gardening in a cooler, more wet climate

Discussion in 'Fruit and Vegetable Gardening' started by tgplp, Jan 13, 2010.

  1. tgplp

    tgplp Active Member

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    Ooh, cross breeding tomatoes and zucchinis sounds fun! Wouldn't it be cool to make a really wonderful new variety? I can't wait to see what the fruits/veggies will look like. I have a question about hybrids... can a hybrid turn into an heirloom after several years? I know heirlooms are open pollinated as well as old varieties... but this just confuses me. How do you discover an heirloom? Is that impossible? Do you have to discover hybrids, and do they eventually become heirlooms? What does open pollinated mean?
    Sorry I'm asking all these questions about heirlooms... I'm really into cross breeding tomatoes right now, for some reason.
    Thanks for your help!
    ~Tgplp :)
     
  2. JanR

    JanR Active Member

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  3. Dana09

    Dana09 Active Member

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    Peas are easy and grow well with strawberries as a companion.

    Yes, tomatoes do like their even moisture and do be careful to water them on the soil only , no wetting the leaves. Covering them when it is rainy weather is a good idea because of a blight, a sort of mold that develops in mid and late summer, if it is in your area. Like the rust fly, these things are possibilities and talking to someone at a local nursery or farmer's market and other gardeners will tell you if it is where you live.
    I am another non-turner, usually due to lack of space. I had a compost bin built that had removable front boards that slid in from the side and I could always take out the bottom one or two to get at the soil that was ready. Otherwise, I would just move what was not ready into a pile beside the first one until I got to the good stuff. Don't let the giant compost worms scare you! ;)) Gosh I've seen a few biggies here & there.

    D
     
  4. pointy1

    pointy1 Member

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    tgplp,
    I notice that you say you've started your tomatoes already! Unless you have lots of sunlight or a good artificial light set-up I think you may have jumped the gun. Even though your last frost date is in March, without protection, like plastic row covers, there isn't much advantage to getting them in the ground until May. Tomatoes love heat, below 70 degrees they'll grow but not thrive . I live in Toronto but used to live in Vancouver and have grown tomatoes in both places. I plant my tomatoes end of May beginning of June here (last frost May 15) and because of the hot summers they always ripen earlier than they did when I was in Vancouver. If you try to get a head start by planting inside early you'll likely end up with weak, leggy plants. A common mistake is to think if the recommended 6-8 weeks is good then 12-16 weeks must be better. Not so, unless you have a heated greenhouse and keep moving the plants to larger pots so as not to inhibit root development.

    Mulch can be used to conserve moisture and keep weeds down and keep roots warm(er) in winter but I find when planting heat loving plants, tomato, pepper, squash etc., that it's best to let the sun reach the soil in the early spring to help it warm up and then mulch throughout the summer. In Vancouver i grew my tomatoes against a wall and had two ten foot long 2x2's that I would lean up against the house and attach clear plastic to them to form a lean-to greenhouse. I used it ealry season and then again in the fall to help ripen the fruit. If you do anything like this you'll need to weight it down or somehow fix it in place so it doesn't blow away. Allow ventilation, you don't want to sweat the plants.

    If you like asian greens like bok choy, these plants do very well on the west coast. They like it cool and wet so plant early spring and again in early Sept. I used to leave some in the ground over winter and they would be the first plant to start growing again in Feb. I highly recommend territorial Seeds as mentioned by Jan , they have varieties for your climate. Good luck!
     
  5. tgplp

    tgplp Active Member

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    Dana,
    It's not the giant compost worms I'm afraid of... It's the giant compost slugs! Sadly, I don't have many big night crawlers here... just a bunch of medium sized worms who really help with the compost... I also have a bunch of pill bugs in the compost bin. (At least, that's what I call them. Some people call them rolly pollies. I think they are actually wood louse.) I am getting way off subject!
    Peas sound great, I bought some seeds.
    Does anyone know of any hot (not too hot, please) peppers that might actually grow in my climate? Or, maybe a small, bushy variety I could grow indoors?
    Thanks for all your help!
    ~Tgplp :)
     
  6. JanR

    JanR Active Member

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    You might try an Jalapano pepper. They are not too hot.
     
  7. tgplp

    tgplp Active Member

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    Thanks, JanR! I'll try a Jalapano.
    Pointy 1, I know I started my seedlings waaaay to early. I guess I just couldn't help it! I needed to start gardening asap! I think I'll just wait and see what happens with these fellas... :) What time do you recommend starting tomato seeds indoors for me? And also, I think I'm gonna grow a couple varieties indoors this year- I have a small garden space, tons of varieties I want to grow, and some of the worst weather for growing tomatoes outside. I am growing Red Robin, Yellow Canary, and Micro Tom indoors this year. Any other good indoor varieties anyone would recommend?

    ~Tgplp :)
    P.S. My tomato seedlings have purple stems. At some websites, they say it is okay, and some say it is a sign of stress and you should figure out why the tomatoes are stressed. Are they supposed to have purple stems or not?!?!?
     
  8. pointy1

    pointy1 Member

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    I would start tomatoes 8 weeks before you want to transplant them. If you lived here (Toronto) I'd say 8 weeks before the last frost but since you've got a very early last frost and a long cool spring, I'd pick a date between May 1 - 15 as your starting date, depending on how sheltered or exposed you garden is. Having them in the ground for a month when it's around 60- 70 degrees and rainy is not going to make for healthy, happy plants and come August/Sept harvest I doubt you'd be any further ahead.
    Having said that, there is always a possibility of a freak early and warm start to the summer so if you've got extra seeds to spare pop a few plants in early. You should have some back up plants though.
    I can't recommend indoor tomato varieties but my own method would be to grow a few different kinds and next year grow this year's favorite(s) and add a few new varieties and in a few years you'll have a good idea of what grows well and which varieties you like.

    if you are itchin' to start something, maybe get some lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, arugula, kale, or anything in the cabbage family, started and transplant in 4-6 weeks.
     
  9. tgplp

    tgplp Active Member

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    hee hee hee.... I already have gotten spinich, lettuce, and arugula started. :) What's funny is that I know I shouldn't have but I planted a bunch of radish seeds in my garden at the beginning of January. There was a frost a few days later. I thought my seeds were dead.... but, a couple weeks later, I walked out to the garden, and there were a bunch of radish seedlings out there- so many I had to thin out lots and lots of 'em! I'm gonna see what happens to these guys... you never know- mayby radishes do great in January-February where I live!
    Thanks for your info! I'll start some more tomato seeds later in the spring. I think I am going to collect a bunch of different tomato seeds, and then grow different ones and see what I like best... :)
    ~Tgplp
     

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