Okay, so I am thinking about putting in a 4 x 4 raised bed to plant veggies in. I already have pepper seeds germinating (hopefully), tomato plants, onions and cilantro (and a bed all laid out for them). I was curious what other items would do well in a small bed with full sun. I will likely lay it out in the Garden by the Square Yard method. I would be interested in Strawberries or watermelons or any and all suggestions.
I would also be interested in things to plant during the summer, fall and winter or a website with suggestions for this area.
I really know nothing about growing edibles, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much!
Good Veggies for Houston
Watermelons, cucumbers, eggplant and yellow squash do well here, but take up a lot of room. If started early, several kinds of lettuce do well, but not once the temps get really hot. Okra does fine in the summer, but again needs room. A variety of greens such as turnip and mustard do well in spring and fall gardens. Collards are great in the late fall garden. A lot of peas and beans will work too. Just about any pepper will thrive here. Tomatoes are my favorite and I plant several kinds with a variety of maturity times so I'll have them over a longer period. I'm sure there's lots more, but in my limited veggie bed space I try to grow things that are better fresh than store bought (well, actually most stuff is). Tomatoes are on the top of that list for me. Also a number of fruit trees do well here, along with grape vines if you have space for an arbor. Again, I grow figs because they can't be purchased fresh. You can check with the county extension agent for more info and planting times for a lot of vegetables. I think they're now called AgriLife. Hope this helps some
Crow
Thank you so much. I am definitely space limited. Shame about the watermelon and cucumbers. I already have some tomatoes and am growing peppers from seed.
Shuggins, have you seen the black pearl peppers? It's a beautiful plant and I have one in the front flower garden. It has black leaves, black perfectly round peppers that eventually turn red. The peppers are edible, but I grow this one just for looks, that it makes great pepper sauce is just an added bonus. I have seeds, if you'd like some, just let me know.
Here's a link to a pic of it in my garden journal.
http://davesgarden.com/tools/journal/showimage.php?eid=149499
Crow
Haven't see that one. Are the peppers hot? I would love some seeds. I will send you a dmail. Thanks!
A 4' x 4' garden bed will support:
* 4 large indeterminate tomato plants
OR
* 16 pepper plants
OR
* 16 strawberry plants
OR
* 32 onions
OR
* 64 bush bean plants
You could probably have cucumbers on the West side of the bed growing up a trellis.
I'll be planting tomatoes on March 8th or so.
I'll be planting peppers and cucumbers mid- to late-March.
I plant strawberries in late September to October.
I plant potatoes and onions the 2nd week of January.
This message was edited Feb 23, 2009 4:09 PM
This message was edited Feb 23, 2009 4:10 PM
And once the beans are gone, a few oriental eggplants work great in the high summer/fall heat. I harvested well over 100# from 5 plants. Okra is also highly productive in Houston.
I just went to Turner's nursery in CC today and bought both seeds and plants.............for everything but cantaloupes and watermelon seeds. (although I did buy 12 watermelon plants just for kicks)
We only grow Celebrity tomatoes and start with plants.
I also had to find Louisiana Green Velvet and Emerald Okra seeds.
The tatuma squash won't be in until next week but I did find both seeds and plants of Early Prolific straight neck squash.
They didn't have the green beans I wanted so I settled on the stringless Blue Lake and the bush type Contender seeds.
I would bore you if I told you what I am filling this acre of land ready to be planted for spring............a bit of everything...........eggplant, sweet bell peppers, etc....................
I would think having lived in Houston for over 30 years that you can grow pretty much what we grow in south Texas............
You've got an acre and are only planting Celebrity? :(
Yes, that is what we like the best (LOL)...........We have terrible winds. Yesterday the wind was over 45mph and today we don't have bad wind. We have tried lots of tomatoes and even tried the ones out of A&M last year. Always go back to Celebrity.
Did you know that heirloom tomatoes have become so popular, that tomato farmers are grafting them onto the stalks of more disease resistant varieties, like Celebrity and Big boy? They are even grafting them onto eggpant! The heirlooms sell for 2 to 3 times more. I just learned about this today, and I think I am going to try some. I need to locate some of the propagating supplies needed. I haven't been home long enough to search them out.
That sounds exciting. We plant for anyone that wants some...........30 or 40 celebrity tomatoes we can't even give away.
Blackeyed peas and sweet corn are something we normally grow out in the fields.........but with this drought we may not get to have any.............
I bought some Bush Celebrity yesterday. Have you grown them? I bought them to try out.
I grew Celebrity my first year. Maybe it was my growing technique, the lack of organic matter in the soil, etc. but they were so bland that I did not enjoy them at all in sandwiches, salads, etc. I did roast some for sauce and they were not bad. But if this was my only choice, I would not grow tomatoes.
I did grow Beefy Boy my first year as well and those were a bit better. I went to a farmer's market and had my first exposure to heirlooms like Druzba, Cherokee Purple, and also a fellow gardener who I spoke to online met up with me and gave me 2 Brandywine tomatoes (nobody in her family liked tomatoes). After tasting those tomatoes, which were so succulent, sweet, rich, and flavorful, I was HOOKED.
I plunged myself into the Internet world of heirloom tomatoes and read everything I could get my hands on.
I started all my own seeds, planted them for a fall crop, and the entire garden got a hard frost which I inadequately prepared for. But I wasn't going to give up that easily.
3 years later, I plant a mixture of heirlooms and hybrids. There are some of each that I like. I have found that I like Jet Star, Momotaro, and Sungold which are hybrids. The rest is pretty much heirlooms or old market varieties (Ark. Traveler). Every year I try something different and them some old favorites come back again.
I don't try to tell anyone what to grow. I only suggest that people try different varieties.
I will say that it is rare that Home Depot, Lowe's, Wal-Mart, etc. have interesting tomato varieties. And most of the varieties described in County Extension Service documents are intended for commercial tomato farmers interested in yield and disease tolerance.
I would get to know your local feed store, local nurseries, etc. as they can have a surprising selection of tomatoes.
We are farmers, know the county extension agent as a friend and know every single local feed store for 40 miles around. That is where we get our cantaloupe and watermelon seed (along with some other veggie seed. They always carry what the farmers want in the way of seeds. Celebrity is delicious and we make mayonnaise and sliced tomato sandwiches all summer ^__^
We are growing in the flat black farmland of south Texas.
I have already found some heirloom....Brandywine, a yellow and a black, and there were a couple of others at the Growers Outlet in Willis. They also had a good selection of pepper plants. Not the run of the mill varieties. I'll be going back real soon. I learned about the grafting by sitting in on the Master Gardener class - - I needed some CE hours, and the topic was propagation.
This message was edited Feb 26, 2009 8:14 PM
Let's face it, people. Homegrown anything is wonderful! I can't even eat a tomato from the grocery store anymore.............and lots of other things. All winter long and still............we have broccoli, cauliflower, beets, all kinds of greens, etc.........still in the garden.
All we have left is broccoli. DH didn't plant it right, so we haven't realized any benefits. Now that my back is getting better (had surgery in Oct.) I will be in charge of planting! He has promised to take the Master Gardener class next year. Haha! Maybe he will finally believe me when I tell him it needs to be planted 24 or 12 or what ever inches apart.
I am sorry about your back. My son has had two back surgeries and he is very young..........so I do understand.. We plant okra with 3 seeds pretty close together.......then when they come up, we take out the 2 weakest plants and leave the 3rd one so the plants end up being at least 3 feet apart.
I am glad you learned something in Master Gardener classes. I took it back in '84 in Roswell, NM and all I learned was how to grow apple trees........cold hours necessary, etc.........very boring.........but I paid my dues and I finished. It was a complete waste of my time since I moved back to Texas .
Well looks like I've been pretty much shut down here. Back to the Tomatoes forum I go. ;)
Feldon - Stick around, your opinion is valuable! You have experience, and that counts! I just thought it was interresting that they would graft the heirlooms to other tomatoes, and thought maybe others would be, too. I have tried to grow the heirlooms before, but was not successful, so thought the grafted plants might be the solution for me.
No doubt, Feldon. Stick around.
Hello everyone, I started posting last summer so you guys may not remember me. Anyway, after Ike I had to put a lot of things on hold and unfortunately I could never bring myself to post anything being that I was not too active in the garden. I've lurked, though, from time to time.
Anyway...my question to Feldon (and the group at large)...what would you recommend for me? I have 2 big pots (I think they're 10 gallon, 13.5'' diameter, maybe 11'' or so tall. ) I would like to grow a tomato plant in each...1 variety that yields small cherry-size tomatoes and 1 plant that will give me something to cook my own tomato pastes or salsas. Suggestions?
I'm a noob at this...I grew 2 heatwave tomato plants from Wal-mart last summer-fall season and they yielded maybe 3 dozen tomatoes (gross).
Annette ~ you mentioned growing heirlooms? Are you intending to save seed and start your plants from seed next season?
I agree absolutely with Feldon on trying a wide variety of tomatoes. It will help you find the one that does best for you and suits your taste buds. We are all different on that. I still haven't found that one variety that tastes wonderful and grows exceptionally well for me.
Has anyone found a tomato that will truly keep delivering thru the southern summer heat?
JohnCrichton ~ glad to see you posting again. I will be interested to see what you try in your pots and how it works out. I am doing a few different tomatoes in pots this year.
Hey, Pod, that's why I bought the Bush Celebrity. When I asked the difference between It and regular Celebrity, I was told that reg. only sets once, where the bush keeps going. We'll see. I had not seen it before, so thought I would give it a try. I like the idea that it wouldn't have to be staked. That's why I was asking here, if anyone had ever tried it. Oh, by the way, Tom Leroy is our ext. agent, and he is the one that was teaching the class the grafting method.
Thanks, Pod. It's good to be back.
Well folks, I took the day off in order to get some school work done (research papers, mid-terms coming up and such) but unfortunately, I had a little detour this morning and somehow ended up at the Houston Garden Center down the road. The place was really buzzing and people of all ages were checking out the plants. I really didn't know what to expect in terms of selection but was quite pleased to see lots of familiar varieties (They are familiar now thanks to my time here on DG!)
Anyway, here's what I bought...
Hi John, those are good looking plants. The ones I bought the other day are just babies, but that's ok because we have the cold front cooming in, and I have to protect them, up here. Not really too sure about planting them before Easter. Our pecan trees don't have any leaves, or green. showing yet.
Oh fine, now I have to go to Houston Garden Center....LOL! Those are good looking plants.
I am still trying to determine exactly what I want to plant this year. I found a cucumber that is a bush type (Spacemaster variety) that I think I want to try. I have two tomato plants, but could probably have more of those. There are also some carrots called 'Little Fingers' that I considered. Evidently, they don't mind being crowded, so that is good. I still have to build my raised bed, but for this year, I think it is going to be one 4x4, so that shouldn't be too difficult. (Of course, I already have grand plans for additional boxes next year, DH is pretty sure that I won't be happy until all the yard it taken up).
So if you had 4 squares, what 4 things would you plant (oh BTW, you don't have to count tomatoes or peppers because I have another place that I am putting them)?
I was asked a direct question by John C. so I'll answer that:
If you've only got space for 2 tomato plants and one of them is for sauce/salsa, then Celebrity is perfectly fine for that purpose. I roasted Celebrity tomatoes in the oven tossed with olive oil, basil, and garlic and they turned out fine sauce. I was just not impressed with them eaten raw or on a sandwich.
I see you bought Sweet 100 which is a very popular cherry and I know a lot of people who like it. I like Sungold but it can be hard to find. Some people find its intense fruity flavor to be objectionable though. I love Black Cherry but not everyone likes purple/black tomatoes either. I will say I grew Husky Cherry Red last spring and did not like it at all. I have not grown Sweet 100 myself but I think it will do just fine for you.
Brandywine is a ~100 year old variety which can be finicky about heat and humidity. I got about a dozen tomatoes off of it last year. Hopefully it is a producer for you. It is really a delicious tomato in my top 5 for flavor and I like to eat it just sliced plain, no bread or anything required. It's just that sweet and succulent and tasty. Tomatoes do vary from year to year. In a wet year they might not taste as good as in a year with lots of sun.
Those plants you have are a good size and ready to plant. I'd just pick off the lower leaves and bury the stem as much as you can so you've got the top branches sticking out of the ground. All those hairs along the stem will become roots and make for a sturdy plant with a great root system if you "plant deep".
As these will be in containers, will you be able to move them into the garage or otherwise protect them from cold with sheets, blankets, or row cover? If so, you could plant this weekend. Be aware that Sunday morning is showing a chance of reaching 38 degrees in League City. So I'd maybe drape a sheet over each plant or bring them closer to the house. I closely monitor Weather Underground (wunderground.com) as I have found other websites and especially TV newscasters to be incredibly off-base on temperature predictions. I would not wait past March 8th to plant.
As soon as you see flowers on the plant, I'd gently shake or tap the plant every day especially in the morning if possible. I actually use an electric toothbrush and touch the base of each flower cluster every few days. This increases pollination beyond what occasional breezes and insects can do.
By the way, there is no reasonable answer to the question "Why can't I plant more tomatoes?" :) :) I'm trying to limit myself to 40 plants this year. :)
If anyone would like to check out my website, it's SETTFest.com . We don't make any profit on it. It's got news about our tomato fest (June 13th this year) where we bring over 100 tomato varieties for people to taste. We rebuilt the website this month with advice on growing tomatoes in S.E. Texas and are just trying to come up with a useful website for folks to check out.
shuggins,
Just for trying to grow as much in as little space as possible, I would grow whatever cucumber variety you want and trellis them. Then they take 1 square foot of space and grow straight up. I love Poona Kheera but those are impossible to find in Houston. Maybe I can start some extra seeds and arrange to meet? Cucumber seeds come up within < 48 hours and they grow like a rocket.
-Morgan
Annette_M/ shuggins- thanks for admiring my plants!
Feldon- I think you've talked me into buying a celebrity plant. I did not realize the yield would be such a concern with Brandywine, so now I would like to hedge my bet, so to speak, with another plant/ variety. I was just so taken in with the picture on the Brandywine plant! They looked sooo delicious. My tomato plants will be in pots, so I can move them indoors if need be. Didn't see any Sungold plants but will keep that in mind. HGC seemed to have mainly (only?) Chef Jeff plants.
Thanks for the heads-up on the cold front too, Annette_M/ Feldon.
I just heard on the news that Saturday night it will get down to 37 degrees here...........bummer as we wanted to put the plants in the ground on Saturday.......not too good!