Tomato Types

 What is Determinate or Indeterminate tomato seeds?

Determinate tomatoes are varieties that grow to a fixed mature size and ripen all their fruit in a short

     (image Ida Gold Cherry)
period, usually about 2 weeks. Once this first flush of fruit has ripened, the plant will begin to diminish in vigor and will set little to no new fruit. 

Indeterminate tomato varieties are vining plants that continue growing in length throughout the growing season, which is why you will sometimes see them referred to as "vining" tomatoes, Indeterminate tomato varieties will also continue to set and ripen fruit throughout the growing season, until the plants are killed off by frost.  

Both determinate and indeterminate tomato varieties have their pluses and minuses. It really depends on what you are going to be using the tomatoes for and also, how long is your growing season. If you want a thick tomato for making sauces, you are better off with a paste tomato and those tend to be determinate.

If you tend to eat your tomatoes fresh and want a season-long supply, go for indeterminate varieties.

An heirloom tomato (also called heritage tomato) is an open-pollinated (non-hybrid) heirloom cultivar

of tomato. Any tomato that is at least fifty years old and is not a hybrid. According to tomato experts, heirloom tomatoes can be classified into four categories: (image Black Brandywine)

• family heirlooms,
• commercial heirlooms,
• mystery heirlooms, and 
• created heirlooms.  

They usually have a shorter shelf life and less disease resistance than hybrids bred to resist against specific diseases. They are grown for a variety of reasons, such as for food, historical interest, access to wider varieties, and by people who wish to save seeds from year to year, as well as for their taste. "Heirloom Tomatoes". Spiritfoods. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2012. 

When the plants of an open-pollinated variety self-pollinate, or pollinated by another representative of the same variety, the resulting seeds will produce plants roughly identical to their parents.

 Hybrid tomato – A tomato bred by crossing varieties. Hybrids offer better disease resistance, higher

yield, and other improved traits.

Early variety – A tomato that matures in 50 to 60 days; these are prized for early harvests and late summer planting for a fall crop. Sometimes we refer to tomatoes that mature in more than 60 days as “early,” but only in comparison to their peers. For example, the earliest beefsteak type is only early compared to other beefsteaks. Beefsteaks are typically longer maturing than other tomato types because they are so big! 

Tomato Disease Resistance Codes 

Tomato names are often followed by capital letters that stand for resistance to certain diseases. This is very important because these diseases can wipe out a tomato crop. 

Xeriscape not ZEROscape

Drought tolerant landscape doesn’t have to mean gravel, and spiky gray plants. Xeriscape (xeri=Greek for dry and scape=view) emphasizes the use of drought tolerant plant species combined with creative landscaping practices to conserve water.

The following terms: water-wise, drought tolerant, water thrifty, and water smart all refer to plants requiring less water in a managed landscape. We all want to use less water in our landscapes and don’t want to be that house with the ugly brown yard.

Whether you have established landscape or total do-over, take a look at the following Eight Principles of Xeriscape:

1. Plant and Design comprehensively from the beginning.

• Lower your water bill.
• Create a more interesting landscape. Plan your annual flower and vegetable gardens and create a planting guide.
• Invite more pollinators into your landscape.
• Don’t just plant and hope for the best
• Create a landscape plan. Identify all the plants in your landscape, their water, sun, and soil needs, and the seasonal maintenance for those plants.
• Record the micro climates in your landscape. Record the plants you add and take out of your landscape and why. Record monthly and annual tasks to remind you when to perform them.
• Develop a fertilization and mulch plan.

Legacy buffalo grass lawn in Boise, ID

2. Create practical turf area. Consider size, shape, and appropriate grasses. Turf uses the highest percentage of water. When planning, consider regionally appropriate turf. Sheep’s fescue (Festuca ovina), and Buffalograss (Bouteloua dactyloides) are two examples of grasses that require less water and grow well in the Treasure Valley. Raise mowing height to 2-4 inches on your mower. The taller grass shades the ground so slows evaporation and promotes deeper root growth. Research shows mulching the clippings instead of removing them, can replace one application of fertilizer per year.

You might consider replacing some of the grass with a  more planting beds for flowers or vegetables. Don’t forget to check your HOA rules when considering the removal of turf.

3. Choose plants for your growing zone.
Once established, regionally appropriate native and low water use plants require little water beyond the normal rainfall (about 12 inches per year of precipitation in the Treasure Valley with 5 of those inches between April-October. Consider soil type, exposure to sun, and choose the right plant for those conditions. 

4. Consider improving the soil with organic matter.  Healthy soil retains water and absorbs excess nutrients, Have your soil tested for nutrient content, PH, soil composition and organic matter. The report will give you suggestions for adding anything that is lacking.

5. Strongly consider using organic mulches such as wood chips.  Adding mulch controls weed growth and slows evaporation, so conserves water. 

6.Irrigate efficiently. Create zones to provide the right amount of water at the right time by grouping plants according to their water needs. Your tree, shrubs, flower and raised beds have different water requirements than your lawn. Consider drip irrigation or soaker hoses for flower beds, shrub and trees. More targeted watering cuts down on weeds and uses less water.
Avoid sprinklers that produce a fine mist or spray high into the air in order to reduce water loss from evaporation and wind.  To check your sprinkler output, use tuna cans or similar straight-sided cans placed at various places around your lawn.  Run lawn sprinklers for 5 minutes and measure the output.  Now calculate the time needed to get  1 inch of water per week on your turf.
Water requirements change often so don’t just set automatic systems and forget them. Review the water requirements often taking into account rainfall, temperature and wind. Adjust the time you water accordingly.

7. Water Harvesting. Direct your roof water into rain barrels or onto your landscape. This recharges Idaho's aquifers as well as irrigating our arid environment. Here's how to build a rain barrel.

8. Maintain your established landscape.  Learn how to prune and fertilize each plant in your landscape and record the requirements in your maintenance schedule.

.Consider visiting xeric demonstration gardens in the Treasure Valley area. Hopefully they will inspire you to improve water conservation in your own home landscape.

The Idaho Botanical Garden has several gardens within its footprint, including The Water Wise Garden and The Fire Wise Garden.

 
These following two links will give you an extensive overview of xeric gardening.

Idaho Landscapes & Gardens | UI Extension (uidaho.edu)

Here's one extensive detailed resource for Intermountain Areas.  

How are your overwintering bulbs: Dahlias, Cannas, Gladiolas, and more...?

Dahlia

If you are trying to overwinter bulbs (includes tubers, corms, and rhizomes) such as Dahlias, Tuberose, Amaryllis, Canna Lilies, Gladiolas - now is a great time to check them to see what condition they are in. Here are the main things to check:

#1 Check for Disease If bulbs are damaged in digging and not "cured" well while preparing them for storage, you can get a soft rot in them and it will spread from bulb to bulb, or tuber to tuber very fast. A fast way to check for this is to use your nose, the rot will give off a rather bad smell, once you detect the smell, then use your eyes to look for discolored material or material that is oozing and looks moist.

Remove all bulbs that show the discolored symptom or are soft, you should also check with a master gardener to see is there is a fungicide that you can treat the ones not affected to protect them.

Canna lily rhizomes

Canna Lily

 #2 If you have put the bulbs in an organic bedding material, check it for moisture content - if it is damp that could increase problems with soft rot.

#3 Check the bulbs to see if they are wrinkling up which shows that they are drying out. Outside air can become very dry when it warms up causing a severe problem in over wintering your live material. 

Tubers such as dahlias are very prone to not surviving the winter unless they are in bedding material. If the bedding material is too dry,  it can allow the bulbs to dry out and die, of course if it is too damp then soft rot can be a problem.

Gladiolus corms

#4 Check the temperature of the area you are storing them in. It should be less than 50 degrees F. and more than 40 degrees. It is very important that the bulbs do not freeze and if it gets too warm the bulb will start to grow and that can kill it.

For more information on growing flowers, contact your local University of Idaho Extension office!

Winter: The best time to ponder the bones of your yard & garden - old

With the leaves on deciduous plants gone, you can see where you need structure, where you need evergreens and where you need to prune. Here's 10 suggestions. 

You also have time out from planting and harvesting when you can think about building structures, such as walkways, decks, raised beds, trellis/gazebos, or seating areas. 

Are you thinking of creating or converting to a backyard forest garden. Here's a bridge over a dry river rock bed that flows through a wildlife area...even in a small yard! 

Dr. Douglas W. Tallamy has written a seminal book, Bringing Nature Home, on how to plan for the best ecosystem in your own yard. He has followed it with a second book, Nature's Best Hope, outlining how we can help grassroots conservation with native plants! While he is from the NE USA, his ideas are applicable here. This is the time..."one yard at a time!" 

Our winter sunshine is a plus in this, as you can get outside even in January and February to mess with lumber, edging or stepping stones (unless the snow hits). 

Go out and stare at your gardening space and draw a map of what is already there.

Consider what you’d like to keep and what isn’t working. Refer to your garden journal for successes and failures.

• Envision what you’d like to see there and draw it in on your map. 
• Draw a plan for how to build what your mind’s eye sees and make a materials list. Watch this video for a simple plan. 
• Gather the materials and get started. 
• Then, any day that’s warm enough to work, you’re ready.

Soil, the living world beneath our feet

Everyone is curious about the life in the soil and the food web, 

yet we can’t see the "microbiome" in the soil. Gardeners love soil and have so many questions about it – how to test it, how to compost, how to enhance soil structure and fertility. For those in the "growing" world, we wonder if the difference between dirt and soil is just semantics. Turns out, it's not just semantics! Soil is a living environment...whereas dirt is basically dead soil, according to scientists. Soil is the earth’s delicately structured biological skin(video). Every terrestrial ecosystem and the food you eat sprouts from soil. (95% of food comes from soil).

• Soil anchors and feeds forests, prairies, and farmed fields.
• The amazing difference between dirt and soil is that soil contains mycorrhizae, a beneficial fungi, which lives beneath our feet. Click here for Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott photos and description of this beneficial fungi.
• Soil is habitat for many burrowing animals and harbors an amazing biodiversity of microbes, insects, arthropods, and worms, many yet to be scientifically described. 

Growing a Revolution

• Soil is essential to the water cycle as it filters and gradually releases water year-round to streams, rivers, and lakes.  

• Soil decomposes fallen leaves, feces, dead animals and plants into soil organic matter while recycling the nutrients that plants need to grow. Increasing soil organic matter is one way to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide and address climate change.
• David Montgomery talks about bringing our soil back to life, and with one third of the arable land laying dormant, soil is a lifeline to healing the planet and feeding the hungry.
• Whether one is a serious scientist, or food activist, a farmer or a backyard gardener, the following references and link resources will open a new world, one going on right under our feet. 

To understand how Canyon County soils influence plant growth, check out this class  https://bit.ly/2cSoils    offered on Zoom.

Further links: 
Great videos, interactive games from Smithsonian Environmental Research Center http://forces.si.edu/soils/ 

Soil Health Awareness: Sponsored by the US Government, this site provides information for educators. USDA Natural Resources link

Frost, Freeze, or Hard Frost? It's that time of year...!

 According to the National Weather Service, here are the definitions of a Frost, Freeze and Hard Freeze.

Frost:  Frost occurs when there is a solid deposition of water vapor from the air. Frost will form when solid surfaces are cooled below the dew point. An air temperature range of 33°- 36°, along with very light winds, is usually needed to initiate frost formation. At least minor damage is possible to plants. One must keep in mind that a frost is not guaranteed at these temperatures if moisture in the air is lacking and/or winds are strong.

Freeze:  Freeze occurs when the air temperature drops to 32°-or-lower. A freeze will result in significant damage to many unprotected plants, especially if the temperature remains at-or-below the freezing mark for several hours.

Hard Freeze:  Hard freeze occurs when the temperature reaches 28°-or-lower for at least a few hours. It usually means that many types of plants and most seasonal vegetation will be destroyed.

Mark Longstroth with Michigan State University Extension posted the following information explaining the differences more clearly than just a definition.

A frost is when we get a visible frost. A freeze is when the air temperature drops below freezing. Sometimes we get frost when the temperatures are above freezing and we often have a freeze without frost. It all has to do with the amount of water in the air.

At the dew point, water vapor in the air condenses on the ground and other surfaces as dew. If the dew point is below freezing, the water vapor condenses as ice, freezing as frost. So the air can be above freezing and the surface of your car (or the roof of your house) can be colder than the air and colder than freezing causing a frost even though the air temperature is above freezing. That is how we get a frost without a freeze. If the dew point is much below freezing then we can get freezing temperatures cold enough to freeze plants without any frost. This is also called a black frost, a freeze without a frost. When frozen plants thaw they have a water-soaked, black appearance as they die.

Sometimes we get a freeze under windy conditions. This is caused by the movement of a cold air mass into the area with subfreezing temperatures. These freezes are called wind freezes.

Idaho Average First Frost Date Map will give you accurate information for your county.

Steps to take to help your plants survive as long as they can.

1.    Of course cover your plants with a frost fabric or sheets or plastic.

2.    Bring what plants you can indoors

3.    Water extra with warm water

4.    Keep water running at a trickle if possible for a few days.  Be careful not to over water.

5.    Wrap the trunks of young trees.

6.    Wrap pots that cannot be moved indoors.

Your plants are counting on you...Protect them!

So, you’ve thought about composting?

Good for you! Composting is a great way to Reduce, Reuse &  Recycle. Food scraps and yard waste together currently make up more than 28 percent of what we throw away.  Composting enriches soil, helping retain moisture and suppress plant diseases and pests.  In addition composting reduces the need for chemical fertilizers and encourages the production of beneficial bacteria and fungi that break down organic matter to create humus, a rich nutrient-filled material.  Check out this website to see what the EPA says about at composting at home along with several helpful links.

Has the idea of composting and compost bins been a bit overwhelming? Do you have questions like “Will it be difficult or expensive to set up this operation?”  “What exactly should I put in my compost piles?”  “Is this project going to be labor intensive?” Do you have other questions?  Well just as we approach other aspects in our lives, if we break down the project into smaller parts the task becomes more manageable.

First thing’s first. Put your compost pile close to where you will use it. Away from drying winds, but in partial sunlight to help heat the pile. You should choose a place where water is available and adequate drainage.

 What types of materials do you need to set up composting bins? 

Well you can set your operation up as fancy or as simple as you like. An area that is about 3’x3’x3’ is a great start. You may use inexpensive materials such as wire mesh, old pallets and trash cans or buy a composting system from your local or on line retailers.  Here are two photos for examples. Consider buying a kitchen composting bin for kitchen scraps, paper towels, coffee grounds, egg shells and other things for your convenience.

What kind of material does your compost pile need?  Here is a list of safe materials.

Materials NOT to add.

Ideally, a compost pile should be made up in layers.  

The first layer should be coarse plant material to allow oxygen to circulate up through the pile. 

The second layer should be 6 to 10 inches of finer plant material such as leaves, grass clippings, and kitchen scraps.

The third layer should be a 1 inch layer of soil or manure. Consider adding 1/3 cup of nitrogen in the form of ammonium nitrate, blood meal, or bone meal for every 25 square feet of compost pile material. This will help the breakdown of plant material. Repeat layers as necessary. 

If you are interested in adding worms to your composing regimen check out this interesting article on “Vermicomposting” 

Next – ADD WATER.  Keep the pile moist but not waterlogged (think wet sponge).  You may need to add water in the summertime. As microorganisms begin to break down the organic material, heat is generated. Within a few days the compost pile should reach an internal temperature of 90 to 160 degrees F. You may want to cover your pile with a tarp to help control moisture and temperature.

Turn the pile over occasionally (every 2-4 weeks) this aerates the material for more rapid decomposition.

Composting is a process of several months to a year depending on size, conditions and maintenance of your pile.  The process is well worth it. 

For more information on basic backyard composting there are several university websites that offer great information, tips, tricks and thoughtful solutions to backyard composting.  Here is a link to a guidebook titled “Composting at Home.”