Re: tomato woes/experiment

Well there ya go. I may have to give that a shot.
A

Andrea H
Beaufort, SC


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "james singer" <jsinger@igc.org>
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2004 6:12 PM
Subject: Re: [CHAT] tomato woes/experiment


> Yep. Directly into the new, hot litter and straw.
>
> I didn't invent this idea, Andrea. At the time I was writing a
> thrice-weekly science program for radio and I was one everybody's
> mailing list, I think. This particular experiment was cooked up by some
> national research laboratory in Great Britain. So I thought I'd try it.
> Productivity was better than I've ever had with tomatoes planted in the
> ground.
>
> On Tuesday, June 29, 2004, at 09:12 PM, Andrea H wrote:
>
> > Clarify Jim, you planted them directly into the litter and straw?  No
> > "soil"
> > How was the harvest? Just curious as don't tomatoes have really deep
> > root
> > systems (which is why I have to water mine morning and night)  that's
> > very
> > interesting. I may have to try something like that. These things need a
> > sturdier place. I had to tie up the tomato cages to a heavy table in
> > the
> > greenhouse, the can being right next to it, as they were falling over
> > they're so heavy.  They are SO much better than store bought, it blows
> > my
> > mind.
> > Andrea H
> > Beaufort, SC
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "james singer" <jsinger@igc.org>
> > To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
> > Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 8:24 PM
> > Subject: Re: [CHAT] tomato woes/experiment
> >
> >
> >> This is probably more than anyone wants to know about my great
> >> experiment in growing the noble tomato, but I've got the urge to get
> >> it
> >> down.
> >>
> >> At the sheep farm, which was about 10 miles south of where Theresa
> >> lives, I constructed four plywood boxes, 4 feet wide by 8 feet long by
> >> 2 feet deep--1-1/2 sheets per box. Each box held 8 three-wire bales of
> >> bright straw. I installed two sprinklers over each box. I covered the
> >> bales of straw with litter from the henhouse whenever I cleaned out
> >> the
> >> henhouse. I planted tomato sets directly into the litter. I had four
> >> boxes--I planted determinate tomatoes in three for canning and
> >> indeterminate in the fourth for eating.
> >>
> >> I also planted lots of leafy plants [lettuce, basil, cilantro, and
> >> such] around the tomatoes--postage-stamp gardening, I guess.
> >>
> >> Once the tomatoes were up and producing [and the straw had begun to
> >> rot], I planted potato eyes in the straw. And when it came time to
> >> harvest the potatoes, I knocked the boxes apart, picked the spuds out
> >> of the compost, and moved the compost to another garden. In spring, I
> >> reassembled the boxes and did it all over again.
> >>
> >> I learned a couple of things from this experiment. First, the notion
> >> that chicken manure is "too hot" to use in the garden before it's
> >> composted in not necessarily true. Second, that crowding a lot of
> >> plants into a small area will cut productivity is not necessarily true
> >> either.
> >>
> >>
> >> On Tuesday, June 29, 2004, at 05:40 PM, Andrea H wrote:
> >>
> >>> Teresa-I had that problem every year. THIS year I planted mine in a
> >>> 30
> >>> gallon trashcan and so far they've done beautifully. I do have to
> >>> water them
> >>> religiously and add cow manure and fertilizer. had a few whiteflies,
> >>> but so
> >>> far, no wilt.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Andrea H
> >>> Beaufort, SC
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ----- Original Message -----
> >>> From: "Tchessie" <tchessie@comcast.net>
> >>> To: "GardenChat" <gardenchat@hort.net>
> >>> Sent: Monday, June 28, 2004 8:39 PM
> >>> Subject: [CHAT] tomato woes
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>> Well-
> >>>> I've tried antifungals, crop rotatation, resistant varieties,
> >>>> wishing
> >>>> and
> >>>> praying, but once again  I have wilt on 2 of my tomato plants (I
> >>>> always
> >>>> forget if it is fusarium or verticilium).  Either way, I ripped out
> >>>> one
> >>>> plant 2 weeks ago, today I ripped out my Sweet 100.  It, of course
> >>>> is
> >>> loaded
> >>>> with green tomatos (I picked all of the ripe and almost ripe ones
> >>>> and
> >>>> brought inside).  Bought killed me to yank it.  Is there anything
> >>>> that
> >>> gets
> >>>> rid of this problem???  I'm seriously considering removing the soil
> >>>> and
> >>>> replacing it- except I wouldn't have a clue how much to remove or if
> >>>> this
> >>>> would be a backache in vain!  Of course, this is the BEST spot in
> >>>> the
> >>> garden
> >>>> to grow tomatos (south wall, raised bed).  Rats!!
> >>>>
> >>>> Theresa
> >>>> Sac, CA
> >>>>
> >>>> P.S.  Thanks to David, Jesse, Kitty and Jim for chiming in on the
> >>> "politics"
> >>>> snit.  Was too tired to bother, but happy someone did.
> >>>>
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> >> Island Jim
> >> Southwest Florida
> >> Zone 10
> >> 27.0 N, 82.4 W
> >>
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> Island Jim
> Southwest Florida
> Zone 10
> 27.0 N, 82.4 W
>
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