I love to cheat

Everything About Tomatoes
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habitat-gardener
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Re: I love to cheat

#21

Post: # 46185Unread post habitat-gardener
Wed May 05, 2021 12:10 am

I used walls-o-water years ago. But I’ve moved five times in the last decade, and at some point getting tomatoes a couple weeks earlier was no longer a goal! Also, the water tubes became mosquito germination chambers! And after a few years of use, random water tubes sprang leaks. Although I bought replacement tube inserts, they were awkward to use.

I may decide to use them again someday.

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Rockoe10
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Re: I love to cheat

#22

Post: # 46199Unread post Rockoe10
Wed May 05, 2021 8:23 am

My goals have changed similarly [mention]habitat-gardener[/mention] . I've started seeds later with the plan being to transplant a week and a half after mother's day. Too often in the past I've had my plants die to a surprise frost, or the seedlings got too big for their starter pots and it stunted them.

I've never tried the water tubes, thinking it was too good to be true. However, i trust the word of a gardener more than a saleman. One year trial won't hurt me, I hope 😆
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Rob, ZONE 6A with 170 days between frost dates, Western Pennsylvania

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Rockoe10
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Re: I love to cheat

#23

Post: # 46200Unread post Rockoe10
Wed May 05, 2021 8:33 am

[mention]Barmaley[/mention] , That is a predicament. Some options are to trim it up a bit (take off lower leaves) and keep it in the same pot for another week. Or, if you're into it, you can start cuttings from the plant. This would lighten the load of the one plant, and give you a couple additional ones! And finally, if you plan to keep them in pots all season, pot it up and do the heavy work of moving it back and forth. There are some cool stands you can get for then with wheels. I have a few from Walmart i used for my tree.

Good luck to you. It may be extra work, but on the bright side, you've got tomatoes!
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Rob, ZONE 6A with 170 days between frost dates, Western Pennsylvania

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Sue_CT
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Re: I love to cheat

#24

Post: # 46207Unread post Sue_CT
Wed May 05, 2021 10:31 am

You can also elect to cover the plant at night and remove it in the morning when it warms up until the weather improves. But unless temps are down significantly below 40 degrees you won't loose the plant. Since it seems like it will be at least a couple of weeks before you can plant out why not pot up once more before the really large one? It would be different if you had 50 to several hundred plants, but it sounds like you only have a few.

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pepperhead212
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Re: I love to cheat

#25

Post: # 46215Unread post pepperhead212
Wed May 05, 2021 12:42 pm

Years ago, when I cheated with Wall-o-Waters, I would start some seeds on 3-10, instead of 4-1; much earlier and it was sometimes too cold, even with those. And I did an experiment with peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes, and it seemed that the only ones that actually benefited from this were the tomatoes - the eggplants put out early started ripening about the same time as the ones put out 3 weeks early, while the peppers were actually later! I figured this must have been from being stunted by the cold soil, and it probably didn't affect the tomatoes as much as it did the eggplants and peppers.

I started some chinense peppers early this season (3-7), and some grew incredibly fast, and I had to plant them early (they were getting too large!), in an Earthbox, and another SIP, and yesterday I covered both of them with some Agribon. The soil mix in them was warm, as I planted them, so I figured that won't be a problem, but it is forecast to get down to 46-48° this week. Peppers I normally don't put out until the lows are around 55° or above. This should protect the leaves, and the soil is warmed from the sun.
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

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Sue_CT
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Re: I love to cheat

#26

Post: # 46248Unread post Sue_CT
Wed May 05, 2021 6:31 pm

Well ambient air temp is not the only consideration with tomatoes, they also like warmer soil temps, which I don't think W-O-W gives you.

slugworth
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Re: I love to cheat

#27

Post: # 46249Unread post slugworth
Wed May 05, 2021 6:36 pm

2 hole cement blocks vs. W.O.W contest, the cement blocks did better.
warm soil vs. warm air temp- cold soil.
"A chiseled face,Just like Easter Island" :lol:

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NMRuss
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Re: I love to cheat

#28

Post: # 46270Unread post NMRuss
Wed May 05, 2021 10:59 pm

Just my experience with wow's.. chiles last 2 seasons i got 4 full harvests versus without wow's only one . We are vastly different here in the high desert from pretty much every state east of us. We have extremely low humidity... yesterday it was 4% but today it was double that! Low humidity effects these plants and allows extreme temperature fluctuations ( 40 to 50 degrees from day to night)which also has negative effects on these "foreign" plants. So we just dont have the same growing conditions as most eastern gardeners.
This being said i believe that the early plantings with wow's allow the roots to continue to grow and then when conditions improve outside of the wow's they have a huge headstart versus one that is transplanted after the frost date. They work for ME and my situation.

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NMRuss
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Re: I love to cheat

#29

Post: # 46271Unread post NMRuss
Wed May 05, 2021 11:02 pm

slugworth wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 6:36 pm 2 hole cement blocks vs. W.O.W contest, the cement blocks did better.
warm soil vs. warm air temp- cold soil.
So are you saying that cinderblocks will protect your plants below freezing?

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Re: I love to cheat

#30

Post: # 46285Unread post slugworth
Thu May 06, 2021 8:06 am

I don't torture them THAT much.
I just use them now,about 1 month before the usual plant date.
The W.O.W. IMHO also constricts the plant like a sausage.
You have to use the 2 hole cement blocks.
The three hole-the holes are too small.
"A chiseled face,Just like Easter Island" :lol:

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NMRuss
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Re: I love to cheat

#31

Post: # 46290Unread post NMRuss
Thu May 06, 2021 8:33 am

Id say apples and oranges. Wow's PROTECT the plant from frost while allowing them to continue putting down roots. Yes if you have a vigorous plant you have to do some pruning which in the long run increases production. For me thenoptimum time to plant in wow's is 4 weeks before last average frost. Before that one must pinch and thats usually tomatoes.
There is a vast difference between concrete and water when it comes to heat retention. Water is far better AND it does something concrete doesnt. When water freezes it releases a large amount of heat in the process of going from a liquid to a solid. This is seen and is the reason why citrus farmers will spray their fruit trees with water encasing the fruit in ice. When the water freezes the heat is released into the fruit keeping it from freezing despite the fact its covered in ice.
Summation. . Water better.

slugworth
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Re: I love to cheat

#32

Post: # 46298Unread post slugworth
Thu May 06, 2021 10:18 am

The cement blocks are stack-able,which comes in handy for people that can't bend like they used to.
The fastest raised bed that I know of,other than using chimney tiles.
You do get popeye arms setting it up tho.
A relative has a water solar panel setup,buried pipe and panel all homemade.
I pump warm water through the blocks on a timer and reverse the process when it gets too hot out.
"A chiseled face,Just like Easter Island" :lol:

slugworth
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Re: I love to cheat

#33

Post: # 46973Unread post slugworth
Mon May 17, 2021 2:32 pm

Shule wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 8:53 pm Glacier gets a small, semi-determinate, potato-leaf plant with red, salad-sized fruit. It's supposed to be early, and I've seen reports from the SE saying it does decently well in their heat.
The glacier has blossoms already,just from indirect sun in a south facing window.
I am starting the weaning process to direct sunlight.
I bought 4th of july hybrid plants today,so I will have to see how they compare.
"A chiseled face,Just like Easter Island" :lol:

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Sue_CT
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Re: I love to cheat

#34

Post: # 46974Unread post Sue_CT
Mon May 17, 2021 3:08 pm

I put mine out for the first time yesterday, in the shade. Today just in the sun for a very short time, tomorrow they will be on the east side of the house so they only get the mornning sun. Hopefully, I will get them in the garden by the end of the week.

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Shule
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Re: I love to cheat

#35

Post: # 46997Unread post Shule
Mon May 17, 2021 8:04 pm

slugworth wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 2:32 pm
Shule wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 8:53 pm Glacier gets a small, semi-determinate, potato-leaf plant with red, salad-sized fruit. It's supposed to be early, and I've seen reports from the SE saying it does decently well in their heat.
The glacier has blossoms already,just from indirect sun in a south facing window.
I am starting the weaning process to direct sunlight.
I bought 4th of july hybrid plants today,so I will have to see how they compare.
I've grown Fourth of July F1. The plant was many times the size of Glacier. Glacier was pretty much dwarf-sized for me.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: I love to cheat

#36

Post: # 47029Unread post slugworth
Tue May 18, 2021 6:38 am

I have trouble with low-rider plants and field mice.
They eat any tomato close to the ground and even take bites out of the plant.
Those I have to put in the stacked cement blocks.
"A chiseled face,Just like Easter Island" :lol:

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