High Tide Aquatics

Time to plant tomato(e)s !! Woo! (And other less exciting veggies)

Vincerama2

Vincerama2

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I started a bunch of seeds a month ago (I really should have transplanted them sooner) and this year I'm trying out "Earthboxes" on my driveway. Probably stick some of the extra seedlings in the backyard somewhere too (why waste them?)

I'm stoked about the Earthboxes (they are self watering containers) as last year I used regular pots and a drip irrigation system and didn't get very good results (the plants were always wilted). Probably because I was chasing the sun by putting the pots on top of my workshop roof where they got dried out by constant wind. This year I'm putting the earthboxes (and some of last years containers) on my driveway instead. We have plans to fix up the backyard to make it a nice playground for the kids, so I don't want to keep containers in the back.

I started 5 varieties of seeds; Brandywine (heirloom - meaning not-hybrid), BigBoy (classic tough hybrid), EarlyGirl(supposed to give tomatoes sooner), Supersweet 100 (cherry toms) and SuperSteak (large "steak" tomatoes...I had the seeds sitting around and I keep failing with these so I'm trying one last time!)

Last years corn was pathetic (unless you like one inch cobs with 3 kernels on them), and the squash never really grew well. Basil grew like crazy! These are the plants that get the old containers this year. The tomatoes get the Earthboxes.

Oh yeah, I really hope to use RO "waste" water to water them.

Anyone else planting veggies?

V
 
I got my basil farm going but need to get tomatoes rolling. Have never grown them, I need to look into their needs a bit.
 
Every year in the winter/wet season my yard absolutely explodes with clover, literally every square inch. I was told that clover actually helps replenish the soil, nitrogen nodules or something??, so I have no real reason to make an effort to remove it. However the problem is it usually takes a while for it to die back, it's already dying back for me now, something about the heat... well long story short is I always plant stuff but I never can remember where the hell I planted it because any area I clear of clover ends up growing over in short time!
 
My mouth is drooling just thinking about your tomatoes Vince. When I had gardening space, I had a pretty large vegie and flower garden. Tomatoes were difficut to grow in WA because of the short summers, but they should do much better here. :) Your corn reminds me of the first time we planted sweet corn on hard aluvial silt-type soil. I remember feeding my husband 18 ears of short corn with a few kernals each. Haha. :bigsmile: I didn't want to waste our hard work! The next time, we bought good soil, compost, etc. built large 8' x 4' open bottem boxes, and the plants did much better...until our goats ate them down to the ground. :(

Gomer, tomatoes like lots of regular watering, fertilizer, sun, and rich deep soil. They can and should be planted deeply. If you have to remove the lower leaves to do it, all the better. The plant will produce roots on the stalk and makes for a more stable plant and better root system to take in nutrients and water. If the tomatoes look large enough, stop watering, and they will ripen. Do not water the leaves, they may get mildew.

A friend of mine grows "Fog tomatoes" developed specifically for the Bay area.

Happy gardening! :)
 
usually I have a full garden with load of stuff by now. Too bad I won't have any this year because I'm moving soon.

You couldn't grow any squash V.? I got about 100 butter squash last year. My wife had to give some to her friends. Ofcourse she said she grew them :bigsmile: .. ton of tomatoes too..
 
Some of the best tomatoes I ever ate were grown on a roof in Hillsborough, not quite Jersey tomatoes, but awesome none the less.

We can't grow very much here on the coast as far as tomatoes, but the artichokes sure grow like crazy.
 
Artichokes are normally available at those stores in 4in or 1 gallon plants. They do grow best in cooler climates than yours though, Phong.
 
Yeah a trip down 1 through Jeremy's neck of the woods and you can see lots of artichokes around this time of the year. Shame they do nothing for me... I like locally grown produce!
 
I wonder if corn problems would be caused by the lack of bees these days. I know we have problems with squash pollination.
 
patchin said:
Artichokes are normally available at those stores in 4in or 1 gallon plants. They do grow best in cooler climates than yours though, Phong.
Click to expand...
I tried to look for them for couple years now but never see them available around here. I guess I know why now :) .. How about growing it in the winter?
 
Patchin, corn cross pollinates through the air, that is why you need to grow them close together in rows no less than 4X4 dense.

Phong, you might be able to start artichokes in the fall. If you can keep them watered in the summer, you might be able to get more than one crop. They do like the cool weather best, but there are varieties that can stand heat better than others.
 
I think clover is like beans.. they 'fix nitrogen" which I think means that they get nitrogen from the air, not the soil, and actually (magically) provide nitrogen TO the soil. Wow, nice scientific explaination, eh? :p

V
 
Elite, I was trying to grow the same squash "Butterstick squash". I dunno, some grew, but not big. Like I said, I grew all this stuff on the roof of my workshop meaning that I had to climb a ladder to tend them ... meaning I neglected them!


As for corn I read that every "silk" is attached to a single kernel. So you really have to shake corn and touch tassles to silk to get them all fertilized.
My corn grew to a whopping height of 2 feet maybe. Short elephants in the Bay Area!


"Fog" tomatoes are for SF, everywhere else in the BA you can grow "regular" tomatoes!

V
 
My friend grows Fog tomatoes in San Ramon. She says the fog rolls in in the evenings, which it does. She also grows beefstakes and cherries too though. :)

You don't have to "shake" corn, unless you want to. :D The breeze should pollinate the tassels as long as they are close enough and dense enough. I just can't imagine a corn farmer going out to shake each individual plant. :) That would be a funny sight though. :D

The shortness of your cornstalks is probably due to lack of depth of the soil, or crowding, assuming you had enough water and nutrients, and you didn't grow a dwarf variety. :) Corn likes 1.5-2 feet (depth) of loose soil and space between plants to grow, otherwise they get stunted. I did grow them in my giant boxes though, about 6-8 inches apart and heavily fertilized/composted and regularly watered. My drip hose was on a timer and watered twice a day. The depth of my boxes was 12 inches, but they were open bottom to the soil underneath.
 
Nice.. I don't really eat artichokes. I cook them in a lot of water and add rock sugar at the end. Drink the water. It's a really good drink.
 
Elite said:
patchin said:
Artichokes are normally available at those stores in 4in or 1 gallon plants. They do grow best in cooler climates than yours though, Phong.
Click to expand...
I tried to look for them for couple years now but never see them available around here. I guess I know why now :) .. How about growing it in the winter?
Click to expand...
I got mine from a friend. They self propagate. (sound familiar) This is our third and best year. I literally do nothing to them all winter and now they are going off like xenia. I think the fall or late summer is the best time to dig em up and peel off the babies. Anyone that would like some just check in later in the year. The ones we have been eating this spring have no choke and are super tasty. I cant say I have ever had better.
 
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