New Garden, Need Help

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by redforever

You said you planted cucumbers, not sure what variety. Most cucumber spread a lot,

Great posts! I've had no issues with cucumbers and space basically because they climb very well. Some 1x2 wood made into a 6' lattice with some twine does the trick. 3 plants about a couple feet apart going straight up.

And Anti, if you want a no brainer good reward plant throw in a zucchini at the front of the bed although they take up a decent bit of space (say ~ 2 x 3').

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Shazam

They're perfectly hardy here, I've had some in my backyard for years now.

If OP wishes to have blue fruit, then honeyberry is a very good choice. You need two though for proper pollination. Another good choice is saskatoon bush.

I probably should have qualified that. I live in Priddis and what might grow in your back yard does not always grow in mine.

Edit: Honeyberry was a no go for me too. Maydays won't even grow at my place, and I have tried them countless times. I have finally settled on Amur cherry instead. They seem to be much hardier for the Priddis area and the bark is very nice as well, like red birch. And I did get some clump birch to take, they are quite nice now, had to make a microclimate for them.

Saskatoons will grow here, I have some, but really, anything west of Calgary, towards the mountains, just not the zone for saskatoons. They grow leggy here, not much fruit either. In the city, saskatoons do fine.

[Antithesis]

This thread is gold. In 4 weeks I'm going to have all the time in the world to more properly care for things. I'm sure I need to work the top of the soil a bit, redforever, because is it a little crusty at the top. I'll keep that in mind - and pick up some tomato food on my way home from work today!

No peas because I didn't plan my garden out too well! Suppose that I could get some planted in some of the planters my Mom handed over to me ...

[redforever]

I will tell you how I grow my tomatoes. I got this hint years ago from the "Let's Get Gardening" talk show with Barry Erskine and Wade Hartwell. It is the only way I have found to consistently grow tomatoes that will ripen on the vine where I live, that is in the Priddis area.

Barry and Wade said to grow the tomatoes in individual pots, large pots, mine are probably 18" in diameter and 18" in heighth. The pots are placed on a flat bed wagon that my husband built for me, and the wagon is on wheels. The wagon is low to the ground, basically just enough clearance for the wheels etc. The wagon is large enough for me to put on 8 to 10 pots, depending on how I jiggle them around and arrange the pots. And the wagon has a rope handle on each end, so I can pull the wagon around.

Now I put that wagon and the tomatoes planted in the pots on my garage pad, which has the ideal exposure for tomato plants. It faces south so gets the early morning sun from the east and then lots of hot sun from the south and the west. And the cement garage pad retains head during the night. Tomatoes like warm feet so just the fact that they are growing in raised pots helps to keep their feet warm and then the extra heat that is retained from the cement garage pad at night helps too. And the wall of the garage is bricks so that retains heat as well.

I also stained the pots a dark brown adding to the warmth of the pots. The pots have a large drainage hole and I put the pots on trays to retain any water that might pass through when watering.

Now the best part of this whole process......early spring or fall, when we might get frost over night. I just pull my tomatoes in the garage and pull them out when safe.

And once it is October when there is frost every night or when days remain cool, I just keep my tomatoes, in their pots, in the garage. I water very sparingly, just enough to keep the main branch a bit supple, the leaves will eventually dry. But whatever tomatoes have not already ripened.....well, they continue to ripen on the vine in the garage.

Growing my tomatoes this way, lots ripen through out the season for fresh eating and the balance ripen in the garage and I make salsa or various tomato sauces from them.

By the way, there is a very nice cherry tomato that can be grown in hanging baskets, or just in a pot, the plant itself does not need to be staked. It hangs down, the name is Tumbler.

[redforever]

I should have added that the varieties that I have had the most success with are Celebrity, Champion, Big boy, Lemon Boy, Ultra or Early Girl and Roma. I bought the gardening book on tomatoes by Lois Hole and tried varieties suggested for my area.

For cherry tomatoes, Tumbler, Sungold (very hard to find, only place I can find them is Garden Retreat), most varieties of the grape tomato work well. Most grape tomatoes are indeterminate though, growing very tall, and need to be staked and grown in cages, out of the direct wind too, otherwise they will topple over. I even put rocks in the bottom of some of my pots to give them extra weight and guard against the wind toppling them over.

[Shazam]

Sungolds are awesome. You can get the seeds at Sunnyside, but they sell out very quickly.

If you like Early Girl, try Sub Arctic Plenty or Stupice. Both are supposedly better than Early Girl with a similar maturity time.

[Bagor]

Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes are my favourite. Superstore sells them here in Ottawa. Gets a bit bushy but loads of delicious tomatoes (probably ~300-400/plant). No disease problems ever with it but the tomatoes will crack if left on the vine too long.

Value for money wise cherry or grape tomato plants are the best value considering what you'd pay at the store for them

[Shazam]

I also grow Tumbler. Balcony Charm is also a good alternative.

[mikey_the_redneck]

Traditional_Ale is right..................manure will do wonders for your garden. It holds moisture and provides nitrogen.........

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by redforever

I probably should have qualified that. I live in Priddis and what might grow in your back yard does not always grow in mine.

Edit: Honeyberry was a no go for me too. Maydays won't even grow at my place, and I have tried them countless times. I have finally settled on Amur cherry instead. They seem to be much hardier for the Priddis area and the bark is very nice as well, like red birch. And I did get some clump birch to take, they are quite nice now, had to make a microclimate for them.

Saskatoons will grow here, I have some, but really, anything west of Calgary, towards the mountains, just not the zone for saskatoons. They grow leggy here, not much fruit either. In the city, saskatoons do fine.

That's amazing that honeyberries won't grow there. They're zone 0 plants!

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Bagor

Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes are my favourite. Superstore sells them here in Ottawa. Gets a bit bushy but loads of delicious tomatoes (probably ~300-400/plant). No disease problems ever with it but the tomatoes will crack if left on the vine too long.

If you stake or cage your plants, they will develop lots of foliage.

Value for money wise cherry or grape tomato plants are the best value considering what you'd pay at the store for them

Yup. I save ridiculous amounts of money growing tomatoes.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Sungolds are awesome. You can get the seeds at Sunnyside, but they sell out very quickly.

If you like Early Girl, try Sub Arctic Plenty or Stupice. Both are supposedly better than Early Girl with a similar maturity time.

I have tried all the Sub Arctic varieties over the years. From my experience, they just do not compare to either Early Girl or Ultra Girl.

For one thing, most Sub Arctic varieties tend to be very compact in their growing habitat, thus yield does not compare. And I have not found the taste to compare either.

I grow Early Girl and Ultra Girl because they are a large tomato plant that works for me, the taste is good and for me, they produce a lot of tomatoes and I have found they mature the earliest.

Lemon Boy matures in about the same time as the Early Girl and Ultra Girl varieties. They are very juicy and have that real tangy old fashioned tomato taste to them, and yes, with a hint of lemon. Some do not like a tomato that is acidic in taste, I do.

As I mentioned previously, my other favorites are Celebrity and Champion, both which mature and ripen on the vine for me and have quite a large fruit size. And then I have found any of the Ultra Boy, Big Boy or Better Boy varieties work for me as well, having the largest fruit size.

I no longer grow Beefsteak. While they grow very well and have a big yield, for me, they are the one variety that I find subject to blossom end rot. And while some swear by Fantastic, for me, they are the variety that split and crack by the stem.

I no longer start my tomatoes from seed, thus I head to Garden Retreat early to find Sungold. They are the sweetest of any cherry tomato out there and a very heavy producer as well.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Shazam

That's amazing that honeyberries won't grow there. They're zone 0 plants!

I live in Priddis, in the Arch Zone. Have you ever read "Gardening Under the Arch", put out by the Millarville Horticultural Club?

This zone is probably one of the most challenging for growing flowers, trees and various vegetables in Canada. It is not the zone# that is important where I live, it is the Chinook winds.

It does not matter what zone the plant or tree or shrub is rated for, when the Chinook winds howl and melt all the protective snow cover and dry out the surface of the soil, frost penetrates much easier. Thus, you can usually count on some winterkill. I mulch all those plants that are borderline for my area or for those that I am not able to provide microclimates.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Shazam

If you stake or cage your plants, they will develop lots of foliage.

Yup. I save ridiculous amounts of money growing tomatoes.

I stake and cage all my tomato plants except for the Tumbler variety.

I put a tomato cage around each plant when I plant the tomatoes, easiest to do so at that stage since the plant is not too big and does not get damaged when you put the cage over it.

Then I put a stake that I can periodically tie the main growing stem to. And I use 3 stakes to anchor each cage. And then I tie the cages together at the top so that basically, all the tomato plants on my wagon are anchored together. And I put rocks at the bottom of the pots for the larger plants that are indetermindate in their growth. If I don't do so, the Chinook winds will topple my pots of tomatoes. The Chinooks can really get howling where I live, particularily since I live on top of a ridge and have a full 180 degree view of the Rockies. See the tomato wagon I posted a picture of above? Well, if I dont put the wheels at a 90 degree angle and put a plank or something in front of the wheels, the Chinook winds will actually blow my wagon off the garage pad.

There is a saying, want a view, accept that there will be wind. No view, no wind.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by redforever

I live in Priddis, in the Arch Zone. Have you ever read "Gardening Under the Arch", put out by the Millarville Horticultural Club?

This zone is probably one of the most challenging for growing flowers, trees and various vegetables in Canada. It is not the zone# that is important where I live, it is the Chinook winds.

It does not matter what zone the plant or tree or shrub is rated for, when the Chinook winds howl and melt all the protective snow cover and dry out the surface of the soil, frost penetrates much easier. Thus, you can usually count on some winterkill. I mulch all those plants that are borderline for my area or for those that I am not able to provide microclimates.

Yeah, I figured it was the Chinooks. They're a problem in Calgary as well. Not as bad as your area though.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by redforever

I have tried all the Sub Arctic varieties over the years. From my experience, they just do not compare to either Early Girl or Ultra Girl.

Whilst I like Early Girl well enough, I'm trying to find something better than it for a medium early red tomato (I still find them a tad bland - that or I'm getting spoiled ). I'll see how Stupice compares. I did four Stupice, two Subarctic Plenty, two Early Girls, one Mammoth German Gold, and one Sungold this year. Oh, and four Tumblers. Thanks for the advice on the SA's. Luckily seeds are inexpensive

I no longer start my tomatoes from seed, thus I head to Garden Retreat early to find Sungold. They are the sweetest of any cherry tomato out there and a very heavy producer as well.

So, absolutely true. I've directed so many people to Garden Retreat for tomatoes - no other place compares in Calgary.

[Jedi Ninja]

FROST WARNING.

It may dip below zero tonight, so cover those babies up!

[Jedi Ninja]

On the topic of tomatoes, this will be the first year that we will make a serious attempt at growing tomatoes, some started from seed, some from those big plants from Costco. We'll see how it goes. I discovered after that Garden Retreat has a huge variety of both Tomato seeds and tomato seedlings.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Whilst I like Early Girl well enough, I'm trying to find something better than it for a medium early red tomato (I still find them a tad bland - that or I'm getting spoiled ). I'll see how Stupice compares. I did four Stupice, two Subarctic Plenty, two Early Girls, one Mammoth German Gold, and one Sungold this year. Oh, and four Tumblers. Thanks for the advice on the SA's. Luckily seeds are inexpensive

I will agree that Early Girl or Ultra Girl don't have that real heirloom taste. But if you are looking for an early variety, then you dont get that same taste. The longer tomatoes are on the vine and the longer they are exposed to sunlight, the more deep and authentic the taste of the tomato. So in Calgary, to get tomatoes to grow and ripen on the vine, we end up choosing varieties that have a short growing season.....which compromises taste to a certain extent.

Sigh, that is the challenge of growing tomatoes in Calgary which has a short growing season. And the main problem with Calgary comes from our close proximity to the mountains. That means our evenings cool off a lot and so the next day, you have to rebuild that heat that you have lost overnight. And most sun loving plants like tomatoes, corn, a lot of squash, do not take well to cool evenings.

I have found that Celebrity, Champion and most of the varieties that end with Boy are pretty good for taste. They mature around 8 to 12 days later than Early Girl.

The picture I am posting was taken 2 years ago, I forget which it was, but was one of Big Boy, Better Boy or Ultra boy. That variety of tomato grows quite large so I usually dont put that tomato on my tomato wagon. I have a sheltered corner on my garage pad, up against the deck where there is wind protection as well. It bears a lot of fruit, has a fairly large sized fruit and has a very good taste.

Not sure if you can notice, but I planted a Tumbler tomato in the front and it is hanging down with some fruit on it. I think I took the picture sometime around the end of June or early July as I don't see any ripe fruit yet and Tumbler do ripen very quickly.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by redforever

I will agree that Early Girl or Ultra Girl don't have that real heirloom taste. But if you are looking for an early variety, then you dont get that same taste. The longer tomatoes are on the vine and the longer they are exposed to sunlight, the more deep and authentic the taste of the tomato. So in Calgary, to get tomatoes to grow and ripen on the vine, we end up choosing varieties that have a short growing season.....which compromises taste to a certain extent.

Yeah, I know. But there's always hope There's a zillion varieties out there; I'll find something I like

I have found that Celebrity, Champion and most of the varieties that end with Boy are pretty good for taste. They mature around 8 to 12 days later than Early Girl.

Yeah, I've grown a lot of those varieties very successfully as well. I've grown Better Boy especially for a number of years.

The picture I am posting was taken 2 years ago, I forget which it was, but was one of Big Boy, Better Boy or Ultra boy. That variety of tomato grows quite large so I usually dont put that tomato on my tomato wagon. I have a sheltered corner on my garage pad, up against the deck where there is wind protection as well. It bears a lot of fruit, has a fairly large sized fruit and has a very good taste.

I'll see if I can take a picture of Sungold this year. Last year, it was 12 feet long.

Not sure if you can notice, but I planted a Tumbler tomato in the front and it is hanging down with some fruit on it. I think I took the picture sometime around the end of June or early July as I don't see any ripe fruit yet and Tumbler do ripen very quickly.

Yeah, I start some Tumblers in February. They already have fruit on them right now.