to do anything. I'm not familiar with year-round gardening as I've lived in Colorado my whole life. I would think if there was ever a problem, the plants would eventually die and you will just replant with some fresh potting mix. Changing the soil now i don't think is necessary.
 
jakeasaur said:
Here is mine. Just pulled 15 squash plants do to powdery mildew. Trying to save my daughters pumpkin plant. Planted Brussels and broccoli this weekend. Lots of green tomatoes. Moved in March this is the first year in the past decade that I have not had a tomato by the 4th of July due to the move. I start all my vegetables from seed
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Nice setup. love the hops. I would also be considering growing green beans and snow peas up lines like that as well. I saw a pic of it once I'll have to find it.

View attachment 1469628911583.jpg

View attachment 1469628920134.jpg
 
Apple_Jacker said:
Anyone have an idea what's happening here?
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Hmmm

tomato.jpg
 
Apple Jacker, I don't know what it is but just a guess, maybe bacterial leaf spot? You'd see spots on the leaves too. If it is, Serenade can help suppress it. The copper should be helpful too.
 
passedpawn said:
I shouldn't imply that I know what I'm doing. I'm making this up as I go along.

But I was wondering how the hell the plants can get large, and produce all these peppers that I remove, with just that smallish bucket of dirt. It's like the rabbit out of the hat trick. That amount of dirt in the bucket is producing all of that. Eventually the plant has to die, right?

So, I figure eventually the dirt needs to be replenished. That's why I'm feeding it.

Do you guys think you can keep a plant alive indefinitely by replacing the dirt? When/if would that be necessary?
Click to expand...

Hey Andrew, your pepper plants are doing great! I used to grow so much produce several years ago on my property for our family. I had pepper plants that lived for three years (they were in the ground though) and kept producing strong. The main stems grew into small trunks and the plants really bushed out and grew pretty tall. They would have kept going but I got a really good freeze the one winter around 20 degrees and that did them in. You are further south and hardly ever get a deep freeze so yours might live a long time as well. You could cover them or bring them in the garage if a freeze threatens. Just keep feeding them. I'm sorry to say that your tomato plant has blight. Copper may help but it may be to far gone. You can always plant another one! Just dump out the soil and start again. Look for tomato varieties that have a lot of letters after the name like VFNT, they stand for resistance to the different wilts, nematodes, and diseases that we see here in our humid state. Good luck and keep growing!

John
 
The two tomatoes that were tied to stakes got knocked down in a small storm we had. The twine slipped I guess and the plants spread open onto the ground. I think they are still ok and I staked them up again last night.

Also pulled in 2 really big Zucchinis. Will have to start checking those every single day it seems!

Also thinned out the carrots again and noticed they are starting to develop actual carrots.

Our pepper plants are small, but they are starting to produce some peppers. I can't remember which variety was planted where, but one of them is making fruit anyway.

All in all I think our garden did ok. I was worried about a couple of plants early on, but they seemed to have turned things around and are doing well. Biggest disappointment was a row of beans that only grew 2 plants.
 
Apple_Jacker said:
The leaves look fine; it's just the fruits themselves that are getting the spots.
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When I first saw it I thought it kind of looks like blossom end rot but I've never seen it in spots like that. Whatever it is I hope you figure it out and get a good harvest.

Nice big tomato Applescrap.
 
jsguitar said:
When I first saw it I thought it kind of looks like blossom end rot but I've never seen it in spots like that. Whatever it is I hope you figure it out and get a good harvest.

Nice big tomato Applescrap.
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Since moving to Tennessee, I became very familiar with blossom end rot. This is the first year I managed to keep it under control. I did some research on the spots, and I'm convinced that it is a fungus. Specifically - Anthracnose Fruit Rot. Here's a link: https://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/fs547/


I'm guessing the very humid weather this summer has played a part in spreading this.
 
I harvested my first cukes today. It looks like the big plant has a disease. Not sure what it is. I think I'll spray it with Daconil this evening.

cukes.jpg


cuke disease.jpg
 
:off:

The posts in this thread from very small scale gardeners that are having with various diseases, pests, etc. kinda make me smile when I hear people saying that "orgainic" farming can feed 9 billion people is interesting....

Gardening requires pesticides. And "organic" doesn't mean safe.

/rant

I'm enjoying seeing the produce produced by HBTers! :)
 
Well, my tomatoes look like crap and quit producing. The leaves look similar to what I have seen earlier in this thread. Not going to worry about them. The adjacent peppers look great, are covered with fruit and covered with flowers. The Hab I have in the ground is just huge now. This is this mornings harvest. I'm headed over to the homemade hot sauce thread to find some recipes!

Pepper Harvest.jpg
 
AZ_IPA said:
:off:

The posts in this thread from very small scale gardeners that are having with various diseases, pests, etc. kinda make me smile when I hear people saying that "orgainic" farming can feed 9 billion people is interesting....

Gardening requires pesticides. And "organic" doesn't mean safe.

/rant

I'm enjoying seeing the produce produced by HBTers! :)
Click to expand...

People throughout history have died of starvation due to "organic" practices. It's amazing how difficult it is to grow a nice garden even WITH commercial pesticides sometimes. I guess it's because I've lived in a rural area my whole life, but I can't help but shake my head when I hear the "organic" and "local" crowd carrying on.

Back on topic, I've got to pick this evening and I'll post some pics, but FIRST, a 20 mile bike ride in the heat as payment for the beer I drank last night.
 
My wife picked some peppers in her green house they were Green..I asked her if she was sure they were ripe...she said yes....Is she right?

Regarding tomato blight..We have never been able to grow Tomatoes around here outdoors with out them getting blight , at least not in the past 40 or 50 years. If your under 3 or 4' eaves of a single story house you might get lucky, but pretty much its a green house crop around here.

We had a Surf and Turf retirement diner for a friend of mine last night. Fresh Crab and Top Sirloin along with a fresh out of our garden Salad. The salad got as many or more praises as the crab or beef.

Anyway let me know on the peppers...I have no Idea what kind they are, nor have I tried one. I'm a level 1 guy at Thia food places. But I do LOVE Tim's jalapeno potato chips.

DSCF9308.jpg


DSCF9309.jpg


DSCF9311.jpg
 
That's a cool story about the salad :). They look ripe. The first fruits are a little smaller. My buddy lets his peppers grow till they're huge. I pick mine smaller and get more of them. I don't know which is right. We grow different varieties every year and they're always green. I never let them sit on there long enough to change colors to red or yellow. They can be eaten pretty much at any time if I'm correct. I grow peppers like those and put them on Pizza mostly or in a Ratatouille with the rest of the garden stuff. But definitely Pizza. Think that's why the red and yellow are more expensive they produce less as you wait for the color. If they snap and break right off they're definitely ready to go. I could be completely wrong about all this but I've eaten a lot of peppers at different stages and never noticed something i didn't want to eat.
 
cool thanks applescrap...the fresh cucumber she added to the salad just really made it pop.
 
You're welcome and I quickly reconfirmed I was right. You can grow a few big ones or lots of little ones. Final thought is the peppers sweeten as they sit on there longer. I don't mind them a little spicy
 
Regarding cayennes and habs, they're hot when still green, but I think a lot of the sweet citrus-y flavor develops when they turn color. I had a green one habanero wen they first started fruiting and it wasn't nearly as aromatic as the red mature ones.

Once they get their red color, they only last another week on the vine before they start softening. They need to be picked when they turn red.
 
Thanks to you both! She has never made Ratatouille I might see if she will try it...Im a meat guy though can meat be added? Something like a Mild or spicy Johnsonville Italian sausage? Maybe mild and let the pepper do their thing?
 

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