I think I'm going no-till - Page 4

Redbaron · June 5, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

Scott I wish I was on Facebook to vote is there any other way to vote?
Worth

I wish there was, but there isn't. I am seeing about 1 in 100 views actually voting for various reasons. I am guessing the other 99's main reason is they either can't or don't want to verify with Facebook. But I do have close to 150 votes and 15 days to get the last 100. Guessing most of the 150 came from Tomatoville. ie People who have been following The Red Baron Project for a few years now. I am very grateful whether I get the grant or not.

Worth1 · June 17, 2015

You may be too low in P and K but I have never have low yields due to too much nitrogen.
And I mean up to the point of burning the tips of the leaves.

But that is in Texas and not where you live.

worth

Redbaron · June 17, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

You may be too low in P and K but I have never have low yields due to too much nitrogen.
And I mean up to the point of burning the tips of the leaves.

But that is in Texas and not where you live.

worth

All nitrogen is not created equal. However, the symptom of rank foliage with little fruit set also depends on cultivar response to high nitrogen.

I found this from 1934: New Jersey State Horticultural Society News

In the bottom of the first page and the beginning of the second they discuss that the (at the time) new variety Rutgers shouldn't be fertilised with as much nitrogen as the Pritchard cultivars, or else "the vines may be too rank and the fruit will be late in setting and developing"

Almost all commercial varieties now a days, and a lot of OP varieties too, although they are not Rutgers, they do have Rutgers in their parentage somewhere. So I would suspect that is very likely what's going on.

Other things to consider are pollinators, maybe companion plants like basil and borage? A high tunnel does block a lot of wind too. I personally would take the cover right off the whole high tunnel for now and try and get some natural predators attracted (or bought) to deal with the whiteflies.

Cole_Robbie · June 17, 2015

I'm injecting 4-18-38 into the drip. I am noticing good flowering right now on my indeterminate outdoor plants, so maybe the lack of early fruitset was due to our rainy, cloudy weather.

Worth1 · June 17, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

I'm injecting 4-18-38 into the drip. I am noticing good flowering right now on my indeterminate outdoor plants, so maybe the lack of early fruitset was due to our rainy, cloudy weather.

That is exactly what happened to me this year the blooms were just too wet for some varieties.

Worth

Cole_Robbie · June 17, 2015

My plants are like trees. I keep seeing birds in them. They are probably building nests.

By the end of the year, my 50'x50' garden is going to look like a house-sized chunk of tomato vines dropped out of the sky.

Cole_Robbie · June 17, 2015

Thanks for the tip. Do you have to follow it up with water? I never know when I am supposed to leave spray dry on the plant indefinitely, versus wash it off at some point, especially in the high tunnel, which doesn't get rain to wash the plants off.

heirloomtomaguy · June 17, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Thanks for the tip. Do you have to follow it up with water? I never know when I am supposed to leave spray dry on the plant indefinitely, versus wash it off at some point, especially in the high tunnel, which doesn't get rain to wash the plants off.

Im in Southern California its like being in a high tunnel it never rains here either

I leave it on the plants and they do just fine for me. Since i found this product i have never been happier with the results.

Mike723 · June 17, 2015

Hope it works out for you Cole.. I finally ditched my ez-flo.. Got sick of toying with it.. I initially thought I was flowing just fine but it seems to stop half way through. I began around 600ppm and an hour into it I got down to 300 (in the reservoir) - another hour and I was still at 300ppm.. Two hours worth of watering and still not done?! It's just a cheaply made homeowner deal so I wasn't expecting perfection, but..... Between setup time and the lacking efficacy it'll just be easier to go back to the ol' hand feeding..

Cole_Robbie · June 17, 2015

Yeah, I am ticked at EZ Flo, too. Their main fitting leaked, so I gave dripworks $20 for a new one. The old one broke taking it apart, and the new one started leaking exactly the same way after the 2nd use. It really is a piece of junk.

Morgan County Seed sells an injector they assemble themselves for each order. It's like $140, a little pricier than the EZ Flo, but less than half what a Dosmatic/Dosatron would cost. That's my next injector.

Worth1 · June 17, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Yeah, I am ticked at EZ Flo, too. Their main fitting leaked, so I gave dripworks $20 for a new one. The old one broke taking it apart, and the new one started leaking exactly the same way after the 2nd use. It really is a piece of junk.

Morgan County Seed sells an injector they assemble themselves for each order. It's like $140, a little pricier than the EZ Flo, but less than half what a Dosmatic/Dosatron would cost. That's my next injector.

I hate to say it but I am glad to hear this about EZ Flow.
I'm glad I didn't buy one.
Thanks for the update.
Worth

Mike723 · June 17, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Yeah, I am ticked at EZ Flo, too. Their main fitting leaked, so I gave dripworks $20 for a new one. The old one broke taking it apart, and the new one started leaking exactly the same way after the 2nd use. It really is a piece of junk.

Morgan County Seed sells an injector they assemble themselves for each order. It's like $140, a little pricier than the EZ Flo, but less than half what a Dosmatic/Dosatron would cost. That's my next injector.

Agreed, it's just so poorly made.. Entire waste of money.. Let me guess, the plastic nipples for the inlet and outlet broke when trying to loosen the bib adapter? That's what happened to mine.. They didn't even snap like a quality plastic, they kinda stretched first and then decided to let go.. lol garbage.. If you would, follow up with your experience dealing with Morgan County's.. Or if I beat you to it I'll do the same lol..

Lindalana · June 18, 2015

Cole, here is recipe from Dan Skow- 2 tbsp of ammonia and 4 tbsp of apple cider vinegar for 2 quarts of water for 1000 sq feet foliar app.
It will switch your growing pattern to fruiting pattern. You need sufficient calcium in the soil for it to work and ammonia can be hard to find.

Cole_Robbie · June 18, 2015

Thanks for the help.

Cole_Robbie · July 12, 2015

Everything came out of the early lack of blooms and is doing quite well. I sold $400 of tomatoes at market this week, which is my best week ever. That is still a paltry sum for someone trying to make money, but almost all of that production came off about 200 row-feet of plants, which is a tiny bit of space for a market garden.

This year has been the wettest summer in recorded history for my location. It turned out to be a great year to go no-till. My mom and stepdad have a couple acres of land in garden...and I just made four times what they made this week. We had seven inches of rain just this week alone, and they can't get into the field to harvest their crops, at least the stuff that hasn't rotted from all the rain. They also can't keep the grass out of their gardens. As soon as they till, it rains, and all the grass comes back again.

I think I'm finally going to convert them to doing things my way. My stepdad is green with envy that I am making more money than him. Instead of using their new tractor to till everything they can, when the summer is over, I am going to use it over the winter to build our new no-till beds.

June 17, 2015	#2
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	You may be too low in P and K but I have never have low yields due to too much nitrogen. And I mean up to the point of burning the tips of the leaves. But that is in Texas and not where you live. worth

June 17, 2015	#4
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	I'm injecting 4-18-38 into the drip. I am noticing good flowering right now on my indeterminate outdoor plants, so maybe the lack of early fruitset was due to our rainy, cloudy weather.

June 17, 2015	#9
Mike723 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: CT Posts: 290	Hope it works out for you Cole.. I finally ditched my ez-flo.. Got sick of toying with it.. I initially thought I was flowing just fine but it seems to stop half way through. I began around 600ppm and an hour into it I got down to 300 (in the reservoir) - another hour and I was still at 300ppm.. Two hours worth of watering and still not done?! It's just a cheaply made homeowner deal so I wasn't expecting perfection, but..... Between setup time and the lacking efficacy it'll just be easier to go back to the ol' hand feeding..

June 18, 2015	#13
Lindalana Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Chicago IL Posts: 857	Cole, here is recipe from Dan Skow- 2 tbsp of ammonia and 4 tbsp of apple cider vinegar for 2 quarts of water for 1000 sq feet foliar app. It will switch your growing pattern to fruiting pattern. You need sufficient calcium in the soil for it to work and ammonia can be hard to find.

July 12, 2015	#15
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	Everything came out of the early lack of blooms and is doing quite well. I sold $400 of tomatoes at market this week, which is my best week ever. That is still a paltry sum for someone trying to make money, but almost all of that production came off about 200 row-feet of plants, which is a tiny bit of space for a market garden. This year has been the wettest summer in recorded history for my location. It turned out to be a great year to go no-till. My mom and stepdad have a couple acres of land in garden...and I just made four times what they made this week. We had seven inches of rain just this week alone, and they can't get into the field to harvest their crops, at least the stuff that hasn't rotted from all the rain. They also can't keep the grass out of their gardens. As soon as they till, it rains, and all the grass comes back again. I think I'm finally going to convert them to doing things my way. My stepdad is green with envy that I am making more money than him. Instead of using their new tractor to till everything they can, when the summer is over, I am going to use it over the winter to build our new no-till beds.