Wow thats a big bugger. Good eye. I hate those things. Nice looking plants. Looks like things are going along nicely.

Michelle

Is Cherokee Chocolate the same as Cherokee Purple? If not, what's the difference?

Holmes,

They are related but not exactly the same. Cherokee Chocolate is a skin color mutation of Cherokee Purple. CC has a reddish tone to the color. Both varieties yield about the same size fruit.

Thanks Michelle. I've not been able to snap any photos lately. I'm taking tomorrow off from work so I should be able to spend some quality time in the garden and get more photos posted.

Jay

A brief report on recent happenings in the garden:
-picked two more hornworms today.

-The mutation of JD's Special C-Tex has set fruit so now it's just a matter of waiting on the fruit to mature and see what skin color I end up with.

-I've got the base of the mobile hoophouse constructed, in place and leveled. Next up will be the construction of the end walls. Once that is completed, the rest should go fairly quickly.

I might get some photos posted tomorrow. If not, definately on Monday.

Jay

We had some major storms yesterday...lost electricity for a while. I received 1.12 inches of rain in the garden and the plants are responding quite well. I wish I could have peeled back the plastic mulch but the rain came down too hard.

Here is a shot of two rows:
{{gwi:1388387}}

A partial view of Row 3:
{{gwi:1388388}}

Jay

Here is another photo of the possible mutation of JD's Special C-Tex. This one has now set several fruit.
{{gwi:1388389}}

Cherokee Chocolate:
{{gwi:1388390}}

Another photo of Extreme Bush:
{{gwi:1388391}}

Jay

Jay, I've been quietly watching your pictorial timeline (with envy). I'm in zone 5 and (other than lettuce, carrots, and other 'cool crops') fall growing is a pipedream. Do you have opportunity to grow tomatoes in the fall and spring? Is one easier than the other for you?

Interesting.

Hi,

I am able to grow during both the fall and spring seasons. In fact, I could harvest fruit pretty much year-round if I wanted to (especially this year). I would basically have to prepare for succession planting and have the hoophouses at the ready, but it is possible.

Spring has much less disease pressure than the fall season. The plants are not stressed by the heat and humidity of our late spring and early summer seasons and no stinkbugs to deal with in the fall either. Plants do grow faster in the spring and that would be the main difference I think when comparing the two.

I would say that fall is much easier than growing in the spring. Local climate has a lot to do with that though.

Jay

Everything is still looking wonderful. I have put my stakes in and i am just wanting for time to go by. Congrats on yours starting to set fruit. They held up pretty good then with the storms.
Michelle

Uh Oh!! I got something backwards on my last post. I meant to say that the fall season has much less disease pressure than spring.

Thanks Michelle. I had just placed a couple more layers of support string on the plants too. That really paid off with the high winds we had.

Jay

brazosvalleygardener, it is fun to watch your garden take off as I anticipate a killing frost any night in my garden. Your detailed pictures show the growing methods well and are giving me ideas for my next crop....which will not be til May, 2008. Thanks for the timeline. I look forward to seeing the ripe 'matoes.

Jay, Seems very backwards to me - I'm so spring oriented being in Massachusetts. I try and rush my tomatoes in the ground so that I can get SOMETHING before it's too late. I got some Cherokee Purples in the ground too late and got NADA from them this year. Big beautiful GREENS though. :)

So, you lay out soaker hose - do you pin that down too? Then put black plastic over the hose... IS the black plastic for weeds or moisture or both? My father always used it - but it was to keep the weeds at bay (he was a horse manure fan). I don't use either - soaker hose or plastic - so I'm curious.

You make your own crosses - would this allow you to cut the time in half to get to a F6? I also have to ask you about your cherokee purp/red oxheart cross. I'm curious if you started any of those beauts this fall?

Tom-

Thanks, naturegirl. I'm hoping for Brandywines at the Thanksgiving table.

Tom, yep...I bet your zone 5 climate presents some challenges unlike what I have to deal with here - would love to have one or two of your winters though. Monday was fantastic weather early in the morning with much cooler temperatures but back to reality today with high humidity.

I do pin the soaker hoses down but only with about three pins and thats mainly when they are initially layed out in the bed as I store them rolled up and they tend to want to stay in the coiled position. Eventually, they straighten out. The black plastic is primarily for preventing soil from splashing up on the leaves from rain showers. Moisture would be the other reason.

Growing during the spring and fall season does allow for cutting the time in half on stabilizing a cross. The German Red Strawberry x Cherokee Purple plants are being grown in my cousin's greenhouse (about 18 miles away). I would rather have grown them at home where I could keep a closer watch on results but having them in his greenhouse takes away potential weather related setbacks and also, I'm reworking my garden fence and don't have part of the fence up all of the time and would hate to have those plants nibbled down to the ground from deer, etc.

Jay

Jay,

You can HAVE a few of my winters! The shoveling and snowblowing is for the birds! Amazingly enough, I haven't had a killing frost yet - which frankly has been kinda nice.

I ask about pinning down the soaker hoses because I've never had any luck with keeping them straight - unless they're full of water - but as soon as the water pressure is gone they curl up and make a mess. Do you run a few together for such a large area? I'm contemplating soaker hoses for next year.

I'd like to 'talk' more with you about your CP X GRS cross... would it be okay to e mail you directly? I don't want to go off on a tangent on your pictorial time line thread... :)

Thanks.

Tom

Tom,

I have run a few sections together but try to limit each run to no more than 125'.

Absolutely, feel free to send me an email. Use the email listed above to send an email to me directly. I would not email through gardenweb though as I never receive email that way.

Jay

Finally, some decent weather temps.

{{gwi:1388392}}

Here is a photo taken last Friday of the two rows I have been focusing on. The photo below would be at the forty day mark since the initial planting in the garden.

{{gwi:1388393}}

And here is another:
{{gwi:1388395}}

More comments later...
Jay

Incredible. Looks great, Jay! I'm SOOO jealous!

Tom-

No photos today folks but here are a few observations/happenings made this past weekend:

-Pulled Lillian's Yellow Heirloom and Yellow Brandywine on October 26th. Both plants were stunted and upon examination of the roots, root knot nematodes were confirmed and subsequently discarded.

-Removed black plastic mulch from rows 1 and 3. 45 degrees at 8:30 am on Sunday.

-Extreme Bush - no fruit observed. Very healthy plant.
-Burpee's Golden Dwarf Champion - 2 fruit observed. Very healthy plant.
-Bush Goliath - 5 fruit but plant is very puny but healthy.
-Dwarf Champion - knocked 2 fruit off with 12 fruit currently on the vine.
-New Big Dwarf - No blossoms currently.
-Clear Early Pink - Blossoms but no fruit yet.
-Aunt Ruby's German Green - 1 fruit, appears to be several other blossoms setting fruit.
-Brandywine - 2 fruit developing. Very large and healthy plant.
-Marianna's Peace - a few blossoms no fruit. Plant very healthy but rather short - about 30" tall max.
-Caspian Pink - Lots of blossoms, no fruit. Healthy plant but with very curled leaves.
-Carbon (from Earl) - Lots of blossoms, no fruit. 3' tall currently and very healthy.
-Dr. Wyche's Yellow - 2' tall. Barely survived transplant from 5 gallon bucket. Healthy but I don't expect much of anything from this one due to the setback.
-Siberia - 2 fruit, 5 to 6 blossoms appear to be setting fruit.
-Aker's West Virginia - No blossoms.
-Chianti Rose - Some blossoms, no fruit. Very healthy.
-JD's Sport/Mutation - 6 fruit developing with 2 more blossoms setting fruit. I fruit is very large. 4' tall and very heathly plant.
-Cherokee Chocolate - 13 developing fruit. A 4' tall and very healthy plant.
-Big Zac - 6 developing fruit with 4 blossoms setting additional fruit. A 4' tall and very healthy plant. It appears the fruit on this one are going to be very large.
-Mammoth German Gold - No blossoms and about 3' tall. Very healthy but will have to keep an eye on this one as it was planted next to the two plants that had RKN.

I still don't have my greenhouse up yet. Due to the length of the greenhouse and the design, I'm having issues with completing the design for the ridge pole. However, I've got to get this complete by this weekend though the weather appears to be holding through November 7th and possbily beyond.

Jay

Below are a few photos from yesterday. Cherokee Chocolate now has 25 fruit developing.

Cherokee Chocolate
{{gwi:1388397}}

Another Cherokee Chocolate
{{gwi:1388399}}

The sport or mutation from JD's Special C-Tex
{{gwi:1388401}}

Another of the JD's growout:
{{gwi:1388402}}

Here are some misc photos taken yesterday.

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{{gwi:1388407}}

As a person looking to eventually move to TX/AZ/CA (i doubt i'll be able to afford CA), this has been great to see in pictures.

You may 'only' be able to get a month head start and a month later into your season to grow, but I'll take those 2 months.

Here is an update from this past weekend.....

Fruit production really kicked in high gear last week. As of yesterday, I'm at day 56 of the fall season so still way too early to expect much in the way of ripening fruit.

Here is a brief update on specific varieties.
-Chianti Rose - 1 fruit has set. Currently marble sized.
-JD's - 11 fruit developing. Plant health = A+
-Big Zac - 12 fruit. Plant health = A (most leaves very curled)
-Mammonth German Gold - Still no flowers.
-Brandywine - 6 fruit
-Caspian Pink - 1 fruit developing. Plant health = A+
-Carbon - 4 fruit developing.
-Dr. Wyches Yellow - This plant has made a spectacular comeback from the transplant from the 5 gallon bucket. I still don't expect any fruit though.
-Siberia - 10 fruit.
-Aker's West Virginia - Several flowers, no fruit.
-Burpee's Golden Dwarf Champion - 3 fruit.
-Extreme Bush - at least 3 fruit. Very dense foliage with plant health equaling A+
-Bush Golaith - 6 fruit.
-Aunt Ruby's German Green - 5 fruit.

We have had high winds today and should be getting a cold front but it won't have much impact on temps. I'm not even close to finishing the hoophouse....maybe next weekend.

Photos coming.....be back in a bit.

Jay

Here are some photos taken early this morning. Sorry for the "blur" with some of them. In fact, I had to delete several photos due to being out of focus. I think the low light conditions had a play in the focus of the photos.

Siberia
{{gwi:1388408}}

JD's
{{gwi:1388409}}

Dwarf Champion
{{gwi:1388410}}

Chianti Rose
{{gwi:1388411}}

More photos coming!

Jay

And here are a few more photos....

Carbon
{{gwi:1388412}}Cherokee Chocolate
{{gwi:1388413}}

Brandywine
{{gwi:1388414}}

Big Zac
{{gwi:1388415}}

Jay

Jay, so I understand your Fall growing season - are you in a rush to get up your hoophouse so that you can protect your plants - wind, cold temps, rain?

Jealous Tom in Z5, MA

Hey Tom,

I've been fortunate with the weather thus far but with the Texas climate, you can go from moderate temps to below freezing in a matter of hours and with the hoophouse I'm building, it's not something I can finish quickly therefore the reason behind my urgency. However, I made great progress this weekend with the hoophouse. Photos forthcoming.

Jay

As mentioned previously, I've finally made significant progress with the construction of my hoophouse. Still a ways to go but I in a much better position to finish this project soon.

Here is a photo of my double ridgepole design with the 2" diameter ridgepole's changed out with 2x4's.

{{gwi:1388416}}

Another closer photo:
{{gwi:1388417}}

And another:
{{gwi:1388418}}

More photos coming!

Jay

Next are a couple of photos of the current status of the hoophouse. I still need to make some adjustments to the baseboards and ribs.

{{gwi:1388419}}

{{gwi:1388420}}

Back in a bit.

Jay

Here are some photos of the plants.

Brandywine
{{gwi:1388421}}

Big Zac
{{gwi:1388422}}

Another of Big Zac
{{gwi:1388424}}

Aunt Ruby's German Green
{{gwi:1388425}}

JD's
{{gwi:1388426}}

Cherokee Chocolate
{{gwi:1388427}}

Jay

A few more miscellaneous photos of the tomato plants.

{{gwi:1388428}}

{{gwi:1388429}}

{{gwi:1388430}}

Jay

WOW!! What a set up.

Do you have plans for the open space on the right side of the hoop house?

Are you going to have ripe 'maters for Thanksgiving?

The tomatoes in your photos look great. Here in Michigan some sad looking tomatoes picked before the last frost are ripening in my garage and kitchen. They just aren't the same as ones ripened on the vine...

Hi,

I plan on adding a second hoophouse next to this one but I'll leave two rows in between the two hoophouses. It's not looking like I will have any ripe tomatoes by Thanksgiving but you never know.

Jay

Say, what happened to the black plastic?

Your setup looks fabulous. Fabulous!

Great pics! Fun to come here and follow your season. Thanks for posting it all.

Hi marquette,

Thanks for your compliments. I discovered nematodes on two plants and when I pulled those plants up, I removed the black plastic on that row. A few days later, I took the black plastic off of the other rows thinking that I would have the hoophouse finished and would not need the black plastic anymore. But here I am still working on the hoophouse.

Regards,
Jay

Wow. That's awesome. Do you errect this hoop house every year? Why not just leave it up (the lazy gardner asks)?

This is a new design that I had not constructed before. I have had a couple of hoophouses in the past that were destroyed by high winds but I think this one will do fine and definately will not take it down - at least not on purpose (LOL).

Jay

Here are some photos from early last week. I had a close call with temps on Thursday night. It got down to 34 degrees but the plans camer through just fine.

Here is a photo of the hoophouse after installing the rib supports
{{gwi:1388431}}

Plants on Row 3
{{gwi:1388432}}

Plants on Row 2
{{gwi:1388433}}

New Big Dwarf
{{gwi:1388434}}

Burpee's Golden Dwarf Champion
{{gwi:1388435}}

Jay

A few more:

The first to start ripening fruit is Extreme Bush:
{{gwi:1388436}}

Carbon
{{gwi:1388437}}

Bush Goliath
{{gwi:1388438}}

I've started the endwall constuction and should be finished with the whole hoophouse by Wednesday afternoon. We have temps getting back down in the 30's this Thursday night so I want to be ready but even still, I should not have too much problem with getting everything finished up.

Jay
{{gwi:1388439}}

I've had some challenging weather during the past week in regards to trying to finish the hoophouse. I actually had some frozen water on the windshield this morning.

Here is where I was at with the construction last Wednesday. Later that day I attached the plastic.

{{gwi:1388440}}

Here is a photo with the plastic attached and with the beginning construction of the area between the two ridgepoles.
{{gwi:1388441}}

Back in a few minutes.

Jay

Here is a photo from inside the hoophouse during the completion of the area between the ridgepoles.

{{gwi:1388442}}

Here is a photo of the same area finished.
{{gwi:1388443}}

Another photo from inside.
{{gwi:1388444}}

Jay

And here is a photo of the hoophouse almost completed. I cover the door at night but need to build a door for it and double check the seams etc. The ventilation area between the two ridgepoles is functional but it will be a week or two before I have it finished out based on my original design...had to finish it up quickly due to the cold temperatures we are experiancing. It will be near 32 degrees again tonight. Sorry for the photo quality. Most of these last photos were taken very late in the evening.

Jay

{{gwi:1388445}}

Hasn't been a post in a while from others, but I'm following along.

Lot of pictures to load at this point, but its been fun for me to watch it unfold.

Jay, still quietly monitoring your progress. LOVE the hoophouse and love the pictorial grow out. Really been interesting to watch. How are your cherokee oxhearts doing at your brothers(?)...

My yard is dead as a doornail and got snow last week... :( Looking forward to the spring catalogs...

Tom-

It's looking wonderful! Can't wait to see that harvest!

Hi:
I have been absent from the forum for about 2yrs now and after looking at your timeline from start to present, not only do I feel happier, but am raring to go for next year when I can start my own garden again (from scratch - I moved). Really appreciate the time you took to post your pics. Wonderful setup, and enjoy those maters!

brazosvalley, can you consider starting a new thread with your future timeline/pictures on it? (maybe call it fall growout part 2??) The size of this thread took a long time for me to open up, even with a T-1 connection. I really am enjoying this series as I would like to experiment with the same concept here in zone 7 when I get the time, maybe next year.

I love seeing this unfold. Hope there are some ripe ones before long! And keep closing things up tight on your cold nights. I think alot of us on-line would feel really bad if the plants were damaged.

The photos are great and well done. I also have to wait awhile for them to load with a high speed connection. Maybe a part 2, with part 1 getting a frequent bump would keep the whole grow-out on the 1st page.

Hi folks and thanks for the compliments.

I agree. I think it's time to start part 2 of the fall garden and that is what I will do with the next post. I've got a T-1 connection as well and can only imagine what it's like for those on dialup.

Jay