Pics of my Toms and Potatoes

[mags16]

I thought I'd post some pics of my crops this year.

The parsley and basil were not grown from seed. I tried to grow the basil from seed but the seedlings were stunted and never grew. I wonder why? The seedlings had lots of really tiny leaves but never reached more than 2 inches high.
Basil and Parsley.jpg

I have 6 tomatoes in containers - 3 Gardeners Delight, and 3 Moneymaker. They were planted later than last year, but Spring came late here in Ireland and I didn't want to have large plants growing in my sitting room - there'd be no room for me! Unfortunately I have no idea which plants are what now. Are Moneymaker larger than Gardener's Delight?
Toms July 7th.jpg

Even though they were a little late, they have caught up nicely. I have a couple of tomatoes forming on the larger 3 plants and the smaller 3 are flowering well. By the way one or two of the older flowers don't seem to have any fruit forming. Why is that? They are outside, it has been windy and there are plenty of bees around so I don't think that lack of pollination is an issue.
Toms close-up.jpg

Finally, I have a few potato bags growing. They have been great fun to grow - so quick. I had to earth up every few days. I staggered the planting and the first bag should be ready to harvest in a couple of weeks. A careful rummage revealed a few salad size spuds.
Potatoes.jpg

I also have a courgette plant which has yielded it's first produce and I have been munching on raspberries, strawberries. Rocket and spinach have bolted.

Is it too late to plant some more peas? My first crop were lovely but I should have supported them better. The seed packet said they didn't need to be supported but they did.

[Ace]

On the issue of peas needing support I wondered about this too.

I put 6 plants in a small hexagonal planter and used canes for support. But I realise now that I could have put loads more plants in.

When I look at a farmers field of millions of peas (drooling !) I realise that he has no support for his peas, yet they all grow upright. I think the reason is they are planted tightly, many plants to a square foot and as you will know, peas put out tendrils to cling onto things.

So I reckon they don't need any support but you need to plant loads in each pot. I so wish I'd planted more. We've just eaten our first batch and boy were they yummy.

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Mags, your plants do look very close together and ideally want spacing out so that the air can circulate. Tomato plants are self fertile so there is no need to worry about pollination. The gentle shake from the breeze outside just helps distribute the pollen. It would appear that Gardeners Delight and Moneymaker grow to about the same height of 5 foot (1.3m). Gardeners Delight are a cherry type of tomato and Moneymaker are a medium sized tomato. Both are indeterminate tomato variety plants and need the side shoots removing.

Just in case you haven't side shooted the plants I have added this - There are two types of tomato plant - indeterminate or determinate. Determinate tomato plants grow like a short bush and indeterminate tomato plants (which is what you are growing) grow tall with a main central stem and quite a gap between the branches. They flower differently aswell. The flower truss on indeterminate plants grows from the main central stem. Where the side branches join the main central stem you get a little shoot growing and it is these little shoots that need pinching out, then all the plants energy goes into producing tomatoes.

Here are some great photo's to show you the side shoots and also the indeterminate plants.

Matt's young plants are an excellent example of young indeterminate tomato plants and these show you the side shoots growing that need pinching out.

Tomatoes - Shoot between trunk/Branch...

If you look at Doug's tomato plants on the third photo you can see the main central stem with only the side branches as they have already been side shooted.

my cucumber plants and tomato plants

I know that Jack is growing Moneymaker but his photo's on the forum don't show you the plant properly but this one on his blog does!

Hydroponic Workshop

I hope these help!

[mags16]

Thanks Lesley. I have been removing the side shoots from the toms. They are quite tall - some of them already 5ft.

You are right - my spuds are quite close together. Space is at a premium in my back garden. I don't think the overcrowding has effected the first bag but it might effect the later bags. Hopefully when the first bag is harvested in a couple of weeks, the others will benefit from the extra space

[Lesley Jay]

Originally Posted by mags16

You are right - my spuds are quite close together. Space is at a premium in my back garden. I don't think the overcrowding has effected the first bag but it might effect the later bags. Hopefully when the first bag is harvested in a couple of weeks, the others will benefit from the extra space

Whoops! My post wasn't clear at all - sorry It's your tomato plants that I think are rather close together.

[mags16]

I suppose they are quite close together but I don't really have any space to move them apart. They have a very large pot each so root space shouldn't be a problem. But their foliage is a little crowded. Fingers crossed the toms ripen ok. I'll see if I can move things around this weekend.