my first garden

[vaporizer]

Pffffffffffffftttttttttttttt!

i know right. i will still share my fruit with her though. she's great.

 

[ChanellG]

Until now I've kept my gardening activity restricted to a small area at the base of the driveway. Now I'm spreading out and claiming the rest of the yard (and telling the other family members to deal with it). I added more edibles this year, partly for my grandfather who is blind and can't garden anymore, and partly for the thrill of growing my own food.

Have fun with yours!

 

[vaporizer]

Until now I've kept my gardening activity restricted to a small area at the base of the driveway. Now I'm spreading out and claiming the rest of the yard (and telling the other family members to deal with it). I added more edibles this year, partly for my grandfather who is blind and can't garden anymore, and partly for the thrill of growing my own food.

Have fun with yours!

nice. more area is good when gardening.

 

[vaporizer]

i've added some watermelon and cucumbers into my front yard desert landscaping. i also have planted two strawberry plants to see how they do. i also included a pic of my little fruit producer tomato plant.

 

[vaporizer]

i thought i would post some tomato updates and hopefully get some help. we got a cold front come through and the temps dipped to the low 70's after being in the high 80's lower 90's for a bit. it is going to get back to the high 80's today. my tomatoes seem to be doing well, but i really don't know since these are my first. some of the leaves are curling and on some plants, there are some spots. i am hoping the spots are water burn (i am still hand watering and can get the leaves sometimes) and not a disease.

 

[Becky]

Looking good @vaporizer

 

[Beth_B]

VERY nice, @vaporizer! I'm really impressed with those boxes. And jealous.
Also it's funny seeing you refer to the 70s being a "cold front" but I know it's all relative - I'm in Michigan. Our definition of a cold front is somewhat different to yours LOL.

I agree you might have planted those tomatoes a bit too close together; maybe a little extra fertilizing while they're producing fruit. Also pinching off the lower leaves - the ones at the base of the plant that are yellowing, as well as the suckers at the base of the plant, will encourage more energy going to the blossoms and fruit. Those ones at the bottom aren't going to produce anything. Like this:
http://www.tomatodirt.com/pruning-tomato.html

 

[vaporizer]

thanks for the replies. i will pinch off the lower leaves tomorrow morning. do i just pinch the leaves, or the whole branch that they are attached to? i have been pinching the suckers as i see them, but i'm sure i missed some.

 

[Beth_B]

thanks for the replies. i will pinch off the lower leaves tomorrow morning. do i just pinch the leaves, or the whole branch that they are attached to? i have been pinching the suckers as i see them, but i'm sure i missed some.

I pinch off the whole branch if it's at the bottom of the plant. Even if it does blossom and start fruit, it won't make it to maturity here. You have a much longer and hotter growing season than us up north so maybe it won't matter as much in NV, but here I am lucky to get a five-month growing season so I do everything possible to maximize production.

 

[vaporizer]

I pinch off the whole branch if it's at the bottom of the plant. Even if it does blossom and start fruit, it won't make it to maturity here. You have a much longer and hotter growing season than us up north so maybe it won't matter as much in NV, but here I am lucky to get a five-month growing season so I do everything possible to maximize production.

thanks again. i pinched the leaves(branches) off the bottom this morning. they look clean shaven now. some lower ones had flowers and even some fruit. it is hard to prune the fruit, but i want to encourage growth for even more fruit. i can see that i didn't prune enough in the beginning and some plants have split into two main stocks. i left those big guys alone. i hope i can keep up with two eating off the same plate. maybe i can clip the tops when they get to tall to allow them more food and water down below. any tips? this is a very fun learning experience. thanks again

edit to post a pic

 

[vaporizer]

my first squash blossom.

 

[Beth_B]

Yay for zucchini! Once the zuke plant gets going you can almost watch it grow and if you don't check every day the zuke that was 6" long and almost ready to harvest one day will be the size of a baseball bat three days later.

I've never heard of pinching off the top of tomato plants. I wouldn't - just keep removing the lower non-productive branches that aren't getting sun or producing much. In another month or so yours are going to be pretty crowded so I'd fertilise every couple of weeks.

If you were my neighbor I'd ask you to build me some planters. I really like yours!

 

[vaporizer]

thanks for the tomato tip. i think i might have to trellis the middle. i never thought they would grow, much less grow tall. i am going to make a compost tea to feed it next week and every two weeks after that as you suggest. i was going to do every three weeks, but now that you mention it, they are very close together. they looked so far apart when i planted, and i didn't expect them to all grow.

 

[Beth_B]

This is a photo of what I planted in straw bales taken last May 29. Mostly tomatoes. By late July, they were the height of the fence (five feet tall) and bushy as heck! You'll be surprised how fast and big they grow...

You could probably move some at this point, if you wanted. Cherry tomatoes in particular do great in containers but I've grown several varieties in 3-5 gallon buckets and pots.

 

[mtairymd]

this year i got laid-off work so i decided to occupy my time with a garden. this is my first season. i made a makeshift garden on the side of my house to get my feet wet in gardening. i'll be moving most of it to the back yard, but i am still working on finishing the backyard. it's all rock right now, but i will be installing some edging and maybe a pond later on. i made free standing planter boxes because i rent the home and didn't want to mess with the yard to much. please feel free to make comments.

growing:
tomatoes- sweet 100's, romas, cherry, cupid, hawaiian tropics, yellow pear, and a mystery one.
peppers - serranos, jalapeno, red bell, banana pepper
zucchini
blue lake beans
herbs


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That looks very nice. Job well done!