Friday PhotoEssay

Published by

Rebecca

May 29, 2009

The Family of 4 Garden is looking green, lush, and absolutely scrumptious! The beets have perked back up after being thinned out, and lots of them have dime-sized beets developing!

The snake is hanging out (literally!) in the tomato twine this week. The tomatoes have more than doubled their size in the last week. I think I should sit out there and watch them grow!

The row of cherry tomatoes is looking great! I get excited about tomatoes just looking at them.

The beans are starting to look better. I gave them some fertilizer, since they were looking a bit yellow, and then I sprayed them yesterday morning. The beans had been besieged by Bean Leaf Beetles and Flea Beetles. I was hoping the plants would “outgrow” the damage – in other words, grow faster than the munching insects – but they haven’t. I sprayed them with Permethrin, which is the synthetic form of pyrethrin (an extract of chrysanthemum leaves). I chose the synthetic route over neem oil or pyrethrin because I felt the population of insects was too high to get satisfactory control using the organic products.

Red cabbage in jail?

No, this is the cabbage behind the tomato trellis. I hope the cabbage grows fast so we can pull it out to give the tomatoes room to grow.

Have a great weekend!

2 responses to “Friday PhotoEssay”

Melissa

May 29, 2009

Hi! I missed the demo last night on staking tomatoes. My question is on the twine/post system – do you still prune the tomatoes? We’re planning on about 75 tomatoes – they’re not all in the ground yet but trellising or staking has been the talk of the month as we’ve never had this many before and trying to find a good system that is still fairly economical is difficult. We stopped by the garden last Tuesday and like the twine system – just having figured out if it’s feasible. Hubby is considering single staking of each plant using rebar. Thoughts?!

THANKS for this great blog – I visit it daily. 😀

Reply
Rebecca

May 29, 2009

Hi Melissa,

Feel free to stop by any time when we’re open, and I’d be glad to give you a one-on-one lesson with the staking system.

As for pruning, it is up to you. I’ve used this system both ways – with and without pruning. There are pros and cons to both. I think I’m slightly partial to no pruning when planting outdoors, just because space isn’t a huge issue. It might be a factor in disease though…So far we haven’t pruned any here, but I’ve been considering it.

As for single staking with rebar – it can work, but you’d probably want to prune, and it may not work as well with large plants. The twine gives you some extra help keeping the plants contained.

Another thought – you certainly could put a rebar stake near each plant, and then string between plants with the twine. Again, I’ve done it with stakes every other plant and also with stakes for each plant. It depends on the size of the plants.

Reply

The Demonstration Garden

The Sedgwick County Extension Master Gardeners’ Demonstration Garden is on the grounds of the Sedgwick County Extension Education Center.

Come see what’s growing in our gardens!
7001 W 21st Street N
Wichita, KS 67205

Let’s connect

K-State Extension Sedgwick County

Extension Master Gardener Program

Subscribe!

Stay updated on what’s happening in the garden.

Join 234 other subscribers

The Demo Garden Blog