Containers Growing ?

[Worth1]

Salt all I am going to get for a tomato this year is one Cherokee purple and that is it out of three plants.
It is on the counter getting ripe as we speak.
It will be the last year of buying plants, they put them out too late this year, I experimented with new varieties and failed miserably.
The fennel was eaten by snails before it had a chance.
The Basil is doing better than my wildest dreams after the initial onslaught of black spot bacteria stuff.
With the weather this year I didn't have a fighting chance with tomatoes of the type I picked out.

[seaeagle]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Not only will a black container collect heat faster it will also dissipate the heat faster.
The amount either way is negligible all things considered and my opinion.
An option would be to paint a black container flat white.

And a black plastic bucket will last 10 years longer than a white bucket in the sun. That is a guess. I didn't do a controlled test

[AlittleSalt]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Not only will a black container collect heat faster it will also dissipate the heat faster.
The amount either way is negligible all things considered and my opinion.
An option would be to paint a black container flat white.

Originally Posted by seaeagle

And a black plastic bucket will last 10 years longer than a white bucket in the sun. That is a guess. I didn't do a controlled test

I agree with both of you to-a-point. The cheap Walmart 5 gallon buckets are not going to last but for a few years no matter what color they are. Going with white buckets is what I saw in the past as mason. While building a chimney, water in a black bucket gets and stays hot in the summer. Water in a white bucket does not get nearly as hot. I mention building a chimney because there is generally no shade - shade or not is another factor.

We can read a lot of of crap off and online - experience is more reliable to me. If I'm wrong, I will admit it and try to understand why.

[AlittleSalt]

Another night of not being able to go to sleep - they always happen after a very busy day. I am going to take some pictures soon - weather and health permitting. With nerve disease in my neck, shoulders, arms, and hands - sometimes I can't hold the camera still enough.

This year, I'm growing 11 varieties of tomato plants. One variety is Japanese Pink Cherry that are two plants in separate buckets isolated from the rest hoping to get true seeds from them. The other ten are in the container garden.

"The container garden" They are in the same place as raised beds were in 2016 and 2017. Those raised beds did produce well, but RKN, FW3 , and leaffooted bugs did there toll. Last year, I took down the raised beds and started the container garden. To the near northeast is a 100+ year old oak tree that blocks off early morning sun. To the west are trees near as old that starts producing shade around 4pm for some of the plants. Earlier in this thread,
I was worried about moving one of the plants because It doesn't get enough sunlight early in the tomato growing season. But it does get a lot of sun in late May through August. Cutting a tree that is that old is out of the question.

I answered a PM with the thought of over-summering. I have done it in-ground once with Porter in the same area. It can happen. Maybe with all the varieties I planted and planned? Or none? The ten varieties growing in the containers are ones I've never grown - or ones that I have little faith in (Indigo Sun and Ruby and Sunsugar). All three of those had no chance growing in the diseased soil in years past. They are growing and producing well in the buckets this year.
I have a 90 DTM variety growing that my wife chose. I have no idea if it will produce anything?

[GrowingCoastal]

"Cutting a tree that is that old is out of the question."

Good for you! I wish more people thought that way.

[Dewayne mater]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Salt all I am going to get for a tomato this year is one Cherokee purple and that is it out of three plants.
It is on the counter getting ripe as we speak.
It will be the last year of buying plants, they put them out too late this year, I experimented with new varieties and failed miserably.
The fennel was eaten by snails before it had a chance.
The Basil is doing better than my wildest dreams after the initial onslaught of black spot bacteria stuff.
With the weather this year I didn't have a fighting chance with tomatoes of the type I picked out.

Worth - Yes, nearly everyone in N. Tx puts their plants out too late imo. I'm usually putting mine out around Mid March up here in a North of Dallas suburb, sometimes as early as March 1. The common wisdom is April 1. The common wisdom is an idiot. For every day that goes by, the heat builds and soon, it's too late for any more fruit set.

I've been using Raybo's Earthtainers for several years now, in addition to a tomato bed that I follow a drop down line plan. The earthtainers start off in the sunniest spot on my driveway bc that way they warm up the growing medium WAY faster than the the soil in the ground. They are always at least 2 weeks faster and this year it looks more like 4 weeks faster bc of having so much cool, rainy weather this spring. I've already picked 20 slicers and lots of cherries and the ripening is just about to really get going.

For where you are, my plant out dates could still be on the late side. The only issue is, you must be prepared to cover the plants for the late freeze that seems to be inevitable. We had one in late March this year - got down to 34. I still used row cover bc it was also a howling wind and they don't like that either, even if they don't literally freeze. This early planting has turned me from a struggling tomato grower to having all the tomatoes we can eat, turn into sauce and salsa and give away and sometimes still freeze more. Sure, there are lots of other things, but, by far number one is tomatoes will not set fruit once it gets hot and that is usually pretty early - often in May, though not this year. This year, it is just now coming. Good luck!

[AlittleSalt]

There are two short growing seasons here in north central Texas. I'm sure it's the same way in many other places. Earlier in this thread, I wrote about maybe having to move a plant/bucket due to lack of sun because of a tree. I've been thinking about this for over a month. I looked all over our 11+ acres and found plenty of places for another container garden, but most are a long walk with buckets of plant water/food. Then one day I had one of those, "I can't find my glasses...oh they're on my head" type of things happen.

Right across the drainage ditch is an area that gets sun all year long.
I should take some pictures, but it is too cloudy/overcast today. I will get one picture that shows the tree and area. Hmm, I would even "Need" to build a bridge across the drainage ditch. Need is the key word, and I have all of the materials to build a nice bridge. I like it when a plan suddenly happens - even when it was obvious all along.

[AlittleSalt]

I talked to Jan about this on the phone today on her lunch break. She instantly loved the idea, and I was, " okaaaay that's cool." You can see the 2x12 in the picture above. That has been there for years. It is white because it has years of being used on a brick/stone job. Mortar does that to wood. The board is most likely 20 years old or more.

It turns out that Jan likes the bridge idea most. She wants an arched bridge with handrails. I can build a really nice bridge, but it will take a little bit of new treated lumber for the arch supports.

If you are wondering why that swing is yellow and green - It started out gold in the early 1970s as a glider. Eventually, it got painted many different colors, That green is teal.

[Shrinkrap]

Beautiful tree, AlittleSalt.


I love oak trees.

ETA these.

These are probably toddlers, and they are not mine, but I love looking at them. And I have to plant in containers. I'm told it's against the law to cut down oaks here.

The first pic is over my sound wall.

The second is a nearby winery.

Due the cows!

[AlittleSalt]

Originally Posted by Shrinkrap

Beautiful tree, alittlesalt.

I will post some more pictures soon. To me, gardening is 99 percent nature and the 1 percent that we mess with.

[Shrinkrap]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

I will post some more pictures soon. To me, gardening is 99 percent nature and the 1 percent that we mess with.

Yes, please!

[AlittleSalt]

Shrinkrap, as long as this old computer lasts. I will post pictures. It will be sunny again soon. For me, pictures of nature is not off-topic by any means. On any thread I start, I understand that there's more to it than the title.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The peppers grown in the buckets are not tall, but are producing big-time and earlier than ever before. The tomatoes, I don't know what to think yet? Growing in containers is a different story, and not one I grew up with.

[AlittleSalt]

It's finally quiet in my house - no drama - just quiet time at 1am.

I going to expand on what I wrote in the post above "The tomatoes, I don't know what to think yet? Growing in containers is a different story, and not one I grew up with."

I had an interest in gardening from the late 1960s (I was born in 65) When I was 4, I grew green bean seeds from fresh grocery store green beans that my mother was about to cook. They grew and produced enough to eat. It's one of my first memories. I can honestly say that I grew up growing plants in the dirt. (It's not the point, but a good memory.)

The tomatoes, I don't know what to think yet... growing in containers? Well, that's a different story because I am seeing one container grown plant looking a lot like the plants did in 2015 when it rained so much it stunted the plants. I'm seeing wilting after a lot of rain. I guess it might be good for hydro/aqua growing, but I have no clue.

The extra plants that I planted in ground just simply have stayed too wet. DFW and Waco are the closest weather reporting major city areas - both have ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX stations. We live between DFW and Waco, and their local weather people are talking about how much it has rained in the county we live in.

I sound like a broken record when writing about all the rain. Don't get me wrong - I love the rain, but it's not always the gardener's best friend.

Black Eyed Susan seems to love the extra rain, I'll share pictures soon. Eventually it will be sunny and hot.

[AlittleSalt]

I was getting sleepy, but I don't get much time without drama, and I love talking/writing about growing tomatoes and so many other things. Nature is important to me. I planted wild Black Eyed Susan seeds and thistle in the raised beds that I've written about. Morning Glories that have grown there for years - they are extremely invasive and are not growing there.

No mosquitos - it's weird.

[Shrinkrap]

"I had an interest in gardening from the late 1960s (I was born in 65) When I was 4, I grew green bean seeds from fresh grocery store green beans that my mother was about to cook. They grew and produced enough to eat. It's one of my first memories. I can honestly say that I grew up growing plants in the dirt. (It's not the point, but a good memory.)"

ALittleSalt, funny you should mention that! I have memories of gardening from the sixties as well, tomatoes in fact, but not necessarily GOOD memories! My father was born in Alabama, grew up in a family that worked grafting fruit treasure, and by the time he was raising us in Queens, NY, abd grew so many tomatoes I swore I'd never eat another one. And NOW look! I'm still not a huge fan of raw tomatoes, but I sure do love growing them.

My newborns;