Tomato (Broken)

I have a Tomato plant growing in a planter in my side yard. It started to flower.

A couple of days ago we had a rain storm with some strong winds and broke the top of this Tomato plant, but all is not lost.

A pretty clean break. 

I removed the broken top of this plant. Some branches have flowers.

I separated the main branch and removed most of the leaves from each branch, except for the top portion. I should have taken more pictures, because I removed the leaves on the left and right to make a long stem.

I planted each branch as deep as possible. There are tiny hairs on the branches. These hairs will become roots when exposed to soil, so the deeper it can be planted the greater the chance of success. Most people will remove the flowers, as well, to help the plant generate root growth, but I have so many plants I want to experiment with this and see how well it grows, so I left most of the flowers on. Let's see....

Cucumber

First Cucumber of the Season. 

Japanese Sweet Potatoes

I have three planters full of Japanese Sweet Potatoes. They are nearly six months old and I'm planning to harvest one of the planters soon to make room for another crop, perhaps beets.

Lantana Camara "Pink Caprice" Flower

Pink Caprice flowers are so cute and continuously bloom throughout the year. 

Red Daikon Radish, Celery

The Red Daikon Radish and Celery are growing quickly.

I separated and transplanted some of the Red Daikon Radish sprouts to a different planter because multiple seeds sprouted. They are doing fine as well.

Green Pepper (Piman)

I am still impressed with the particular plant. I planted it in March and over 8 months laters it continues to grow Green Peppers (Piman). There is new leaf growth and full of flowers with five or 6 Peppers.

Tomato

These Tomato plants are from suckers I pinched off from larger plants. To plant a sucker or clipping from another plant simply remove all the leaves except for one at the very tip and plant the stem as deep into the dirt as possible and water well. These are about a week old, but I have another planter full of sucker transplants that are now fully grown with Tomatoes.

Cilantro (Pakuchi, Koriandā)

Cilantro (Pakuchi, Koriandā) plants are coming in great. Some are from seeds I planted, while others I moved from a different planter.

Eggplant (Nasu)

I got one Eggplant (Nasu) so far, but it is not a beautiful Eggplant. The bottom was rough and cracked. It did not touch the dirt and I added fertilizer and minerals to the soil, so do not think those were the problem, but rather it did not get enough water. The planter is shallow and a few weeks ago it was quite warm, so believe this was due to a lack of water. It has cooled down and there are more flowers on the plant so I will get a chance to confirm my theory. 

Bitter Melon (Goya, Nigauri)

My second floor balcony Bitter Melon (Goya, Nigauri) are quite large and healthy. There are five or 6 more Goya on the vine, but the season is over and I'll have to pick them soon, but I have been most impressed with this harvest and will keep the seeds from these Goya for next year. 

Potato (Jagaimo)

I found a bad Potato (Jagaimo) in my bin about a month ago and planted it. It sprouted about a week ago and growing quickly, but it is in a shallow planter, so do not expect a large yield.

Crown Daisy (Shungiku)

I planted two Crown Daisy (Shungiku) plants last weekend and they are doing fine. 

They are cute. The leaves spread out during the day and perk strait up at night.

Crown Daisy has a unique taste and maintains a firm texture when cooked. It is used in East Asia, and in Japan it is a must ingredient in Sukiyaki. I will let one of these plants flower so I can collect the seeds for next year.

Sukiyaki is a simple, yet delicious dish, typically eaten during the winter season. The sauce is simply (1 cup sake, 1 cup Mirin, ¼ cup sugar, and 1 cup soy sauce). The standard ingredients are thinly sliced beef or white fish, Tofu, Shiitake Mushrooms, Carrots, Chinese Cabbage, scallions, and of course Shungiku.

Tomato

My Tomato plants are extremely healthy, full of flowers and Tomatoes.

Red Daikon Radish

I planted Red Daikon Radish seeds about a week ago and was surprised to see sprouts today.

Red Daikon Radish grows to a length of 5-8 inches (12-20 cm) and reaches maturity in 30-40 days, which is why the sprouts are growing so quickly. The planter is deep with lose organic rich soil, so I expect great results.

Kumquat Tree (Kinkan)

My tiny Kumquat tree (Kinkan) is loaded with fruit and they are starting to ripen. So pleased!

Cucumber (Kyuri)

I have three Cucumber (Kyuri) plants. I can see three Cucumbers growing, but there are a lot of flowers, so expect more. I also have Red Cucumber plants growing, but they are not growing quickly. Red Cucumbers do best when planted in early fall; however, it is starting to get cool here so hope they start taking off.

Bush Beans (String Beans, Ingen)

I only have three Bush Bean (String Bean, Ingen) plants, but they produce five or 6 beans a week. I'll plant more next season. 

Papaya Saplings

My Papaya saplings are getting quite large. I only need one, so need to choose the strongest to keep.

I selected one tree to keep and in just a few days it has really grown.

Chili Peppers (Togarashi)

I picked a Chili Pepper from my Mother-in-law's home in September and planted a few seeds on 23 October. They started to sprout about a week ago. I only need one plant, so will let them grow a little while longer and choose the strongest to keep.

Cilantro (Korianda, Pakuchi)

I planted Cilantro (Pakuchi) seeds I gathered from my last harvest, but I only have one sprout; however, in the pot I previous grew Cilantro and another planter I noticed sprouts, so I gathered the sprouts and replanted them in another planter with fresh soil about a week ago and they are doing well. I should have a good harvest this season.

Red Daikon Radish

I planted some Red Daikon Radish seeds today. It is a little past the planting season, but will try anyway. It takes 30 to 40 days to grow these types of Radish. These are not the more well known round red radish, but a smaller and red version of the Japanese Daikon. I've never grown these, so stay tuned. 

Pineapple

I bought two Pineapples from a supermarket today for 97 Yen ($1) each. Wow! I hope they are sweet. I look forward to eating them, but I also can't wait to plant the tops. Pineapples are easy to grow, but take roughly 30 months. You can simply cut of the top and place it in dirt and water well, or cut off the top and place in a glass of water until roots grow and plant. I simply place them in dirt directly. Pineapples do well in the direct sunlight, but can grew in shaded areas. I have three growing now and am excited to add these to my garden.

Shell Ginger (Getto, Sannin)

The Latin name of Shell Ginger is Alphinia Zerumbet. In Japanese it is referred to as Getto and in the Okinawan language it's known as Sannin.


Shell Ginger is used in many ways due to its wonderful aroma, as well as its medicinal uses. The leaves are used to wrap soft rice, known as Omochi, to keep it moist and add flavor. It is boiled and drank as tea to sooth the stomach and some places use it to wrap sores to promote healing. It is considered one of the miracle plants in the Orient.

I had some Shell Ginger (Getto, Sannin) in my back yard but removed it to locate a planter; however, I like Shell Ginger and will grow more, but in a planter since it is quite invasive. I got these seeds from a plant in the park. They look like pebbles in a pod. Interesting! 

Bitter Melon (Goya, Nigauri)

 

The Bitter Melon (Goya, Nigauri) plants on my second floor balcony are doing so well. I planted some seeds from my seed stock, plus some plants grew naturally from fallen fruit, so there are two types of Bitter Melon growing. Additionally, I noticed a Pumpkin plant growing in amongst the Bitter Melon. Not sure how that happened, but it looks healthy.

This is a Goya I got from the front yard plant. That plant is not doing so well, but I think I will be able to get a few more Goya before it parishes.

Eggplant (Nasu)

My Eggplant (Nasu) does not look beautiful, but there are Eggplants growing.

Tomato

I planted Tomato plants in the tower along with Basil, Lettuce, Garlic and Green Peppers, but the Tomatoes took over. I am so surprised how well they are doing.

I started the Tomato plants in a bucket from a Tomato in the refrigerator that went bad. I just placed the Tomato in the bucket and covered it with dirt. The Tomatoes started to sprout about three weeks later and I later transplanted them into different areas of the tower.  

Now one positive point about transplanting Tomato plants is they can be planted deeper allowing the hairs on the stock to grow more roots than normal, which is why I think these plants are doing so well.

I bought the Tomato from the supermarket, so I do not know the verity, but it was a mid-sized Tomato. The plants are starting to flower and I can start to see small Tomatoes. I look forward to a great harvest.

By the way, these plants are doing so well, so I am trimming some of the lower branches and replanting them in different planters. They are all growing well, so anticipate I will have Tomatoes for many months since I've been doing this for weeks and have plants at various stages of growth. 

Green Peppers (Pima)

I bought this Green Pepper (Piman) plant in March. It has continuously been producing peppers, but the last few peppers were small and the shapes were not good, so I added some mineral plant food, fertilizer and covered the dirt with mulch. The plant still looks pretty poor, but I can now see new leaf growth, the shape of the peppers that are starting to grow look nice and there are flowers blooming all over. This has been a very productive plant and I estimate I've gotten over 40 peppers from this one plant so far.

Potato, Celery, Garlic, Green Peppers

I planted Yellow Potatoes the end of October and covered with grass cuttings. I had some space to the right and planted a few Garlic cloves, Green Peppers and Celery. All the plants have a long growing period, so curious to see how they progress.

• Potatoes: 2-3 months (can remain in the dirt for months)
• Garlic: 9 months 
• Green Peppers: 2-3 months (but produces for months)
• Celery: 4-5 months
  

Kumquat (Kinkan) Tree

My Kumquat (Kinkan) tree is loaded with fruit and they are starting to ripen.

Acerola Cherry Tree (Barbados Cherry)

It is early November and my Acerola tree is flowering again, plus there is still some cherries ripening.

Swiss Chard

I planted the Swiss Chard seeds on 23 October in the planter I built a few weeks ago and they are starting to sprout.

I planted seeds in 16 spots and have a few sprouts identified by the white arrows.

Seeding Tray

I planted Red Leaf Lettuce (Sunny Lettuce), String Beams (Ingen), Green Okra and Red Okra on 23 October in a seeding tray and have two String Bean sprouts. It is a little late in the season, but hoping for the best.

Banana Harvesting

 

I prefer to harvest an entire bunch when the Bananas are still green and many have filled out. I can tell when my Bananas are ready when they fill out and the edges along the peel are almost gone. The Banana looks like someone has blown it up like a balloon.  

There is no precise science to harvesting Bananas by hand. It depends how the tree grows and what is surrounding it. By chance, this bunch grew over my back wall, so I could tie a rope around the bunch and use the tree itself to lower it down after I cut it.

From this point I could carry the bunch to my side yard to hand it.

This bunch had roughly 120 Bananas and weighed about 20 kg (44 lbs). I hung the bunch on my side yard balcony and will cut off a few Bananas at a time to let them ripen. The bunch hanging will remain fresh for a few weeks.

The Bananas on this tree were standard size compared to previous harvests. The yellow Bananas to the left are store bought and to the right are from my tree. The next test is to see how sweet they are. Stay tuned.

Okay it is 4 November and one Banana on the bunch hanging outside ripened quickly, so my wife and I tried it. It was firm and quite sweet. So pleased!

Strawberry Plant (Ichigo)

I still have the original Strawberry plants (Ichigo) from previous posts, but the Strawberries were not so sweet, so decided to buy a new plant to see if I can get sweeter Strawberries. I will propagate them in the sprint when they start growing runners and hopefully will get a lot of delicious Strawberries.