Friday, December 2, 2016

Update: Beginning of December


It's snowing tonight, and I'm still eating tomatoes directly off the plants.  We're down to about 35 containers of primarily tomatoes, then garlic, and some with strawberries, basil, and spearmint.  The fruits on the strawberry plants are struggling, but everything else is doing very well.  There's only one container that's five gallons; all the others are smaller.  All are now indoors.

A note on the Cherokee Purple tomato---
First, I thought it was a "bush" plant; it's not...it's "vine" (indeterminate growth).
Secondly, though the fruits were slow in coming, they are delicious.  They're being grown in containers ranging from a 2.5-gallon pail to small dog food bags to a large coffee can.  All are producing, but only a few fruits at a time... which is okay with me.

There's a greenhouse tomato called the "Moneymaker".  It's okay in terms of taste, but I rank it below the Cherry tomato and the Cherokee Purple.  Those two have the best taste in my garden.

I attribute the moderate success of the garden to the following:
1.  potting soil with a bit of perlite and mulch (mulch both mixed into the soil and as litter on the soil surface);
2.  Epsom Salt solution for magnesium, coffee grounds for a variety of nutrients, watered-down lowfat or fat-free milk for calcium, and a buried half banana for potassium & other nutrients;
3.  pruning of tomatoes...especially the lower branches & any dying/dead leaves anywhere on the plant;
4.  no over-watering of the containers;
5.  and finally, a very light spraying of the tomato container soil surface with well-diluted white vinegar...once in a blue moon.

See previous posts for details on the points above.
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The piece on composting is being postponed until late winter or early spring.
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Happy Container Gardening, and Be Well