From one end of the Hoopie

[lesa]

I have kept a few tomato plants for the greenhouse, and I'm planning my sweet potatoes in there... I have a lot of ventilation, but only time will tell if it is enough. I would go ahead and try your experiment- might help the ripening issue. Happy Gardening!

 

[digitS']

. . . When do you usually disassemble them?

. . . I was thinking I would roll up the sides maybe, halfway - so there was enough airflow for the plants in the ground, but a warmer microclimate above? We also have trouble with a long enough growing season to get RED tomatoes here in Montana! Has anyone tried anything like this? Do you think I need to be worried about pollination?

First I was thinking that you might be another person from the NorthWest coast trying to eke out a little more warmth to your summer months but, you are almost in my neck of the woods MwMtGardener!
Welcome to TEG !

Okay, I know what you mean by trying hard to have a RED tomato! I used to grow only SubArctic tomatoes when I lived at a higher elevation not too far from Lake Pend Oreille. We've got lots more short-season tomato varieties than I knew about back then, however.

Not too many big slicers, tho' . . . I think that any kind of protection for the plants should be helpful to you. And yes, rolling up the sides of your greenhouse should benefit the tomato plants. I had several tomato plants in the greenhouse thru last summer. They produced beautiful fruit!

The greenhouse is permanent but those "hoopies" are already out of the yard. That leaves the bigger hoop house/tunnel. It will come down in just a few days.

The tunnel is over 2 beds and all of the bok choy has been harvested from one and more bok choy seed planted. There's no reason to maintain much heat in there with that crop. I have left it up until about the 1st of July, one year. There were things like Malabar spinach growing in there.

The greenhouse has lots of basil right now. Soon, I'll just leave it open day and night. The exhaust fan can stay off. No plants can be left on the top shelf because of the heat but it won't be too bad elsewhere for something like basil. It could be that those plants will all end up sitting real close to the open door along about August. The basil will also be in the garden but it often looks to be in better health growing in containers in the greenhouse.

Best of Luck with Your Growing!

Steve

 

[NwMtGardener]

Thanks digits - I noticed you were "nearby" - at least in western terms! What is your elevation? We're around 3000' here.

Is malabar spinach that climbing variety? I tried that once, no luck... Maybe I should try again, I love spinach and have more room for climbers. I also have lots of basil in the greenhouse, it seems to be SO TINY still! Everything else is growing great but that is really poking along.

 

[digitS']

My gardening is at only 2,000 feet elevation now. I lived at 2,500 feet there near Pend Oreille and it was a real challenge to gardening. Of course, backed up to the northside of a mountain made things even cooler.

How Missoula is Montana's "Garden City" I don't quite understand. Missoula is at 3,200 feet!

Years ago, I was thinking of moving back into the hills and decided to camp overnight on the property before making any commitments. It was at 2,900 feet and the coffee in the pot froze sitting outdoors overnight! In July!

Malabar "climbing spinach" absolutely needs protective growing even at 2,000 feet. It just requires a warm start to make good growth even if one isn't expecting it to flower and produce fruit!

What do you think about growing tomatoes that are rated at 60 days and less for maturing fruit? Might those be good choices for you?

Steve

 

[NwMtGardener]

Hah, Missoula is the Garden City only relative to other places in MT! Actually it is pretty temperate despite it's elevation. We're in the flathead valley a couple hours north of zoo city.

Next year I'm definitely going for different varieties of tomatoes. This year I started Big Boy because I had the seed (and I actually didn't think I would be successful considering my track record and would end up buying other plants anyway!). But they're doing great, they're supposed to be 78 days, so I should have some success. What varieties have you had luck with for the short growing season?

 

[digitS']

Hybrid Beefsteaks:
Big Beef
Early Girl
Goliath

Heirloom Beefsteaks:
Rainy's Maltese
Thessaloniki

Heirloom Small/Saladette:
Bloody Butcher
Porter

Hybrid Saladette:
Lunchbox

Hybrid Cherries:
SunSugar
SunGold
Sweet 100

Heirloom:
Large Red Cherry

All of those, I've grown for a number of years.

Steve

edited to add: Boisson was a successful choice in 2010. Early Girl doesn't really count as a "beefsteak" . . . but, a "slicer" anyway. Bloody Butcher is very early and so are the hybrid cherries.

 

[NwMtGardener]

Thanks digits for the list! I jotted them down with my other jumbled notepapers that constitute my garden journal... I was going to do better at that this year... At least I managed to write down actual seed start dates this year, and how well that timing worked out for me.

I have blossoms on my Tomatoberry garden plant ... Shouldn't be long before I get to check those out. Apparently they're shaped like a strawberry and are bigger than cherry tomatoes. My big boys are growing like weeds in the greenhouse, I'm LOVING this thing! Ah...let me see if I can figure out the images thing...

My new greenhouse! We will definitely cover the whole garden next year...since this was my first year ever gardening in a greenhouse, I wanted to figure it out a bit first!

Cocozelle zucchini on top (already in bloom, amazing!) with Big Boy tomato upsidedown.

 

[digitS']

I like that Heather!

Using some kind of wire panels has interested me. They should be much sturdier than simple hoops, especially, if the hoops are flexible plastic pipe.

What I haven't been sure about is how the plastic film and wire work together without damage to the plastic. 6mil, UV-resistant plastic film isn't very strong; not any stronger than construction grade plastic. In fact, it seems softer even if lasts much, much longer in the sun. This has been true with the film that I've used, anyway.

Breaks and holes could be a big problem but you seem to be doing okay with what you are using . . . and, what are you using?

Steve

 

[NwMtGardener]

Yes we're loving the wire panels, I think it has helped with the wind a lot. It's also awesome that the were free, destined for the garbage from my husbands work!

We are using 6mil polyethylene sheeting, it doesn't even say uv resistant. I'm guessing were only going to get one season out of it - partly because we stapled right through the sheeting- didn't think to use any lathe strips. So now were "unstapling" to get more airflow, and putting some holes in it. There is some wood on the inside of the structure to staple to, and I think that has prevented more issues with the plastic getting holes because of the metal.

I think if I were buying metal mesh panels for something like this, I'd go with a heavy gauge metal, because the best thing about the structure is how much weight it can support - it's super burly, doesn't flex or bend at all, so I can hang huge pots from it without worrying. I'm even attaching pots on the angled sides this year. We installed drip irrigation down the middle of the "roof" of the structure, so we can run a dripper to each pot.

 

[digitS']

If it is construction grade, you should be able to get it to October but not a day longer, Heather.

You might be able to replace the film on October 1st and have it last all the way to October 1st next year. Or, leave it uncovered thru the winter, put put film on March 1st and have to tear it apart on October 1st, anyway.

It is the summer sun that kills it!

Steve