Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
thirsty_dirt_77

Tomatoes - What are you growing?

thirsty_dirt_77
10 years ago

This year I went a little crazy with tomatoes. Normally I buy the plants from the local greenhouse but with building a greenhouse this year I wanted to grow my own from seed. I did eventually end up buying 1 pack of tomatoes just in case mine didnâÂÂt survive (they were pretty sad looking by transplant time because the greenhouse took so long to finish.)

Anyway IâÂÂm growing a selection to see which fruit we like the most and which works the best for salsa.

This is what IâÂÂve got on the go at the moment:

In the garden:
- Grape Tomatoes - Ildi (yellow) and Sweet Heart(red)

In the greenhouse:
- Tumbling Toms (in hanging baskets)
- Plum Regal - sauce determinate
- Jetsetter - beefsteak indeterminate
- Brandywine - heirloom indeterminate
- Manitoba - determinate

Everything was started by seed (all seeds bought at VeseyâÂÂs) except the ManitobaâÂÂs.

Everything is a little behind because of the late start and overall IâÂÂm fairly happy with the progress.

What tomatoes is everyone else growing and how are they progressing so far?

** pictures are from July 10, I just realized I'm been forgetting to take weekly picture of the greenhouse! May how things have changed in 2 weeks!! (btw there's tons of light in the greenhouse, it looks dark because my fancy (too fancy at times) was adjusting for the bright light)

Comments (13)

  • SouthCountryGuy Zone 4b-5 SE BC
    10 years ago

    Looks great!

    If your camera is fancy spot meter off the planter side for exposure. MSG or email me if you want help.

    I am growing 4 plants. 1 marmalade beefsteak and 3 cherry. 1 is a "100" rest I don't remember. They are all showing fruit yay and the 100 we been snacking on for a few weeks. Kids love it.

    SCG

  • marciaz3 Tropical 3 Northwestern Ontario
    10 years ago

    Do they bite the tomatoes off with their teeth?

    :>

  • kioni
    10 years ago

    It is okay to be a little crazy about tomatoes!

    Right now I have growing: 2 Big Beef beefsteak, 1 Cherokee Purple beefsteak, 1 Amana Orange (new one for me), and 1 SunSugar Cherry.

    Because of multiple hail storms stripping and restripping the plants, two weeks ago I ripped out 1 Viva Italia paste, 1 Manitoba (so would like to hear how it does in your taste test!) and 1 Black Krim (black tomato, little bigger than cocktail size).

    My sunsugar cherry was a 'backup' plant I was going to toss, but because it had the luck of being forgotten in the shed for 2 of the 4 (nasty rotten cursed) storms we had, it looked better than the 2 in the garden box. Out came the 2 cherry tomato 'sticks', and in went the backup. Right now today I see I have my first truss developing with flowers on this new plant, so I may get some cherry tomatoes before the end of August - woo hoo!

    The Big Beef has always grown well for me. I will (barring this year) usually only get one or two that ripen on the plant, but the green ones that I harvest come the end of summer are always at that stage where they have the white asterix on the bottom, and ripen indoors and taste as if they had ripened outside. It's a hybrid so it doesn't have the catfacing that the heirlooms get. Some of the other types of tomato plants that I've picked greenies to ripen inside have had a mealy texture, and may not taste tomatoey enough for me, although I guess that has as much to do with watering and soil (and personal taste) as it does with variety.

    I absolutely love your greenhouse! Wish I had room for one of those in my yard! Thanks for the photos.

    As for salsa tomatoes, one friend grows the generic roma tomatoes that come in the 6 packs from Home Depot, and they love them. Another just uses whatever tomatoes they bought from the box stores that they don't use for sandwiches, so I'm guessing not named varieties. I would think you wouldn't want too juicy of a tomato, or a blend of paste (higher %) and juicy slicers?

  • CLBlakey
    10 years ago

    Thirsty your greenhouse looks great.

    I only have 2 tomato plants that made it one tiny tomato and one ? they were from a friend.

  • nutsaboutflowers
    10 years ago

    This year I'm trying:

    Ferris Wheel Beefsteak
    Jaune Flamee
    Matchless - one huge one is ripening on the counter
    Russian Saskatchewan - We've eaten 4 of them
    Watermelon Beefsteak

    I'm growing Elfin grape for the second time as I can't get enough of them :)

  • ljpother
    10 years ago

    I started between 30 and 40 different varieties. After giving away a hundred or so plants and two hail storms I need to do an inventory. I was away for the storms and just looking at the garden, it didn't look too bad. I started weeding and there are quite a few broken branches that will slow them down.

  • mctiggs
    10 years ago

    Overdoing it (per usual) I started dozens of plants in March, gave away about 20, left with:
    Rosso Sicilian (3)
    Gold Medal (2)
    Sarah Schwarze (2)
    Emmy (3)
    Paul Robeson (1)
    Bonny Best (1)
    Black From Tula (2)

    Not to leave well enough alone, I also picked up a 6-pack (tray) of Lemon boy for $2 on sale, took an "extra" cherry tomato plant from my brother, and found another plant growing on somebody's boulevard that I rescued in the dead of night.

    As of right now there are over 200 tomatoes on the plants, not counting the 40-50 on the cherry plant.

    So far the most productive plant is the Black from Tula, followed by the Sarah Schwarze. BFT is the best producing tomato I've ever grown for this climate, but easily subject to end rot if not watered properly. This is my first year growing Rosso Sicilian, quite an odd looking fruit, pumpkin shaped, and the plants are epic.

    Anyone who wants seeds this fall, email me, I'll have trillions to give away.

  • north53 Z2b MB
    10 years ago

    This was the year I planned to have good tomatoes. I worked hard at it. I added lots of compost to the garden. I mulched the tomato plants. I've pruned them and fertilized. I've labeled every one so I can make proper comparisons.
    I am not being rewarded for my efforts. I think the weather is to blame. We have had too many cool damp cloudy days.
    So far the only type that is loaded with tomatoes is a little container plant called Torenzo. It is a cherry.

    In the garden, I have a few of each:
    Forme de Coeur
    Bison
    Mountain Magic
    New Girl
    Black Cherry
    Jaune Flamee
    Sweet Baby Girl
    Viva Italia
    Mountain Spring.

    Mountain Magic, Sweet Baby Girl, Viva Italia and Mountain Spring were all from leftover seed and were all good growers for me before.

    Some of the others are heirloom plants..Forme de Coeur, Bison, Black Cherry and Jaune Flamee.

    New Girl and Terenzo are from Lindenberg and new this year.

    What is concerning me is that some of the plants have unhealthy looking leaves on the bottom of the plant. Is there something I should be doing about this? It looks like a type of rust or something. When I first noticed this I picked those leaves off, but now I see it is still happening.

  • thirsty_dirt_77
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    north53 - I totally understand where you're coming from. Two years ago I had over two dozen plants in the garden and not ONE tomato ripened on the vine. We had a early frost that caught us off guard and killed a lot of the plants - hence the greenhouse. :)

    The yellowing of the bottom leaves could be from too much water or it could be Early Blight. I had the same issue some tomatoes - my husband said I was watering too much but I was convinced it was blight.

    Just to be on the safe side, when you trim the leaves off the bottom use a clean knife or snipes but be sure to clean your tool when done so you don't spread the blight when you reuse them.

    Sulphur and Copper products are used in preventing and managing blight - apparently copper works better than sulphur. I bought a dissolvable product (Green Earth Bordo Copper Spray) that only needs to be applied every 10-14 days. Since picking the yellow leaves and spraying I haven't had any new yellow leaves. If its not blight it won't hurt the plant and in my mind it was better safe then sorry.

    ** If you can't find the Bordo Copper Spray, Green Earth also has a Garden Sulphur

  • north53 Z2b MB
    10 years ago

    Thanks so much. I've been searching around the internet trying to pinpoint the issue. None of the pictures look quite right, but I was planning to try the Bordo anyway. I do have some.
    I'm sure it is too much water. We have had lots of rain, but also many cloudy dreary cold days.
    I will go out and trim off the affected leaves and spray tomorrow. It just finished raining again and the mosquitoes will carry me off if I attempt it tonight!

  • intotheark
    10 years ago

    tomato leaves that touch the ground tend to yellow,
    especially during rainy years as the same microbes that break down organic matter (compost) get splashed onto the leaves and begin their process (tomatoes also tend to naturally 'shed' bottom branches)
    it is not a big deal, simply clip off the yellowing leaves
    unless the top growth is yellowing, then you might have a more serious issue requiring spraying/removal
    early blight moves fairly quickly and affects the whole plant,
    not just a few bottom branches

    we have really pared down our tomatoes to ones that are consistently good growers and producers (all heirlooms)

    - black cherry
    - black plum
    - mr. stripey
    - siberia
    - principe bourghese
    - sub-arctic plenty
    - black krim
    - green zebra
    - sweetie
    - galina
    - ponderosa pink
    - mountain princess
    - red brandywine
    - hungarian
    - bonnie best
    - prairie pride

  • north53 Z2b MB
    10 years ago

    ITA, the yellow leaves had brown splotches on them and whatever it is, it was spreading. I clipped off as many as I could and sprayed. I had mulched the garden around the tomatoes with straw, so I don't think it was caused by splashing on the foliage. Also, not all varieties seemed to be affected. The worst one was Bison.

    So now my question is, now that I've sprayed with Bordo, will the tomatoes be safe to eat? The container doesn't give any guidelines about how long you can safely spray before harvesting. None of my tomatoes are close to being ripe, but all the plants are starting to set fruit.

  • intotheark
    10 years ago

    bordo (bordeaux) can be sprayed a day or two before harvest

    if you find it expensive to buy, i do have a recipe you can make at home

    - 1 gallon water dissolve 1/4 lb calcium hydroxide (slaked lime)
    - put 1/4 lb of copper sulfate into an old sock
    - let it soak overnight in lime solution
    - remove sock and dilute with another gallon of water

    i have seen a caution about copper accumulating in the soil,
    but i think that would be more for commercial growers that spray weekly