"Ed Adamthwaite" wrote in message
...
Hi Chookie,
I have had a fantastic summer (Belgrave in the Dandenongs Victoria).
Built a 6.5 x 3 metre hot-house on new ground, conditioned the soil with
lime and gypsum to get the pH correct. Dug in cow poo, horse poo and pea
straw, leaving some pea straw on top for about 6 months. Planted tomatoes
in
late September and was harvesting by Christmas. I trialled a grafted
Apollo
from Bunnings. It has spread out to 4 branches, so far yielding more than
60
tomatoes averaging 300g each. The biggest so far was 600g!
The other tomatoes are producing well too. A mis-labelled beefsteak plant
turned out to be a cherry tomato. I have picked hundreds from it and it
still
has heaps! I use tomato growers' clips to suspend the vines from a rail.
Normal binders string breaks under the load. I use thetwine from the pea
straw bales now.
Every day I take a couple of tomatoes and a cucumber to work just to keep
up. (The ladies at work have asked if I'm trying to suggest something).

lmao!! you'll have to stop giving them two tomatoes and a cucumber each g

I take Zucchinis grown outside the hot-house too.
I've bottled heaps of tomato source and spaghetti source, using chopped up
zucchini in the spaghetti sauce.
The chillis have gone nuts! They love the hot-house. The capsicums are
incredible. It's the first time I've grown them. They are so much better
than
the weeks old garbage that Safeways sell.
The tomatoes I planted outside are just starting to go red now, but seem
to
be suffering from some type of wilt. I think the hot-house protects the
plants inside from air-bourne nasties. The only downer is the broccoli, It
grew OK but I couldn't keep up with the white cabbage moth grubs. A leaf
would turn into lace over night.

i succumbed & started using derris dust, if that helps you for next year. i
could keep the butterflies off iwth netting, but not the moths (which are
smaller). one year i am going to try enclosed boxes made of flyscreen & see
how that goes.

I reckon the hot-house is the best thing. I've never had such a prolific
harvest before.
I hope that next year is as good.
Regards,
Ed.

disregarding the fact that i'm nearly purple with envy - what is your
hothouse made from? if it's not too much trouble to describe it briefly. and
i take it you are growing directly in the soil, yes?
kylie