Two days in ground

9 years ago

We started these in the house and they enjoyed sunny days outside in their containers, but since we are leaving for an extended stay in Europe in a month, we wanted them to get started outside in ground. We have not thinned them or mulched them yet. Mulch will come once we see which ones to thin out and they are over 6" tall.

So because we have many evil gophers, each group is planted in a gopher basket. Then there are rats and rabbits. Each group has a hardware cloth protection above it. Then the dammn cut worms, so they are protected from those with a plastic ring that sinks about 5" below ground and 2" above. They will get their cages once they grow big enough and hopefully that will happen before we go on our trip.

We have six varieties (Box Car Willie, Legend, Mrs. Maxwell's Big Italian, San Lugo Marzano No. 2, Green Zebra and Helsing Junction Blues)

Here is our current set-up.

We live on a steep hillside full of rocks and decomposing granite. The soil has been amended and all are on drip.

I hope they have the room to now send their roots deep and grow tall before we leave. At least we have a good neighbor who will keep an eye on things, but we are in So CA and it won't heat up here till July-Aug.

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Comments (4)

edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
9 years ago
Looks like you know the routine quite well for where you live. Hopefully they will grow fast. Nice job.
Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b thanked edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
Elena
9 years ago
Wow Suzy you sure have to use a lot of protection for your plants, hope it will work out great for your tomatoes. I'm also in SoCa High Desert, couldn't grow anything in a ground well, then I switched to a container gardening and now my tomatoes doing great. I know we have to bit the heat, and then hopefully get second crop in September? I'm looking for good productive tomatoes for our area and so far only cherry tomatoes and Early girl are on my "keeper " list. Keep us posted on your tomatoes! And have a nice trip! I'm originally from Europe, lol.
Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b thanked Elena
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PupillaCharites
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Suzi, your tender young babies enjoy care and protection second to none in the tough world out there, and here's proof very early transplants are great :-) - very impressive. Super selection of varieties (Boxcar Willie!). I'd have had one earlier tomato but I guess the HJB and SM Lungo No. 2 will be worth your wait ... maybe you'll be overseas though and welcome the anticipation. Happy growing and thanks for sharing what you're up to with the nice and informational post!

Cheers

PC
Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b thanked PupillaCharites
Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for all the input! I will definitely keep you posted! I just had a thought... Always something. Rats and squirrels can climb. Probably need chicken wire on the top of the hardware cloth tubes.

Elena, where in Europe are you from? We are visiting parts of Italy and Greece.

I know I will worry when we are gone. Our drippers get clogged easily. With 1.5 acres of irrigation, there is always a leak somewhere. I hate when we water the road! This has happened a few times. Neighbors call.. Did you know? We will make sure all drippers are in good shape and all lines have no leaks a couple days prior to departure.

Suzi