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fernsk

Help with plant selection Please

19 years ago

Hi all

I want to grow some tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, salad greens & herbs in my little garden this year. I've done it before but the results are kind of out of "wild kingdom" with the tomato stuck in a pot and becoming a leaning tower, the cucumber vines sprawling all over the place and taking over my new patio - vines everywhere accidently stepping on cucumbers - finding a huge cucumber that was hidden - I need some order to my space. So I'm thinking that there must be varieties of cucumber and tomato that would suit a small space. I would like to confine them to a 3 ft diameter raised bed. I also plan to grow 2 tomatoes in 2 "window boxes" attached to the top of my fence. When it comes to basil I am really confused because elsewhere I see reference to it growing into huge bushes but mine never really amounts to much so maybe I'm not taking proper care of it. The peppers have been selected - Garden Salsa - they will be planted in between the roses this year with some flower annuals. Please help with some ideas for a controled cucumber and a regular fruited small tomato plant that won't take over my world.

Fern

Comments (4)

  • 19 years ago

    Hmmm well tumbler tomatoes come to mind for the window boxes. Any determinate or bush type tomato should not out grow its space. Some varieties are Prairie Pride, Centennial Rocket, stupice, bush early girl. I also grew romas last year that were a bush type. There are lots of choices. Ask at your garden center..they should be able to tell you which is which. Also put tomato rings on at planting time.

    Same with cucs.....bush types or grow them up a trellis.

    Peppers...I had some little ones last year...I grew them in one gallon pots...the peppers were also small, but very flavourful and a lot of them. I don't remember the name of them though. Just some I picked out at the garden center.

    I just started my herbs a couple days ago in 4 inch pots in the greenhouse. I have never had basil grow into a large bush.... I had oragano come through the winter this year.

    Happy gardening,
    Sierra

  • 19 years ago

    'Manitoba' is a nice, small tomato plant with regular sized tomatoes. It's early and well suited to the prairies, developed at Ag Canada's Morden farm.

    I agree if you have any way to build a trellis/frame to grow the cukes up, it will save space and also make them easier to find.

    Basil never gets very big for me either, under 1' tall. I find it needs more moisture than most other herbs. Sierra, wow overwintering oregano, lucky you!

  • 19 years ago

    I'm not sure on the type of oregano my mom and I planted, but it's reseeded in both of our gardens for years. It's almost gotten to weed status already.

    Fern, the trellis or fence idea for cucumbers would be a great space saver for you. As for tomatoes, bush Celebrity have been my mainstay for years, and they only get to 2'-2.5' tall, and produce very well for me. Basil doesn't get very tall in our short growing season either. Maybe way down south they can turn into bushes, but not up here.

    Laurie

  • 19 years ago

    I found a small orange tomato that isn't supposed to grow more than 2 ft and produces small to medium sized fruit. I also saw [somewhere I just have to remember where] red robin tomatos - supposed to be really tiny - great for the small containers. So having looked at different sites I think that I have a plan - kind of an experiment... I'm going find a bush cucumber and a regular cucumber which I will attempt to train to climb the trellis. So one grouping [tomato, cucumber, pepper, basil] will be planted in my 3 ft raised bed, a similar group will be planted in the flower bed amongst the roses and a 3rd group will go in a container - pepper, red robin tomato and if I can find one a tiny bush cucumber. Now I get to go shopping

    Fern

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