Awesome looking plants, catman! I'm jealous of the flower...lol

Love the pictures.. Just bought some organice stevia packets for coffee and love it.. Think I found something new to grow next year.. Do youdry the leaves to make the sweetener?

Here's a picture which may have gotten lost in part 3. This a tomato that has been potted up. It appears to be trying to climb out of its cup.

Here we grow again...
April 19 2009 garden shot

My Kbx is putting on..

And my supposed to be regular leaf Stump of the World tomatoes in my homemade EB container..these things should be potato leaf...but that the hay..I'm growing them anyway..

My work horse BHN444

and no garden is complete without some bell peppers...

Grow on everyone and Happy Gardening!

heres a few pics so far this year, our first year growing in the ground and from seed. previously we had only grown a couple of sweet 100 in pots, so we're very happy right now and with fingers still crossed ;)

sprouts, 2-2-09

hardening off, 2-12-09

raised bed 2, 3-19-2009

raised bed 3, 3-19-2009

rasied bed 2, 4-20-2009

raised bed 3, 4-20-2009

marglobe, 4-20-2009

large red cherry, 4-20-2009

so far the only setbacks has been some pesky birds, the curved bill thrashers here are into everything. they got one of our larger campbell tomatoes a day before we planned on netting. aren't they always a day ahead? ;)

bird damage 1

bird damage 2

so far so good, we're close now, but we almost hit 100 today so the shadecloth is coming out soon.

Looks good, I wish I had some fruit already...it's been too long a wait now; I haven't had a good tomato since last September.

I'll be planting out either this coming weekend or a couple days after.

Here's an update on mine, as of a few hours ago. Some have been hardened off for a few days, some have not. I plan on starting to harden all of them off after the 30 degree night that's supposedly coming tonight.

A few of my San Marzano's:

A few of my Early Girl Hybrid's:

My babies! A few of my Cherry Tomatoes:

These are my 10 plants. They were about 4 or 5 inches tall when transplanted on 3/30/09

Okay this is my stuff. The plants are about 20 days old or so.

Ground Cherries, these grow Slooow. Just developed there first true leaves.

Black Prince Tomato :D.

A unwelcome Guest I found hanging around my tomatoes.

Hey, I think that spider may be beneficial to your plants, as it will eat pest insects. Looks like a wolf spider, which is a good hunter and should eat stuff that is eating your tomatoes.

Yea...i'd leave the spider be. Cool picture of him. =) No fiddle on his back, so I agree with catman on the species.

This 'Hillbilly' just had his 1 month birthday, and here I am anthropomorphizing a tomato plant.

bump

dude...if mine looked like that at 1 month, i'd probably be kissing it...lol

Lots of beautiful stuff going on in these threads across the country!
First pic is row 1, plot one set out 4/10 as what was to be a 3 day rain set in. This turned into a stormy day and their first day out they got 4 inches of rain, dime-nickel size hail and rough winds. Then they got a light frost behind the front ... but they hung in and I only had to replace two of them.

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4/19 I pushed it ahead of another storm and got row 2/3 partially in as the rest of it was just too wet. Notice how row 1 got spanked :(

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I did get back in there today and got them cleaned up and mulched.

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The last pic is what will finish off this patch. I was moving them to a deck at the house because I'm tired of moving them in and out of the greenhouse but if I don't the deer will eat them :( It has gotten hot and I hope to have this section finished by Tuesday evening.

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^^
Everytime someone posts all their vast expanses of land my back aches just a little bit :) Looks lovely.

@ tn_veggie_gardener: Thank you, me and my maters are flattered! I don't know how I ended up with plants at all, I drop trays and knock them over like every day, I am a certifiable klutz. Maybe they like the abuse? Masochist tomatoes?

After 27 days. Black Prince Tomato.

Here are my maters. All just over one month from seed. Disclaimer: Sorry my pics aren't as good as most but it is hard to take good pics with a very active 2 yo in the room with you and can't keep his hands off of things. Pic #2 is Siberian. I will start to harden off this one as it is said to be able to take colder temps than most. Pic #3 is Stupice. I have two more varieties.

catman: I'm no longer jealous of your beautiful flower that starts off this Part 4. ;) I'll take pics of mine in a week or two when they bloom...lol...all 3 of my Cherry mater plants have wee little bud clusters visible now...yay! =)

Posted a thread looking for advice about this, but thought I'd update that Hillbilly picture here too :)

This is what happens when the weather gets freaky warm and you leave plants outside. I am not happy at all about this sudden growth spurt. AAAACK!

Planted out my tomatoes. I still have 28 to give away.

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Stakes in the garden with add-on extensions (not shown) which will be installed when the tomato plants get big enough. Basil sitting between the stakes.

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Peppermint in a buried container. I know some Bermuda rhizomes got into the mix, so let's see how they and the Peppermint compete.

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Red Brandywine (PL) going in the ground. I planted them all vertically this year, rather than shallow trenching. I want deeper roots.

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First 6 plants are in, 10 more to go. (Red Brandywine, Black Plum, and Black Krim)

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Working on the others, and planting basil between each tomato plant.

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Parsley (Extra Triple curled)

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First Cucumber flower (Spacemaster, male blossom)

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And all of the other 10 tomatoes + 4 basils are in the ground.

That's all for now! I also planted stevia & the parsley in the ground, and more will come soon.

still working on it. Finally get some weather to work with in TN. A week ago this was all grass

^^ Thats a really nice sized plot. O_O

Yea...great time to harden off in TN. All of mine are on the porch for good now (I live in apartment), pending any unexpected frost which would suck cuz half my apartment would be full of plants! =)

Atascosa, I can't believe you already have Bell Peppers. I don't even have Bell Pepper blooms yet. When did you plant them out? I am a little north of you but not that far north. Did you grow those toms from seed or did you buy transplants. This is the first time I have seen this thread. I'll try to post some pics soon.

Thirsty...try this for the birds...give 'em a birdbath or other source of water. They're not trying to eat your 'maters, but are looking for water. I threw out probably 50% of my crop 3 years ago due to bird holes. Then the garden ed of our paper came by and shared this "eureka" with us. I promptly installed a birdbath and we haven't had any trouble since (2 full growing seasons). The squirrels on the other hand...

The squirrels on the other hand...

Squirrels are a menace, there nothing but rats with tails, I live near a walnut tree and also have them in my attic crawlspace. I'm about ready to shoot Bear Repellent up in there if the landlord doesn't do something about it.
I'm sure that'll work, No one has probably thought of that. You can pick the stuff up at camping stores. got a nice big can waiting for them right now! muaha

All looking FANTASTIC! Wonderful time of the year ;)
I did not get done Tuesday evening as it was still wet but made headway today ... and will squeeze another row in here ;)
Starting to feel a bit stupid as I was content with one variety up until 2 years ago .... now I feel that I am chasing something that I already had :( Another 300+ plants to set out at the outlaws ( In-Laws).

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I have thought about growing bhut jalokia peppers just to grind them up and put them in the attic.

Woah 'cozy' That is is alot of tomatos! You must be growing them for market. I do not think anybody could eat that many. :-)

Here are mine again. now 1 month old.
Grown under 125 Watt CFL. These bulbs here are very good! Highly recommend them. I bought mine on ebay for $139.00 plus shipping. They are 10,000 lumens and the plants love it. No leggy plants!
Plants are only under 4 inches. Stocky and thick pencil stems.

Them chillin under the Growin' Ballast.

Those are some stocky plants lazyhat!
No market growing here. Never sold a 'mater in my life but I have been known to give a few away ;) Just trying out a bunch of different ones.

I feel I must resurrect this post with pictures of my babies already through 2 days straight of rain with 2 days more to come. They've been outside thew whole time. Temps are staying 50+.

Peace - Steve

My Cherry Tomatoes at 7 and a 1/2 weeks...almost 2 feet tall (19-23 inches)...

3 of these are my San Marzano's and 4 are my Early Girl's...

I gotta add this in...mmmmmmmmmmmmm...I can already taste the fresh strawberries. =) These will produce way before my bush strawberries...

bumpability

I see chemical fertilizer Miracle grow steve.
I bought a box that stuff last week too. So much for organic. LOL

Well, I start some of them Organic, but I never said I finish them that way. ;) The MG Tomato food does wonders if used sparingly (and for certain circumstances) if diluted in water properly. =)

Well I'm using the Miracle grow only for the indoor growing to get the stocky and strong for outside.
Once outside I will not use it. Outside I'm using Cow manure and bonemeal, and also mixing in coffee grounds into the soil.
I thin the soil is pretty fertile and will not need any amendments. Inside the the soil is that peat moss stuff so MG is also convenient to get quick acting nutrients into the soiless mix.

Thought I'd chime in on what food people are using on their maters. I have been using plain fish fertilizer once a week. Then I skipped a week then used Neptune's Harvest fish/seaweed combo. Boy what a difference. My maters perked right up. I swear it is Viagra for veggies. I mean they came alive.

These pictures were taken April 30. I started these plants the week after Christmas and set them out at the beginning of March.

Sweet Quartz with first ripe fruit:

Return of unknown but best performing variety from last year:

Unknown variety, pic 2:

Unknown variety, pic 3:

Unknown variety, pic 4:

Florida Pink's biggest fruit:

A different unkown variety (this was supposed to be another Florida Pink but it has characteristics that are noticeably different from my other three Florida Pink plants):

Ixtapa pepper:

Some of my tomato plants from a distance:

First tomato and pepper of 2009 (April 30):

Well I'm using the Miracle grow only for the indoor growing to get the stocky and strong for outside.
Once outside I will not use it. Outside I'm using Cow manure and bonemeal, and also mixing in coffee grounds into the soil.
I thin the soil is pretty fertile and will not need any amendments. Inside the the soil is that peat moss stuff so MG is also convenient to get quick acting nutrients into the soiless mix.

Lazyhat.. that's pretty much exactly what I do. The MG potting mix grows very healthy, lush, green seedlings, and then they go into the garden, where I plan on adding some Black Kow manure and no chemical fertilizers.

And I will have to start Part 5 very, very soon...I'll bet by the end of the year, we'll have a Part 20 or something...that's why I'm posting links to all of the previous parts, so we have all of them linked to one page if anyone wants to look back at previous photos.

Yea...it's almost part 5 time...lol...

Today and tomorrow all my Tomatoes are going into their final homes. I'm mixing MG Moisture Control mix & Canadian Peat Moss for my final mix this year. Here's my work done today...Cherry Tomatoes...I know their a bit blurry, but that's the best I could do with my phone...lol.

Wow, everyone's plants look beautiful! It's wonderful to see them from all over the country. Tomato celebration. :)

Here are some Hungarian Sweet and Cayenne Peppers as well as some Sweet Basil, Dill and Parsley.
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Here are my San Marzano and Moskvich Tomatos. I have another 4 weeks before I can plant them outside.
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Here's what I have so far,

Costoluto Genovese
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Eva Purple Ball
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North Fence:
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South Fence:
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Wasp! Let's hope she's eating bad bugs and not planning on make a nest in one of my plants!
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Black Cherries:
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Black From Tula:
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Catfaced Marianna's Peace:
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Cherokee Purple next to Purple Basil:
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And finally, Serrano:
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I was going to wait until I finished, but I decided to put up a few pics of the container garden. I have another bed in another location with 6 different varieties, and I have 10 varieties in these pics.

The large plant in the very back is a Cherokee Purple that I started in Feb(yes, I know...), but it has tomatoes on it! (Excuse the mess, everything is still in progress.)

a few more..

:0)

Some GREAT looking tomatoes here...I am getting pumped for my own crop this year.

archerb - I am interplanting with basil as well (Sweet basil between each tomato plant in the front row). Mine are still nice and small, but are also greening up more and growing.

Time to start a Part 5 I think...

carolinagardendawg,
that's a good tip, i figured they're just after some water, but i do think they secretly like the ripe sweet 100's ;) i'll have to check on craigs list for a birdbath, and then figure out how to keep the pigeons away... heh heh

planthater,
great pics. seems i have an 'unknown' variety too. due to a mix up with peat pellets i wasn't quite sure what was what. earlier in this thread i posted a pic of what i thought was a 'marglobe' but now i'm pretty sure it's not.

not marglobe? maybe a roma?

we planted campbells 1327, marglobe, large red cherry, cherokee purple, and a yellow pear (just for looks you know;) and this one doesn't seem to be any of them...

Rob

I was going to wait until I finished, but I decided to put up a few pics of the container garden. I have another bed in another location with 6 different varieties, and I have 10 varieties in these pics.

The large plant in the very back is a Cherokee Purple that I started in Feb(yes, I know...), but it has tomatoes on it! (Excuse the mess, everything is still in progress.)

a few more..

:0)