Getting there

5/29/16: A brief stop at the garden to add some more twine and pull a few weeds.   I'm getting more effiicient at the Florida Weave though it's clear that one has to be aggressive about both that and pruning suckers - I still have a few plants that are flopping around a bit.    But overall it's not bad.  Plants are mostly about 2-3 ft. high, lots of flowers, fruit set well underway.  Next weekend I plan to do some major twining, good weeding (enough for a skipped weekend).

Here's F2 55 again too...

Backyard plants

Are growing exceptionally well, already about 5 ft high and it's not even June.  I added a fourth (or so) twine row.  Not sure why they are booming so fast this year - perhaps because I spread some of my homemade compost all over before the season began?  Carefully pruning suckers probably is also helping them go up up up. !

To try next year?

Been reading about a variety, or varieties, called Indian Stripe or Indian Zebra.  These seem extremely similar to Cherokee Purple in color and flavor, with slightly smaller fruit, but are reported to be more productive plants.  Several commenters in an old gardening thread stated they preferred these to CP.

Update: more purple, more stakes.

Today I put in about a dozen 8 ft. spruce stakes in between the T-posts.   These will help keep the twine tight between the T-posts and give more support to plants - at least that's the idea.  It's a cheap alternative to the T posts at a buck each.  However I did have to saw the ends so they go in the ground easier, and I have to put nails in them to fix the twine.  So we'll see if in the end it was worth it. I still have another dozen to put in.  Also: picked a few more suckers, and zapped a few more potato beetle egg clusters & larvae.  No adults found this time.  And finally, here's some F2 fruit.  #55 now has more purple; beefsteaky; and looks pretty green too - this may be a good one.  Also in order below are fruit from #40 and #50.  Definite segregation for shape and probably the dark green.  I did not record petal numbers today but I did notice one F2 with only 5-petal flowers.

Sucker MC's should call me Sire

Today: a cool weather Saturday.  Things are looking good in the community garden.  I removed suckers from all the plants and put up more twine so at least one level is up for all plants.  Except an F2 that is all on its lonesome.    I counted all surviving F2s:  N=57, and noted positions.  Finally I did a bit of weeding and removed a couple more potato beetles, larva and eggs.  Not very many.  F2 #55 still has the purply fruit, growing nicely.   However the purplish color is not as evident now after some more growth, and I'm no longer confident it will be strongly purple. Dark green shoulders.

 Many flowers on the first row of F2s and on some heirlooms.   In my backyard, the plants are really booming - ahead of the community garden - and almost needing a 3rd level of twine!

Fruit status

Home garden:  Fruit's on the vine, on BA, HC, RC, FL.  BC and AN flowering too.  

Sucker punching

Or rather, sucker pruning, or simply sucker plucking.  This year I am trying something new, which is specifically removing suckers from the plants.  As many other websites describe, suckers are shoots that emerge between a side branch and the main stem, and they will form into a continuously growing new stem unless removed.   This will direct more plant energy into new stem and leaf growth instead of flowering, fruit production and upward growth of the main stem. So removing suckers should maintain a more upright habit, and less bushy and sprawling.  Taller, "leaner" plants = fruit are more elevated = less disease and loss.

So far so good. Straw mulch time.

Today I picked up 2 bales of wheat straw for mulching.  First things first: at the garden another tarp had partly come out, but with not as bad consequences as last time.   So I pinned down all the tarps rather more thoroughly than at the outset.  Hopefully there they will stay.  

All the heirlooms are doing fine.   The F2 count is down to 57;  like a dope I accidentally broke one at the base else it would be 58.   Most F2s are looking OK, though mainly they are slightly less vigorous than the heirlooms.  Fortunately we got good rains over the last week.

An exciting find on an F2 - a growing fruit that already has very distinct purpling! , and also, has a wide/slightly flattened and ribbed phenotype that almost certainly reflects Cherokee Purple genes!



I also found about 5 or 6 potato beetles, and several of their egg clusters under leaves.  I removed and terminate all I could find.  Sadly one little F2 seemed to have been stripped clean by the beetles.

Finally I spread the straw all around the plant bases and put up a bit more twine.  Feeling good about how things are going so far.

Nota bene

It is clear that the plants in 3" square pots - the F2s - are less vigorous than the plants in 4" round pots - the heirlooms - that were sowed even after the F2s were.   I think the F2s were getting rootbound.