Well, Not really!. Its a slice of Beefsteak Tomato I am taking about. Last few posts were about the tomato cultivar called “Marmande”. Though I posted pictures, I never tried tasting them. Early this week, I decided to.
Only after I took a slice of the tomato, I realized how apt the name beefsteak is..
Taste: It was sweet, flavorful and meaty. Its the best of all the tomatoes I have ever tasted.
BTW, this week, I had to save my plants from falling off due to weight, hence I decided to harvest the 2nd batch of Tomatoes from the greenhouse.. Total weight approx 2kg.
The biggest one was a 300gm tomato. The heaviest ever in my garden.
Ciao
gg
39 Responses
Are you by any chance coming to my place for those containers ? If yes, i would love to have 1 or 2 of those beauties 🙂
Just kidding! The harvest is awesome!
Regards
Raj
Hi Raja,
I am planning to come to collect the containers this weekend but its tentative. When I come, I will definitely bring couple of them for you. Thanks
GG
Hi,
The tomatoes are very impressive.All the good work paid off. I am a resident of bangalore. My garden is in a sorry state because the bandicoots (yagne in kannada) have dug in holes the size of army trenches!! Any idea how to get rid of them….I have a good mind to start square foot raised garden….I want to get some good produce from the garden. Keep you posts coming…
Thanks Santhosh,
I had rat problem sometime back but not Bandicoots. From the advice i got from folks, Its better to use traps, rodent gums to get rid of them.
gg
Congrats GG, that is definitely a whopping harvest! Good to see your garden yielding so well.
Thanks Asha.
Those are awesome. Any idea where I can get those seeds?
Thanks,
Srikanth
I got the seeds from a friend who had been to france. I don’t know the company name as I was given few seeds in and the name was “Marmande”. I am not sure if its available in india. I am in the process of saving the seeds.
gg
I have ordered 50 seeds from ebay US. If there is no problem with the customs I should receive them in 2 weeks. I will share some of the seeds with you to share with your local followers.
Thanks.
That will be awesome and I think we all like to know if shipping to India from sites abroad works or not!( but I sincerely wish that you get your seeds ).
gg
Getting items by post is generally a hit or miss. I have a hit ratio of 70%. I get lots of stuff (printer cartridges, cellphone accessories, computer hardware etc) from abroad, usually from ebay.com from US and Hong Kong sellers.
If you get it by courier or certified post then you are sure to get it. If it by normal post the Customs or the Indian Postal department by “misplace” the package.
I am worried about customs this time, because it is an agricultural product and they are pretty strict with such imports.
Srikanth,
Lets keep our fingers crossed on this one. The sad part is, lets say this time you do get the delivery, it doesnt mean we will get it next time. There is always an element of “Surprise” in it.
gg
Hi gg,
I got the seeds yesterday by post. I haven’t had a chance to open and see how many are in there. If there are 25 or more seeds in them (150 mg packing) I will ship it to you for distribution to your local blog followers.
If interested please email your postal address to skoka123 at gmail dot com.
-Srikanth
Hi Srikanth,
Thats a great news. It gives little more confidence for people who order online. Take your time checking your seeds.
Thanks
gg
Hi GG
Thanks for you info on Ratanshri Agro, I went there but they did not have cocopeat, but had coir in compressed form when you add water it expands which has to be mixed with soil. I have bought that (I will use that and marbles as the growing medium), as well as tomato seeds (local variety) and nutrient mix which has NPK all in 8%.
My queries are:
1) How do you germinate the seeds.
2) When do you transfer them to the growing medium.
3) In aggregate method of hydroponics, how often do I need to change the solution.
4) how do I prepare the solution (it is mentioned in the bottle to take one cap full and add it to 1litre of water).
Can u pls provide me the inputs so I take it from there.
Regards
Milind Patil
Hi Milind,
You are welcome. Buying Coir in compressed form is better than buying them expanded. On germinating and transplanting you can refer to the seed starting posts in my blog. In aggregate hydroponics, I water the plants every day with nutrients and the drainage nutrient is collected and used the next day. So effectively the solution lasts only a couple of days. You can change them every week. NPK(8-8-8) is just nitrogen phosphorus and potassium. You also need to suppliment it with Calcium, Magnesium Sulphur and several other micronutrients. You can use calcium nitrate and magnesium sulphate and a commercial micronutrient mix available inthe market.
Thanks
gg
hi gg,
Nice tomatoes there.In my rose plants in the bud stage itself the sepals are opening . It looks like it is blooming before time .I have kept it in terrace it is receiving full sunlight. I am feeding NPK fetilzers(water soluble) and panchagavyam on alternate weeks.In the hibiscus a full bud developed but dropped from the plant just before blooming. I saw some ants below the plant. Kindly tell me what could be the reason for this.
Hi Kalyani,
I don’t have much experience with growing hibiscus but I feel if there are insects like aphids, mealy bug this is bound to happen. Do you see insects in the fallen flower ?
gg
Hi Kalyani,
Hibiscus in general attract a lot of ants. Since they are sweet smelling flowers ants have a great affinity towards them. Keep spraying Panchagavya with a small dose of Neem/Pongamia oil once in 15 days. You will see a remarkable progress in the plants.
The reason for the buds dropping is due to the inadequacy of the nutrient content of the plant. Switch your plant completely to organic fertilizer rather than using chemical fertilizers. The aim is to strengthen the plant from the bottom. Feed the plant with good compost.
I have learnt a great deal about the hibiscus in particular from my previous experiences when they were fed chemical fertilizers. Make these small changes and I am sure you will see the benefits.
Good Luck!
Saikiran
Hello GG,
Congratulations for that fabulous harvest. You are really an inspiration.
I have been following your blog for some time now. In one of the earlier posts you had mentioned that at the beginning of each month, you’d try to provide info on what can be sown during that month 🙂
Now that March is looking at us, can you please give some suggestions on what could be the best options?
Thanks and all the very best for everything.
Regards,
NK
Thanks NK,
I will post that info in a day or two.
gg
Thanks GG.
Taking a cue from you, I went to DoH today (Actually, its quite close to my place at Arekere). I met Ms Chandrakala and asked her for some seeds. But she politely told me that she has moved out of that section and now handles something else. She was very helpful though and guided me to a gentleman called Mr. Chandru. Sadly, there are not too many options available with them currently. I could only get seeds for Washington Cherry Tomato and Cherry Time pepper. Just so it helps others, looks like they no more sell it in 1 gram packets. You need to buy minimum 5 grams. I also picked up a couple of kilograms of Vermicompost. It felt great to be there. Could you please guide me on the usage of Vermicompost and let me know if this is the right time to sow capsicum?
Regards
NK
HI Nishikant,
Sorry for the delay in reply. Yeah Chandrakala is moved to a different Dept. Its too hot right now and if you have a place that doesn’t get sun in the noon or have shade in the evening, you can sow capsicum in that place. Vermicompost, you can mix with soil 1:1 ratio.
gg
Wow! you are inspirational….your harvest delights prod me into setting up something similar. I hope I get around to doing it.
Hi All,
I am from Mumbai and got a great deal of interest in doing hydroponics at home..
I want to know that is there any ready made commerically available fertilizer that can be used in hydroponic as I am finding great difficulty in getting the chemicals and create my own nutrient in Mumbai..
I have already got the seeds and Co-co peat here at a local shop and had seeded today..
Hoping to see good results in next few days..
email – deepakkukreja@yahoo.com 9820443526
Please suggest me the fertilizer part…
Thanks & Regards
Deepak
Finally I got a contact who is ready to provide me to all the required checmicals in Mumbai..
Contact me if anyone else wants it..
Thanks & Regards,
Deepak
Hi Deepak,
I saw your comments this evening and turns out you have already found out a place in Mumbai. Congrats. If you think it might be of some help, Please post the contact info here so that it saves time for people who are on the lookout. what say?
gg
Yes, sure I can post it..
Name- Devang
Contact number – 9223433936
Thanks & Regards,
Deepak
Congrats..:) They look so pretty…i have never seen a tomato with a crown on..:) I wish i could make some pictures of those beauties..
Thanks Sharanya,
These tomatoes would love to pose for your camera!..
gg
Hello GG,
Could you let me know more about Panchgavyam.
* Method of usage e.g direct application, Foiler spray
* Results
* Dosage
* Where can I get it in Bangalore. To best of my knowledge it is not available in Pune
My gourd plants are continuesly attacked by leaf-miners and mites and I wanted to chk if Panchgavya would be be useful?
Thanks
Shashank
Hey Shashank,
PG (aka Panchagavya) can be applied thru soil or foliar. A 30% solution is usually used. I had mixed results. Sometime positive sometimes No result at all. In Bangalore, Head to panchagavya.wordpress.com run by Saikiran. Check it out and let us know.
gg
Wonderful! Thats a great harvest of tomatoes. And yes, I’ve never seen such a huge tomato either… are you sure its not an apple? Just kidding! Good for you! I hope all your vegetables do as well.
Hi GG,
Once again, gorgeous tomatoes. I have some queries:
1. Are these tomatoes grown in containers or in a bed?
2. Do you grow all veggies in containers?
3. What is the size of the containers?
4. What sizes are recommended for common plants like tomato, eggplant, chili, cabbage, capsicum etc
Thanks
-atul
Hi Atul,
Sorry for the delay.
All the tomatoes are growin in Containers
All the veggies I grow are and will be in containers
Most of them are 10L and few of them 20L
for the veggies you mentioned. I recommend 20L.
gg
I LOVE your tomatoes they look absolutely perfect. I am attempting my own garden this year (it’s been awhile) and I doubt mine will compare to yours but I will do my darndest! I am really enjoying your blog…thank you for posting.
Aspiring Gardener,
D. Baldwin 😀
Hello Dionne,
Thanks for stopping by. Just go ahead and start your garden and you never know, your tomatoes might grow bigger than ones in my garden :D.
Glad to hear you enjoyed reading my blog.
Happy gardening.
GG
/where can I get beef steak tamatos in Bangalore?
I am not sure about tomatoes. but you can get the seeds from http://gardenguru.in/