It just never stops. . .no sooner had I planted the lovely, healthy seedlings that ViewsAskew so kindly shared with me then I was gifted with THREE more. ARRGH. I literally have no where to put them, but space will be created, as it is every year!

Should be interesting; these new additons are from the Chicago Botanic Garden's greenhouses, and are our June plant-of-the-month giveaway: the "Mexico Midget." (!), a heirloom variety with currant-sized fruit. Should make an interesting Caprese salad, especially with the very tiny fresh mozz balls one can find occasionally (Whole Foods, Treasure Island). I'll also try them in a white bean/sausage/spinach soup.

Good day at the Garden!

sundevilpeg wrote:

Greens, including lettuces, are bolting. What should I place in my Earthboxes next?

Chiles! The most varieties, the merrier. You just can't have too many, ever - almost unlimited uses, and they freeze so nicely for storage. Nothing like home-roasted Big Jims in the middle of winter. Strangely I saw some Jig Jims at the Evanston Home Depot over the weekend. Culantro plants, too. Whoa!

Culantro and not Vietnamese cilantro? I've been trying to grow this from seed for months!

Yup, culantro. I was shocked to see it - I mean, the Evanston Home Depot?? Tons of 'em, too. Go figure.

I didn't wait for an answer, but hopped right on down there and picked me up some! Not only do they have culantro, they've got plants with itty-bitty little pineapples growing on them! I was sorely tempted - though I'm guessing the pineapples are 1) mostly decorative and 2) probably the only pineapple you'll get off the plant? Two years of looking for this stuff, and it's right in my backyard. Whooda thunk?

I've got flowers on cukes & pepper plants today. I also have buds that I suspect will flower on my watermelon plants.

So, my tomato and delicata squash plants have been growing like crazy (that's a six foot-tall fence)




The eggplant too (though no fruit as of yet--just flowers).



But I seem to be getting a little blossom end rot on some of the tomatoes. I'm pretty sure it's because my earthboxes ran dry a few times with the intense hot weather. Anyone have any idea if this will get better with later tomatoes if I am good about watering? I'm pretty sure it's not a calcium issue since I used the earthbox fertilizer/soil.

My four bush zucchini are fabulous this year too. I've got dozens and dozens of gorgeous blossoms. It's taken a lot of will power to not pick and fry them. These beautiful plants have one problem -- no zucchini!! I have only two small zucchini on one plant. I never saw anything like this. Could it be that I don't have enough bees?

thaiobsessed wrote:So, my tomato and delicata squash plants have been growing like crazy (that's a six foot-tall fence)




The eggplant too (though no fruit as of yet--just flowers).



But I seem to be getting a little blossom end rot on some of the tomatoes. I'm pretty sure it's because my earthboxes ran dry a few times with the intense hot weather. Anyone have any idea if this will get better with later tomatoes if I am good about watering? I'm pretty sure it's not a calcium issue since I used the earthbox fertilizer/soil.

I have some BER as well and from what I've been reading, the combination of the up and down temps early on in the season, combined with the volume of rain (apparently overwatering can be just as damaging as not enough!), may be causing it. Supposedly, we should remove all the affected fruit and it will likely subside, particularly since it's hitting so early and when the tomatoes are still green. I'm hopeful since I still have a significant number of unaffected tomatoes and plenty more blossoms.

BER is something you often get with tomatoes (peppers and other things, too). It's attributed to many things, including that some varieties are just worst than others, a lack of calcium, and the things noted already, plus many more. Some people say BER sprays work, others say they do not. I did a lot of research about it last year, but not sure how much I posted in this forum about it. You might want to do a search and see if I found anything helpful.

I have found I have it a LOT more in Earthboxes than I did when I gardened in soil, which leads me to believe its more of a nutrient issue. My EBs are never without water whereas I often didn't get to my very large garden as frequently as I should have. Yet, in my highly organic soil (in ground gardening) that I never used conventional ferts on, I never had problems. I honestly don't think I threw away more than 20 tomatoes in 10 years of in ground gardening and I threw away 20 tomatoes on one plant alone last year in an EB. I've also heard anecdotal evidence that people who use EBs have less the second year if using the same soil. Hmmmm.

This year I made sure I worked lime into my EB soil a few weeks prior to planting. I also made sure I used a fertilizer with calcium and magnesium. So far, no BER. But, I got things in a bit late and I don't have that many large enough to show it. I still have at least 10 on various plants and none have it.

Last year, I put the lime in the day I planted. It took a long time for the BER to go away. On the EB forum, one of the people swears by adding a one time shock treatment of lime and a weekly or biweekly "snack" of lime. Here's the link to a discussion about it. I've always shied away from this because you can make things much worse adding a lot of one nutrient, then throw things off, and chase your tail. BUT - lots of people swear by this. I have not tried it, so have no first hand knowledge of it. Another experience gardener says that the only solution is waiting it out and these people are using lime at about the time the problem is self correcting, so they think it is helping when it isn't. Again, I have no idea which is correct, but do think calcium is involved. I just don't understand how the plant could uptake that much calcium and get it into tomatoes already forming and stop the process with one treatment. But, until someone does some tests, I'll be the first to admit my hypothesis isn't any better than any other one!

And, given that many fertilizers to not have added calcium, adding it might be necessary if you're using one that doesn't have any, though not sure how quickly it will resolve the problem.

All of the above is most appropriate to EBs/container gardening as there are no nutrients naturally occurring in potting mixes, unlike in the ground. However, depending on the ground, a person could be missing important nutrients and might also need to add something. For in ground, a soil test from a reputable source (rather than the kits that won't really tell you much), would be the best starting place.

Thanks Views Askew--I think I'll head to Gethemane this weekend and see what they have in the way of lime preparations. I would have thought that the Earthbox folks add the right nutrients to the soil for tomatoes since people often buy them for tomatoes. But, I guess not. That makes sense about the watering. I never had BER last year when I planted in the ground and the watering was a little more erratic.

I believe that containers also dry out much faster than in ground plantings so that's something to consider as well.

thaiobsessed wrote:Thanks Views Askew--I think I'll head to Gethemane this weekend and see what they have in the way of lime preparations. I would have thought that the Earthbox folks add the right nutrients to the soil for tomatoes since people often buy them for tomatoes. But, I guess not. That makes sense about the watering. I never had BER last year when I planted in the ground and the watering was a little more erratic.

They have the replant kit (at least they did earlier in the season) & it contains fertilizer and dolomite. That's what I purchased. I suspect, if it is in fact BER, it may have to do with the vendor where the plant came from. Apparently, it is common when tomatoes are planted early in cold soil. I could see that with any vendor who is selling seedlings for this region.

Every spring, after Grandpa turned the garden, he would sprinkle lime around the area where the tomatoes would be planted.
I remember him explaining that it was to "sweeten the soil".

LucyVP wrote:Every spring, after Grandpa turned the garden, he would sprinkle lime around the area where the tomatoes would be planted.
I remember him explaining that it was to "sweeten the soil".

Where did your Grandpa live? I suspect it wasn't around here. Our soils tend to be alkaline (already "sweet") and not acidic (sour). Grandpa added lime as a soil ammendment that provides the calcium lacking in acidic soils.

This isn't to say lime wouldn't help earthbox grown tomatoes but if it were me, I'd test the "soil" they're grown in before adding ammendments so I had a sense of what to add.

My raised bed grown tomatoes and peppers aren't showing BER (yet!).

Diannie wrote:Where did your Grandpa live? I suspect it wasn't around here. Our soils tend to be alkaline (already "sweet") and not acidic (sour). Grandpa added lime as a soil ammendment that provides the calcium lacking in acidic soils.

He lived in the Melrose Park area. Like everyone else in the neighborhood, he had a little vegetable garden along side the garage. Back then people would "supplement" their soil (a.k.a. dirt) with fresh manure and lime for the tomatoes. From the few plants he had room for, the bounty was large enough for eating, sharing and canning.

So, I talked to the nice folks at Gethsemane about the BER (have to reiterate, everyone at this store is super-helpful). Essentially they said, BER is just a part of container gardening. In order to form the cell water, the tomatoes need plenty of calcium which is present in small amounts in tap water. So ready access to water will help decrease BER. They sell a compound with calcium in it but they actually just recommended crushing egg shells and adding them to the soil. I have been adding egg shells to my vermiculture composter so I plan to just use the 'worm tea' I get from this to the water I use in my Earth Boxes in hopes of preventing BER in subsequent fruit. Next year, I'll be adding crushed egg shells to the soil before I plant. Also, I was heartened to hear that the half of the tomato not affected by BER is generally edible (unless some kind of bacteria or fungus gets in there and takes over the tomato)

I have been doing the SIP/Earthbox thing for 4 years now so i'll throw my experiences with BER out here as well.

From everything I have read BER is a symptom of lack of water. It is often a result of inconsistent watering. Another major cause (and this one really is exaggerated in any type of container gardening ) is a lack of calcium in the soil. This lack of calcium in the soil and plant keeps the plant from distributing water throughout itself properly, hence the same symptom as inconsistent watering. That's how I understand it anyway. It seems that either inorganic potting mix has a lack of calcium, potted plants need extra calcium, or the potting mix maybe doesn't distribute it as well as an organic in-ground soil ecosystem.

Every year I have increased the amount of Hydrated Lime I have used in the box and every year I lose some tomatoes to BER. I do my gardening on a pretty exposed 4th floor rooftop so wind can account for some of my problems. It certainly stresses the plants from time to time. I have always done pretty much what they suggest in the link ViewsAskew posted, which is to add a bit of lime into your reservoir. I have been using hydrated lime, not granules, so it is quite easy to make a slurry to add to the containers. I have never been too careful with measuring it all out, have probably added a quart or so to each container and it seems to remedy the issue. It sounds like they have the measurements all figured out in that article so I'd suggest using their instruction, not mine. =)

Good luck!

LucyVP wrote:He lived in the Melrose Park area. Like everyone else in the neighborhood, he had a little vegetable garden along side the garage. Back then people would "supplement" their soil (a.k.a. dirt) with fresh manure and lime for the tomatoes. From the few plants he had room for, the bounty was large enough for eating, sharing and canning.

How fortunate for him and for you! Plants love manure. I prefer to compost it first, these days, to both kill any weed seeds and pathogens and to prevent it from burning out my plants as it rots. Manure is high in nitrogen which is essential to add if you keep growing a heavy feeding plant in the same spot every year. And the lime was a way to give the tomatoes some calcium. I expect his soil was never tested but over time he developed a great feel for what his plants needed.

This is a pretty interesting look at Blossom end rot in which the author claims to expel some of the myth surrounding it:
https://www.victoryseeds.com/informatio ... n_ber.html

wheattoast noted:

This is a pretty interesting look at Blossom end rot in which the author claims to expel some of the myth surrounding it

Great info. Dr. Male is a certified expert on all things tomato-y, though she doesn't tend to like anyone who differs with her opinions, to put it mildly. Thing is, she's pretty much always right!

With all the heat and rain over the last month my garden has reached the jungle phase:



I've been harvesting Cukes, Zucchini, and Summer Squash over the last couple of weeks. I'm still waiting for my tomatoes to ripen. The heat has wreaked havoc on my peas and lettuces this year, it seemed like they had just come in and then they wilted and bolted.

Last year I posted about a family of owls that I had hired to protect my cherry trees. Well they're back!



Actually, I think this is the next generation since these two little guys are so small. So far I've seen 5 of them - 3 juveniles and 2 adults - in the yard, but there could easily be more since they are so hard to spot. It's going to be just an OK year for fruit. Late frost clobbered the cherries, apricots, and plums. Apples and peaches are doing great. Tons of tomatoes - should start being able to harvest by the end of the month.

Bill...I loved the owl photo. Beautiful!

I'm currently trying not to look at my garden. I've had to focus my limited free time into weeding my raspberries for my You Pick raspberry business (now open by the way!). I have some wonderful produce in my garden, it is finding it amongst the weeds that is the problem!

Wheattoast wrote:This is a pretty interesting look at Blossom end rot in which the author claims to expel some of the myth surrounding it:
https://www.victoryseeds.com/informatio ... n_ber.html

That's totally believable. Some of what she says is echoed by many experienced gardeners, particularly the part about adding calcium and voila, problem is gone, except it would have been gone anyway!

Last year I was hit hard by it, but I was in containers, not soil. And, as she noted, you do have to have the appropriate amendments added in containers. Some of the people on another forum claim that adding lime, waiting two weeks, then planting has helped them reduce BER significantly in Earthboxes. I tried that this year, but who knows what will happen. So far, I've no signs of it and I have a few ripening.

I finally got a chance to dig around in my weeds and found that my two basil plants had turned into basil bushes! I made pesto....yum.

razbry wrote:I finally got a chance to dig around in my weeds and found that my two basil plants had turned into basil bushes! I made pesto....yum.

I have the same basil bushes! Truly tremendous growth this year.

I keep one box for herbs and I don't usually fertilize it much because several of the things in it don't need much to take over (like mint). This year I accidentally fertilized more than normal. It's herbs on steroids! I think the one basil plant is easily a foot tall and a foot in diameter. I keep pinching, but I need a chainsaw, lol.

I wish I liked pesto....I just need the tomatoes to start ripening (have had 1 so far) so I can have a lovely caprese salad for dinner on many nights.

Someone earlier said their lettuce bolted early. I picked until two weeks ago, shockingly. I got a new planter this year - it's vertical and sets against a wall. It only gets a few hours of sun and is in the shade for the hottest part of the day and in one of the coolest parts of our deck. This made a huge difference in how quickly it bolted. I will definitely keep that planter there just for the lettuce.

Actually, it's almost time to plant fall lettuce again, isn't it?

[quote="ViewsAskew"
Actually, it's almost time to plant fall lettuce again, isn't it?[/quote]

Planted mine last week. I've got sprouts. I planted some earlier in the month and could start picking a few leaves.

I think I will shade my greens with beans or peppers in the future.

LTH,

Gift of fresh hard neck garlic with a lovely purplish hue straight from Steve Z's garden. Impossibly pungent, first time in my life garlic made me tear up, and flavorful, perfect accent for a multi mushroom risotto.

Thanks Steve

Enjoy,
Gary

I finally got around to cleaning the weeds out of my garden. Three wagon cartfuls...it was embarrassing. Anyway, I did notice that once the weeds were cleared away something started to eat my basil. I claim this as a DISCOVERY! Weeds protect basil from bugs.

razbry wrote:I finally got around to cleaning the weeds out of my garden. Three wagon cartfuls...it was embarrassing. Anyway, I did notice that once the weeds were cleared away something started to eat my basil. I claim this as a DISCOVERY! Weeds protect basil from bugs.

Pretty funny. Something's been eating my basil, too....me! I have to admit, gardening on the roof really does reduce pests. I get a few things, but nothing like when I was at the same level with everyone else's bugs, lol.