Your 2024 Garden

[Sally PB]

'gardening in the apocalypse' book

Is that the title? Sounds like a book I would find interesting.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Is that the title? Sounds like a book I would find interesting.

It's something like that. I'll look when I get home. Very simply wrote and easy to understand, with lots of sketches of the main topic on each page

 

[gtaus]

I read somewhere that you get more production when you pick the first ones [peppers] as soon as they reach close to full size - long before they turn their mature color. It stimulates more blossoms than you would otherwise get. It seems to be true based on results when I've done it vs when I haven't

That has been my experience, too. It might run contrary to your desire to wait until the pepper is fully mature, but in the long run, picking those first peppers a little early will result in many more peppers to harvest later on.

When I plant out my little pepper plants, I put a tomato cage around it so that I don't accidentally step on them or knock them over.

I started putting tomato cages around my in-ground pepper plants because neighborhood dogs would get into my garden and trample my young plants. The wire tomato cage was good enough to protect the young pepper plants from the dogs.

Now, I plant almost all my garden in 16-inch-high pallet wood raised beds, and the dogs are no longer an issue. But I still keep the tomato cage idea going because now my pepper plants get so much taller and the tomato cage helps to keep them from falling over.

One of my favorite things about growing beans, peppers, and tomatoes is this fact. That you can keep picking them throughout the season, just keep those blossoms going and the plant will keep you happy.

Pick early, pick often, and harvest for the entire season.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

That has been my experience, too. It might run contrary to your desire to wait until the pepper is fully mature, but in the long run, picking those first peppers a little early will result in many more peppers to harvest later on.



I started putting tomato cages around my in-ground pepper plants because neighborhood dogs would get into my garden and trample my young plants. The wire tomato cage was good enough to protect the young pepper plants from the dogs.

Now, I plant almost all my garden in 16-inch-high pallet wood raised beds, and the dogs are no longer an issue. But I still keep the tomato cage idea going because now my pepper plants get so much taller and the tomato cage helps to keep them from falling over.



Pick early, pick often, and harvest for the entire season.

I'll make sure to not wait this year to pick. I didn't get a single tomato last year because I thought you waited for them to ripen all the way on the vine before picking. They all split down the middle

 

[gtaus]

View attachment 3764725
Gonna clean out the office some and try to make room for the tote to go there instead when I get off work today.

My dad got a 'gardening in the apocalypse' book woth a few things I might try this year

Those clear plastic totes make excellent mini-greenhouses for those of us who don't have our dream greenhouse to start our plants.

I have been using the Hefty Hi Rise 72-quart totes for a few years as mini-greenhouses and they are great...

The only store in my town that sells them is Target. And they do sell out, so if you want some, buy them when they are in stock.

Some brand clear totes are better than others. There is a reason why I now only buy the Hefty Hi Rise 72-quart tote. If you are really interested in this mini-greenhouse tote concept, check out this detailed 30-minute YouTube video on why the Hefty Hi Rise clear tote is better than others, and how to set up your mini-greenhouse...

I have watched many YouTube videos on the mini-greenhouse tote idea, but that video is still my favorite. If you don't have time to watch the whole video, some of the highlights worth mentioning is that the Hefty Hi Rise totes have stronger flat lids, which is important when you invert the tote to use it as a mini-greenhouse. The lid is strong enough to bottom watering and all the pots get watered. Those Hefty totes have the locking lids, which makes them better for carrying out to the deck in the morning or back into the house at night. They are made to stack one on top of another when inverted, so they take much less space than other brands. Also, he shows you where to drill your vent holes, which is on the sides, NOT on the top because if it rains, your vent holes on top will let water in and could drown out your plants.

Anyways, for those interested in making a mini-greenhouse from clear totes, that video is still the best one I have found on this subject and well worth the 30 minutes to watch the entire thing.

I now have 4 of those Hefty Hi Rise 72-quart clear totes, and plan on buying at least 2 more this year. Last year I started a number of plants inside the house and had great success using those totes as mini-greenhouses carrying them out to our backyard deck and back into the house at night. This year, I hope to start even more plants so I will need more totes. Until I get my dream walk-in greenhouse, these totes will get the job done.

 

[gtaus]

I'll make sure to not wait this year to pick. I didn't get a single tomato last year because I thought you waited for them to ripen all the way on the vine before picking. They all split down the middle

I mainly grew cherry tomatoes last year. They are indeterminant plants, so if you pick them often, they continue to grow more tomatoes. I don't know if all varieties of tomato plants are that way. You would have to check into your particular variety of tomato plant when to start picking.

The splitting of the tomato has something to do with the watering of the plants. I think it indicates over-watering, but I'm not sure. And you can't control the weather if it rains a lot. If I get any split tomatoes, I pick them and use them as soon as possible.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Those clear plastic totes make excellent mini-greenhouses for those of us who don't have our dream greenhouse to start our plants.

I have been using the Hefty Hi Rise 72-quart totes for a few years as mini-greenhouses and they are great...

View attachment 3764895

The only store in my town that sells them is Target. And they do sell out, so if you want some, buy them when they are in stock.

Some brand clear totes are better than others. There is a reason why I now only buy the Hefty Hi Rise 72-quart tote. If you are really interested in this mini-greenhouse tote concept, check out this detailed 30-minute YouTube video on why the Hefty Hi Rise clear tote is better than others, and how to set up your mini-greenhouse...

I have watched many YouTube videos on the mini-greenhouse tote idea, but that video is still my favorite. If you don't have time to watch the whole video, some of the highlights worth mentioning is that the Hefty Hi Rise totes have stronger flat lids, which is important when you invert the tote to use it as a mini-greenhouse. The lid is strong enough to bottom watering and all the pots get watered. Those Hefty totes have the locking lids, which makes them better for carrying out to the deck in the morning or back into the house at night. They are made to stack one on top of another when inverted, so they take much less space than other brands. Also, he shows you where to drill your vent holes, which is on the sides, NOT on the top because if it rains, your vent holes on top will let water in and could drown out your plants.

Anyways, for those interested in making a mini-greenhouse from clear totes, that video is still the best one I have found on this subject and well worth the 30 minutes to watch the entire thing.

I now have 4 of those Hefty Hi Rise 72-quart clear totes, and plan on buying at least 2 more this year. Last year I started a number of plants inside the house and had great success using those totes as mini-greenhouses carrying them out to our backyard deck and back into the house at night. This year, I hope to start even more plants so I will need more totes. Until I get my dream walk-in greenhouse, these totes will get the job done.

Right now the tote is more to just keep the cat from laying on and jumping on them. It was supposed to be filled with dirt, but the chickens scratched enough out over last summer that I ended up emptying one into all the others to get them back to full.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I mainly grew cherry tomatoes last year. They are indeterminant plants, so if you pick them often, they continue to grow more tomatoes. I don't know if all varieties of tomato plants are that way. You would have to check into your particular variety of tomato plant when to start picking.

The splitting of the tomato has something to do with the watering of the plants. I think it indicates over-watering, but I'm not sure. And you can't control the weather if it rains a lot. If I get any split tomatoes, I pick them and use them as soon as possible.

Yeah, these were the yellow pear tomatoes, but I think they couldn't as cherry tomatos

 

[JacinLarkwell]

The plants were guzzling the water last year, but I'll be drilling air holes into the totes, it's possible that they were still rather moist at the bottom of the totes even though they were cracker dry at the tops

 

[Sally PB]

Here's what I've found re: cherry tomatoes cracking.

Some varieties are worse for this. Unfortunately, I don't have names...

Sometimes we'll have minimal rain, so I keep the tomato plants watered. Then we get a deluge, and the plants drink up a lot of water, and pump it into the fruit. The skin is too tough to stretch OR too thin to withstand the pressure, and the skin splits.

Look for varieties that say, "Resists cracking." They seem to do better.