Summer Hawaii 2023

[bower]

Yeah very nice looking trellis. Looks like the other plants are giving wind shelter too.

[Mark_Thompson]

Yeah windbreaks are mandatory around here

[Mark_Thompson]

Having some issues with my plants failing to thrive in the cheap potting soil so had to repot every one. My little wild patch is going crazy though. Also made my compost pile smaller so it’s easier for me to keep stacked tall. Planting corn where the pile was, hopefully it takes off.

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[Seven Bends]

What variety are the pretty orange oval tomatoes in your next-to-last picture? And the round orange ones in the last picture?

[Mark_Thompson]

So those are both from HR Seeds. The upper is Galapagos Island Tomato #2, the lower is Galapagos Island Tomato. They are both listed as Solanum cheesmanii, but behaved very differently for me. Upper one acts like a typical sprawling wild type tomato with those cool little grape-like fruits. It seemed to have a solid disease resistance too. The lower one seemed more disease prone and went full determinate. Set a big blast of fruit and died. I planted a handful of different species to see if anything really thrived, and would be worth crossing with.

https://www.hrseeds.com/galapagos-island-tomato-2

[bower]

What is the taste like on those S. cheesmanii? Very pretty fruit.

[Mark_Thompson]

I just went out and tried them again today, I like them. Tastes just like a domestic cherry tomato to me. I’ve been real cautious on eating them, how do you tell which wild species are edible and which are going to give you a hard time?

Eta: I’m just going to start eating these. I watched the seed seller’s YouTube channel and he’s doing flavor reviews on them so I’m going for it.

@Bower
@Seven Bends

[bower]

That's good to know! We basically have to eat whatever I grow here, and that has pretty much ruled out working with wild species that would occupy food spaces.

[Mark_Thompson]

Planted four each of the two unstable varieties @Bower shared with me. Left some openings too so eventually it will be six each. Also got a few more in the main patch. Got my first likely looking flower on Malachite Box too. Man I love my GWRs!

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[bower]

I'm not that crazy about GWR, but Malachite Box is unforgettable just for the vigor and production alone. Fantastic plant, you should breed with it!

[Mark_Thompson]

I'm not that crazy about GWR, but Malachite Box is unforgettable just for the vigor and production alone. Fantastic plant, you should breed with it!

Great idea, only wish it were potato leaf.

Got just about all my plants in the ground today. 24 cherries, 51 “slicers”, and 17 in the breeding variety garden. Excited to see them start growing quickly, progress is so slow in pots.

Still got a few small plants set aside for give away and grafting fun. Also lettuce is starting to happen.

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[Mark_Thompson]

First fruit set on Malachite Box. Lots of others close behind.

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[Mark_Thompson]

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[MissS]

Wow, that lettuce is beautiful.

[Mark_Thompson]

@MissS Yeah but too much ready all at once! I’m trying to be better at staggering them.

@pepperhead212 I believe that’s your red long bean there, we really like growing that

[AKgardener]

Amazing garden!!:)

[Mark_Thompson]

Harvested a head of lettuce today for lettuce wrap dinner. One of the healthiest I’ve grown for sure. Believe the variety is Red Sails, got a little six pack from Lowe’s.

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[PlainJane]

Wow, no slug or snail damage from the looks of it.

[MissS]

Harvested a head of lettuce today for lettuce wrap dinner. One of the healthiest I’ve grown for sure. Believe the variety is Red Sails, got a little six pack from Lowe’s.



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Wow! I hope that you all are hungry.

[Mark_Thompson]

Wow, no slug or snail damage from the looks of it.

I’ve been pretty good at spreading Corry’s around the perimeter lately, and night walks to kill our big ol’ African Snails.