2013 Tomato Growing

I have a suggestion, for next year, a second tomato thread where each participant has only one message (which they re-edit through the season).

Each person's message to contain a list of the varieties they are growing (two lists, one for Indoors and out for Outdoors)

Then during the season they re-edit the message to add additional information - date sown, planted, first date of: flowering, first ripe fruit, crop cleared date

Could also have additional info such as number of trusses and, for the OCD only!, weight of crop.

Perhaps Flavour / Taste Test too (which would be comparative between the varieties)

This thread has all that info, but finding it is laborious.

Then the main thread would be for all the chatter - including any questions arising for the "Tomato Facts Thread" - i.e. no chatter allowed in the Facts thread.

Sadly I don't think "Grid Tables" is supported in this editor, so not sure what format the "data" would take, but once we have worked that out I propose that there is a template at the top of the thread that each person can copy into their own message.

 

Tables are easily done using a spreadsheet and copying/pasting the relevant area into the likes of Paint and posting as an image, for example


It would not be searchable for varieties though, but if posts were in the form "I am growing A,B,C D all as described in the table below" it would be overcome that. I everybody used the same font size it would should ensure all the tables would be the same size.

If anybody had trouble producing a table using that method, it wouldn't be possible to PM the info to somebody else to do and send back because using attachments in Conversations hasn't been enabled on this forum.

However, that could be got around by anybody providing assistance being PM'd the info (preferably as delimited text) and putting the table pic on an image hosting site and messaging back with the link so the image could then be copied and uploaded (so they'd retain control of images within their posts).

 

Personally I'm not keen on images of text as there is no cut & paste opportunity.

How about linking to an online spreadsheet? Google Docs for example?

Courier / fixed spacing font is the other option (but the style sheet is currently bust for that to work)

 

How do you get that to display in a post?

 

Not sure that it will :(

I think it needs to be easy ... that would probably need a half-decent Table Mode in this editor ... as anything else will be in the too-difficult category for the users, or some kind soul will have to process/massage the data ...

Only other thought is separate lists, in a single message:

Sowing dates:
Variety 1 01-Jan-2014
Variety 2 01-Feb-2014
...

Planted out
Variety 1 01-May-2014
Variety 2 01-Jun-2014

First flower
Variety 1 02-May-2014
Variety 2 02-Jun-2014

First fruit
Variety 1 01-Jul-2014
Variety 2 01-Aug-2014

something like that. That wouldn't be too hard for a kind-hearted computer-jock to massage into a single table - although that tabular data would have to be mounted somewhere else (e.g. a blog).

I'm happy to volunteer for that job, although I am not the most reliable, timewise, for such things.

Depends whether folk, collectively, think that having the comparative data of all the "growers" would be helpful. I'm surprised that a couple of mine are STILL not ripe ... armed with that knowledge, up front, I might have chosen not to grow them, or to sow them much earlier, or to chastise myself if I found that everyone else could ripen that variety, except for ME!!

If folk think it would be useful PLEASE SPEAK UP

My original message has received:
Agree:
Scrungee pamsdish HsuH JWK
Like:
Peorthine

 

It can be done with some site admin input http://xenforo.com/community/resources/bb-code-media-site-support-for-google-spreadsheets.659/



Time for a request on Site Feedback?

 

Run that by me again Scrunge?

 

Ripe tomato explosion! We picked 5 plastic mushroom boxes today and there's probably enough still unpicked to fill another 2 boxes. The odd thing is they're all from my Red Alert, Brasero and Koralik outdoor bush tomatoes. Some of the Red Alerts have no unripe tomatoes left.

We have had 4 Ferline tomatoes ripen from something like 80 plants (and one was all blotchy) and only had a few dozen ripe poly tunnel grown tomatoes, but that's OK as I hope they'll go on cropping after the outside ones either finish or all ripen. I feel a saucy session coming on.

 

wow! now that is impressive why grow so many though Scrungee? what do you do with them all?

 

Eat raw/use in cooking for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between + make passata and roasted tomato & garlic sauce and freeze or bottle:

 

Counted the Ferlines and I have 97 plants from which I have now picked 7 tomatoes. I'm not impressed!

 

Wow Srungie that's impressive! They must take quite a lot of space?
Shame Ferline doesn't crop well. I was thinking about for next year.

 

What I cannot understand is, after the best summer in several years, why have so many tomatoes not done so well. Is it a water issue ?, too hot in greenhouses ?, have the outdoor crops done better ?.
there are a lot of variables to consider.

 

I grew ferline last year and it did really well. I was thinking of growing it this year but just grew one variety Gardeners Delight instead.

 

Oh dear! That's a bit of a let down. What do you think has happened?