Garden Update

Well it has been a few months now since I planted my first seeds and seedlings and what a remarkable journey it has been. I have learnt so much and will do better next year.

This is my initial thoughts on my plants.

Tomatoes:

• Tommy Toe - a great performer - especially since I planted it in a hanging basket.

• Wild Sweetie - another that I planted in the hanging basket. Very tiny currant sized bright red tomato. Has done well considering.

• Blueberry - a very cute bush with tasty crimson with purple topped cherry tomatoes.

• Black Cherry - a good strong bush with a good strong flavoured tomato.

• Ananas Noir - a beefstake with a large tomato and a very thick stemmed bush. The first crop suffered from blossom end rot and the next blooms are now ripening so I haven't been able to taste yet.

• Wapsipinicon Peach - a yellow tomato with a very slight fuzz. Not as fuzzy as a peach and you can't taste the fuzz. This has been reviewed as so sweet it could be a desert tomato. I am not that fussed with it as it is missing the acidic tomato zing completely. Great for people who can't eat acidic food or maybe for young kids. Also very soft.

• Jaune Flammee - The first crop was taken by blossom end rot and grubs. The next bloom is ripening so I haven't been able to taste yet.

• Yellow Ripple - a currant sized tomato with a nice zing and a great crunch to it. Becoming a favourite.

• Red and Black (otherwise known as Indigo Apple).  A lovely tasting soft skinned tomato with a bright red bottom and black / dark purple shoulders. Salad sized.

• Tigerella - a great performer with an abundance of salad sized tomatoes. A gorgeous orange with golden stripes.

• Beefsteak (mixed selection). Still growing. I planted 2 different types (apart from the Ananas Noir) but won't know what they are until they ripen as they come from a "rainbow mixed" packet.

• Tiny Tim - a "patio" variety which was late planted and still growing.

• Unknown. I have an unknown tomato that came in the packet of blueberry tomatoes. It is growing nicely and is a salad sized pink tomato with green shoulders.

The sunrise bumblebee and Pink Bumblebee seedlings died in the heat we had - my fault. I will try them next year.

I was also lucky enough to have a great packet of unknown tomato seeds gifted to me from Connie who I "met" through a Facebook gardening group. I shall plant out and see how these go.

I have decided to do a spotlight post in more depth on each tomato on a weekly / fortnightly basis.

Chilies

• Jalapeno
• Thai Demon
• Trinidad Scorpion
• Habanero
• Yellow 7 Pot

The habaneros, jalaenos and Thai Demon are going great guns. The others did not take.

Lettuce

• Crispmint - not really impressed with this. There are much nicer lettuces out there.

• Mignonette - very nice.

• Celtuce - won't grow this again. I grew it in my vegepod and the soil wasn't the greatest and they didn't produce a nice stalk to use and the novelty has worn off.

• Baby Cos - doing great.

• Red Flame - a beautiful looking soft leaf lettuce. Very nice.

As well as carrots, radish, Baby Broccoli, Mini Muncher cucumbers, sugar snap peas, capsicum, strawberries, parsnips and cucamelons. I have also planted a finger lime tree.

Things I have learnt:

1. As I said in my previous post - you need to have a good sized pot if you are not planting in the ground.

2. Feeding is vital. When I planted my tomatoes I read about adding this and that to prevent this and that. Well I thought that I didn't need to add things as I wasn't planting in tired old garden soil but in premium potting mix with everything already added including slow release fertilizer that feeds for 3 months!!!! I did use seasol and liquid fertilizer but worried that I was over feeding as the plants started to go yellow and get diseases. So I cut back on the liquid fertilizer. Ha - you live and learn. 

The first lot I planted out (Tommy Toe, Tigerella and Red and Black) were thin and yellow. I was picking off dead branches and the bushes looked like they were dying. I said to myself that I shouldn't expect a long haul when planting in pots. My larger tomatoes were also getting blossom end rot. 

When I was cleaning up the shed I found some old dynamic lifter. I thought it couldn't hurt the dying plants so I just put a handful in each pot. Within a week it had all turned around. Within 2 weeks the bushes were lush with new growth and heaps of tomato flowers. Go Dynamic Lifter!!!

I also added some old blood and bone I found in the shed for the blossom end rot and it seems to have worked. It must have been over 10 years old..... I purchased some Dolomite Lime and will mix that up and add too.

3.Tomato cages need to be solid. I purchased some great 27 litre (7 gallon) tomato pots. They were labelled as tomato pots and came with a tomato cage that you put together. Hmmmmm.... as you can see the tomato cage was no match for the thick stem and heavy tomatoes of Ananas Noir.

Here it is staked up and supported with a better bigger cage.

Enjoy your garden. My next post will be a spotlight on Broad Ripple Yellow Tomato.