I started container gardening with two containers last year. I did pretty well, so this year I decided to expand. This is one of my container areas, it's 16' long. Except for pepper plants, it seems to be doing pretty well. Not as good as last year, but weather has been much colder here, lots of overcast and no rain.
https://s864.photobucket.com/albums/ab206/Balr14/jpgarden01.jpg
Anyway I have a couple questions. This is a lettuce plant that I've cut the top foot off because it was all flowers. We have eaten all of the largest lower leaves. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me what it is and how much of it is still edible?
https://s864.photobucket.com/albums/ab206/Balr14/jpgarden02.jpg
Last year I planted a yellow pear tomato plant I purchased from Stein's garden center with the brand name of Chef Jeff. It was about 8" tall when I bought and planted it. It gre very large and fast and produced a ton of tomatoes. They are pear shaped and about 1" - 1 1/4" inches around. Everyone loved the taste.
So this year I decided to plant more of these. I bought 3; same garden center, same brand same size. But they aren't yellow, aren't pear shaped and the plants are slow growers and not prolific. Here's an image of a couple of them; they are about 2 1/2" - 3" around. They seem to grow in 2 or 3 to a bunch, whereas the yellow pears grew in clusters of 6 - 8.
https://s864.photobucket.com/albums/ab206/Balr14/jpgarden03.jpg
Is this possibly the result of cross-pollination from other tomato plants on either side? Or are these tomatoes mislabeled?
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stella1751
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rainbowgardener
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Thanks for the replies. I stick the labels in the ground next to any plants I buy; they say Chef Jeff yellow pear on all 3 labels. I'm glad to know it isn't something I caused.
I have already started the second lettuce planting and they are from 1" - 4" high. I'll do a third lettuce planting if I can. It's been very popular with family and friends. You just don't get that sort of variety in the stores. I started with 2 containers for lettuce and think I will expand to 4. Anyway, what kind of lettuce is that tall thing? It didn't have a label and I'd like to plant some more.
I have already started the second lettuce planting and they are from 1" - 4" high. I'll do a third lettuce planting if I can. It's been very popular with family and friends. You just don't get that sort of variety in the stores. I started with 2 containers for lettuce and think I will expand to 4. Anyway, what kind of lettuce is that tall thing? It didn't have a label and I'd like to plant some more.
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stella1751
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In a way, the mix-up in tomatoes will probably prove to be fun for you and maybe for us. It's sort of like buying a grab bag during a Crazy Daze sale. You don't know what you got until you get home. "Getting home" for you will be a long journey, in this case.
Keep posting photos as they grow, and we can all guess. I'm no good at heirlooms; I only grow hybrids. However, what if you got a rare heirloom? Even better, what if they prove to be something extraordinarily rare, something only grown in a NASA experimental laboratory or on a craggy plot off the coast of Newfoundland? The possibilities are endless.
Then there's always the poor person who wanted some gorgeous medium-sized slicers and wound up with Yellow Pears. Based on the photos, I think you actually got lucky with this mislabling incident
Keep posting photos as they grow, and we can all guess. I'm no good at heirlooms; I only grow hybrids. However, what if you got a rare heirloom? Even better, what if they prove to be something extraordinarily rare, something only grown in a NASA experimental laboratory or on a craggy plot off the coast of Newfoundland? The possibilities are endless.
Then there's always the poor person who wanted some gorgeous medium-sized slicers and wound up with Yellow Pears. Based on the photos, I think you actually got lucky with this mislabling incident
Well, I hope whatever kind of tomatoe they are, they are still yellow. That was all the yellows I planted. I already have red, orange and green. I'll post more pictures as they grow.
I suppose I should ask this in the tomato forum, but my understanding is that heirloom tomatoes are those that aren't normally grown commercially because of unatttractive looks, poor yield or something similar. Is this correct?
I suppose I should ask this in the tomato forum, but my understanding is that heirloom tomatoes are those that aren't normally grown commercially because of unatttractive looks, poor yield or something similar. Is this correct?
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stella1751
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Heirloom tomatoes are a breed unto their own. People, far-thinking people, saved seeds from tomatoes that were grown prior to the age of quick genetic fixes designed to make tomatoes more disease resistant and less susceptible to cracking and sunscald and other unsightly blemishes.
Heirlooms are a piece of history that shouldn't be lost. As an organic gardener and a fourth-generation ND farmer, I am happy others are protecting a long-forgotten era of agriculture, a time when people sold their produce locally in the open market, rather than transporting it thousands of miles in a semi to a place where it is, I have heard, gassed for quick ripening prior to short transport to chain supermarkets.
Then there's the flavor. I have also heard that when the disease resistance and attractiveness were bred into the hybrids, the flavor was lost. I think this might be the main reason heirloom tomato growers grow them, but I don't know. As I mentioned, I grow the hybrids.
Years ago, I experimented with an heirloom. I think the name was Golden Queen, but I can't remember. Whatever it was, it had me jumping through hoops to keep it happy. I'm not a lazy gardener, not by any means, but no matter how evenly I watered, the fruit cracked and split. They were also misshapen, awfully misshapen. I was a newer gardener back then, and this was before the information-at-your-fingertips era of the Internet, so when the leaves started having problems, I became frustrated. I think now she probably had verticillium wilt, but I didn't know what her problem was then. I got fruit, but I wasn't excited about it.
I haven't grown an heirloom tomato since. I sweated over those Golden Queens, and they did not reciprocate, if that makes any sense. Now I stick with my pretty, disease-resistant hybrids.
If you click on "sitemap" at the bottom of the screen and scroll down to the H's, I think there are several threads about these tomatoes. They are for gardeners who seriously like a challenge. I think they should be grown and protected for future generations; I just think there are people more patient and less easily frustrated than me to grow them
Heirlooms are a piece of history that shouldn't be lost. As an organic gardener and a fourth-generation ND farmer, I am happy others are protecting a long-forgotten era of agriculture, a time when people sold their produce locally in the open market, rather than transporting it thousands of miles in a semi to a place where it is, I have heard, gassed for quick ripening prior to short transport to chain supermarkets.
Then there's the flavor. I have also heard that when the disease resistance and attractiveness were bred into the hybrids, the flavor was lost. I think this might be the main reason heirloom tomato growers grow them, but I don't know. As I mentioned, I grow the hybrids.
Years ago, I experimented with an heirloom. I think the name was Golden Queen, but I can't remember. Whatever it was, it had me jumping through hoops to keep it happy. I'm not a lazy gardener, not by any means, but no matter how evenly I watered, the fruit cracked and split. They were also misshapen, awfully misshapen. I was a newer gardener back then, and this was before the information-at-your-fingertips era of the Internet, so when the leaves started having problems, I became frustrated. I think now she probably had verticillium wilt, but I didn't know what her problem was then. I got fruit, but I wasn't excited about it.
I haven't grown an heirloom tomato since. I sweated over those Golden Queens, and they did not reciprocate, if that makes any sense. Now I stick with my pretty, disease-resistant hybrids.
If you click on "sitemap" at the bottom of the screen and scroll down to the H's, I think there are several threads about these tomatoes. They are for gardeners who seriously like a challenge. I think they should be grown and protected for future generations; I just think there are people more patient and less easily frustrated than me to grow them
In today's market place an 'heirloom' tomato is anything that is open pollinated (not a hybrid) this includes all of the older commercial varieties that were developed to be successfully grown for market in various parts of the country. The main reason many of these are no longer grown is because they did not ship as well or have as long of a shelf life as newer hybrids (I.e. were not hard as a rock). Many of these are refered to as canning tomatoes, but are good enough for fresh eating. I know of a woman in Montana that exclusively grows heirlooms for her dried tomato business, so you are not restricted to hybrids if you live in a harsh growing climate, you just have to find the heirlooms that grow well in your area.
Wow, I'm learning a lot from you folks! That lettuce was about 4 feet tall before I cut the top off and I vaguely recall seeing a handwritten sign that said Romaine when I bought it. I have Romaine growing in my second lettuce planting.
I have 8 other kinds of tomatoes growing beside the mystery "yellow pears" and half of them are heirloom, I think. You can definitely see the difference. The ones I think are hybrids are going crazy with tomatoes are over the place. The heirlooms lag way behind. I have two green heirlooms that look like they are dying.
I have 8 other kinds of tomatoes growing beside the mystery "yellow pears" and half of them are heirloom, I think. You can definitely see the difference. The ones I think are hybrids are going crazy with tomatoes are over the place. The heirlooms lag way behind. I have two green heirlooms that look like they are dying.