Yeah, it's crazy, and timing plantings is almost ridiculously difficult, but tomatoes do pretty well...most years anyway!

farmerdill - thanks for that time range. Based on that, I'd say my plants were about ready to bolt. I did buy some "babies" yesterday to replace the bolting plants which I'll pull and cook this week. Maybe I can get an extra month of production. The originals were started from seed but thought I'd get some production before the weather gets even warmer.
I am growing the daikons on to improve soil and try out the seed pods as Rick suggested. I was wondering if some of the leaves can be eaten or would they be turning bitter.
The last couple of years have been more like a yo-yo in terms of weather. The jet stream has been giving us nasty winters and fickle springs. Running a/c one day and the furnace the next.

We sure haven't needed A/C here (assuming we had it in the first place..); supposed to get frost tonight and tomorrow night! (The weather always makes me so happy I'm not doing this for a living!)

Weed - I saw the frost/freeze warnings for the UP last night. Did anything suffer? Isn't this kinda late for you? Gosh, I'd be tempted to grow in hoop houses.

Not really terribly late for our last frost... I never (well, almost never ) put any of the tender plants out until the first or 2nd week in June; everything is still in the GH (which is just about full to bursting right now) and I'm getting pretty tired of watering in there, so I'm really looking forward to getting things in the ground! I do have a small hoop house, where I have some nice lettuce that was planted last fall, as well as some spinach that's starting to bolt so I really need to get it all picked, some garlic that I put in there to see how it compares with the garlic planted out in the open garden, and some onions that I also planted last fall and are now "big green onions." Also some broccoli plants that I started in there from seed and will transplant out to the garden soon. It actually always kind of amazes me how much I end up harvesting, despite the late start I get here (and the early end...).

Do you have to limit your tomato choices to shorter season varieties?
You do live in a gorgeous area of the country. I was amazed at how much of the UP is dedicated to national forests. Did a driving around the lake thing year before last but stayed on the northern side of the UP (Marquette, Lake Superior) before heading south to Mackinac bridge.

Shadegardener said:Do you have to limit your tomato choices to shorter season varieties?
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No -- but I do wrap plastic around the cages to keep the plants warmer and more sheltered, which really gets them growing!

Cindy, did you happen to go to Pictured Rocks (near Munising, on L. Superior) when you were in the UP? It's my favorite place up here (except at certain times when the biting flies make is next to impossible to get out of the car ).

We did try to see as many of the cliffs as we could. L. Superior was very choppy and folks going out on the boat tours were getting seasick - not that I would go out on them as I'm afraid of deep water. The trails from parking lots to the beach were really muddy and, as we weren't prepared for that, we could only walk so far. Didn't have issues with biting flies (I'll consider myself lucky!) I did really enjoy the lakeshore areas - really beats the IN dunes. We did get to see one of the big ore boats loading at Marquette - fascinating.

I'm letting my daikons go to seed, thinking I'll collect them while improving my soil. The seed pods are forming and I'd like to know if they'll turn brown, signaling that they're ripe enough to collect. If this occurs fast enough, would I be able to sow the seed later in the summer for a fall crop?

It certainly wouldn't hurt to try.

Thanks, chelle. Will the seed pods turn brown?

Mine do turn light brown, yes, but it's usually pretty late in the season for most of them. You might keep an eye on the pods closest to the ground (the oldest ones), and as soon as one starts to open, or the covering becomes brittle, gather those for your late summer plantings.

To date I haven't had any smashing success with late crops, but maybe my timing is just off. Trying to figure in extra weeks to make up for our (normally) gray and dismal, or hot and dry early autumns is a challenge for me.

I know what you mean about timing - very difficult here. I thought I was planting early enough on the daikons but guess not. Or perhaps I should do some more research about those that can take hotter weather. I shared my packet of 25 seeds with DD to have to obtain more regardless of how.

I agree -- still trying to work out that fall planting timing here, too!

I did look at the handy ATP fall planting calendar and might be able to use that as a guideline. The trick will be finding a cooler spot to germinate seeds for transplants.

My daikons grew really well for me last year, so I planted them again this year and didn't bother with any other radish. So far they seem good. Last year was one of the coolest summers that we have had in a while, so that may be why they did so well, because I didn't sow the seed especially early. I planted Daikon Miyashige, from Sample Seed. I plant them mid May, and was harvesting, them end of July - through the fall.

Thanks for that daikon reference. That seems like a nice long harvest period. I will be doing a little more research this year before ordering seeds. I was rather impetuous about growing daikons this year and didn't do research. Garden and learn.

I know that some radishes ('French Breakfast') are primarily early-spring-radishes ("Sow seeds in spring after last frost"). Some (or all?) daikons seem to be plant-in-summer for fall or winter harvest if you want roots instead of seeds.

But there are varieties that are earlier or later.

Kitazawa has 15 kinds of "giant white radish" and 11 white ones in the "Korean Radish" section.
http://www.kitazawaseed.com/se...


Minowase Summer Cross, Hybrid - for summer or fall harvest
http://www.kitazawaseed.com/se...

Mino Early - for summer to fall harvest
http://www.kitazawaseed.com/se...

April Cross, Hybrid - for late spring to early summer harvest and early winter harvest.
http://www.kitazawaseed.com/se...


Tokinashi, All Season - all-season daikon

Iwai Daikon - small - Sow seeds in late summer/early fall in a sunny location.
http://www.kitazawaseed.com/se...

Shirahime Hatsuka Daikon - small white radishes ... can be harvested as early as 20 days after planting. If temperature extremes are avoided, it is hardy enough to grow year-round.
http://www.kitazawaseed.com/se...

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Rick - you are always great with variety suggestions! Thanks so much! Couple of projects to work on for the next couple of days and then hopefully some time to research.

Out of curiosity, I googled the Daikon Miyashige, which I grew last year, and have in the ground again this year. Johnny's says it is a fall/winter radish. A surprise to me since I grew it in the summer just fine, but I'll pay attention when I buy seed for next year. Thanks Rick.