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Dec 30, 2015 2:48 AM CST
Sweden
Forum moderator Garden Photography Irises Bulbs Lilies Bee Lover
Hellebores Deer Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Photo Contest Winner: 2016
Sounds like a good plan, Ric Thumbs up It may not work for you, but then at least you have tried and can compare. Hopefully you are able to keep the greenhouse cold enough during summer.
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Jan 2, 2016 7:53 PM CST
Name: Judy
Simpsonville SC (Zone 7b)
Peonies Plant and/or Seed Trader I helped beta test the first seed swap Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 1
I'm going to order Geranium Kiss, a hybrid determinate tomato from Peace Seedlings. Has anyone grown it? The folks st PeaceSeedlings developed it. They have some amazing seeds, the company is started by daughter (and her husband) of Alan Kapuler, a legendary plant developer. I grew some of his tomato varieties when i first started gardening 25+ years ago and was overjoyed to see he and daughter still have some if these varieties (especially an OP tomato called Peacevine.) such a small world.
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Jan 13, 2016 11:12 PM CST
Name: BetNC
Henderson County, NC (Zone 7a)
Container Gardener Seed Starter Plant and/or Seed Trader Tomato Heads Annuals Vegetable Grower
Dontcha just HATE it when the post you're working gets “lost” becausde you accidentally hit some key or another on your keybard, and you have to start alllllll ovewr?? Being an atrocious typer, this happens often: yesterday, on my SECOND attempt to add “my two cents” to this thread. . .. I wz ALMOST done when WHAM!! it vanished!!! I quit..so TODAY, I'm composing my post in a program that I've set to automatically save, every 2 minutes! (Seems too short, eh? Just during this short amount of typing, the dreaded mis-key vanishing struck 3 times!!) Angry I've redently downloaded a little ap that allowed keyboard keys to be changed (their resulting action changed, that is). . . only to diwscover that the dreaded caps lock (in particular)could not be changed. . And the ap waas limited to PRE-windowqs7 ! Grumbling

But I digress.

This is a review of the hybrid tomatoes I grew last year. I grew one plant for each of 7 varieties, in various sized containers (held off my concrete patio by either wheels or sections of 4x4 lumber). **Plus one unknown plant, in a 5-gal bucket directly onmy patio!
Thumb of 2016-01-14/BetNC/32571b

My best (earliest, most abundant, continous) producer was Fourth of July (above in the front, 18” grey plastic container). It produced from the last week of June until it succumbed with all my plants to late blight in mid September. Although the fruit IS small (4 oz), a typical day's harveast was 3-6 and quite tasty and juicy! (I just used more fruit for each 'mater sammy!! Drooling nodding )

8-10-15 production


A close runner-up was Baxter's Bush Early Cherry, grown in a 5-gal shop bucket. It also was abundant and produced continously from June (soon after Fourth of July) and was the last to succumb to late blight. (Half these seedlings were already in flower several days before transplanting outside.) The tiny morsels look JUST the right size to pop in your mouth while harvesting, but resist! These 1 oz wonders were PACKED with tasty juice!
Thumb of 2016-01-14/BetNC/76b6d7
one day's production: 4 oz. Fourth of July and 1 0z Baxter's Bush
Thumb of 2016-01-14/BetNC/42c95d

Ace 55, Rutger's and Bush Big Boy were all in first-year Earthboxes: almost all their early production was lost to BER. . . then they had flower drop for the hottest weeks in Aug....then the late blight stuck shortly after they started setting fruit again. What few fruit DID ripen was . . . unremarkable, tast-wise.

Super Sioux was the fourth plant in the Earthboxes. It was not as badly afflicted by BER (Bush Big Boy was the worst), but it grew and grew and grew: it had a vining habit and it was like an octopus, reaching out and laying on top of 4 other plants. (This earned it the designation of being the second vector, spreading the late blight.) The plant topped its Earthbox's support (5') and its arms were fom 3' (the shortest) to 4' (the two longest). It, too, had flower drop but it recovered earlier than the others and produced some ripe fruit before succumbing to late blight (the second, but also the closest , to the first and worst affected plant: the original vector Big Beef). Its fruit was good, better than store-bought. . . but nothing that special.

My last, known variety, was Big Beef, grown in a 5-gal shop bucket. It produced 4 big tomatoes in the first 18” of its stalk. . . then grew and grew: to 5 1/2feet with “arms” reaching out and laying on 2 other plants. These tomatoes were so big that one slice fully covered a slice of bread; the tomatoes were meaty, tasty and remarkably juicy. The 2 arms both had almosdt full-size green fruit on them when the late blight struck. As the worst hit, and the original vector for spread of the disaease, ALL of its fruit was lost.


In summary:
Big Beef and Super Sioux should not be grown in containers. (I will not grow them again because of their “arms”).

Ace 55, Rutgers and Bush Big Boy were all disappointments.

Although Baxter's Bush was excellent, I prefer a smaller currant-size cherry.

Fourth of July was stellar and I plan on growing it again this year and until my seeds won't germinate any more!!

This year, I will be growing Fourth of July, 5 late blight resistant hybrids (Mountain Merit, Celebrity, Jasper, Legend, Defiant) and 2 dwarves ( Mano and Cyril's Choice).
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Jan 14, 2016 4:10 AM CST
Name: Judy
Simpsonville SC (Zone 7b)
Peonies Plant and/or Seed Trader I helped beta test the first seed swap Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 1
There is any easy solution for BER, it is not a mysterious disease, it is a preventable calcium deficiency. the old fashioned, inexpensive way to deal with it is to put wood ashes, about a cup or so per plant, dug in around base of each tomato plant shortly after planting. i guess do the same in buckets but maybe do half a cup and add another half a few weeks later. big beef is my best producer, huge volume per plant all summer long, but not suited to containers.
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Jan 14, 2016 8:57 AM CST
Sweden
Forum moderator Garden Photography Irises Bulbs Lilies Bee Lover
Hellebores Deer Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Photo Contest Winner: 2016
@BetNC as you mention Windows 7 I assume you're on a computer with a proper keyboard?

In Windows there are a couple of key combinations that often work to undo or redo your edits.
Press Ctrl + z simultaneously to undo your latest text typing accident.
Ctrl + y to redo.

Probably this works in most browsers, but if not, it certainly works well in Firefox as that is what I'm using.

There is also an "Undo" choice in the menu that open if you right click in the area you're typing in, but on Firfox I see no corresponding "Redo" option in that menu. This obviously could differ between browsers, so you could have more or less options.

Hope this helps a bit Smiling
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Jan 14, 2016 9:34 AM CST
Name: BetNC
Henderson County, NC (Zone 7a)
Container Gardener Seed Starter Plant and/or Seed Trader Tomato Heads Annuals Vegetable Grower
yes, typos are me! nodding They're so numerous, I would / do spend as much (sometimes more) time FIXING my mistakes as my original typing. Hilarious!

But what REALLY gets my goat is when all these extraneous keys do their thing and my post-in-the-works vanishes and I have to start all over! Angry Believe me, I've tried "undo" and a few others to try to recover it, to no avail.

I have a standard keyboard; I tried to find one WITHOUT all these extra keys (F keys, "Hot" keys, some I don't even know what they are). If anyone knows where I could get a plain old keyboard (Like an old-fashioned typewrit3er, with just an ASKY and a string of numbers/special symbols). . . . Confused
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Jan 14, 2016 10:22 AM CST
Name: Rita
North Shore, Long Island, NY
Zone 6B
Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Tomato Heads I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
Birds Garden Ideas: Master Level Butterflies Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2016
BetNC- Excellent report. I love to know how different people grow the tomatoes and how each variety does. Thumbs up
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Jan 14, 2016 10:32 AM CST
Sweden
Forum moderator Garden Photography Irises Bulbs Lilies Bee Lover
Hellebores Deer Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Photo Contest Winner: 2016
Hm, Bet I guess you must be doing some pretty strange things then as undo works well for me in Firefox, sometimes I do need to press it several times. If you could describe in more detail what is usually happening or what keys you are pressing, perhaps their could be someone (may not be me Hilarious! Hilarious! Hilarious! ) that know a workaround. Going back to the previous page (in Firefox) have saved my text on a few occasions, but I assume you have tried that as well?

Not sure where you could get a simpler keyboard, but if you have a chance it could be worth trying a keyboard with mechanical switches. They are much more expensive but it would be much harder to have accidental keystrokes with them as they provide much more feedback to you and need to be pressed harder. There are several types of switches available depending on ones taste so best to try in person.
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Jan 14, 2016 12:07 PM CST
Name: Rick Corey
Everett WA 98204 (Zone 8a)
Sunset Zone 5. Koppen Csb. Eco 2f
Frugal Gardener Garden Procrastinator I helped beta test the first seed swap Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Region: Pacific Northwest
Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Avid Green Pages Reviewer Garden Ideas: Master Level Garden Sages I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! I helped plan and beta test the plant database.
BetNC, I pulled the Caps Lock key right OFF my keyboard.

Now it looks like a smile missing one tooth, but I'm happier.

Have you tried your browser's "go back one page" arrow? In my version of Firefox, it's a gray arrow in the upper left-hand corner.

In ATP, that usually gets me back to where I was editing, WITH the text intact.

(Sometimes I have to use the "go forward one page", as if the mystery key combo caused my browser to "go back one page".)
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Jan 14, 2016 7:01 PM CST
Name: BetNC
Henderson County, NC (Zone 7a)
Container Gardener Seed Starter Plant and/or Seed Trader Tomato Heads Annuals Vegetable Grower
@William hmmmm which keys do I hit ...what happens..Since I usually type while laying down and resting my poor aching back, I don't get to WATCH the keys while I type so your guess is as good a mine! Shrug!

My post-in-progress (p-i-p) vanishes. . . POOF! occassionally, my browser closes altogether. (I preferentially use Chrome,. . I had to start to be able to run battle scripts while playing a favorite game.) I've been jumped up to a post in the thread, only to scroll back down and find MY p-i-p GONE!! I.ve tried the go back AND the go forward arrows. . . no joy. Usually, my p-i-p is just gone and I don't know what I did or where it is.

Easy fixes are: I see the bookmark manager (close THAT tab), I see "Congratulations! You've gone incognito!" (close that version of my browser), I see the window of another program (close that program, which is hiding my p-i-p), I see my desktop with the icon for my browser on ONE of the toolbars (click on the icon and HOPE it re-opens to my p-i-p) and sometimes (rarely) all I have to do is click on the back arrow!

@RickCorey I LIKE your idea!! Manually "customize" my keyboard!! nodding nodding
lexssee.....I 'll need duct tape. . needlenose pliers...some cotton bsalls. . . fairly stiff plastic (try pieces of a milk jug?!?!). . .
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Jan 14, 2016 7:23 PM CST
Name: Sandy B.
Ford River Twp, Michigan UP (Zone 4b)
(Zone 4b-maybe 5a)
Charter ATP Member Bee Lover Butterflies Birds I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Million Pollinator Garden Challenge
Seed Starter Vegetable Grower Greenhouse Region: United States of America Region: Michigan Enjoys or suffers cold winters
I definitely feel your pain, Bet... I posted this somewhere else, but every now and then I lose all or part of a post when I hit the "exclamation point." (which tells me, just don't do it... but I'm addicted to it, I'm afraid) Obviously I'm hitting something else at the same time, due to using my laptop computer on my actual lap, and often having a cat sharing the same space...

And, I could definitely do with just having the caps lock set to off, and the number lock (which I often hit when going for the backspace key) set to on... Sighing!

Too bad we can't use a manual typewriter for the internet... but that really would be tough to hold on my lap! Rolling on the floor laughing Rolling on the floor laughing
“Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight." ~ Albert Schweitzer
C/F temp conversion
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Jan 14, 2016 8:45 PM CST
Sweden
Forum moderator Garden Photography Irises Bulbs Lilies Bee Lover
Hellebores Deer Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Photo Contest Winner: 2016
Sorry to hear that Bet, as I wasn't aware about your back problems Sad Typing in that position would seem to be extra difficult so goes above the normal errors one usually does. I hope the customization suggested by Rick will work really well for you Thumbs up

However my suggestion based on what I now know about your situation is for you to try out an add-on that caches the text area and these should work even if you happen to close the browser altogether. Lazarus: Form Recovery is one that seems to be available for both Chrome and Firefox. For Firefox there is also one called Textarea Cache. There seems to be some questions regarding the ongoing development of these add-ons as the developers don't seem to be currently active according to some comments, but I tried both in Firefox and they worked so far for me, although Lazarus complained a bit to start with and perhaps Textarea Cache won't work with the next version of Firefox, but that's just from me reading comments.

Textarea Cache seems to save everything as I'm typing it, but lazarus seems to save them periodically instead. Both approaches have their merit and they seem to compliment each other in this regard. I understand you are using Chrome, but nothing prevents you from using two browsers if you would like to give this a try. The caveat would be that they would also save passwords and other confidential data, (Lazarus can encrypt your data, Textarea Cache, cant) so do keep this in mind. You could install them both in Firefox and use Chrome for when you use sensitive data, as that would seem to be a safe approach. Also of course, they are only a compliment to the regular undo and isn't a replacement for it.
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Jan 15, 2016 11:53 AM CST
Name: Rick Corey
Everett WA 98204 (Zone 8a)
Sunset Zone 5. Koppen Csb. Eco 2f
Frugal Gardener Garden Procrastinator I helped beta test the first seed swap Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Region: Pacific Northwest
Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Avid Green Pages Reviewer Garden Ideas: Master Level Garden Sages I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! I helped plan and beta test the plant database.
At first, I jammed toothpicks and plastic wedges under the caps Lock key, but they came loose.

Then I took a large screwdriver and PRIED that cap right off the keyboard!

(Goodwill and Salvation Army often have very cheap keyboards if you wind up needing a replacement after surgery.)

Good luck with your back!
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Jan 15, 2016 12:39 PM CST
Name: BetNC
Henderson County, NC (Zone 7a)
Container Gardener Seed Starter Plant and/or Seed Trader Tomato Heads Annuals Vegetable Grower
@William Thank You!
Lazarus added (FYI I have 3 browsers, including Firefox: I just prefer Chrome!)

@RickCorey Emergency store run for this afternoon (hopefully, it'll quit raining buckets soon!) Need more duct tsape!! Rolling on the floor laughing Angel Rolling on the floor laughing
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Jan 15, 2016 12:56 PM CST
Name: Rick Corey
Everett WA 98204 (Zone 8a)
Sunset Zone 5. Koppen Csb. Eco 2f
Frugal Gardener Garden Procrastinator I helped beta test the first seed swap Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Region: Pacific Northwest
Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Avid Green Pages Reviewer Garden Ideas: Master Level Garden Sages I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! I helped plan and beta test the plant database.
Duct tape, super glue ... look out Microsoft, here we come!
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Apr 1, 2016 4:01 PM CST
Name: Rita
North Shore, Long Island, NY
Zone 6B
Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Tomato Heads I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
Birds Garden Ideas: Master Level Butterflies Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2016
Mostly this year I am going to be growing open pollinated tomatoes. Not necessarily heirlooms as I have seed from intros of some of todays modern hybridizers.

One hybrid I do have and will be planting is Country Taste. I have high hopes and expectations for this one. Should have the hybrid production along with great taste. So we will see.

I do have some others I will be planting like Bush Champion and Bush Early Girl. I also have one called Mega Bite and I am pretty sure that one is a hybrid also. All these grown myself from seed.
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Apr 1, 2016 5:59 PM CST
Name: Carol
Santa Ana, ca
Sunset zone 22, USDA zone 10 A.
Bookworm Charter ATP Member Region: California Hummingbirder Orchids Plant Identifier
Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge)
Can't wait for your reports on those two. Champion has been a good one here, but last year I bought Champion II, an the core was pretty woody....may have been the weather. Since I'm down to containers here, a good bush would be great.
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Apr 1, 2016 7:58 PM CST
Name: Rita
North Shore, Long Island, NY
Zone 6B
Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Tomato Heads I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
Birds Garden Ideas: Master Level Butterflies Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2016
I usually grow Early Girl each year. I simply buy a six pack of plants. But this year I am doing all my tomatoes from seed so I will not have Early Girl. When I was buying seed I decided I would try Bush Early Girl and Bush Champion instead. We will see how I like them. If I don't much like them I can always go back to Early Girl next season.

I will for sure be writing my reports later in the season.
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Apr 2, 2016 5:29 AM CST
Name: Judy
Simpsonville SC (Zone 7b)
Peonies Plant and/or Seed Trader I helped beta test the first seed swap Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 1
I am growing a new hybrid determinate called Geranium Kiss that is bred for containers. And Parks Big Beef, which I always grow, alongside it will be Big Beef dehybridized which I grew last year and both did well. Even though I grow some heirlooms I think of the hybrids like Big Beef as insurance against bad weather or other misfortune, they produce no matter what.
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Apr 2, 2016 8:54 AM CST
Name: Rita
North Shore, Long Island, NY
Zone 6B
Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Tomato Heads I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
Birds Garden Ideas: Master Level Butterflies Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2016
SCButtercup said:I am growing a new hybrid determinate called Geranium Kiss that is bred for containers. And Parks Big Beef, which I always grow, alongside it will be Big Beef dehybridized which I grew last year and both did well. Even though I grow some heirlooms I think of the hybrids like Big Beef as insurance against bad weather or other misfortune, they produce no matter what.


So true on the hybrid production. Seems like one can always could on them to produce a good crop no matter what.

I have never heard of Geranium Kiss. That does sound good that it will be a good one for containers.

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