GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - Tomato question -- second crop..

01-07-2006, 02:58 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible

wrote: Is it normal that N. Tx is 90+ every
day, there/s no rain, and you/re
draining your well keeping your garden alive?

**** No. We are in the biggest drought in Texas history --- so far
about
18 months, and all lakelevels are WAY down... I can't even throw a
rock
far enough from my dock to hit the lake...
However, I have glued together a couple hundred feet of PVC to get to
the water, and it only cost 8 cents and hour to run my pump. so I have

water for my garden.......

It certainly was went I lived in that 'hole 'nuther country!

**** The commone wisdom is that if a person owns Hell and Texas,
in the summer they should live in Hell and rent out Texas to
Democrats....

Determinants, like the Celebrity, set an initial heavy crop, you then
get a smaller second crop and after that, it/s +/- over. This type of
tomat is good if you/re selling for fresh-market b/c you get a whole
lot all at once.

*** Thanks, I am going to find out what "determinates" means, and
take advantage of that knowledge...

OTOH, indeterminants are more like the Energizer Bunny, provided they
don/t succumb to the elements. With luck, they/ll pick all season
long.

You can be guaranteed a fall crop by setting out 'short-season' plants,
such as Early Girl, again in early July. My zone-7 seedlings are 4"
tall and ready for hardening-off. EEBE, they/ll start picking by
mid-September.

*** OK... If Home Depot has Early Girl, I'll get a flat today... My
cantalopes
are starting to turn yellow, and in a couple weeks I'll need to till
it up
and I might as well plant more tomatoes....
Pumpkins are supposed to do well here, planted in July, but what the
hell
can I do with a bunch of pumpkins ??????

Thanks for your help, all...

Andy in Eureka, Texas , poet, engineer, and novice gardener