First time growing ANYTHING and need advice

Hi everyone,

My mother has done gardening for years and this season was my first time trying anything. I live in apartments and so the fact that I could grow anything is great not only being a first time grower, but because of where I live. I have gotten some good harvest and I don't really tend to follow rules very well so I fertilize with natural fertilizer whenever I think the plants need it and water when I either remember or see they need it. I am amazed at the good crop I have gotten. My neighbors are all impressed and really like the live growth of plants I have grown. They say it gives the area some beauty beyond normal apartment plants.

So I have a Ghost Pepper plant (because we can't seem to find Ghost Peppers around here), a purple bell pepper, a hot pizza pepper, Thai chili, herbs (lots of basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, tarragon, sage) and then a variety of tomatoes (Oregon Spring, Beef, heirloom, black cherry, another larger cherry tomato that turns purple and orange, Jersey devil, and some orange pear shaped small tomatoes). They are mixed between determinant and indeterminate. My mother explained the difference but I didn't really GET what that meant until I saw how the indeterminate can't keep their 'hands' to themselves.

I have gone through pruning the plants just because I live in apartments and I didn't want the plants to take over where people should walk (see the pic I included). But I don't think I've received one orange tomato and perhaps I have received one Jersey Devil.

So here is the problem. With the season change, I see that where my pepper plants are, aren't getting sun until around 3pm now and where the tomato plants are currently at, they don't seem to get any sun until around 5:30p (CORRECTION: I just went out and checked the tomato plants and it looks like at around 3:45, the first plant starts to get sun. At 4:10p, when I just checked, the three tomato plant pots do have sun on them). My tomato plants have lots of green larger tomatoes on them and I don't want to lose those to only having later afternoon sun.

I have considered moving them to where maybe they can get more sun (even though it would still be from only around 3pm, but I am currently using the railing on the stairs and the pillar next to the stairs to help tie the tomato plants in place. How can I move them? Can I somehow fold them over upon themselves carefully to make them a little more compact or...?

Any suggestions would be very appreciated. Also, keep in mind the pic I am including was a few weeks ago. The plants have since grown a lot again, especially thanks to the milder temperatures we finally got.

This message was edited Oct 3, 2014 4:15 PM

Lots of nice plants! Congrats on doing so well for a first time gardener!

To move those plants, here is what I would do:
1) Untie them one at a time.
2) Lay them down in the little red wagon.
3) Take them to the brighter spot.
4) If there is no support there, then stand the tomatoes sort of 'back to back' so they hold each other up. A bit of tie tape (nylon stocking works well, too) will hold them together.
5) Put back whatever soil fell out of the pot.

Hi,

Must say you have lovely plants. I live in a west facing place that gets good light throughout the day but the direct sunlight reaches my balconey only after around 12:30pm & it moves inwards so most spots get direct light for 2-3 hours a day only. Due to the extremely high temperatures during the day I was forced to grow my cherry tomatoes indoor whete they recieved direct sunlight only for 2 hours or so in the evening as the sun got ready to set. The result was a very leggy plant that still blooms and produces fruits and rather quickly when the temperature is right. I was wonderingif there are any other artificial sources of light around that you could substitute for natural light instead of moving them. Because my tomato plants have suffered a lot of injuries (broken branches) when I try to move them around my little balconey to get enough sunlight.

And I'm not sure if this would work (I'm still experimenting) but I've placed a mirror at one far corner of the balconey thats not very bright so that light can be reflected off it ato reach the corner plants.

Good Luck and let me know what works.

Thank you for your responses so far. :)

Diana_K, thank you for the compliment. I was surprised they survived my gardening techniques. As for moving them, like I said, the picture I took is probably a month and a half old. Since then, they are MUCH more bushy and have grown and I just can't see how I can untie them safely. My mother suggested sort of the same thing, except her idea was to cut away branches that have no fruit to sort of force the energy in the plant towards fruit ripening rather than growing of the green leaves. But I am still facing the inability to untie the plants safely without them breaking. Here is a better example why: My husband is 6'3 and the plants stand another 2 feet or so above him. I can't figure out how to untie them and not have them break from the weight and duress of no support suddenly.

I wonder if I can sort of wrap green garden tape around the tall plants and make them into like a single bundle and then maybe lay that bundle in a circular pattern in the pot somehow.

Vanita 79, thank you also for your compliment. Mirrors are a great idea, and I'd like to know if it works (or if anyone else has done that, I'd be interested to hear how it went). I have considered bringing the plants inside (I started my Ghost Pepper plant last year around October and grew it indoors until the weather was good enough this year to sustain it and then I took it outside where it's done great) but the issue I have now is, all the pots have little bugs in them :(. I don't want those inside the house.

I told my mom I am considering buying a little mini green house to help the plants continue until it's just not possible anymore. The Ghost Pepper plant I want to try and keep growing so I wonder if anyone has any suggestions of ways to sort of sanitize the dirt in the pots from the bugs so I can bring it back inside as well as bring inside my herbs.

Also, does anyone have any good suggestions of a make-it-yourself green house that would be inexpensive?

Later today I'll take a picture of all the plants and how they look now, that way everyone can have a better idea of what I'm dealing with.

Thank you again for your suggestions!

Then just let them go for this year. The season is just about over. To extend the season I use plastic sheeting to make a mini greenhouse over the beds, but this is not nice enough looking for a front yard.
Next year try planting them in both places, see where they do best.
When plants are that tall you probably will need to be staked pretty securely.

TheWinterRose, I can really not say for now if the mirrors have worked or not worked for me because the plant who sits in front of it has maintained a good vigor and color so far (without bending towards the sunnyside - a tendency all my other plants seem to have) but fruiting has really not started (maybe because temperatures are a bit high). BTW, you could also use foil wraped around a cardboard.

I got the mirror idea when I noticed one my plants growing certain leaves facing the wrong direction (while all other leaves face the sunny side), didn't realize it was doing it because of a mirror on the other side at first. Then I read about it (just google) and realized it is a common technique many use.

One more thing about the mirrors is I have only a small mirror (a foot-long square) which I placed behind a corner plant that faces the west window and it's view has been blocked by many other plants that lie in the way. So, the sunlight reaching the mirror is not too harsh (direct sunlight may burn some plants sometimes if too intense - it is better to reflect mild morning light than harsh afternoon light).

Here are some links where you can read more about it:

http://www.ehow.com/how_6457746_use-mirrors-increase-sunlight-plants.html

There is also something called a heliostat - http://wikoda.com/

Good Luck!

The mirror idea is very very interesting. Keep us posted.
WinterRose-you are running up against the usual problem with trying to grow tomatoes and peppers in the Pacific Northwest-the short growing season. Your problem is even worse because these tropical plants want sun all day here. You are further south than most of us, so if they were in a sunny garden I doubt this would ever be a problem and they would have time to ripen every year. In Portland and Seattle these crops are 'iffy', and sometimes can't ripen. When we have a cool summer it is called a 'cabbage year'. No tomatoes for us then.

Probably it is too late for this year (Green tomato relish may be your only option), but a few things you can try:
1- letting it get as dry as possible. When growing in the ground we just stop watering, I have never tried this in a pot. This tells the plant it better ripen it's fruit.
2- picking off and throwing away the little tomatoes, and any flowers. This may get the plant to mature the full size ones.
3- pick off all the full size ones and hope they ripen on the kitchen counter.
4- I have done this and it kinda worked- cut off the plant at the ground, and hang it upside down in the garage. In desperation, it might ripen the fruit.

Next year, get them in as much sun as possible, and pick varieties that are bred for our short-season maritime climate. Dr. Jim Baggett at OSU spent his career breeding tomatoes. His are good, the one called 'Legend' is popular and widely available. Cherry tomatoes also are much more reliable in the PNW. Check out Territorial Seed, they carry many of his selections (seeds and plants), and short-season peppers too!

Can I just add that, IF you bunch all the stalks / stems together into one bunch and tie them, there will NOT be enough air allowed to circulate around the branches, this could and will allow fungus or mould to take hold and it would be a shame to spoil your otherwise healthy plants.
I agree the season is almost over for this year so maybe consentrate on trying to ripen the fruit you already have,
try Banana skins laid on top of the pot, this skin releases a chemical that causes fruit to ripen,
OR pick the fruit when you feel the weather is beginning to make the plants suffer, place the UNDAMAGED fruits in a drawer but wrap them in newspaper, then chack after a few days, maybe a week, look see if the tomatoes are turning red.
OR make chutney with the peppers, green tomato's etc, keep jars of this pickle or chutney in cool DARK place for several weeks before using, delicious.
Best regards.
WeeNel.