Re: What varieties are you excited about trying this year?

Rolling Stone 1/13/2015, 9:05 pm

CC -

Sorry, no mention of PM resistance.

Karl

has55 1/14/2015, 4:06 pm

Rolling Stone wrote:CC -

Sorry, no mention of PM resistance.

Karl

:-(

dstack 1/16/2015, 11:48 am

I'm glad to see this thread, because I'm trying so many new things that I'm excited about! I'll break this down into three categories:

1) LEAFY GREENS THAT CAN GROW IN THE TROPICAL SOUTH IN THE SUMMER -- I've been researching this because I make my daily green smoothies and had to buy most of my greens this past summer. So I'm excited to try these:

New Zealand Spinach - newly planted and growing well!
Malabar Spinach - seedlings have sprouted but not warm enough for much growth yet
Longevity Spinach - ordered from Baker Creek Heirlooms, and this is one of the things I'm most excited about!
Okinawa Spinach - a friend will send seeds in a trade
Katuk - a friend will send seeds in a trade
Slo Bolt Lettuce (maybe not for summer, but perhaps spring and fall) - just planted yesterday
Mignonette Bronze Lettuce (maybe not for summer, but perhaps spring and fall) - just planted yesterday

2) USE ROOT KNOT NEMATODE RESISTANT VARIETIES AS ROOT STOCK FOR GRAFTING OTHER VARIETIES, AS WELL AS GROW A FEW AS FULL FRUITING PLANTS (UNGRAFTED) -- Many of you know I've had a terrible time with root knot nematodes. The beginning of this summer I'll be solarizing parts of all three beds. I'm learned a lot about managing persistent RKNs, and now I've found varieties of RKN resistant tomatoes, peppers and even passion fruit. I'm aware that often resistance breaks down in high temperatures, so I'll need to mulch that soil to keep the temperature low. I've read that even if resistance breaks down, many gardeners find that they're still more productive than non-resistant plants.

So I'm excited about trying these RKN resistant cultivars:

Anahu tomato (indeterminate) - ordered from Baker Creek Heirlooms
Healani tomato (determinate) - known to do well in hot humid tropics - will be notified when it Baker Creek has it in stock
Charleston Belle Pepper - ordered from Baker Creek Heirlooms
Yellow Passion Fruit - 2 seedlings successfully germinated, and can't wait to propagate more with cuttings and eventually use it as root stock
Turkey Berry - great for using as root stock for eggplant. (See my thread about Perennial Eggplant Trees... https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t18463-perennial-eggplant-trees?highlight=eggplant+tree ) I have many young seedlings!

I'm also excited about these other tomatoes that are not RKN resistant that I'll graft onto RKN resistant rootstock:

Homestead - great for the South that is known to be wilt resistant and productive
Komohana Grape tomato - known to do well in hot humid tropics and very productive

3) MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS THAT I'M EXCITED TO TRY IN THE COMING YEAR:

Pepino Melon - seedlings have sprouted
Thai Golden Round Melon - just planted yesterday
Banana Passion Fruit - will be notified when it Baker Creek has it in stock
Goji Berry - seedlings have sprouted
Dwarf Greek Basil - seedlings have sprouted (Someone on this forum highly recommended Greek Basil to me recently and I can't remember who.)

**camprn** 1/16/2015, 12:21 pm

FYI, sweet potato leaves are heat tolerant and edible.

dstack 1/16/2015, 12:33 pm

camprn wrote:FYI, sweet potato leaves are heat tolerant and edible.

Oh yes. Thanks for the reminder Camprn. I've never grown them for their leaves but am considering growing some in a SFG box just for that this summer. To date I've only grown them in large pots.

has55 1/17/2015, 2:23 am

That's an exciting list dstack. I going to review some of those seeds/plants you listed and see how they will do in this area. My area is it not tropical, but I found your list interesting and curious enough to initiate exploration fever. Smile

**sanderson** 1/17/2015, 3:01 am

Dstack, Grafting - ambitious undertaking. Have you been studying up on the subject? I tried Homestead last summer, but of course, I lost all of the tomatoes. Are Malabar and New Zealand spinach similar? In a pot or one of the beds?

has55 1/17/2015, 3:17 am

sanderson wrote:Dstack, Grafting - ambitious undertaking. Have you been studying up on the subject? I tried Homestead last summer, but of course, I lost all of the tomatoes. Are Malabar and New Zealand spinach similar? In a pot or one of the beds?

I had great success with malabar, thanks to the transplants I received from GloriaG. easy to grow, excellent taste. I also grew New Zealand, but it didn't get large and ate very little. can't remember how it tasted. I will try again.it

**AtlantaMarie** 1/17/2015, 9:12 am

DStack, I think I was the one who told you about the Greek Basil. Grew it last year & LOVED it!

But haven't been able to find seeds... Where did you get yours?

And please let me know how the Goji berries do. I've got some and am seriously considering getting them going.

dstack 1/17/2015, 9:14 am

has55 wrote:That's an exciting list dstack. I going to review some of those seeds/plants you listed and see how they will do in this area. My area is it not tropical, but I found your list interesting and curious enough to initiate exploration fever.

Exploration fever pretty much describes what I've had about my garden. I would imagine that your climate is close enough that you would benefit from most of my list.

dstack 1/17/2015, 9:17 am

AtlantaMarie wrote:DStack, I think I was the one who told you about the Greek Basil. Grew it last year & LOVED it!

But haven't been able to find seeds... Where did you get yours?

And please let me know how the Goji berries do. I've got some and am seriously considering getting them going.

Yes, I believe you're right. I bought the seeds from Baker Creek. I can't wait for the seedlings to take off! Very Happy

dstack 1/17/2015, 9:30 am

sanderson wrote:Dstack, Grafting - ambitious undertaking. Have you been studying up on the subject? I tried Homestead last summer, but of course, I lost all of the tomatoes. Are Malabar and New Zealand spinach similar? In a pot or one of the beds?

Me?... Ambitious? LOL

Yes, I've researched it, but I also have experience. Growing up near San Diego I once had a summer job grafting female kiwi onto male kiwi. Also, as you may recall I had huge success in grafting my mango. I've never attempted grafting small seedlings and may need to buy some grafting clips. All I've used in the past is grafting tape.

I use to think Malabar and New Zealand were either similar or the same thing, but they're very different. Malabar grows more like a ground cover while NZ is a beautiful vine. It likes growing up on a trellis. I have the red variety that has a red stem. I'm experimenting with Malabar in the bed and in the ground with minimal amendment and no direct sun. It seems to be doing very well in the shade in the ground, which is great when I have too many things to plant in the beds.

johnp 1/17/2015, 9:49 am

I have received all my seeds from Baker and Farm Direct for the year and have started to plan what goes where. Yesterday it all (somewhat) changed. I play pickle ball with a group of people most every day and one of the ladies in the group is from China. We were talking about gardening and what she planted and what I did and so on. She said that two years ago she was at a farm market in Korea and she bought a packet of cucumber seeds from a local who was also selling the cucumbers. She planted some last year and said they were the best ever. She offered to give me some so that's what
I'm excited about this year. Can't wait. Laughing

CapeCoddess 1/17/2015, 10:10 am

has55 wrote:
Rolling Stone wrote:CC -

Sorry, no mention of PM resistance.

Karl
:-(

No worries, I looked it up and found that the Tromboncini squash is PM resistant.

has55 1/17/2015, 12:15 pm

dstack wrote:
has55 wrote:That's an exciting list dstack. I going to review some of those seeds/plants you listed and see how they will do in this area. My area is it not tropical, but I found your list interesting and curious enough to initiate exploration fever.
Exploration fever pretty much describes what I've had about my garden. I would imagine that your climate is close enough that you would benefit from most of my list.

hoping, hoping. bounce

has55 1/17/2015, 12:24 pm

just order my baker creek catalog. impressive site.

has55 1/17/2015, 12:32 pm

johnp wrote:I have received all my seeds from Baker and Farm Direct for the year and have started to plan what goes where. Yesterday it all (somewhat) changed. I play pickle ball with a group of people most every day and one of the ladies in the group is from China. We were talking about gardening and what she planted and what I did and so on. She said that two years ago she was at a farm market in Korea and she bought a packet of cucumber seeds from a local who was also selling the cucumbers. She planted some last year and said they were the best ever. She offered to give me some so that's what
I'm excited about this year. Can't wait.

johnp can you post the link. I'm having trouble finding the correct site for the seeds from farm direct.

has55 1/17/2015, 12:35 pm

has anyone heard of a zucchini or yellow squash seed/plant that squash bugs avoid. I avoided planting them, because when they come, they are so aggressive and then spread to my cantaloupes, watermelon, and cucumber plants.

has55 1/17/2015, 12:40 pm

Rolling Stone wrote:We have a huge problem in our (community) gardens with the SVB destroying every squash and cucumber that has been started in the last two years, including all my zukes and cukes.
I have found the Poona Keera cucumber and the Tromboncini squash to have a solid stem which the SVB cannot penetrate.
So, I am really happy to be ordering these seeds for the coming season. And looking forward to harvest time.
Karl

Rolling stone how do those two plants taste?

**sanderson** 1/17/2015, 1:03 pm

This flower site? www.farmdirect.com

dstack 1/17/2015, 2:24 pm

has55 wrote:just order my baker creek catalog. impressive site.

Their full catalog, or the free one? I love baker creek so much that I ordered the full one. I can't wait to get it.

johnp 1/17/2015, 4:41 pm

The web site for Farm Direct is farmdirectseed.com and it is a small family farm located on the Arkansas River. They have some unique seeds such as heirloom native American squash and Hopi black beans. I have used them for garlic for the past three years and have slowly bought other things. Excellent seeds, all organic but they run out of stuff early.

has55 1/18/2015, 10:06 am

johnp wrote:The web site for Farm Direct is farmdirectseed.com and it is a small family farm located on the Arkansas River. They have some unique seeds such as heirloom native American squash and Hopi black beans. I have used them for garlic for the past three years and have slowly bought other things. Excellent seeds, all organic but they run out of stuff early.

thank you johnp

**Turan** 1/18/2015, 2:32 pm

I am excited about expanding something I did with the carrots last year. I mixed the long season and short season carrots in a bed. As the quicker carrots made shoulders we snacked on them through the summer, thus making room for the storage carrots. So this year I still have some Nantes and Danver half longs seed for the short season ( 70 days) and then got to mix with them Purple Sun (90 days) and Laguna (90-120).

I did not find the tall snow pea of the past so am trying Golden Sweet snow pea instead. I hope it is as cold tolerant as the others were. The seed was collected in India, so I am hoping for collected on the Himalaya foothills.

I missed the hybrid vigor in my pepper varieties from last year from Bakers. I think I push the zone too much even with a greenhouse for such heat loving plants. So this year I ordered some seed of Krimson Lee and Hot Hungarian Wax from Johhnys. I bought fruits of these at the farmers market this year and the growers told me they got the seeds from Johhnys. Soooooo I hope that succeeds. I will grow out the Syrian peppers again as well. This time giving them more room and see how they do.

Diva cucumber is a repeat for the greenhouse. Last year I bought the plant and this year I bought seed. It is supposed to be resistant to PM and gynoecious and parthenocarpic. I suspect it might be a good cucumber for those of you fighting PM and lack of bees.

I give up on Yard long beans, even in the green house. Like okra they need too much heat or something. So their space will be given to Helda Romano pole beans. It has been a long time since I grew a romano bean, so it will be interesting to compare with other stringless beans. Violet is new to me as well, a purple pole bean.

**sanderson** 1/18/2015, 3:54 pm

For store bought frozen beans, I love Trader Joe's. Thin and longish. Does anyone have any idea what variety they are?

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