• Machinist@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Yup, I’ll vote for any garden vegetable except for cucumbers and their squash and watermelon relatives. Will make an exception for pickles, they’re one of the good ones.

      Don’t know much about carrot varieties other than Queen Anne’s lace is a wild carrot. Know more about taters and tomatoes.

      Figure any real carrot would do. I’d totally vote for a beefsteak or better boy tomato over a carrot, however.

      • Oni_eyes
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        4 months ago

        Have you tried a grafted cherry tomato/white potato plant? I’ve been looking at trying it out just because growing two produces with “one plant” seems really interesting to me and I’ve read a bit about how they’re closely related enough that you can graft the tomato to the top of the potato plant.
        Also trying to get more people into container gardening and it seems like a good space saver.

        • Machinist@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          I haven’t tried it. Seems like a gimmick.

          I’m not a big fan of container gardening. From the deep south, container gardening is for places where the sun won’t dry and burn the roots.

          Grew up working on a tater farm. Sweet taters and Irish taters.

          We’re in process of moving further north and my girl is excited to try container gardening again.

          A plant takes in a certain amount of energy and turns part of that into fruit or root storage. You can’t really get anything for free.

          I prefer heirloom seed or hardware start plants grown traditionally.

          It’s been a long time since I’ve grown much of anything other than cacti, native ornamentals, and fungi. It’s a kind of work I swore off for a long time.

          Just bought a play farm, will probably grow some tomatoes. Have apple trees, blueberries, and a small vineyard I need to learn.

          • Oni_eyes
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            4 months ago

            I have a tiny yard in the south and it’s pretty much paved so container is the only way I can go until (if?) I manage to buy a house with a plantable area. Currently have some citrus in containers producing, a bunch of basil, tomatoes, and some various sprawlers like squash. I wish I had the space to put them all in the ground but I gotta work with what I have. Usually use heirloom seeds or hardware starter plants but gotta pick varieties that are good for containers so I don’t get that many options. I figured that potatoes would still be productive in the seasons when tomatoes aren’t growing on the branches due to heat or cold but I could be wrong since i’m still learning a lot.

            • Machinist@lemmy.world
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              4 months ago

              Northern and central Alabama myself. Tater experience from central AL.

              I’ve heard of people having great results with container tomatoes by taking the drip line of the AC unit and piping it into the tomatoes roots. Keeps the roots very cool.

              Taters have a long season, plant just after frost is done. Blackberry Winter is no longer a constant due to climate change.

              To try and do taters in containers, I would build my conainers from cinder blocks and fill the blocks with dirt or other insulation. 4’ wide at a minimum and however long you want/have space/can afford. This would be for one row. Paint the blocks white. Bury a soaker hose down the center. Put the hose on a timer and adjust for high temps. You’ll have to fight fungal infection due to the higher moisture so it would be delicate. I would treat with antifungal at intervals through the hose. Taters need more sand than you would think in the soil, especially if you have clay soil.

              • Oni_eyes
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                4 months ago

                Most of the container potato setups I see use a lot of sand and straw which I thought would help with the fungal growth, though they’re usually set up in something like a large trash can with an air layer of insulation around since it hold heat less than rocks but the white block idea with sunken drip line sounds intriguing. We get a lot of clay in my area, but it’s also pretty rainy most of summer so I would probably need some sort of sensor in the soil to figure out when it’s dried enough for more watering. Thanks for the response!

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Do you grow tomatoes? Have you tried a brandywine? They’re balanced between sweet and tart. Love ‘em on a good burger.

        Oxhearts are great for sauces (they have fewer seeds and a strong flavor.)

        • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          My favorites are the cherry tomatoes- can’t make up my mind on a single best, though. Blomdkopfchen roast amazing well (or grill!) where Amy’s Apricots do well in salads. Want to get my hands on some black cherries, though.

          Chadwick’s are of course the old stand by in my greenhouse.

          If you like beefsteaks, have you tried brandywine? They’re our favorite burger slicer here. (And oxhearts for saucing)

          • Machinist@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            Mostly copied from above response.

            Grew up working on a tater farm. Sweet taters and Irish taters.

            We’re in process of moving further north and my girl is excited to try container gardening again.

            I prefer heirloom seed or hardware start plants grown traditionally.

            It’s been a long time since I’ve grown much of anything other than cacti, native ornamentals, and fungi. It’s a kind of work I swore off for a long time.

            Just bought a play farm, will probably grow some tomatoes. Have apple trees, blueberries, and a small vineyard I need to learn.


            Have always heard good things about Brandywine tomatoes.

            Won’t be this year, but we’ll be trying some varieties.

            Roma, we called Romies, were my favorite as a kid. Canned tomato soup and sauce always smelled amazing and the stuff in stores doesn’t compare.

            Best judge of a tomato is to slice it up, add too much salt, and eat it with a fork.