Since you have it in containers and it won't pop up like a weed out of season, you could let it go to seed and collect them for sowing later. I usually get the best germination from the romaine seeds. 
That's a pretty cool idea. I will definitely try that. I think the tomato cage will actually fit upside down, but if it doesn't I could get a smaller sized one maybe. The only thing thats grown enough for me to harvest so far are the salad greens. Very tasty. Wish I had more so I could eat more lol. Can the outer leaves of the Romaine be harvested too? Some of them are drooping as new growth is growing out of the inner bulb. I'm dying to eat them!sepeters wrote:Your garden looks so good! Everything is getting big fast! Love those mild CA winters! Good plan with the lettuce, that should keep it from bolting for a while.
I never thought of growing green beans in a pot. Looks like it's going well! If they are bush beans they don't really need a cage, but will benefit from some support. I see the cage in the background of the picture and I have actually used them for my blue lake bush beans in the garden bed by turning it upside down, tying the loose prongs together, direct seeding the beans around the outside by each vertical wire. It'll grow up along it, but not necessarily attached to it. This makes the beans easier to harvest and my bush beans seem to get bigger when they have support. Don't tie it to the cage though, in your hot summer the beans will naturally fall over somewhat to protect themselves from the heat. The cage might fit in your pot that way, and will definitely fit the other way, which may work better for your plant placement.
What all are you eating from your garden so far?
Tango is the go-to variety and would probably grow very well in your area. It grows smooth, juicy stalks, is more upright than many other varieties and responds well to blanching. It likes the cold and doesn't tolerate drying out at all, so I think your humidity would be good for it. It is a short season variety, but you will still need to start the seeds indoors. I start mine 2 months before I put it outside when it is beginning to cool down for fall, but you could probably start yours in the spring in your climate, if you get them sown asap.Happy Days wrote:Thanks for the celergy tips. What varieties do you recommend?
Happy Days- I am going to start a separate thread about celeriac so we don't take up too much room in here, and also so we can get the input of others. I myself have only grown one kind and am new to growing for the root. Lets see what everybody has to say!Happy Days wrote:I have thought about the celeriac and do believe I will try that. Are there varieties and, if so, which do you recommend?
Because I saw a few youtube videos advising not to pinch brandy wine suckers. Anyone can make a video though. Was hoping for a more concrete answer. Should I? There are two tiny suckers forming and if its necessary I'd like to pinch them now.applestar wrote:I grew chard indoors for my daughter last winter and it never had any more than three leaves at a time because I kept picking a leaf as soon as one got big enough for a sandwich.
You say you are pinching the suckers on the early girl tomato, but I seem to see three growing tips? It looks almost too lush to me, though I tend to under fertilize mine. Is early girl determinate or indeterminate? I haven't grown that variety in ages and don't remember. Determinate varieties shouldn't be pinched because they grow branches that self-terminate with flower trusses.
Brandywine is indeterminate. Why did you say you are not pinching the suckers? (maybe I should read the rest of the earlier posts).... Do you know if this is a "Sudduth" strain? ...usually, it's the indeterminates that are trained to a single vine by pinching the branch stems/suckers to save space. But "Sudduth" strain Brandywine has a rep for being a poor producer (though some people say otherwise) and its also a later maturing variety, though everyone agrees that when the fruits are finally ready, they are scrumptious.
Be careful not to give the tomatoes (and other fruiting crops) too much nitrogen. People who use a lot of scheduled fertilizers way there is a point when you need to switch over to high blooming/fruiting fertilizer like tomato-tone.
rainbowgardener wrote:You do know the Neem oil is not a poison that kills on contact? It works after ingestion, as a biodisrupter, interfering with the insects' processes, including ability to eat & procreate. It takes a little while to see results. It may be that the Neem was working fine and you just didn't give it enough time.
However it has to be ingested, so it works better against leaf eaters. The aphids are suckers not chewers, so they may not ingest enough just boring through.
Soapy water should work against the aphids. Or you can just squish them -- they are slow and stupid and just sit there and let you do that. I have a couple plants that get covered in aphids every spring. I just go over them with a tissue, squishing everything. That seems to take care of it, and they don't come back until the next spring.
I love how we all learn from each other here!
The romaine is getting tall because it is beginning to bolt and will flower soon. Do you plan to collect seed from it?
Dillbert wrote:how does that look? spectacular - nice work!
ref
"The brandywine has tripled in size!"
some dude in a shark movie said it best when it comes to Brandywines....
"You're gonna need a bigger boat . . . "
mine routinely go to 5-6 high & 6-8 feet in diameter.
pruners,,,, pruners are your friend (g)
sepeters wrote:Everything looks great! Is that the zucchini to the left of the romaine? Or the eggplant? (I must be goin blind.) I was wondering if I could put squash in a pot...now I know!
Betcha can't wait to eat those brandywines!!!
Sure, you may have spent more money on the initial investment of the pots, soil, ferts, etc, than you will save the first year, but that is typical of any first year garden. You'll be able to use all that stuff for several years to come with only a small investment to amend the soil and buy new fert. Besides, there are few hobbies as rewarding as gardening and the benefits you reap are much larger than the harvest ever will be.
I loved that comment.Strawberries. I wish I had more space to plant more! 1 treat a week is too much of a tease:
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