We're still enjoying moderate temperatures, cool in the mornings and evenings, and perfect low 80s during the day. However, we'll soon be suffering from the heat that you east coasters have been having. Our forecast is for 98F by Thursday and triple digits by Saturday. As much as I've complained about the cold, I don't think I'm quite ready to jump right up to 100!
Look at the weird zucchini fetuses! The blossom had closed over the end of the zuke, and when I removed it, this is what I found. It looks as though four zucchinis were forming inside the blossom, and look how large the seeds are. The zucchini itself just had tiny, underdeveloped seeds.
I've neglected to show you Leona the Meyer Lemon lately. She's grown from 4" to 11". She's looking a bit yellow, probably from all the rain we've had recently. I gave her a bit of fertilizer, with some iron in it, yesterday. I'll monitor her moisture level closely for the next week or two. If she doesn't show a marked improvement, I'll have to go hunting for fertilizer for acid loving plants.
Speaking of height, the tallest of my tomatoes is the Black Cherry, at 6'3" (not counting bucket height). It will soon reach the roof, and I will need a ladder to pick. Sungold, on the left, is the second tallest of the cherries.
For indeterminates, Kellogg's Breakfast, on the right, is the tallest at 5' 11". Cherokee Purple, on the left, is about 3" shorter.
The first to ripen, and it continues to improve in flavor, is the Minigold (in the pot). It's a compact determinate, and loaded with small cherry tomatoes that are ripening quickly. I probably wouldn't grow this again for flavor alone, but it takes up very little room and it's so early, it will be considered for next year. Of course, it all depends on its continued performance.
A close second for ripening, is Mr. Granny's Gartenperle. So far, both the flavor and texture on this one leave a lot to be desired. It's loaded with tiny cherry tomatoes, many more than the Minigold, so I hope the flavor and juiciness improve with faster ripening.
Quadrato Rosso D'Asti won the race for the first sweet peppers, but the hot Hungarian Wax have already given me two peppers for cooking.
Look at the weird zucchini fetuses! The blossom had closed over the end of the zuke, and when I removed it, this is what I found. It looks as though four zucchinis were forming inside the blossom, and look how large the seeds are. The zucchini itself just had tiny, underdeveloped seeds.
I've neglected to show you Leona the Meyer Lemon lately. She's grown from 4" to 11". She's looking a bit yellow, probably from all the rain we've had recently. I gave her a bit of fertilizer, with some iron in it, yesterday. I'll monitor her moisture level closely for the next week or two. If she doesn't show a marked improvement, I'll have to go hunting for fertilizer for acid loving plants.
Speaking of height, the tallest of my tomatoes is the Black Cherry, at 6'3" (not counting bucket height). It will soon reach the roof, and I will need a ladder to pick. Sungold, on the left, is the second tallest of the cherries.
For indeterminates, Kellogg's Breakfast, on the right, is the tallest at 5' 11". Cherokee Purple, on the left, is about 3" shorter.
The first to ripen, and it continues to improve in flavor, is the Minigold (in the pot). It's a compact determinate, and loaded with small cherry tomatoes that are ripening quickly. I probably wouldn't grow this again for flavor alone, but it takes up very little room and it's so early, it will be considered for next year. Of course, it all depends on its continued performance.
A close second for ripening, is Mr. Granny's Gartenperle. So far, both the flavor and texture on this one leave a lot to be desired. It's loaded with tiny cherry tomatoes, many more than the Minigold, so I hope the flavor and juiciness improve with faster ripening.
Quadrato Rosso D'Asti won the race for the first sweet peppers, but the hot Hungarian Wax have already given me two peppers for cooking.
So the gartenperle isn't the best tasting tomato, huh? That's good to know. Now I don't feel so bad about killing my transplants...
ReplyDeleteEG, so far not very good, but I'll give it some time. The Minigold tasted nasty at first, and it gets better all the time. At least it's juicy and tastes like a tomato, i just wish it were sweeter. I've only tasted two Gartenperles so far, no improvement yet.
ReplyDeleteWe're getting to 98 tomorrow and 99 on Thursday. It's not okay. Stay cool up there.
ReplyDeleteYour tomatoes are really doing well. I have 8 plants that are over 5' tall. The plants in the front bed are ranging from 3 - 4' tall. They were planted three weeks later though. I tested my soil yesterday and I'm low on nitrogen.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to hear that you are finally going to get this HOT weather....I think that we should all suffer together :)
Ribbit, it will be early to rise and then inside for the air conditioning now. Not fair of Mother Nature to spring it on us, after freezing this entire spring!
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Robin, I just hope my tomatoes don't shut down on me when the temp gets so high. They're loaded with blossoms, but not much fruit yet.
That zucchini.... is that a variation of the little peppers you might find inside a big one? I do hope you saved a seed or two and will plant it... just to see what happens.
ReplyDeleteGardening is never dull
Patricia, it sure seemed like it to me. I've never seen anything like that on a zucchini before. The seeds were large, but really soft and immature. I didn't think to keep some to try, but they are in my compost can right now, so I can salvage a few.
ReplyDeleteWhat tall tomatoes, and what IS up with that zucchini??
ReplyDeleteWe just experienced an awful heat wave ourselves. Hopefully, yours won't be too bad.
ReplyDeleteMany of my tomato plants are approaching 6 feet too. Is that normal this early in the summer? I have no more trellis to support them! I guess they'll just have to flop over.
Kelly, we ate the alien zucchini tonight. We still look normal ;-)
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Oh yes, Thomas. Some of those indeterminates can easily go 8-10 feet. Mine were way over 6 feet last year, and they finally just flopped everywhere. It was a real jungle. I have these in double tomato cages, but it looks like they will go right over the tops of those, too. I forgot to put the second cages on those cherry tomatoes, so I'm trying to keep the stems tied to the stakes. I think I'm losing the battle!
I'll be glade when the heat goes your way, it is so humid you can hardly breath outside during the day. Leona is looking good and the tom's too!
ReplyDeleteI'll bet you will, Dan! Then you can listen to me complain about the heat!
ReplyDeleteI am hoping with the coming heat this week that my Siletz tomatos that have been just sitting there big and green will get with the program and actually ripen up. Hopefully the other tomatoes will actually quit just flowering and set some fruit as well. Way too cold here this summer - and now we are flipping the switch to warm for a while. Hope it lasts more than two days before we go back to cold and wet.
ReplyDeleteThat zucchini is bizare. Any nuclear releases from Hanford lately?! :D
My dad has a meyer lemon and he harvest from it all year round. Everything looks really healthy. Hang in there with the heat. I think my tomatoes have shut down a little but that is OK since there are a lot of fruit on them. hang in there.
ReplyDeleteFreaky looking zuke! Hope you don't grow an extra ear after eating that one! ;) Your plants look amazing. Love the first sweet pepper. Do you have a favorite heirloom tomato (full sized)? I've never grown them before, and looked on the internet last night for seeds, and there were so many, I didn't know what to think.
ReplyDelete~~Lori
Kitsap, Do you think maybe my zuke got nuked? :-D
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Johanna, you hang in there! It sounds like your miserable in the heat, my misery is still to come.
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Dirt Lover, I woke up with two noses this morning, but it's that third eye that upsets me the most. It's right in the middle of my forehead, and my hair keeps getting in it!
My favorite big heirloom is Kellogg's Breakfast, which is the only yellow/orange tomato I've ever eaten that I really liked. This is my second year of planting it. It has a short "shelf life", though. It goes soft really fast, so I only planted one of them, there are others that can outlast them once picked. The Brandywine I had last year was good, too. It didn't give us as many tomatoes as the KB. I'm looking forward to Cherokee Purple, as everyone seems to like it. There were a few determinate ones I grew last year that are getting grown again this year, like Homestead and Marglobe. I'm going to be very diligent about taste testing this year, so I promise I'll blog about all I'm growing.
My black cherry is my tallest plant too (tying Early Kus Ali for height) . I think it has topped five feet now. When I came back from vacation I couldn't believe the plants I came back to. I left on Friday morning and came back Monday afternoon. The black cherry had grown at least 6" in that time. Now if they would just ripen for me.
ReplyDeleteWe just had a 100F day yesterday in Boston. I just about died. Thank god for air conditioning. I'm usually not much of a fan of them (more into fans themselves), but I live for it this week. I don't remember anytime in the last decade that it has gotten this hot. Then I looked it up. In 2002 we got over a hundred too. I guess I block such pain out of my mind.
We're pretty used to the high temps here. It's usually 100-110 by the end of July through the first part of August. It's just that it goes from cold to hot overnight, rather than easing into it. Luckily, we have very efficient central air, but with our pine trees shading the house, and our attic fans running, we seldom need to use it. Mostly just when I'm cooking and heating up the kitchen. I bought a box fan and set it up on the patio, next to the chaise lounge. Guess what I'm going to do this summer.
ReplyDeleteI hope you stay cool and take care of yourselves, Granny. Triple digits is not fun!
ReplyDeleteWhen the leaves get yellowish like that, I've also heard that a dose of epsom salts works wonders (for a lot less than fancier remedies). I put the salts on all my tomatoes, and on my roses, too, back when I had rose bushes. It really greens them up. :)
Thanks, Meredith, that's good to know. If the dose of fertilizer doesn't green up the lemon tree, I'll try it.
ReplyDeleteI agree Granny, it's boilimng hot here too. We must have peaked at around 74F!
ReplyDeleteI'm still having tomato issues; I guess they just don't want to grow outdoors in a temperate climate!
Some are allegedly from the kraine, and I can't see it being too hot there. Oh well, back to the drawing board!
I feel you with the 100 degree weather. We've just gone through a mini heat wave too with temps in the high 90s. Yuck!
ReplyDeleteStrange looking zuke. Do you mind if I add it to my Freaks of Nature page?
TIG, for all my plants, I don't have a lot of them setting fruit. It's just been too cold at night, and now it's going to be too hot during the day. I do have one small plant that is loaded with full sized (4 oz.) tomatoes. I hope they have a good flavor!
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Cheryl, of course you can use it. I have a photo of the whole zuke if you want it.
A picture of the whole zuke would be great. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteYay for hot weather! It has finally arrived here in N. Idaho too...I thought all my plants were going to drown. Your garden looks fabulous AG!
ReplyDeleteCheryl, sent in email.
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Sunny, yes! Too hot today to do anything in the garden! I'm ready for a day or two off, so I'm just relaxing in the cool house.
Wow those tomatoes look wonderful. Maybe you can spread some of that warm weather my way!
ReplyDeleteMine are getting tall but between the dog trying to dig them up and the rain/cold weather we are having in Southern CA they are starting to look very unhappy! Hopefully it'll all work itself out!
Vanessa, I should have tied up some of the vines yesterday, when I noticed they were sagging. Today I went out to do it, and two huge ones had broken from the weight. I bandaged the stems with strips of T-shirt, so far they've not wilted.
ReplyDeleteAgain, your tomatoes look beautiful. I hope you see lots of RED very soon in the garden and not on the thermometer. I think it is too hot here for my tomatoes. Lots of flowers but no fruit. In fact, I have 5 Roma plants that have no fruit at all even though they have/had lots of flowers. Take care of yourself in the heat.
ReplyDeletedebiclegg, it was 100 yesterday, forecast is for 104 today. It's supposed to settle down to the high 80s by next week, I think. I also have quite a few tomatoes with little or no fruit set, but a couple, most notably the Cherokee Purple and a clear Pink Early, are making up for what the others aren't doing! If just the CPs give me a good crop this year, I won't complain.
ReplyDeleteAll of your plants look great. Do Quadrato Rosso D'Asti have a good flavor? I am wanting to try a couple different sweet peppers next season.
ReplyDeleteJeana, I grew the Quadrato Rosso D'Astis last year, and I'll grow them every year from now on, they were that good! They grew huge, thick walled and sweet, and gave me an abundant crop. I got my seed from Ohio Heirloom Seeds, and highly recommend them for quality, price and low shipping/handling cost (all seed packages are priced at $1.29. Shipping is $1.99, no matter how many packages you order)and excellent customer service.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ohioheirloomseeds.com