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Entry Date
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Nick Name
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Location
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Sunday, January 18, 2026
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Little Ketchup
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Grittyville, WA
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Entry 3 of 4 |
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I want to try some new things but without losing track of what has worked in the past. I want to really leverage soil moisture in my favor this year. I want to try keeping soil moisture high except during blossom set. I'm going to be lazy and fail English class here sorry, the rest of this post is really only going meant for myself. I want to boost the amount of straw and maybe chitin (but does fungus convert to chitin*) and basically do everything to the tomatoes that would help.... if they were potatoes. I mean potatoes are not fruit so there is really no comparison. A potato is a stem and it doesnt get pollinated or anything. So I dont know what the connection is but I feel like there's a connection. Some area where I can improve. Indeed. And a large storebought potato is perhaps the goal. I often get relatively skimpy potatoes and rarely get them to plump up like the biggest storebought ones. There's so much room for improvement. Grafting. Getting rid of verticillium. Soil moisture (maximizing potato production is all about having no water stress*) I dont mean they want wet ground either though. Verticillium if I read correctly wont be worsened by more moisture, the way phytophthora or fusarium might be. Better plant spacing is critical to my goal of getting better results. I always fall into the trap of "if I planted them closer then I could have more plants." But really... if I think I need more plants then I just need to work harder and prep more ground. Thats the correct solution to having more plants.
Why is idaho so good at growing potatoes* "Extremely volcanic" soil* Good soil moisture/climate during the growing season (not too much)* Freedom from pests/diseases* Due to few host species/ favorable local ecology. What is it. Hmm. Well, last of all, I want a new mulch barrier. I might try straw (and keep it dry unless we get extreme heat) but what would be better than straw* The plastic fabric stuff could work (I used it to grow a 10 lb tomato but also a bunch of more shrinky dinky ones) but how could it work* Tons of mulch mixed into the dirt beneath the plastic mulch* Use drip lines, with careful moisture monitoring*
The addiction emerges like the Loch Ness monster, from its winter hibernation/stratification.
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