OFFLINE

Anybody planted one?

Always neat.  And considering how food prices are, and are expected to continue, shooting up, not a bad idea.

I grew up on a tractor and my mom grew 99% of everything she and my stepdad ate.  But alas, I have no green thumb.

I've been trying to grow tomato's for 3 years straight and have failed every time.  They get to a certain size and then just wither and die.

Anybody know the secret to growing tomato's?

OFFLINE

I've wanted to build a green house for many years now. I have a great idea for one after watching Norm Abram do it. We have a lot of rabbits here who also like gardening, only they'd rather eat the prize than plant and grow them lol. So keeping it enclosed seems necessary. But other than that, it'd take a lot of time and practice before my thumb turned green, but I'm absolutely willing to learn.

OFFLINE

Ask Jane !

OFFLINE

Originally Posted by Shawn Ishness:
I've wanted to build a green house for many years now. I have a great idea for one after watching Norm Abram do it. We have a lot of rabbits here who also like gardening, only they'd rather eat the prize than plant and grow them lol. So keeping it enclosed seems necessary. But other than that, it'd take a lot of time and practice before my thumb turned green, but I'm absolutely willing to learn.

One of the things I have learned ...

You'd think that Florida would be a great place to grow stuff since it's all tropical.  Well, that does seem to apply to tropical stuff.  But other things (tomato's) ... no.  The sun either nukes it or, it seems, the soil isn't right.  Most of Florida is really just a big sand bar.

OFFLINE

Originally Posted by Scott Terry:

Originally Posted by Shawn Ishness:
I've wanted to build a green house for many years now. I have a great idea for one after watching Norm Abram do it. We have a lot of rabbits here who also like gardening, only they'd rather eat the prize than plant and grow them lol. So keeping it enclosed seems necessary. But other than that, it'd take a lot of time and practice before my thumb turned green, but I'm absolutely willing to learn.

One of the things I have learned ...

You'd think that Florida would be a great place to grow stuff since it's all tropical.  Well, that does seem to apply to tropical stuff.  But other things (tomato's) ... no.  The sun either nukes it or, it seems, the soil isn't right.  Most of Florida is really just a big sand bar.

If I were to go ahead with my greenhouse idea, I think I'd buy all the soil I'd need. But then I'd have to do some research on that because part of the idea in doing it would be to explore organic gardening, and I'm not sure if the soil you can buy is appropriate for that. I do suspect soil quality and type plays a big role because I know people here can't grow watermelons because the soil isn't right for it, yet an apple, pear, or peach tree grows fairly fine.

On your tomatoes, if memory serves, the people here who grow them well, I don't recall their having them growing in direct sunlight. It does seem they've all been in shaded areas.

OFFLINE

I used to have a green house, high winds destroyed it. Ralph is promising me a new one..... we need a hot house because of weather and critter problems.

Having to keep two houses makes it's difficult to do a garden..... it's a 4 hour drive between houses, can't just go back and forth. I've got an acre in Fallon that I would love to garden, but we're not here enough in the summer....

And we can't safely plant in the ground until after Mother's Day because of the danger of frost.....

As for tomatoes..... don't overwater! NUmber one mistake most people make!

So.... no, no garden this year. Not yet anyhow.

OFFLINE

Originally Posted by Jann Morrison Kostka:
As for tomatoes..... don't overwater! NUmber one mistake most people make!

Yep, that would have definitely been a mistake I'd make  

OFFLINE

i have a bonsai garden.

OFFLINE

Scott...I have a BUNCH of friends who have used those "topsy turvy" tomato planters...and have had great luck with them   See...it's probably TOO warm down there...where you are   I can send you some of our cool weather heh

OFFLINE

http://www.bestofasseenontv.com/topsy_turvy/Topsy_Turvy.html

Here's a link to a page on the planter

OFFLINE

I have a garden.

I've grown tomatoes for about 10 years and went through about 3 of those early years without tomatoes because, well, I don't know why they didn't do well but I seem to be on a roll now.

Tomatoes need full sun.  Full.  Will they grow otherwise?  Yes.  Will you get fruit?  Some.  But the blooms and green tomatoes need lots of sun to mature as quickly as you want them to.  If there is too much shade they just won't ripen.   I'm in Tennessee so it gets really hot during the summer.  I water my tomatoes every day.  Some people don't but I get full, tall (over 5 feet) plants that I need to stake and re-stake because they are heavy with fruit and too tall to stand on their own.
Do not water your tomato plants during the heat of the day.  It will burn the leaves.  I water at the end of the day when the sun goes behind the treeline.  You could do it early morning as well but I just can't roll outta bed before the sun hits the veggie patch.

Go take a look the pics on my profile.  I've got at least 3 years worth of pics of my flowers and veggie patch.  I'ma be quiet now because I DO go on.  LOL

OFFLINE

Originally Posted by Mary Kirkpatrick:
http://www.bestofasseenontv.com/topsy_turvy/Topsy_Turvy.html

Here's a link to a page on the planter

I'll check it out.  Thanks Mary!

OFFLINE

Originally Posted by Jane Jackson:
I have a garden.

I've grown tomatoes for about 10 years and went through about 3 of those early years without tomatoes because, well, I don't know why they didn't do well but I seem to be on a roll now.

Tomatoes need full sun.  Full.  Will they grow otherwise?  Yes.  Will you get fruit?  Some.  But the blooms and green tomatoes need lots of sun to mature as quickly as you want them to.  If there is too much shade they just won't ripen.   I'm in Tennessee so it gets really hot during the summer.  I water my tomatoes every day.  Some people don't but I get full, tall (over 5 feet) plants that I need to stake and re-stake because they are heavy with fruit and too tall to stand on their own.
Do not water your tomato plants during the heat of the day.  It will burn the leaves.  I water at the end of the day when the sun goes behind the treeline.  You could do it early morning as well but I just can't roll outta bed before the sun hits the veggie patch.

Go take a look the pics on my profile.  I've got at least 3 years worth of pics of my flowers and veggie patch.  I'ma be quiet now because I DO go on.  LOL

See!  That's part of my frustration.

We definitely don't want for sunshine in FL, I only water them in the evenings, and I even put them in big pots with good soil and drainage.

So they do fine until a couple of tomato's start to appear.  Then they wither up and die.

Argh!

OFFLINE

Scott ~ when do you plant them?  If it is in the hottest part of the summer that may be the difference.
It might actually be too hot.  When I plant here it just has to be warm enough not to frost at night.
You may want to plant in January or so or you could wait until Sept to plant as it begins to cool off some.
Just my two cents and I've been wrong before.  LOL

OFFLINE

Originally Posted by Jane Jackson:
Scott ~ when do you plant them?  If it is in the hottest part of the summer that may be the difference.
It might actually be too hot.  When I plant here it just has to be warm enough not to frost at night.
You may want to plant in January or so or you could wait until Sept to plant as it begins to cool off some.
Just my two cents and I've been wrong before.  LOL

I didn't even try this year (insert look of the agony of defeat).

Previously, I planted them around March.  it's spring here at that time and sometimes summery.

Maybe I'll try again later this year, in September, like you suggest.

Since I try to grow them in pots, any tips on soil type?

There's *NOTHING* as good as a home grown tomato.

Yum!