Lessons learned for a new greenhouse growing season
Well it's been quite a while since my last post, it can be hard to know where to start again. So I'll simply begin with the new season, which is well under way.
I started the growing season in January, sowing lots of tomato and chile varieties. New this year is tomatillos, which fortunately grow like tomatoes without the pinching out. Unfortunately for the tomatoes, I was very late in getting the plants into the greenhouse (we have 5,000 sq. ft. of growing space between the greenhouse and polytunnel). And so my time scale for harvest has been set back. But most are looking pretty good now - just a ton of weeding and pruning to do. Fruits have appeared and just this week the first ripening of some cherry toms has been spotted.
Varieties of tomato this year include more F1's (Ferline, Cossack, Orsaka, Cherola). We'll see if these are as disease resistant as claimed. We've also planted red cherry, red pear (love these), black cherry, heirlooms Black Russian and Orange Banana, and some others I can't remember at the moment.
Chilies include Purple Jalapeño, Aji Rojo, Cherry Bomb, Ancho Poblano, and Numex Big Jim. The last one was a freebie when I ordered my seeds! The Cherry Bomb and Poblano were seeds I collected from last year and nearly all I had sown germinated. So I was impressed with that result. I did Aji Yellow last year and they were brilliant, massive plants so I have high hopes for the Rojos. One draw back is that they did take a long time to grow their fruit. And I'm looking forward to some purple peppers!
This year I've moved some of the chiles into the greenhouse from the poly tunnel. It was too hot for them in the PT last year and they got a bit fried. The rest I've put in pots. So we'll see which do better - raised beds or pots. So far the potted plants are bigger and growing faster.
More salad mixes are to go in. This time I've planted them along the back of the beds, where the roof is lowest. Last year the tomatoes were squished against the glass and had lots of moisture issues. In efforts to get more airflow, we've put fewer plants in and kept them clear of the sides where it's dampest.
So a few lessons learned from last year, a year of severe blight. But I still over sowed. Despite having less help for the laborious work, I'm staying optimistic for a bountiful harvest.
I started the growing season in January, sowing lots of tomato and chile varieties. New this year is tomatillos, which fortunately grow like tomatoes without the pinching out. Unfortunately for the tomatoes, I was very late in getting the plants into the greenhouse (we have 5,000 sq. ft. of growing space between the greenhouse and polytunnel). And so my time scale for harvest has been set back. But most are looking pretty good now - just a ton of weeding and pruning to do. Fruits have appeared and just this week the first ripening of some cherry toms has been spotted.
Varieties of tomato this year include more F1's (Ferline, Cossack, Orsaka, Cherola). We'll see if these are as disease resistant as claimed. We've also planted red cherry, red pear (love these), black cherry, heirlooms Black Russian and Orange Banana, and some others I can't remember at the moment.
Chilies include Purple Jalapeño, Aji Rojo, Cherry Bomb, Ancho Poblano, and Numex Big Jim. The last one was a freebie when I ordered my seeds! The Cherry Bomb and Poblano were seeds I collected from last year and nearly all I had sown germinated. So I was impressed with that result. I did Aji Yellow last year and they were brilliant, massive plants so I have high hopes for the Rojos. One draw back is that they did take a long time to grow their fruit. And I'm looking forward to some purple peppers!
This year I've moved some of the chiles into the greenhouse from the poly tunnel. It was too hot for them in the PT last year and they got a bit fried. The rest I've put in pots. So we'll see which do better - raised beds or pots. So far the potted plants are bigger and growing faster.
More salad mixes are to go in. This time I've planted them along the back of the beds, where the roof is lowest. Last year the tomatoes were squished against the glass and had lots of moisture issues. In efforts to get more airflow, we've put fewer plants in and kept them clear of the sides where it's dampest.
So a few lessons learned from last year, a year of severe blight. But I still over sowed. Despite having less help for the laborious work, I'm staying optimistic for a bountiful harvest.
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