Hey Fellow Floridians - Year 2 - Page 144

Fiishergurl · November 16, 2016

Below is what my leaves look like in the mornings. I have this much or more dew every morning unless the wind is howling which it hasnt been in a while. I have been pruning the overlapping leaves twice a week and also removing ones that have melted like the one below.

Still having a lot of blossoms. The picture doesnt show them all because so many are hiding behind leaves. I dont know how many will set with this dew being so bad and all my excessive pruning, but time will tell I guess. the days are cooler, shorter and wetter so my growing conditions arent as good as they were a few weeks ago.

One large blossom (double?) was pointing straight up so gets completely soaked every night. Curious to see if it will make it. The stem isnt rotting or showing signs of dropping yet but the flower itself doesnt look so good.

Ginny

ginger2778 · November 16, 2016

Ginny, please tell what you mean by melting? I don't see disease or dissolved leaf. Trying to understand.
I see that, and first thingthe cages get a vigorous shaking, speeds up the drying process. I'm not pruning that much yet, just to keep the laterals down and allow air flow, but I probably will soon.

Fiishergurl · November 16, 2016

Marsha,

That is just a word I made up to try to describe it. The top leaf is so wet and damaged from the water and cold it basically had very little substance left to it (basically the leaf started dying) and was stuck to the leaf it was on top of. It is from too many days of being wet all night long I guess and even though you cant see the disease in the picture you can see it in person around the edges. When it dried it would just shrivel up (which I know from having this happen to a few leaves each morning and I have let them dry and yhey didnt recover) so I pinched it off. I am only 40 yards from lots and lots of water and everything here is wetter than most areas.

Ginny

Barb_FL · November 16, 2016

Marsha - No tulle at all on this set of cucumber plants. Started before the hurricane and moved into their final home (root pouch). The bad moths (well all are bad, but the worms that spawn pickle worms are the worst) have been gone since early October. I think I mentioned that before but probably got lost in too much wordiness.

We should be good to go tulle-free until May.

Ginny - Did you have dew that like this AM? We had none; one plant was knocked over from the wind.

I need to prune-prune-prune today.

-------
Ginny - On the Masterblend formula, AKMARK and RickyShaw feed it every watering. For the Root Pouches, I first douse with plain water to wet everything. Then water again with the Masterblend Formula. When it was hot in the afternoon, I watered with plain water.

If I watered with the Masterblend Formula ALL the time, I would be making it ALL the time. I'm making it in 10 gallon containers now using about 25 gallons per day. Making it is much more of a drag than just using TTF. BTW - I tested the PH of TTF and it is perfect. With Masterblend, you ALWAYS need to adjust the PH. ALSO, the other products I bought to test, (FLORANOVA and MAXIGROW need PH adjustment too with MAXI-BLOOM needs adjusted the most)

For the EB, not only did I do the fert strip; I used 4 cups of Fert. (most were 3 Cups TT and 1 Cup Plant Tone).

When I add the masterblend Formula to the EB, I add 1/2 Gallon of it. I also do this early and don't add water with the hose until I am done watering EVERYTHING.

Watering/Feeding is very time consuming. Hopefully, this experiment works out and next season I can have far fewer plants.

-------------
Weighing fruit - After seeing Ella do it, I was going to do it also. Not cherries obviously.

Fiishergurl · November 16, 2016

Barb not sure if you can see it but there is a 15 inch long puddle of water on this folding table we have outside. I just took this picture. That is totally from dew as it was dry last night before dark and it did not rain overnight. Everything here is soaked almost every morning. Even if it is windy during the day the winds usually lay down at night and the dew settles on everything. Just a side effect of being so close to so much water.

I looked at the master blend combined formula npk and it doesnt seem to be too far off from the ratio of the TTF if you multiply the TTF numbers by 5. Although I dont know anything about that so what doesnt seem like a big difference to me might make a huge difference to the plants.

I'm not using any fert strip at all and I use two tablespoons of TTF per EB about every other day. Probably next week I will quit using it for 3 or 4 waterings to try to flush the plants. Was just waiting for some of these blossoms to set first.

Ginny

Barb_FL · November 16, 2016

Ginny - Yes I can see that plus all the other spots unless they are part of the table. With all that dew, you probably need to water less.

I think what you are doing with TTF is very similar to the Masterblend series. I don't think AKMARK flushes at all.

I bought 4 Gallon of products from the UrbanFarm folks. I feed my cucumber the Veggie product that is why I am reminded how simple it is.

Today, I made 20 gallons of mix and 3 gallons of a combined MaxiGrow/MaxiBloom for the cherry tomatoes. I have all these "BLOOM" products and the pros (AKMARK, etc) don't use them.

I found that if I mix in a small container and then pour in the large one it goes so much faster.

On the negative, I am still seeing random BER on some plants far up - definitely NOT the first 10 or so tomatoes. For example, this AM I took off 2 of a cluster of 5 that had BER where the others didn't and tomatoes way lower to the potting mix are fine. It is mostly with the RootPouches but does occur infrequently in the EB.

Some plants have had no BER; no hybrids had BER.

Barb_FL · November 16, 2016

One more thing, I AM LOVING MY EARTHBOXES again.

Fiishergurl · November 16, 2016

Barb,

Those spots are water also. The table is warped so some of them end up puddling together.

I counted tomatoes after reading your post. One Sgt Peppers plant has 25ish tomatoes but other than the cherry plants that is the most and those are spread around the plant not just in one area so mine are behind yours for sure. There are atill alot of blooms but I wonder if I am over pruning. I guess time will tell. I dont use sprays anymore so trying to keep the grey mold at bay with pruning. My gut tells me I am doing too much pruning but my hands wont stop... lol.

I hope I can have the self contol to weigh the tomatoes throughout the whole season. I dont have the stick to it type of skills for documenting things like that. What I mean is I will pick tomatoes and give them to a neighbor on the fly and forget to weigh. But I want to learn so I'm going to try.... :-)

Marsha sounds like your plants are going gangbusters too. Yay!

Ginny

Fiishergurl · November 16, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

One more thing, I AM LOVING MY EARTHBOXES again.

So glad to hear it. I love mine too... :-) i only have 12 tomato plants planted in 6 EB's. Not Purple Strawberry got completely stunted by the hurricane. It is only a couple feet tall so we will see if it is able to make a come back. The other plants are between 5 to 6 feet plus. The only other plant I am disappointed in so far is the Cow's Tit. But to be fair Cows Tit and NPS are in the same EB so maybe there is something wrong in the EB mix.

Ginny

ginger2778 · November 16, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fiishergurl

So glad to hear it. I love mine too... :-) i only have 12 tomato plants planted in 6 EB's. Not Purple Strawberry got completely stunted by the hurricane. It is only a couple feet tall so we will see if it is able to make a come back. The other plants are between 5 to 6 feet plus. The only other plant I am disappointed in so far is the Cow's Tit. But to be fair Cows Tit and NPS are in the same EB so maybe there is something wrong in the EB mix.

Ginny

Sure sounds like it is a bad single EB mix.
My Sgt Peppers have 7 fruits forming and many more blossoms with that set fruit look. NPS is going crazy so is Dana's DR, and many others. Actually most, I keep pinching myself is this real?

Barb_FL · November 16, 2016

Actually all the seeds I got from my TV friends are doing fantastic.

Dana's DR is going gangbusters in both EB and RP. Same with General Lee.
Marsha, did you plant GL this season?

The only one of my plants with 0 fruit set is NBD - both of them. Both healthy plants with flowers (in RP)

Barb_FL · November 16, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by ginger2778

.
I keep pinching myself is this real?

I think this Tomato season in FL is like the Mango season was this summer.

jpop · November 16, 2016

Wow, everything you guys are doing looks fantastic. glad to hear everyone is having a great start to the season. I feel left out and so far behind as I found it hard to commit in the August heat and humidity plus a crazy work and family schedule. I hope to have similar success w/ the weather.

ginger2778 · November 16, 2016

No GL this season but I would certainly grow again. I committed myself to too many slots for some experimental grow outs. I thought Gen. Lee was just delicious and a very strong good producer. It's a cross from the same man that did Captain Lucky and First Mate.

Barb_FL · November 16, 2016

Buzzz

November 16, 2016	#2153
Fiishergurl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Oak Hill, Florida Posts: 1,781	Barb, Those spots are water also. The table is warped so some of them end up puddling together. I counted tomatoes after reading your post. One Sgt Peppers plant has 25ish tomatoes but other than the cherry plants that is the most and those are spread around the plant not just in one area so mine are behind yours for sure. There are atill alot of blooms but I wonder if I am over pruning. I guess time will tell. I dont use sprays anymore so trying to keep the grey mold at bay with pruning. My gut tells me I am doing too much pruning but my hands wont stop... lol. I hope I can have the self contol to weigh the tomatoes throughout the whole season. I dont have the stick to it type of skills for documenting things like that. What I mean is I will pick tomatoes and give them to a neighbor on the fly and forget to weigh. But I want to learn so I'm going to try.... :-) Marsha sounds like your plants are going gangbusters too. Yay! Ginny Last edited by Fiishergurl; November 16, 2016 at 12:15 PM.

November 16, 2016	#2146
Fiishergurl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Oak Hill, Florida Posts: 1,781	Below is what my leaves look like in the mornings. I have this much or more dew every morning unless the wind is howling which it hasnt been in a while. I have been pruning the overlapping leaves twice a week and also removing ones that have melted like the one below. Still having a lot of blossoms. The picture doesnt show them all because so many are hiding behind leaves. I dont know how many will set with this dew being so bad and all my excessive pruning, but time will tell I guess. the days are cooler, shorter and wetter so my growing conditions arent as good as they were a few weeks ago. One large blossom (double?) was pointing straight up so gets completely soaked every night. Curious to see if it will make it. The stem isnt rotting or showing signs of dropping yet but the flower itself doesnt look so good. Ginny

November 16, 2016	#2147
ginger2778 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10 Posts: 9,283	Ginny, please tell what you mean by melting? I don't see disease or dissolved leaf. Trying to understand. I see that, and first thingthe cages get a vigorous shaking, speeds up the drying process. I'm not pruning that much yet, just to keep the laterals down and allow air flow, but I probably will soon.

November 16, 2016	#2148
Fiishergurl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Oak Hill, Florida Posts: 1,781	Marsha, That is just a word I made up to try to describe it. The top leaf is so wet and damaged from the water and cold it basically had very little substance left to it (basically the leaf started dying) and was stuck to the leaf it was on top of. It is from too many days of being wet all night long I guess and even though you cant see the disease in the picture you can see it in person around the edges. When it dried it would just shrivel up (which I know from having this happen to a few leaves each morning and I have let them dry and yhey didnt recover) so I pinched it off. I am only 40 yards from lots and lots of water and everything here is wetter than most areas. Ginny

November 16, 2016	#2149
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 2,000	Marsha - No tulle at all on this set of cucumber plants. Started before the hurricane and moved into their final home (root pouch). The bad moths (well all are bad, but the worms that spawn pickle worms are the worst) have been gone since early October. I think I mentioned that before but probably got lost in too much wordiness. We should be good to go tulle-free until May. Ginny - Did you have dew that like this AM? We had none; one plant was knocked over from the wind. I need to prune-prune-prune today. ------- Ginny - On the Masterblend formula, AKMARK and RickyShaw feed it every watering. For the Root Pouches, I first douse with plain water to wet everything. Then water again with the Masterblend Formula. When it was hot in the afternoon, I watered with plain water. If I watered with the Masterblend Formula ALL the time, I would be making it ALL the time. I'm making it in 10 gallon containers now using about 25 gallons per day. Making it is much more of a drag than just using TTF. BTW - I tested the PH of TTF and it is perfect. With Masterblend, you ALWAYS need to adjust the PH. ALSO, the other products I bought to test, (FLORANOVA and MAXIGROW need PH adjustment too with MAXI-BLOOM needs adjusted the most) For the EB, not only did I do the fert strip; I used 4 cups of Fert. (most were 3 Cups TT and 1 Cup Plant Tone). When I add the masterblend Formula to the EB, I add 1/2 Gallon of it. I also do this early and don't add water with the hose until I am done watering EVERYTHING. Watering/Feeding is very time consuming. Hopefully, this experiment works out and next season I can have far fewer plants. ------------- Weighing fruit - After seeing Ella do it, I was going to do it also. Not cherries obviously.

November 16, 2016	#2150
Fiishergurl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Oak Hill, Florida Posts: 1,781	Barb not sure if you can see it but there is a 15 inch long puddle of water on this folding table we have outside. I just took this picture. That is totally from dew as it was dry last night before dark and it did not rain overnight. Everything here is soaked almost every morning. Even if it is windy during the day the winds usually lay down at night and the dew settles on everything. Just a side effect of being so close to so much water. I looked at the master blend combined formula npk and it doesnt seem to be too far off from the ratio of the TTF if you multiply the TTF numbers by 5. Although I dont know anything about that so what doesnt seem like a big difference to me might make a huge difference to the plants. I'm not using any fert strip at all and I use two tablespoons of TTF per EB about every other day. Probably next week I will quit using it for 3 or 4 waterings to try to flush the plants. Was just waiting for some of these blossoms to set first. Ginny

November 16, 2016	#2151
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 2,000	Ginny - Yes I can see that plus all the other spots unless they are part of the table. With all that dew, you probably need to water less. I think what you are doing with TTF is very similar to the Masterblend series. I don't think AKMARK flushes at all. I bought 4 Gallon of products from the UrbanFarm folks. I feed my cucumber the Veggie product that is why I am reminded how simple it is. Today, I made 20 gallons of mix and 3 gallons of a combined MaxiGrow/MaxiBloom for the cherry tomatoes. I have all these "BLOOM" products and the pros (AKMARK, etc) don't use them. I found that if I mix in a small container and then pour in the large one it goes so much faster. On the negative, I am still seeing random BER on some plants far up - definitely NOT the first 10 or so tomatoes. For example, this AM I took off 2 of a cluster of 5 that had BER where the others didn't and tomatoes way lower to the potting mix are fine. It is mostly with the RootPouches but does occur infrequently in the EB. Some plants have had no BER; no hybrids had BER.

November 16, 2016	#2152
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 2,000	One more thing, I AM LOVING MY EARTHBOXES again.

November 16, 2016	#2156
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 2,000	Actually all the seeds I got from my TV friends are doing fantastic. Dana's DR is going gangbusters in both EB and RP. Same with General Lee. Marsha, did you plant GL this season? The only one of my plants with 0 fruit set is NBD - both of them. Both healthy plants with flowers (in RP)

November 16, 2016	#2158
jpop Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: SE Florida Zone 10 Posts: 319	Wow, everything you guys are doing looks fantastic. glad to hear everyone is having a great start to the season. I feel left out and so far behind as I found it hard to commit in the August heat and humidity plus a crazy work and family schedule. I hope to have similar success w/ the weather.

November 16, 2016	#2159
ginger2778 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10 Posts: 9,283	No GL this season but I would certainly grow again. I committed myself to too many slots for some experimental grow outs. I thought Gen. Lee was just delicious and a very strong good producer. It's a cross from the same man that did Captain Lucky and First Mate.