One Alaskans greenhouse

[Ridgerunner]

Do any tomato plants ever go outside? Do yo have nasty pests that attack your plants?

Good question,. When I was in Denmark I could not get a tomato to ripen in the garden. I was renting and they had a greenhouse for a grape vine. I put a couple of tomatoes in there and got ripe tomatoes. No heat, just natural solar in the summer.

 

[ninnymary]

Your gardening is fascinating to me. What do you grow inside the green house and what do you grow outside?

When do you start your seeds?

Mary

 

[Dirtmechanic]

Do any tomato plants ever go outside? Do yo have nasty pests that attack your plants?

I literally mailed home the mosquitos as examples because they had fur. I cannot imagine garden pests.

 

[catjac1975]

I literally mailed home the mosquitos as examples because they had fur. I cannot imagine garden pests.

Hahahahaha The one good thing when you must tolerate the occasional 40 below.

 

[Alasgun]

Thanks folks, yea my friends and neighbors were in awe of the tomato tree as well. Last years starts included 9 varieties in 6 cell cubes for a total of 54 plants with the purpose being, looking for some good outdoor types for up here. I had no intention of growing them all but figured if the folks who got them did well with them i’d give them a try in later years. I only kept back a half dozen for me and my kids, the remainder went to to the folks at Church. They were happy but life’s busy and most people never paid attention to who got what so that experiment was a flop. there’s very few successful tomato growers up here due to climatic conditions so those serious about it are all in greenhouses. The Celebrity strain is reputed to do well in some situations out side but at 70, im all but done experimenting so i just stuck with the greenhouse. As you can see it worked so why fix it? I’m sure i’ll start 50 more this year (all celebrity) and be real selective of the couple i keep!

As to pest, we have aphids, saw flies, slugs, some spider mites as well as the various pathogens but to us a really big pest is a momma moose weighing a half ton and dragging a calf along. You’ll notice 6 ft chainlink around my beds but flowers, strawberries etc get worked on sometimes.

@ninnymary In the greenhouse, tomato, cucumber, pole & bush beans, celery parsley and summer squash.
outside, winter squash / pumpkins, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, parsnips, beets, peas, kale, Brussels sprouts and lettuce. While responding to the questions and reading others comments i realize the only thing that sets Alaska apart from the rest of the country is the amount of daylight we receive. We’re colder and wetter than most local’s, we have a shorter season than most, we share the same pest and our operational cost are greater from having to ship stuff so far!
A wise Lady once told me, “if your not adaptable, dont take up gardening in Alaska and just because something works this year don’t count on that next year.”

We generally start starting starts, about now for some stuff but the majority of it begins late next month and into March, then most of it spends some time in the greenhouse before going outside. It’ll be very hectic around here by mid March.
The hectic isn’t all centered around the starts and planting, my amendment schedule is huge so bed preparation takes some time then the irrigation lines go in before outside planting starts around May 15th.

And @thistlebloom, thanks for the follow. Your on my list as well!

 

[thistlebloom]

We get moose too, mostly cow/calf sets, but occasionally a bull comes through. I know yours up there are much bigger.
One year a cow and her twins came through my unfenced pepper plot and went down the row pruning the tops off every pepper. They didn't pull any out or step on them either which was amazing. It didn't seem to hurt the peppers much, the ripening fruit just got more sun exposure after that.
My garden is fenced now.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

All we get is some scrawny whitetails. But we can get away with a wire fence!

 

[Zeedman]

In the greenhouse, tomato, cucumber, pole & bush beans, celery parsley and summer squash.

@Alasgun , are you hand pollinating the cukes & summer squash, or are you growing parthenocarpic varieties?

 

[Alasgun]

Our first year, in the fall Moose came thru, knelt down on they’re front knees, butt still in the air and crawled along the strawberry bed nibbling off the entire bed! Didn’t pull anything just ate them down to about an inch tall. Telling by buddy about that, he commented that when he was a kid, his grandfather would set the mower high and do the same thing each fall just to clean up the bed. The following year we had a bumper crop!

We’ve tried several cuke varieties and gone down the hand pollinating path before discovering the sweet success strain which we favor for eating and they just happen to be parthenocarpic. Win, win!
The summer squash need pollination and my bees aren’t much help as they dont frequent the greenhouse.

 

[catjac1975]

Our first year, in the fall Moose came thru, knelt down on they’re front knees, butt still in the air and crawled along the strawberry bed nibbling off the entire bed! Didn’t pull anything just ate them down to about an inch tall. Telling by buddy about that, he commented that when he was a kid, his grandfather would set the mower high and do the same thing each fall just to clean up the bed. The following year we had a bumper crop!

We’ve tried several cuke varieties and gone down the hand pollinating path before discovering the sweet success strain which we favor for eating and they just happen to be parthenocarpic. Win, win!
The summer squash need pollination and my bees aren’t much help as they dont frequent the greenhouse.

I'm going to give that Sweet success a try. I went through my seeds and I do not need much.Just carrots, cukes, corn, peas and kohlrabi.