2021 Veggie gardens

kobuta · April 24, 2021, 9:41pm

Wow, @naf, that looks almost surgical! Is be so afraid of killing my little plants. I just moved some of my plants outside today, and transplanted my young tomato and radish pants into the ground. I was desperately trying to not be rough with them, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them got too roughed up ( I’m not good at being gentle, especially with gardening gloves on). My poor radish plants are all flopped over and look kind of dead.

Edit: But a pleasant surprise (for me; I know others might think otherwise), that I found a bunny nest in my Chinese chives. Bunnies coming into my yard is not unusual, and last year they made a nest in front yard. I’ve been seeing 2-3 bunnies in my garden almost every night this year, and guess I now know why.

naf · May 2, 2021, 2:57pm

You’ll have a few dozens at the end of the year. LOL!

naf · May 2, 2021, 3:10pm

For the grafted tomatoes operated 10 days ago, 1 out of 3 succeed. It’s still a bit droopy under the light.

For the other 2 grafted plants, one problem comes with the bottom host plant withered, transplant rejection between 2 plants, I guess. The other one, the top grows some root on the bottom host’s stem wall but becomes detached from the host plant, not enough fluid is provided to the top, I re-cut the plants and renewed the operation.

I’ve tried other techniques… on some new ones. Hope they’ll work better. So far, I find the flat cut technique doesn’t work very well for me, as after a day or 2, both plants move and they become detached easily even the clip. Now, I plant the top inside the bottom plant.

@bogman If roots are coming out at the graft union, should one just leave them?

bogman · May 3, 2021, 11:45am

Naf, any roots near or above the union need to be removed. Often, those will dry up once the plants is out of the humidity chamber.

When grafting, it may be helpful to think of cutting two pieces of pipe. When reassembling, it’s important that the walls of the pipes match as closely as possible. The walls represent the “Vascular zone” of the stem, where water and nutrients flow up and down the plant.

While the match of vascular zone does not have to be perfect, if there is no match, the chances for a successful graft is minimal. The stems should be about the same thickness; you can go up or down on the top part “scion” to achieve this.

Another popular method splits the bottom “stock” a little and the top “scion”, where it is cut, is shaped into a “V”. Though the top edge of the split stock is exposed, the sides of the split stem makes the match of vascular cells to the scion. This is very tricky in tomatoes, as the split stem is weak.

There is another tomato grafting method called “Side Grafting”. Because one uses larger seedlings, it may be easier for many folks to try. Here’s a very good writeup on the technique, from Johnny’s Seeds.

In tomatoes, it’s harder to see that there is a ring of vascular tissues. In trees, it’s easier to see.

Practice is very helpful. The more one gets trained to be quick and precise, the easier it gets.

naf · May 3, 2021, 12:40pm

Thanks for taking time to explain. I see what you mean now and understand why younger seedlings are better for this.

I’ve a look at side grafting, interesting as the roots of both plants preserved until they are ready. Tried the V cut scion method, they kept falling due to the weak stem and the weight of the leaves.

Since I’ve plugged the top of the cut rootstocks back in the soil, they should have roots by now, I can practise more on younger seedlings. Now my whole living room is filled of these domes filled with seedlings .

shrinkrap · May 4, 2021, 4:20am

Updates.

small_h · May 7, 2021, 6:15pm

The balcony garden is doing well so far, and I’ve already got a good supply of lettuce - some of which is bolting already and what the hell is up with that - arugula, rosemary, mint and cilantro. One of the tomatoes (Bloody Butcher) is flowering, as are the cukes, which are veiled in a probably futile attempt to keep them safe from beetles and the resultant bacterial wilt.

garden

lettuce

tomato

rosemary

peppers

NotJrvedivici · May 17, 2021, 1:01am

The wife now has a 16X16 space for her garden, I’m expecting quite the bounty this year!!

kobuta · May 17, 2021, 1:34am

Very nice! I am jealous.

shrinkrap · May 17, 2021, 2:48am

Sweet!

ewsflash · May 20, 2021, 7:14pm

You may have to pollinate the cucumber flowers manually if nothing else can get in and do it once they start blooming. Just sayin’

small_h · May 20, 2021, 8:33pm

I always do, anyway. With a skinny makeup brush.

Saregama · May 27, 2021, 5:18am

Strawberries are happening!

The seeds that produced a couple of berries last year at the base of a citrus tree have grown around the rest of the base and are fruiting.

Only a few ripe berries every day though

naf · June 4, 2021, 12:51am

Re strawberries, I don’t think mine ever propagate by seeds, but by growing runners in mid summer.

bogman · June 4, 2021, 7:23pm

Finally, after a dry April-May, we’re getting rain. A dry spring is unusual in Virginia. At least the long cool period was great. The favas are happy!

Good thing, as there’s a 35 foot (10.6 Meters) long row of them.

Oscar Mulberries are coming in, one of the better tasting cultivars,

The blueberries, also in a 35 foot row, are loaded with green, soon to ripen berries. Nothing would get harvested without bird netting, lots of it.

The Cardinals were already staking out territory, hoping to raid the crops when they ripen. The cultivar Reka is very close to ripening.

All the alliums are inside an insect-proof hoop structure, which will hopefully protect all the alliums from onion fly/maggot.

If the bugs get in, it’ll be quite a banquet: White Egyptian Walking onion, Yellow Potato onion, Grey Griselle shallot, Rosa di Milano red storage onion, Red Beard and Evergreen Chinese scallions (Allium fistulosum) and two types of leeks.

The potatoes, in a bunch of colors, will be making new potatoes soon, I hope!

You can see how dry the soil was a couple days ago. I’ve been watering like mad until today. Some of the potatoes are experimental for this region:
Skagit Valley Gold, which is an attempt to get the famously-flavored Peruvian “Papa Amarilla” bred to produce in the US. The hot summer may be an issue here.
Likewise, an odd-looking red fingerling, Rosette, will have to pass the heat test. Cultivariable, the source for these, is in a cooler climate. Have fun exploring their varieties! Bill Whitson is one of the top food plant horticulturists of our day. There’s a bunch of these folks hiding out in many, different places. We’re living in a “Golden Age” for gardening!

Saregama · June 4, 2021, 7:36pm

These guys are doing quite well their second year in. I think they’d be doing better but the placement at the moment (base of a citrus tree In a big pot) makes it very inconvenient to do any kind of pruning or care.

The ones in smaller pots that don’t have steady water aren’t as productive - I think regular watering might fix that, though.

shrinkrap · June 4, 2021, 8:09pm

What an amazing garden and update @bogman

The OG aji amarillo has lots of flowers,

…and so do the ones grown this year from seed. These pictures were from last week, and I don’t think I captured the flowers. This week’s high was about 106, so we’ll see how that goes.

These are recent pictures of some of the Dwarf Tomato Project Tomatoes in Earthboxes. I’ll try to add names where not visable.

shrinkrap · June 4, 2021, 9:25pm

Too hot. Not looking at labels today.
Here are some shallots. They are closercto the house and the AC.
The first one is French Red. They bolted, I used the “fower” heads I cut off, but I read somewhere I might have saved the seeds.

The others should be Dutch Yellow

This planter has self sowed dwarf tomatoes I’ve let grow.

kobuta · June 4, 2021, 10:46pm

Wow, I envy your blueberries. My first attempt is a total busy because something keeps eating all the leaves that come out, or at least on two occasions, also biting off the whole tip of the branch that is budding.

I have another plant on it’s way that was supposed to be my second plant to help fertilization, but at this rate, I’ll be back down to one plant. I guess it’s must to keep it netted all the time…

Sasha · June 4, 2021, 11:11pm

Do you grow to sell? Because your quantities of plants are mind-boggling.