Comment

Comment by Casey Unfried on February 16, 2014 at 4:30pm

The sudden cold that hit today caught me off guard :/ Glad my fish heater is working^^

Wow nice haul ^^ 

Comment by Jim Troyer on February 16, 2014 at 3:56pm

Nice Matt!

Comment by Matt Miskinnis on February 16, 2014 at 3:25pm

Hey Kim, saw your comment about the tomato plants, don't worry. My tomato plants have been doing well.  Here is a pic of what I picked last week.  I have the greenhouse that you saw, with a space heater and the tomato plants have come back well after the one cold night in December.

Comment by Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. on February 15, 2014 at 11:28pm

Got my cucumbers and armenians planted today.

Comment by John Malone on February 14, 2014 at 8:28pm

Jeff is correct.   The hoops are made of 1" 200psi  PVC, which is the light grade pipe.  The 'clips' are the same pipe, slit lengthwise.   If you've got strong hands you can spread these over the cloth and they really snap on well.   If they're too tight you can cut a slice lengthwise from the clips so that they don't have to be opened as far to get over the cloth and hoops.

A good wind will move slide the shadecloth up the hoops some, but it's easy to slide back down.  Actually, having it being able to slide is a benefit because it allows easy access to the garden bed.

Comment by Jeff S on February 14, 2014 at 8:19pm

Those are probably just the same size or one size larger PVC that has a slight section cut out and then they become clips. I use the for clipping plastic on.

Comment by DJ Wambach on February 14, 2014 at 8:13pm

@John I like the photo here, looks like you are using some sort of clip to hold the shade in place. What are they, could you give a close up?

Comment by John Malone on February 14, 2014 at 1:57pm

@Kim, It feels strange to be talking about shading in the middle of February, but it is over 80F today, so I suppose it's apropos.

This is what I do, and it works well. It's cheap and can be taken down if needed.  I should have tossed some sheets over it in the winter to protect from the frosts.  I had the sheets but was too lazy.  Won't happen again.

Comment by John Malone on February 14, 2014 at 1:52pm

@Kim - I've found that you can grow at almost any time of the year here in Phoenix, with a couple of provisos.

1) Dead heat of summer.  Not much happens when it's 115F.  Plants that are 'heat tolerant' tend to go in to survival mode. Plants that can't handle the heat either suffer or die. Tomatoes won't set fruit much past 100F.  I kept my tomatoes alive through summer last year, but it wasn't worth it.  This year, when they stop fruiting I'll pull them out and plant new seedlings for the fall.

2) Middle of winter.  The problem here, for me,  is that the fish stop eating and the fertilizer for the system drops off accordingly.  However, if you've got lettuce, cabbage and other winter plants going they'll keep growing all the way through.

I don't see why AP should differ from a dirt garden. You need to be aware of the seasons in both and plant accordingly.  AP tends to keep things alive longer, which tempts me to leave the plants in the garden when they should be pulled for the next season's planting.  It's a personal challenge for me, to pull a perfectly good looking plant, but it has to be done.  (Thinning of the lettuce seems like such a waste...)

I tied all my tomatoes up on strings last spring. I had way too many plants; over 70 at one point. I was planting each and every sucker that I picked. They all grew. AP is sensational at propagating cuttings!  I have learned my lesson.  I'll be planting less than a dozen plants and giving them the best chance to perform.  

The cherry tomatoes, which are determinate, I won't be stringing up, but letting fall over the edge of the grow bed. A single good cherry tomato plant can produce more tomatoes than we can eat. The indeterminate varieties, which are long vines, I'll be stringing up because it's an excellent way of keeping order in a tight space. I'll be pruning the indeterminate varieties heavily.  I learnt a LOT about tomatoes in my first season.

This season's focus, for me, is peppers, and to a lesser extent, herbs , as I've had very little success with them in the past.  I'm always trying to learn new things.

Comment by Kim Romen on February 14, 2014 at 1:22pm

John, interesting-some people use them just in the winter?  maybe birds and bugs are more manageable than i think they'r going to be!  So, with that and what Jim is saying, seems summer is more of the growing season for AP?  i thought in AZ winter was the best season for gardening in dirt, so it's opposite in AP?  if so, i can imagine it'd be due to the temp of the water being so cold in the winter?  maybe it's colder than the temp in a dirt garden...  With that, i could see the plus of a greenhouse in the winter. 

If i enclose my chickens one of these days maybe i won't give up on dirt gardening and plant a raised bed in the winter.  my neighbor's dirt raised bed garden looks fantastic with huge chard and brocolli.  i wonder how they would've done this time of year in AP!

Jim, I liked your idea of the long garden bed along the wall.  let me know when u come up with some materials figures!  if i'm gonna do that and make a greenhous out of it, we'll have to talk about the pluses/minus of just a reg greenhouse that i can change out the greenhouse material for shade cloth in the summer...

Joh, i love the pics.  so nice to see how someone else is doing it.  u're going to have tons of tomatoes!  do u tie your tomatoes up or let them spread out?  how many plants r u going to have?  u have at least 6 tomato plants?  is it best to plant more and prune them or just let them get big?

thx guys!!

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