Here's a new thread
Past discussions:
Part 1: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/584625/
Part 2: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/590925/
Part 3: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/598673/
Part 4: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/614124/
Part 5: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/631772/
Part 6: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/680745/
Part 7: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/694756/
Part 8: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/703545/
Part 9: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/708629/
Part 10: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/714882/
Part 11: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/718768/
We invite you to put your bale garden on our map at [HYPERLINK@www.frappr.com]
I have a question. I have my first 2 plants with baby tomatoes on them in the straw bales and they both have Blossom End Rot.
Anyone else have a problem with BER when they planted last year? Waiting for some more to come in to see if it's systemic.
BB
This message was edited May 18, 2007 12:50 PM
This message was edited May 19, 2007 6:36 AM
This message was edited May 23, 2007 6:49 AM
This message was edited May 23, 2007 6:55 AM
Straw Bale Gardening (Part 12)
This is my first time checking this out and wow, I'm impressed big time. Nice work to all of you. I'm inspired to try it out myself. But, I was just wondering how many seed potatoes you can put in each bale?
lafco; I don't really want to jump in on this, but I don't think you want a tuber crop to be in a bale. However in loose straw would be ok. Russ
Just checked my bales and have some other plants with fruit coming in.
It may be an issue with those 3 plants
BB
Oh okay, ty rand.
BronxBoy; Not that it means anything, but I usually have a few of the first tomatoes having BER. Of course I have never tried to prevent it. I just put enough in to make up for it. After the season really gets started I don't see it as much. Of course that was all in the dirt. This is the first time I've tried bales. My friend here in town is also trying bales. He put in just 2 tomatoes, but they were started way early. and he has a little tomato already. I will be watching his to see if it gets the blossom end Rot. You have to remember that this is early for zone 4. I get a little zone envie, once in a while. Then I realize there is some things I like that would have trouble growing in zones 7 - 10. Right now it is 80 and very windy. Not too good to try putting out any tender little plants. They may get leaves torn off or the wind would just break the stem off. Not to mention adding to the shock of transplanting. Night before last the temp dropped to 39 kind of makes a person wonder if I put things out too early. I probably have more planted in the ground than in bales. but then I'm trying this for the first time. So I guess, I will have a comparison. to report on. Good luck on the future fruits for those vines. Russ
BB, this isn't new. Have you all posted your gardens on the map??? I haven't looked lately but it must be about full. You guys on the east coast are putting the rest of us to shame.
Jeanette
Hi Jnette:
Going to tale a bunch of pics today. Will post as soon as I do!
Randb:
Those tomato plants I put into bales are the first ones to set fruit so I may have made an erroneous connection. I ususally do not have too much of a problem with BER, only had it with certain beds
Glory be!!
my Juliettes have tiny tomatos!
Foggy
Got my first mess of Kentucky pole beans. : ) Only planted 9 seeds. Three per bale. 1 died early on.
~Lucy
Lucy, those look wonderful!! I just got those same seeds today to plant tomorrow.
Jeanette
Foggy wrote;"my Juliettes have tiny tomatos!"
They were my first to set fruit, too :). I'm getting a little worried that this is going to be the "Tomato that Ate Carolina" tho. I thought it was a small plant, but have been told that it will be huge, and it seems to be aware of that. I planted it, and an Ildi in pots, cuz I thought they would be fun to bring up on the porch for outside meals. Oh well, I have a wheelbarrow......
Margo
Catmad:
They get HUGE! And they are very productive. I plant them every year because they are a favorite at market.
BB
Margo wrote: "the tomato that ate Carolina"
I have pruned mine to a single leader to save space side to side & put an extra high trellis in back so they can go higher rather than wider, I have bloom stems between ever leaf, so they are going to produce like mad at that rate & be easier to handle......when pruning I don't take the sucker until it's got a couple of leaves...then I nip the tip so those leaves provide shade & production ability but no side shoots.....
How about putting it at the bottom of one of your sunny porch columns & tying it up that so its more manageable...
you'll still have tomatos on your porch!( & a pretty vine)....:)
Foggy
This message was edited May 20, 2007 10:10 AM
Just wanted to chime in on my Juliets too. They are growing like monsters. I love the way they look like a vine full of grapes.
The first wave of cukes is in too. I'm glad I made a proper trellis for them this year.
I planted Juliettes last year, and yes they are a large plant. lots of fruit but big plant. BB do you sell produce at the farmer's market? What all do you sell? No wonder you planted so much. I didn't realize that. Just thought you might have a big family.
If so, when do you start? Or do you sell bedding plants and veggie plants too? Do you have green houses? I can't remember. Aren't you the one with the crooked little shed?
Isn't it funny how you remember things but not who did what with them?
Jeanette
Jeanette, all my memories & forgets constantly get mixed up...sometimes it's NOT funny! LOL
darbrady, your things are sooo far ahead....you must have missed out on our late frost!
Foggy
This message was edited May 20, 2007 11:52 AM
It was well below freezing here for three nights Easter weekend. I bought every cheap blanket I could find to wrap up my seedlings and went to war with Jack Frost. I wrapped them every night and unwrapped them every morning. The neighbors said they thought I was performing some kind of ancient Easter ritual. With all the hay and blankets it looked like a nativity scene gone horribly wrong.
Oh that's hilarious! glad you won.
Foggy
dBarb, I read your post to my SO and he said, "what gardners won't do for their plants." He is so right. I second Foggys opinion. LOL
Jeanette
Thanks for the advice, Jeanette, I backed down on the water and the tomatoes are doing much better. Added some Miracle Gro for tomatoes and they are now nice and green. I must have been washing away nutrients by over watering.
Got a new problem, and had this one before I started bale gardening.
Getting dark purple splotches (almost black) on my peppers. Last year, in a regular soil garden, had them on my tomatoes, also. I thought this was something in my soil, but I'd think that the problem coming back in a straw bale garden would rule that out. My tomatoes aren't ripe enough yet to see if I'm going to have them on my tomatoes yet, but it's definitely coming back on the peppers. Haven't been able to find anything online that would fit the description of the problem.
Doesn't seem to affect the taste or ruin the flesh of the affected fruit or vegetable, just looks awful.
Also have a persimmon tree about 120 ft. from the garden that has this problem also, the persimmons ripen with blackish spots. Has done this for several years now.
Any ideas?
Jon
dbarbrady: LOL. I did the same thing. Luckily, I have no neighbors close enough to wonder if I've gone over the edge. Ha, ha. But, hey, we didn't lose anything, did we?
Karen
jrud, it's just pigmentation & very natural. nothing to worry about.
It is strange though. Especially since it is turning up on other produce. Why don't you take a couple of things with it on them to your county extension office or Master Gardners. Might even try a nursery.
I agree with Summerkid, except that it seems to bother you. It isn't soft like it is starting to rot is it? Are you close to any universities with agricultural departments?
Jeanette
Hi Jnette:
Yes I have the crooked little shed! My wife and I do sell at a farmer's market which starts in July. Here are some updated pics of my bales.
BB
Tomatoes are happy. I grew almost all of my maters in raised beds. But these Green Sausages only get about 20 inches so I thought they would be perfect for the bales
I'm going to post some pics of all my beds in a separate thread
BB
My goodness you are a gluten for work BB. It's too bad they don't start your farmer's market earlier so you could sell bedding plants. Those are so easy if you have the setup to handle them. Look how many seeds you get in a pack and how few seeds you actually use for your own use.
Almost all of the farmers markets around here start right after Memorial Day weekend.
Lots of posts since I left for my little excursion to the Bahamas. Had to go back to work today. My body was here but my mind was still on vacation, thinking about lying around the pool, soaking up some sun, etc. Here's the view from the 8th floor balcony.
Kent
Potatoes blooming nicely. Still no "bad" bugs of any kind. Good crop of lady bugs, though. I certainly hope I get some nice potatoes after growing all of this.
Kent
Tomatoes getting high enough to get their first set of stretch ties. I need to go back through them tomorrow and sucker a few.
Kent
Zucchini doing well. Lots of blooms.
Kent
I need to decide soon whether I'm going to use newspapers or landscaping cloth around the bales to keep the grass out of the vines.
Kent
Nothing like some fresh peppers with your meal.
Kent
Looking goooood, Kent. And Welcome back! ( I know you were just dying to get away from the Bahama's!)
Methinks you're gonna have a great crop this year.
Shoe
Kent, have you ever thought of, or heard of anyone, using plastic around the bales to keep the moisture in instead of watering so much?
Jeanette
Kent, your hyperlinks at the very top are not working. Can you please fix them for newbies?
I should get my spoiled hay bales this week and I have seedlings already coming up to put in them, plus some tomato plants from another DG'er that I potted up in quart and gallon pots 2 weeks ago. I think we are finally past frost damage.
Jeanette, do you think plastic encasing the bale might encourage mold and maybe even rot of the plant itself?
Shoe: yeah, it was a hardship to sit by the pool and doze on and off, but somebody's got to do it! :-)
Jeanette: no experience with plastic, but seems like we've had some folks who tried it last year. I'm not watering as much as I used to. I just check the bales for moisture content and see how the plants are looking. My oat straw is retaining alot of moisture.
Darius: Bronxboy will have to correct the links in the first post, but the link to #11 will take you back to that thread which has the links to all the rest.
Kent
This message was edited May 23, 2007 6:38 AM