morganmac's EB garden 2012

[morganmac]

Ernie, I'm not sure what variety they are. They're Bonnie plants I got at the local nursery, so they just said Roma on them. They're slightly pear-shaped, egg-sized, with no pronounced point on the end. Production was not an issue...we had a little windstorm here and I now have a basket of 40-something blushing and green tomatoes on my kitchen counter from just 2 plants. Very little BER, too...mostly the very first and the very most recent fruit to set. Overall I was very pleased!

[morganmac]

This morning I harvested what I could (ripe or otherwise) from the plants in my EBs and then pulled them out. The tomatoes and peppers were easy, the beans I just detached the trellis netting from the wall and folded the whole thing up like a leafy blanket. The squash was a chore.

In the process I discovered a vine borer had found my yellow squash. I also think I might have inhaled at least a dozen whiteflies. 

But the boxes are stripped of fertilizer and roots. I flooded two of them because ants had set up shop. After they mostly drained, I slapped a mulch cover on them, drained the reservoirs, and rolled them back into place to be used this fall. I hope that's adequate prep for a period of dormancy.

I still have a Mr. Stripey and a jalapeno in non-EB pots that look healthy. I'll let them hang around a while.

I was so sad at the thought of tearing out my plants...but it was actually kind of cathartic. And now I'm excited to be planning for fall!

[carolg]

Thanks Morgan! Wow.  Looks great!
Started tomatoes as plants or seeds?

carolg
zone 4
Denver, CO

[morganmac]

Thanks, carolg. I was planning to start from seed, but my seedlings didn't fare so well. Instead I used Bonnie transplants.

[morganmac]

I finally got my fall planting done! I waited a bit past the recommended starting time because it's been so hot here still, and I didn't want my veggies to roast...yet, anyway. I direct-seeded everything this time...much more idfficult than it was with beans back in the spring. These seeds were tiny!

All seeds are Burpee I grabbed at Lowe's. One box of carrots (Short & sweet, sweet treat hybrid...both of which are suppoedly 4-5" long), one box of lettuce (salad bowl, simpson elite), and one mixed box with what my husband referred to as a "mess o' mesclun" and some upland cress (or creasy greens, as my grandmother called them). The mesclun I just made a long slit and sprinkled the seeds, covered them lightly, and taped the slit back closed in a couple of places. Hope that doesn't hurt anything.

I dumped all the potting mix from each box into my wheelbarrow, added a little fresh mix to make up for what was lost in pulling out the root balls, and mixed in the dolomite. I didn't put the fert in stockings this time, so we'll see if that makes a difference. Also, the water reservoir in one box was Slugfest 2012. I hosed them out...I have no idea if they were present during the growing season, or if they just set up shop in the two months the boxes have been dormant. I'll have to watch them closely, I guess!

[morganmac]

I appear to have had 100% germination with everything I planted. I'd take a picture, but it's pouring out right now and you can't really see anything but a green clump. Now to wait a little bit longer to thin the little guys out. So far this starting things from seed in the EB is not as difficult as I expected.

Of course now watch and the next time I try it NOTHING will grow.

[ryandamartini]

Apologies for resurrecting the dead but for your tomatoes,

Check this out: Its a foliar Ca supplement that is homemade, cheap, and works wonders.
youtube.com/watch?v=Iqh9i57Hu7Q