Grow log by campingcorgis · Original thread
What you can learnA detailed four-variety tomato diary showing cultivar failure, height mismatch, garden relocation, nutrient monitoring, repeated maintenance, fruiting, and staged termination.
*The days were calculated automatically and approximately.
Day 105: Ended the garden with Micro Tom and Orange Hat today. They were still making tomatoes, but really taking their time about it. So, I decided to end it, clean it and the deck is soaking in Citric Acid/Baking Soda. I plan to start this bowl again soon with herbs.The Mega tomato is still going and producing in abundance...but that bowl was moved over to the Farm24+, bottom unit, right side.
Day 112: Ended the Mega today. She was still healthy but production slowed and it was time to try something new. Will be planting a new garden soon.
Your tomatoes look delicious!
Yummsters
Oh no, campingcorgis! What do the roots look like on the distressed plant? Sometimes a plant will get root rot and just die suddenly. (I still miss the lovely bell pepper that did that.)If it's a problem with the roots, you may be able to salvage the plant(s).
I think the picture is misleading? The roots look fine. I was referring to the Orange tomato growing on the "Micro Tomato" labeled plant...I think Ernest switched the pods around when I wasn't looking?
campingcorgis, the photo makes the tomatoes on the left look pale yellow on my tablet. I didn't realize that you were growing a yellow variety. My mistake! I'm glad that the plants are okay!
Terrific
Excellent, campingcorgis!
They are so cute!
Good pruning job!
My Mega Cherries certainly look like healthy plants, but the pollinated flowers shrivel up without producing any fruit.I was going to increase the nutrients, but maybe I should also be trimming back the wild vegetation?Any thoughts?
Hi, dianne. I would try both. Good luck!
How many plants do you have there?
dianne, Pruning the wild vegetation would be a good idea--take off the lower leaves that aren't getting light, and the branches that have flowered without setting fruit. Better air circulation helps my tomatoes and peppers to set fruit.The AG blog suggests that you try some "Blossom Set" if all else fails. I got some from Amazon--it's a spray--but then my poblanos started setting fruit after a pruning.
Two of the Mega Cherries.One Mighty-Mini.I have trimmed the low branches (especially the ones shading the Mighty-Mini and the branches that were too tall and growing out the sides. I'm easing the nutrient level up a little at a time. I don't want to go as high as sher's recommended 900 ppm because they aren't fruiting yet. Fingers crossed!
Fingers and paws crossed for you, dianne!
dianne, your plant is huge and looks good!
Day 51:Lots of itsy-bitsy tomatoes on the 2 little cherries. Lots of blooms on the Mega, but I've not spotted any tomatoes yet. Doesn't mean they are not there. That Mega is a monster! Obviously very happy. I keep pruning to keep her under control and she just seems to say, ahhhhh...more room!
I dropped a lot of blooms the last time I grew the Mega's. Then the toms came, fast and furious.
Thanks Mike! That's encouraging!
Don't get discouraged, they made quite a mess. Then, one of the first toms was like a Siamese twin. It grew into a large heart.
Wow! Very cool! And, thanks!
Beautiful, mike!
That is a small full size tomato, mike!
How beautiful, mike!
That pic was an anomaly. I do think that was a twin fused together. But I posted this to show these Mega's need support. Most of mine were over an inch in diameter.
It is very helpful, mike. I think I've got a teeny-tiny tomato starting on the Mega!
Day 56: Did the R&R for the Micro Tom & Orange Hat today. Trimmed roots, cleaned the deck, new nutes. We'll do the Mega tomorrow, since it moved over to the Farm+ gardens.
I love those teeny plants -- especially with baby tomatoes on them.
Love those droopy tomato photos!
Day 32: Friday, is now my day to take PPM's and add CalMag and/or nutes. Micro Tom and Orange Hat needed only CalMag (2ML).Mega Cherry got AG nutes (10ML) and CalMag (2ML).
Dog gone it, I just had to do it on the Yellow Mushrooms when I moved them to their own garden. Now I can't find it. Give me a bit...
I figured it out. I have the Aerogarden App on my phone. When you have the screen that looks just like the Farm display, 1. Click for the 3 Horizontal Lines in the upper right corner.2. Click on Garden Settings3. Click on Number of Days Planted4. Use up/down arrows to set days.5. Click OK
A huge, very big THANKS Mike! That worked. I've got them both back to proper settings! Whew...now, I'm going to print this out!
The mega cherry tomatoes taste fine, but H and I decided that they didn't taste enough better than supermarket tomatoes to be worth the extra time they take to grow in an AG. Mine tied up the Farm Plus for too long.
Also good to know! Thanks!
Very nice, you will get a lot of tomatoes. The Mega gets pretty tall. I needed to support my toms.
Yikes! I've got the Mega in the FarmBasic. Uh, oh!
mike, what do you think of this...I move the entire Mega Tomato plant/deck/basin, the whole thing & put it where Arugula, etc., is in the FarmPlus and that one moves over to the FarmBasic where Mega has just vacated???I can then just adjust the "garden" settings and number of days in the AG's and Mega should be happier? It seems easier than just moving the plants that I just did the R&R on yesterday...and their nutes are different, so I would have to re-R&R things to get them situated???Just a thought...input appreciated! And, thanks for pointing out the height thing, while it is still pretty simple to correct!!
The MegaCherry Tom should be OK on a 24" garden. I meant the weight of the tomatoes was way too much for the branches without support. I grew them on a original Bounty. It may have been an Ultra. Here are a couple of photos from 2014 grown on an Ultra.
Sorry to be dense! I should move them to the FarmPlus garden then? That's a 24" garden. Right now, the Mega is in the FarmBasic garden and that's like 12". Or maybe I should just wait to see how she grows? If she needs the 24" garden, I'll just swap the two. The lettuce gardens just seem to do better for me in the FarmPlus instead of the FarmBasic...that's why I was putting the Cherry Tomatoes plants in the FarmBasic as I thought they didn't need to have that 24 inches of space. But, obviously, I failed to understand the Mega is a tall plant. Sigh.
A 12" won't do. My Ultra Mega was in the lights at 24". I had to prune quite a bit.
Thanks mike ! I've got it now. Mikey says he'll help me with that in the morning. P.S. Nice pictures! Hope they are tasty tomatoes!!
They are good. The only AG Tomato I dislike are the Mighty Mini's. Those will grow on a 12" garden, but they are the only tomatoes IMHO. I thought those tasted like paste. My favorite AG tomato is the Heirloom. The Megas are second, flavor wise.
Thanks & good to know! Yours sure were pretty!
Wouldn't hurt to remove the two bottom branches, because they aren't getting any light. The AG tomatoes generally accept a lot of pruning of leaves. The leaves grow back on mine as fast as I can take them off.
Thanks!
Not only that but leaves not getting light actually take energy from the plant. You have to determine whether a leaf will grow to a point where it will get light. In nature, the sun moves and different leaves get light at different times of the day. We don't have that option on an AG.
Thanks Mike! That certainly makes sense. Now, I've noticed the larger one has a phosphorus deficiency starting to show up!
Day 29: R&Rs done today. Roots trimmed, decks cleaned. AG nutes, Disease Control and Cal Mag added. Removed Golden Harvest Cherry. She was just gone. The others are thriving. I'll get pictures soon. Time to start dinner! It is dark-30 here!
Beautful! Almost like little palms at this stage.
Day 20: Golden Harvest Cherry is struggling. Still has some life, so I removed dead/dying leaves. We'll see if it turns around. Mega Cherry looks good, as do the plants in the right-hand side.
Yay!!!
Woot woot
Anybody that had a pod buddy is now a singleton. Nutes added, pump tested. All systems go!
campingcorgis, have you tried the Mega Cherry tomatoes before? I'm interested to know what you think of them. Ray and I thought they were too bland to bother with.
Well, maybe? I grew what was labeled as Mega Cherry in my first farm gardens -- three pods. But, 2 of the pods had a dark green sprout and a light green sprout. I ended up keeping one of each. The light green one was never really productive. I didn't get much from it to even give a real good response to you. The dark ones (there was one pod that had only dark) seemed like regular cherry to me? I'm growing them again because I still have pre-planted AG pods and figured I might as well give them another shot. I'm more anxious to see the new-to-me ones, from seeds that I ordered and planted myself.
Our Mega Cherry tomatoes weren't terrific producers, campingcorgis, though they were sharing the Farm Plus with a prolific Bell Pepper, I think. The fruits were like small Early Girls, but more bland. They were about double the size of the AG heirloom cherry tomatoes.
I'm not saying that this is the problem, but take a look at this thread Increasing Nutrients for Tastier Tomatoes. Even if you are growing other tomatoes....
Fascinating thread, campingcorgis (and Sher, too, of course). I ordered a PPM meter from Amazon. So many ideas here for fun things to try!