TOPIC: My Garden yum yum

Nice garden there Billy! Fine looking sons you got there as well. You must be real proud!!! Keep up the good work!!

I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of sprinkling powdered bleach around the ground near tomato plants will help keep blight from hitting? I recently heard that from someone who said they were told that by an old timer. Just wondering if there is any truth to it.

I have never heard of that Carl, but I bet it would probably help.

When you treat Ginseng seed, Scotts book recommends a 10% bleach solution, and I have used that on mine and also on some roots I transplanted and had no problems at all (excellent germination on the seeds, and all roots sent up tops the first spring).

Considering that I would not think that a mild bleach solution would hurt your tomatoes. Might not want to drench the young plants in it, but could the surronding soil.

I treated my tomatoes a couple times (when planting, and then a couple weeks later) with Actinovate. It is an Organic Fungicide that some folks use on Ginseng.

My plants look really good now and I have harvested 10-12 ripe tomatoes at this point and have a bunch more coming on.

I do still see some sign of fungus in my lower tomato plant leaves though - but not bad at all.

When I plant my early tomatoes I plant them thru a red plastic mulch, and then after the soil warms up, I take that plastic up and put down about 8\" of straw. That helps some too, keeps the soil from splashing up on the leaves when it rains.

That alone will help with the fungus issue.

TNhunter

Carl,

Here are a few pics that show how I mulch mine with wheat straw.

It helps to control fungus, and also helps retain moisture and control weeds too. The straw will break down nicely into the soil to add organic matter. Part of it will anyway, and the rest can be raked off late winter or early spring and put into your compost pile or used for mulch on potatoes next spring.

If your garden soil is a little on the acid side (say 5.5-6.0) and you are looking for 6.5 - you can also fluf it up a bit late winter and burn it on the beds. The ash will sweeten the soil some and get you on up towards that 6.5.

If your PH is already in the 6.5 range or higher - don't burn it on your beds - compost it instead and add it back as compost later (that will help lower PH too).

These are just organic things you can do to improve your soil.

Here is a pic of some of my early tomatoes. I planted these late April. I have alredy picked some nice big red tomatoes off this plant. It has several more that will be ripe soon.

TNhunter

Here is a pic of some Tomatoes I planted later (end of May) for some late tomatoes.



These have never had soil splashed up on the leaves - and that helps a lot.

TNhunter

One more pic of my Ambrosia sweet corn.

It's got little ears on now and the honey bees are buzzing the tassles.

Won't be long now an I will be eating some fresh sweet corn

Billy - one thing I learned about corn some time ago, is if you will plant it in a block (sort of dense) you will get full ears.
If you get ears that develop but the corn kernels are sort of here and there, some one one side but another side has no kernels, etc.. That is caused by improper pollination. If you spread your corn out in long rows, and space them out too much, this will happen.
If you plant them closer together in a sort of thick group, the ears will be covered thick with kernels.

My raised beds are 5-6' wide and 35' long. I plant my sweet corn, spaced around 7-8\", in short rows across the bed, and space those rows 2' apart.
It makes sort of a thick block of corn all together and the pollination is extra good that way.

TNhunter

TNHunter I appreciate your response. I found out about Actinovate last year and used it to control the Septoria leaf spot my tomatoes developed.It worked super! I used what little I had left when I planted the tomatoes this year. I put a small amount in the holes. I should have immediately ordered more but I waited and I am going to pay a price for sure. I have ordered some more, but as it is with things like this, when I need it the most, it takes the longest to arrive. I'm headed to WV for a week on Friday and sure would have liked to sprayed them with Actinovate myself before I left. I will have to have my wife do it while I'm gone. I hope it gets here soon....I made sure I moved the tomatoes to a different spot and I even put down some of the black weed block under the tomatoes to ensure that the leaves wouldn't be lying in the dirt..... I took a gamble and sprinkled about a teaspoon of the powdered bleach on the soil around the one plant that was the worst. It is raining again so I should see results by Friday I would hope. I made sure to space them just a tad bit further apart this year too. I just think between the colder than normal early temps in conjunction with the extra rain we've been getting so far, that there was not much that could be done anyways... I like the photos of your garden! Looks good my friend! Thanks for the advice and I'll give an update on the powdered bleach test as soon as I know something!

On another note: 66 days!!!!!!!!!!!