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Post by paulf on Jul 9, 2022 18:39:58 GMT -5
Every years something goes wrong in the garden. It is to be expected. This year these are the two "nots" so far. First is a tomato. The sign at the cage says Hungarian Heart. It shows nice growth and had a good bloom set, but this is what the tomatoes look like: I have never seen a large heart-shaped tomato like this. I didn't want any cherries this year but we will get them anyway. Next, the package said Congo Watermelon. If there are melons coming from these plants it will be a miracle. Any "nots" in your gardens?
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jul 9, 2022 19:40:45 GMT -5
Yes, I had a few. Most of which you could blame on me for neglecting them. The tomato plants out in the garden died a slow death. I can usually water intermittently and bring them through the hot months, but I didn’t do it this year. I was able to get tomatoes from most of the important ones to continue seed saving and the rest I just didn’t bother with. I’m just not in to it this year. It was 106 here today. I was going to plant a few rare peas, but I’m thinking of just forgetting it this year. I’m tired. I’m really not up to doing much. I haven’t even whittled anything since March.
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Post by september on Jul 9, 2022 20:22:29 GMT -5
I had two 'nots' in that they came up regular leafed in a batch of expected potato leaf tomatoes. One was a single Rebel Yell in a batch of 6, and the other was Tundra where half the batch was RL - so probably a bee cross in my garden from that growing year.
I planted both of these wrong RL's to see what the fruit would be like. I am currently growing a "not" Yellow Brandywine cross that came up red RL in a batch of PL yellows a couple of years ago. Whatever it crossed with was a success, large fruit, quite early, great taste. If it stays stable, in a few more years, I may name it.
My potted Blacktail Watermelons hit the dust. Same way I have grown them the last 4-5 years. Maybe I over watered the pot, or too much granular fertilizer mixed in. They were fine when transplanted in, but after a couple of weeks just stalled out and faded slowly, not much for roots left when I pulled them. I may put a bunch of zucchini seeds in that pot and see what happens.
Lettuce went in late, didn't get thinned, it's edible now, but with heat coming on don't expect a long harvest.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Jul 9, 2022 21:39:03 GMT -5
My Craig's Grande Jalapeños had one plant that put on purple jalapenos. I planted those purple jalapenos deliberately 3 or 4 years ago and said never again.
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Post by spike on Jul 10, 2022 9:09:23 GMT -5
So far my only "nots" have been my beans/peas/limas. Which is totally enough but so far what little is left seems to be doing well!
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Post by Hensaplenty on Jul 10, 2022 11:50:54 GMT -5
I've had three tomatoes not turn out as "advertised." 2 varieties (Viva and Vladyka) were clearly crossed seeds but were seeds given to me so I can't complain, but one (Iva's Red Berry) was a purchased seed. I have taken pics and will let the seed company know.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jul 10, 2022 14:46:15 GMT -5
So far my only "nots" have been my beans/peas/limas. Which is totally enough but so far what little is left seems to be doing well! That’s ok kiddo, next year you and me can have a bean/pea grow out! I’ve been labeling beans/peas to send you! My back started hurting so I had to sit for a bit. After while I’ll get back at it. Rick rdback was kind enough to send me enough beans that I can share with you. I also bought a boat load from eBay last year and I’m trying to go through and separate all the greasy type so when I make your labels, I can sort of tell you which ones are greasy. I’ve had all the beans from eBay in the freezer because sometimes they will have bugs. I do that with all beans regardless of source. I even put beans from seed companies in the freezer as a precaution. Well it seems I’m just yammering on. This is where I am so far and I haven’t made it to Rick’s beans yet. Oh and those Red & White beans are ones that I sent to brownrexx to grow and she grew them and sent me plenty of seed in 2018. They have been in the freezer and should be fun for you to grow. Brownie can tell us more about how to use. I don’t know if they make a good green bean or if they are better suited as a dry bean. They are a right pretty bean. I have similar ones from a friend in Tennessee and that’s why I bought them off eBay to see if they were like my friend’s bean. I just never got around to trialing them out. Whew we kiddo, but I went a long way around the barn to tell you, I’m sending you beans. I was supposed to send some to you last year, but grandpa Knucks was a bit forgetful.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jul 10, 2022 15:13:18 GMT -5
spike, There’s some Okree in there too. You know that’s paulf, most favorite vegetable!
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Post by brownrexx on Jul 10, 2022 15:39:34 GMT -5
Oh and those Red & White beans are ones that I sent to brownrexx to grow and she grew them and sent me plenty of seed in 2018. They have been in the freezer and should be fun for you to grow. Brownie can tell us more about how to use. I don’t know if they make a good green bean or if they are better suited as a dry bean. Yes, they are beautiful beans but I only used them dried. They are quite tasty too. I hope that you cooked some of them hairymooseknuckles, 20180913_155559 by Brownrexx, on Flickr
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Post by brownrexx on Jul 10, 2022 15:42:44 GMT -5
A friend sent me some seeds for String Eggplant that I was anxious to try so I grew started them indoors in March and planted out 2 nice plants in May. 2 days later they were eaten to the ground by bunnies!
I am still hoping that they are not a failure and I started 2 more plants about a month ago. They are about 2" tall now and will be planted in the ground soon. I will keep them in protective wire cages this time and still hope to see some eggplant.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jul 10, 2022 17:07:12 GMT -5
Oh and those Red & White beans are ones that I sent to brownrexx to grow and she grew them and sent me plenty of seed in 2018. They have been in the freezer and should be fun for you to grow. Brownie can tell us more about how to use. I don’t know if they make a good green bean or if they are better suited as a dry bean. Yes, they are beautiful beans but I only used them dried. They are quite tasty too. I hope that you cooked some of them hairymooseknuckles , 20180913_155559 by Brownrexx, on Flickr No girl, I didn’t cook any, but still have them in the Deep Freeze, so they are still good. I cooked the other beans you sent in a pot of chili and they made a great pot of chili. They were called Domingo Rojo. I kept me about 60 of those seed, but I haven’t grown them yet. I keep my beans in the freezer so I can keep my seeds fresh.
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Post by paulf on Jul 28, 2022 20:08:55 GMT -5
Facing another disappointment. This year I decided not to grow Cherokee Purple from my stash of seeds. After everything was grown and ready to put into the garden I couldn't take it any more and decided there was room for one more tomato. A friend and local nursery owner had a bunch of CPs at her greenhouse. We were there picking up some flowers and I snuck a tomato plant in the box of plants.
The first ripe tomato from that plant was a dud. Very nice, big, pink tomato...not a Cherokee Purple at all. I feel like ripping it out but because that plant is only growing whatever it is we will just have to grin and bear it. Maybe turn the fruit into salads. Next year it will be "real" CP.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jul 28, 2022 21:50:13 GMT -5
paulf, Yes Sir, I love growing that tomato! Everyone in the family likes it. JD Special C Tex didn’t do as well for me. Cherokee Purple always outperformed it in my garden.
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Post by september on Jul 28, 2022 21:52:48 GMT -5
The F3 bee cross of the Yellow Brandywine (RL large early red) that I enthused about last year, has become more medium/small sized with more cluster growth than single large tomatoes. Flavor is still good, and still close to the earliest, but not the same as the big F2's. Will have to ripen and eat a few more before I decide whether it's worth saving as an early.
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Post by bestofour on Aug 2, 2022 19:08:09 GMT -5
Oh and those Red & White beans are ones that I sent to brownrexx to grow and she grew them and sent me plenty of seed in 2018. They have been in the freezer and should be fun for you to grow. Brownie can tell us more about how to use. I don’t know if they make a good green bean or if they are better suited as a dry bean. Yes, they are beautiful beans but I only used them dried. They are quite tasty too. I hope that you cooked some of them hairymooseknuckles, 20180913_155559 by Brownrexx, on Flickr I planted these beans year before last thanks to Brownrexx and they produced well, are very pretty, turn totally brown when cooked but taste good. This year I bought some scarlet runner bean seeds because the flower is so beautiful, and I did get a few beautiful blooms but as of today not one bean. I bought 2 Cherokee Purple tomato plants at my farmers market; they've grown nicely but have produced something other than CP which is my favorite tomato. Color me disappointed.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Aug 2, 2022 21:32:05 GMT -5
bestofour, I did the same thing last year. Doesn’t that just irk ya? I didn’t buy nar plant this year. I figured if it’s not going to be what I think it is, why bother. It’s seeds from now on.
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Post by octave1 on Aug 2, 2022 21:51:27 GMT -5
I can already tell that growing not one but two Green Zebra tomato plants was a mistake. I picked the first "ripe" tomato and I did not like it at all. It's neither tangy nor sweet. The two plants are over 6 ft tall and loaded with fruits. What a waste of space.
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Post by octave1 on Aug 2, 2022 21:57:11 GMT -5
Also, the Red Oxheart turned out to be yellow. Never knew of a yellow Oxheart. What gives?
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Aug 3, 2022 1:01:36 GMT -5
octave1, Doesn’t that just tan your hide. I bought several different tomato plants last year. At least I thought they were several varieties. Not many turned out to be what they were labeled. Plus I had all these blue cherry type tomatoes that were a waste of space. This year, I grew my own saved seed and knew what to expect.
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Post by octave1 on Aug 3, 2022 9:13:19 GMT -5
octave1 , This year, I grew my own saved seed and knew what to expect. hairymooseknuckles, I grew every single tomato plant from seeds. Some were saved seeds, the others were store bought. Both Green Zebra and Red Oxheart came from store bought. I am going to check the packets again and read the description carefully, since the Green Zebra tomatoes seem way larger than I remember. They look like striped, beefsteak tomatoes.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Aug 3, 2022 9:43:18 GMT -5
octave1 That doesn't sound like Green Zebra, which is normally smaller, like you remember, and too tart for many people.
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Post by paulf on Aug 3, 2022 10:09:25 GMT -5
Also, the Red Oxheart turned out to be yellow. Never knew of a yellow Oxheart. What gives? Here is Tatiana's description of Yellow Oxheart: midseason, indet., regular leaf, high yields of large golden heart-shaped fruits, 10-20 oz, mild sweet flavor, very meaty flesh with small seed cavities and few seeds. I have grown this one several times because I like heart-shaped varieties. Keep the one you have, save the seeds, grow again and see what you get.
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Post by octave1 on Aug 3, 2022 12:44:14 GMT -5
The Green Zebra seeds come from Lake Valley Seed. The description on the packet says "3-4 oz fruits", but what I am getting is a beefsteak-type tomato.
The Red Oxheart are Livingston seeds. I found out that Livingston (Victory Seeds) sells a Yellow Oxheart tomato, so what I am growing may very well be it.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Aug 16, 2022 9:51:35 GMT -5
Largo de Reus peppers (seeds from a trade) are a "not." I grew two plants. Largo de Reus are supposed to be big sweet peppers with thick flesh. But my two plants produced roughly jalepeno-sized fruits, with one plant made fruits that are a fair bit larger than the other. The larger fruits are not hot, but they are thin-walled, tough-skinned, dry-fleshed, and only a bit sweet. Not a fresh-eating pepper at all. The smaller fruits are hot - hotter than a jalepeno for sure, probably in cayenne territory. Since I am a pepper wimp, my very cautious test-nibble on the very tip of one of the small fruits (with no membrane or seeds at all) really lit me up!
I might be able to dry them for a chili powder, but neither of them are any good for fresh eating for me.
Also, the Diva cucumbers (also from a trade) were not true. Diva is supposed to be both all-female and parthenocarpic - these plants made male and female flowers, and definitely needed bees to set fruit, so I didn't get a very good yield in my low bee-activity garden. Taste was okay, not particularly sweet but not unpleasant. The skin was edible, and they didn't get bitter in the heat. They held up pretty well to the Florida summer for a while, but when it started to rain just about every day for the last few weeks, that finally did them in.
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Post by octave1 on Aug 16, 2022 12:39:51 GMT -5
Laura_in_FL , I grew Diva cucumbers too this year. It wasn't my first time, but this time around I didn't like them at all. The fruits were hairy, the production low and, most of all, those cucumbers were tasteless at any stage. Diva seed is also quite expensive, so never again for me.
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Post by paulf on Aug 16, 2022 13:51:08 GMT -5
Third year for Diva in my wife's raised bed garden. Never before Diva have we seen explosion of production and superb flavor in perfectly shaped and sized cucumbers. We supplied the whole town and they are still going strong. Diva must do well in some areas and not in others.
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Post by octave1 on Aug 16, 2022 21:21:32 GMT -5
paulf, I am sure you got the actual Diva seed, while I (as well as Laura_in_FL?) may have gotten the knock-off version. My so-called Diva were hairy, which is not what Diva cucumbers are known to be.
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Post by brownrexx on Aug 17, 2022 13:39:09 GMT -5
I grew Diva once and they were totally smooth as I recall. I had the idea to keep them covered to prevent the cucumber beetles but they grew so long and fast that I didn't have a big enough cover. Now I grow County Fair which is resistant to the bacterial wilt that the beetles carry.
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Post by octave1 on Aug 17, 2022 15:48:33 GMT -5
brownrexx , you can see how "furry" these Diva cucumbers are. Neither cute nor not fun to touch.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Aug 17, 2022 16:29:16 GMT -5
Yeah, that's not the real Diva. And mine clearly weren't, either.
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