Gardening: My Tomatoe and Pepper Progress

[Littletimmy]

I'd ask for a detailed water analysis from the local water co-op..After living in west Texas (Lubbock) for many years, I'd bet the pH level is through the roof. Even here in the DFW metroplex, the water pH of tap water from the North Texas Municipal Water District can run 8.2 or higher in the summer. Most vegetable plants are not happy at that pH!

 

[Littletimmy]

Not vegetable related but an illustrative example:

"Marigolds were highly sensitive to high pH. Plants irrigated with nonsaline water with pH at 7.8 exhibited a 50%, 89%, and 84% reduction in shoot DW in ‘French Vanilla’, ‘Flagstaff’, and ‘Yellow Climax’, respectively, compared with plants irrigated with water with pH 6.4" DW equal dry weight analysis.
From HortScience October 2009 vol. 44 no. 6 1719-1725

 

[passedpawn]

I noticed a few other people here are growing eggplants. Ours are doing really well and this year we wanted to try something new with them. We found the recipe below for eggplant sandwiches they were really good and are pretty easy to make.

Here's the recipe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9qmPVlc1uA

Making these tonight. Thanks!

 

[estricklin]

I did a taste test with the cayenne and habanero flakes last night. Tortilla chips, sour cream, tossed with lots of flakes. Man, those hab flakes taste awesome - I couldn't stop snacking.

I used hickory wood on the hab flakes and you can definately taste it. So much flavor. Smoked flakes are a whole different animal than the storebought dried red chili pepper flakes.

Yeah and I personally love pepper flakes, I eat them by the tablespoon on anything like pizza or pasta. I put my peppers on my electric smoker before I went to bed the other night, set it for 150-175F, in the morning they were starting to dry so I let them go all day while I was at work. That evening I put them in the oven for a short time on 275 to finish the drying. I'm the odd one because I usually use oak to smoke with, but I'm not prejudice to hickory. I crushed mine into flakes but have been going 100 mph, have not even tried them. I worked 12 hours today, came home and had to swap a water heater out, it's 4 am and I'm done finally.

I'm going to make some chili powder from some of the crushed flakes, I'll add some paprika and cumin to be sure. They sure do smell good. Thing is my plants are still loaded. I'll post some pics soon.

As for the chlorinated water I've never had a problem sprouting seeds with it. The only problems I've had with seeds not sprouting were form old seeds, (more than 2 years old typically) and too much rain when direct sewing, which causes seeds to rot. I've had the birds get their share too though. They seem to love turnip seed for some reason. I don't doubt there could be some benefit to watering with non-chlorinated, but it's not practical for me. I did grow a 1 acre garden one year, with all well water. It did pretty well, but was really too large to manage without a tractor.

Anyone ever grow peanuts? Something I keep wanting to do but have never tried.

 

[applescrap]

Roasted my Anaheims and poblanos this morning.

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[bob1852]

Most of my cherry tomatoes are tiny and very acidic.

Bad soil and/or lack of fertilizer?

 

[passedpawn]

Most of my cherry tomatoes are tiny and very acidic.

Bad soil and/or lack of fertilizer?

How do the leaves look?

 

[imasickboy]

Leaves will show soil deficiency before fruit will. It is also entirely possible you just grew a ****ty variety. There's so many that it's so hard to find what works for you. One of my favorite cherry tomatoes is the "Husky" which, oddly enough, is a Bonnie Plants variety, and available at Home Depot.

Tomatoes are difficult. There's a constant struggle between finding a tomato that has proper disease resistance for your location, is prolific, and gives you the quantity and flavor of tomatoes you're looking for. If you're also looking for an open-pollinated or heirloom variety, your fortunes may shift dramatically in one direction or the other.

The perfect tomato plant is my unicorn.

 

[bob1852]

Leaves look pretty good, a little yellowing on some of the lower leaves, but that seems to be normal this time of the season...

Fruit is just really small....

 

[Apple_Jacker]

I finally tried my hand at a homemade hot sauce. This one used 12 of the Caribbean Red Habeñeros, with carrot, onion, roasted garlic, and a honeycrisp apple. The apple left a lot of pulp after i blended it, so I strained it... and now it's on the watery side. It tastes delicious, but I'll skip the apple next time.

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[passedpawn]

I'm with sickboy on everything he said.

In my limited experience, if the leaves look good and the plant is bushy, you're doing alright. Might just be a small variety. Tomatoes want calcium and magnesium, so you might try a fertilizer to help with that. I've recommended Cal-Mag before, if you're looking for advice. Smells just like Listerine Can't hurt.

Those tomatoes look pretty edible to me. If you're getting a bunch of those, I'd say your glass is more than half full.

 

[Littletimmy]

The perfect tomato, a unicorn, a yeti, a yeti riding a unicorn while drinking a HB, it is an endless search and a hell of a lot of work! I agree with IMA and PP on selecting the best variety for your area, and the use of a good well balanced fertilizer. Cal-Mag works great in most soils. Can't stress enough a soil analysis for your garden. I've kept a spreadsheet of the tomato and pepper varieties that have worked for me over the past 18 years. With the GH, I always try a few new varieties, looking for that successful addition. But in the end, my best tomato crops have been started early, by seed, in the GH, early into the garden (mid-March in north DFW) with a cool spring. Most years, the spring tomato crop is OVER by mid-July, regardless of variety. Too hot and dry....

 

[estricklin]

Leaves look pretty good, a little yellowing on some of the lower leaves, but that seems to be normal this time of the season...

Fruit is just really small....

Did the plant just not start producing?

 

[estricklin]

Before, after the smoker, and after the oven.

 

[passedpawn]

Before, after the smoker, and after the oven.

What next?

 

[estricklin]

What next?

Trying it out in my gumbo tonight.

 

[estricklin]

Wow! Yeah, those aren't going to last long. Good heat, flavor is unbelievable.

 

[estricklin]

A little homemade cornbread and some boudan to go with that gumbo, all topped with red pepper flakes.

 

[corkybstewart]

I'm with sickboy on everything he said.

In my limited experience, if the leaves look good and the plant is bushy, you're doing alright. Might just be a small variety. Tomatoes want calcium and magnesium, so you might try a fertilizer to help with that. I've recommended Cal-Mag before, if you're looking for advice. Smells just like Listerine Can't hurt.

Those tomatoes look pretty edible to me. If you're getting a bunch of those, I'd say your glass is more than half full.

I use cheap Epsom salt on my tomatoes, and it does wonders, especially when mixed with rain water.

 

[bob1852]

I use cheap Epsom salt on my tomatoes, and it does wonders, especially when mixed with rain water.

I outta try that!

 

[Homercidal]

My tomatoes are producing. I grew them in a slightly raised bed with some fresh topsoil purchased down the road. It's got what they call Dairy Doo mixed into it. Composted Cow Manure.

I had a ton of green tomatoes on the plants, and now they seem to be turning red. I've got to get a good sauce recipe picked out before long.

The cherry and grape tomatoes did well as well, but I have to pick them before they are really ripe because they are splitting their skins when they get too big!

 

[Homercidal]

Made spaghetti sauce the other day with some of my Roma tomatoes. Looked kind of funny right up until it got thick. Never made it before, so I wasn't sure how it was goign to turn out. Added garlic (but not enough, I think), onion, green peppers, basil, and since I didn't have any oregano, some Italian spices).

And salt. It was pretty bland without salt. After it simmered a bit longer it was pretty good, but wife and I decided it needed some Tabasco Sauce to liven it up. Not too much, since the kid won't eat it if she senses any heat, but enough to maybe get her to eat it without noticing!

Wife mentioned making Lasagna this weekend with it!

And in other news, I still have too many cherry/grape tomatoes, and I wondered how they would work in pizza sauce. I think they are generally sweeter than regular tomatoes, and I think there is enough to make a few pies with right now, not counting what's still growing out there.

 

[WI_Wino]

Homemade ketchup with cherry tomatoes is good.

 

[corkybstewart]

And in other news, I still have too many cherry/grape tomatoes, and I wondered how they would work in pizza sauce. I think they are generally sweeter than regular tomatoes, and I think there is enough to make a few pies with right now, not counting what's still growing out there.

The problem with the little tomatoes is that the skin/pulp ratio is way out of balance. You'd have to have a way to remove the skins, maybe try blanching the tomatoes and force the pulp through a strainer to catch the skin. But it's gonna take a lot of little tomatoes to make this work.

 

[Homercidal]

The problem with the little tomatoes is that the skin/pulp ratio is way out of balance. You'd have to have a way to remove the skins, maybe try blanching the tomatoes and force the pulp through a strainer to catch the skin. But it's gonna take a lot of little tomatoes to make this work.

Yeah, I decided to just add them to the big pot of sauce I was making to use them up. They were getting old. Very little meat in there, just skin and seeds, mostly.

I'm caught up now. I probably should have picked a few more fruits this weekend, but with everything going on, I was lucky to get a pot of sauce to cook down. Not sure when I can do that now! Maybe I will get my wife to watch it while I work on my Jeep.

She made lasagna yesterday from the sauce we made. It was ok, but didn't have the sharp tomato flavor you get from the jar. Maybe just didn't have enough salt, I don't know. Wasn't as red, but I'm not sure if store sauce uses food coloring to make it look better. I'll have to check their labels.

My plants are now officially starting to yellow up. Summer is ending.

 

[VApatriot]

The problem with the little tomatoes is that the skin/pulp ratio is way out of balance. You'd have to have a way to remove the skins, maybe try blanching the tomatoes and force the pulp through a strainer to catch the skin. But it's gonna take a lot of little tomatoes to make this work.

We can our tomatoes every year including our cherry tomatoes along with the full size tomatoes. The best way to skin any ripe tomato is to put them in a pot of very hot water until the skin splits. Take them out of the hot water, dunk them into your sink full or big bowl of very cold water until they are cool to the touch, the skins will peel off with ease. We do this all the, it is a little messy but works like a charm.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

My one tomato plant, the one which yielded 3 tomatoes all year, is actually producing them now - in late September. I wonder if it was just too hot for the plant before? I thought my planter was too small (maybe about 2 gallons) but who knows.

Also, my habanero plant is sprouting new ones, and I still haven't picked the old ones. The little $3 plant has produced about 30 or 35 peppers now, which is kind of cool.

 

[applescrap]

We cut the cherry tomatoes in half and put them on the pizza as a topping along with peppers and things from garden. Its still producing.

View attachment 1474330004173.jpg

 

[estricklin]

I'm going to start fermenting a batch of hot sauce tonight with my habs and tabascos.

As for the cherry tomatoes, I've never made sauce with them, but I've made amazing salsa with them. Best salsa I've ever made. I tried it because I had so many of them I didn't know what else to do. Seems like I remember checking the pH too and it was spot on before I canned it. In my experience making sauce doesn't work so good unless you have a tomato for it, Romas are my personal favorite sauce tomato. If you heat it long enough, you can get some of the excess water out but it's hard to keep it from scorching unless you just stir like made.

 

[Oldskewl]

Cherry tomatoes are awesome dehydrated. Cut them in half and dry them. Sweet as candy!