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Old August 2, 2018   #416
greenthumbomaha
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Omaha Zone 5
Posts: 2,514
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Punta Banda is doing exceptionally well for me in the heat. I have no basis of comparison growing in a normal season with average rain as this is my first year.

Punta Banda is very bushy, unlike anything I've grown before. I didn't get it caged at planting, and in a short time it was impossible to scoop up the branches. If this is one of your container plants Salt, something like a short round chicken wire fence going around the container rim might keep it from being a mess.

- Lisa


Quote:
Originally Posted by AlittleSalt View Post
It's less than 24 hours later here at 1am. Those plants are looking even better. I should pot them up tomorrow even though the temperature is going to be around 110F/43.3C. I should get 5 or 6 plants potted up. Going by what I have read, the timing is on-track for this area. Both varieties are not the earliest producers 70-75 days DTM, so I will be pushing it depending on the weather. If the first frost or freeze is in mid-November like it is supposed to be - then there is plenty of time. However, as a child and as a parent, I remember children dressing up as a jacket and coat wearing creature on Halloween.

The plants that you don't see in the trays are Big Beef F1 - the heat was too much for them. The other plants were supposed to be Juliet F1 from 2013 - they chose not to germinate. If I had known that those two would not play well with others, I would have planted Punta Banda instead.

Punta Banta will grow and produce in the desert. A friend sent me seeds that he saved and he lives in the desert. There are tomatoes that will grow and produce in the heat.

So what does that have to do with container gardening? Everything. Containers can be moved to follow the sun. Tomato plants grow large - so it's time to think outside of the box. A cage that could be moved with the tomato plant without disturbing it. If you have a place where the summer solstice and winter solstice doesn't influence your growing - think of yourself as lucky or experienced. I don't have that luxury. Shade trees much older than me have my respect. I won't cut any down so I can grow tomatoes. Instead, I will adjust.
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