tomato experiment

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tomato experiment
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dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46247
Location: yes

Posted: Fri May 20, 22 12:23 pm Post subject:

setting the rig to get the best parts of the spectrum from the right direction for each stage of growth is normal for "artificial" conditions

using such knowledge outside at field scale makes sense as well

the impact of the materials at every stage needs thought and balancing against the gains from doing it to be ethical and sustainable

more crop, etc vs it needs a lot of plastic sheets which need to be made and have a decent end of use policy

an "organic" version made from plant cellulose and "earth" pigments might be possible

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9887
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Fri May 20, 22 6:37 pm Post subject:

interesting to see how it works out

Having some trials with tomatoes this year, struggled with cold, followed by accidentally cooking my seedlings with unexpected hot weather. now have toms in gh, but they are way behind. in my other gh I have some sort of pest, which is eating the roots of anything I plant, killing the plants. I had a small issue the same last year. I have been out day and night with torch to try and find the pesties, but not finding them - but the style of damage suggests some sort of cutting worm/weevil. I have, for the first time in my life, decided to try nematodes, it feels like that or not use the greenhouse ever again.

not looking like it will be a tomato glut year for me. Good I can use up last years frozen......

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15996

Posted: Sat May 21, 22 7:55 am Post subject:
They might be vine weevils Nicky. We have had those on our indoor plants, and the only way we found with them was to take the plant out of the pot, carefully clean off any grubs we found the pour boiling water over the compost. Not really practical on a greenhouse scale unless you can get some sort of high temperature steriliser, but works at the pot scale.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46247
Location: yes

Posted: Sat May 21, 22 8:53 am Post subject:
nematodes are rather effective

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Sat May 21, 22 9:08 am Post subject:

Sounds like I should be grateful to not know about vine weevils...
Over here I would suggest also checking for seed corn maggot, though I don't know if you have them there. Nematodes would also be effective for them.

Have you evaluated your risk for damping off organisms? I've seen situations where pythium gets out of control in greenhouse soil. Nematodes would not help with damping off diseases...

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9887
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Sat May 21, 22 4:42 pm Post subject:

Slim wrote:

it is definitely something eating them - the roots are eaten away and the 'bark' of the stems stripped, then the stems eaten. It is not the style of slugs or snails, a foe I am familiar with. I have applied a broad spectrum nematode, as my research points to various larvae/ grubs of various moths or weevils, and all I can do is continue to replace plants and see if the problem stops. Last year only tomatoes were killed, and I grew lots of cucumbers, but this year the pesties took out a courgette plant that was thriving, then suddenly not. Everything above ground looks ok, but suddenly droopy, dig under the soil and the stem is chewed through, the other roots gone.

I think nematodes are a relatively ok thing to use. and I have to do something to get my greenhouse back.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46247
Location: yes

Posted: Tue May 24, 22 4:31 pm Post subject:
still alive, they have sticks and upcycled cable

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46247
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 22 11:34 am Post subject:
hooves crossed this is not a curse, they seem to be thriving i might add a bit more shiny on the side of the shed 3 times as big as they were

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15996

Posted: Thu Jun 02, 22 7:45 am Post subject:
As long as they aren't long and thin, sounds hopeful.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46247
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Jun 02, 22 8:30 am Post subject:
they are a tall one and a squat one, both have good shapes, proportions and are a nice colour for the type, it does seem to be working i will do a snap later

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46247
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Jun 02, 22 12:06 pm Post subject:

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15996

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 22 8:08 am Post subject:
They look good. More advanced than mine in the greenhouse. I have one set of flowers on one, but they aren't really tall enough to need support yet.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46247
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 22 12:29 pm Post subject:
there is now an upcycled mirror against the shed under the mesh thing it gives extra at almost full spectrum for the next couple of feet upwards they are heliotropic but seem to think it is always midday on the equator in terms of shape ideal for things in a newgrange corner hooves crossed, so far this seems worth the effort

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46247
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 22 2:44 pm Post subject:
i almost consumed a second instar ladybird nymph, opps, i did notice and it was added to the tomato plants

sgt.colon

Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.

Posted: Mon Jun 06, 22 8:04 am Post subject:
They are looking really good DPack. Sorry if you have already said this but what variety is it?

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