|
| I am a long time gardener, but this is my third season of growing tomatoes in pots. I'd like to think I'd get better each year. However, I am growing a Juliet, small plum shaped cherry tomato. She is growing really well, full of small tomatoes, but I am having to pull SO many off due to blossom end rot, I may never see a ripe one. Wish I did my homework before shopping for plants. I have seen some negative comments on this tomato--tough skin, no taste. So, question is, will the BER go away after a while (before I get real mad and send Juliet far away?) Is this more common with container plants? Is Juliet a dudd? Or is it me? |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by missingtheobvious Blue Ridge 7a (My Page) on Tue, May 27, 14 at 19:59
| I grew a Juliet three years ago (one of those years when I couldn't start seeds and was limited to buying seedlings). Except for half a dozen tomatoes which were either eaten by hornworms or knocked off the stem by my clumsiness, every single blossom became a perfect tomato. What I'd call a foolproof variety. And no blossom end rot whatsoever. So I think something else may be going on with your plant. (What size pot are you using?) No, Juliet isn't the best-tasting tomato, but they dry well. I have been happy cooking with them: both the fresh toms and the dried ones. |
This post was edited by missingtheobvious on Tue, May 27, 14 at 20:01
|
- Posted by kathy9norcal CA 9 (My Page) on Tue, May 27, 14 at 20:09
| My pot is very wide across but not so deep. We have been in the high 90's up til today. I water every morning. I also have the pot mulched with redwood bark, like all my potted plants. Soil mix is part Kellogg's potting mix, some compost, and small ground up wood chips from a Bradley pear we removed. I have used MiracleGro and a veggie fertilizer. Growth has been spectacular with tons of green tomatoes. |
|
- Posted by missingtheobvious Blue Ridge 7a (My Page) on Tue, May 27, 14 at 20:38
| If you can calculate the volume of soil in your pot in cubic inches, dividing that number by 368.8 will give you the volume of soil in gallons. [There are 368.8 cubic inches in a gallon.] |
|
- Posted by reginald_25 5 (My Page) on Wed, May 28, 14 at 2:07
I am growing a Juliet, small plum shaped cherry tomato. She is growing really well, full of small tomatoes, but I am having to pull SO many off due to blossom end rot, I may never see a ripe one. I grew it one season... that was it. Large production of thick-skinned berries. Rather worthless in taste dept but were blemish-free. BER will probably go away with a bit of time, but the insipid taste will not. Reggie |
|
- Posted by cold_weather_is_evil Tucson 9b desert Sun (My Page) on Wed, May 28, 14 at 2:34
| >> There are 368.8 cubic inches in a gallon. 231 in a liquid gallon, 268.8 in a dry gallon (obs.), and what is that all about? |
|
| agree wit cwie on the conversion on BER: To my experience, it is an early season problem and should correct itself later. HOPEFULLY ! |
|
- Posted by missingtheobvious Blue Ridge 7a (My Page) on Wed, May 28, 14 at 8:52
| Oops. Apologies for the typo. That should be 268.8 cu. inches per gallon. Garden containers are measured in dry gallons rather than liquid gallons. |
|
| not sure about all the advanced math...but I know I have found a 15 gallon nursery pot is a nice size (or larger) for indeterminates. Some do well with bush types in a five gallon work bucket. Providing a well-drained mix is critical. Much info on container growing threads. Place is area with max sun. |
|
| BER can be much more difficult to control/prevent in containers so yes, it is far more common in containers. And containers that are too small or filled with less than ideal mixes as yours is or that require daily watering only compound the problems by compounding the inconsistent soil moisture issues that is its primary cause. Personally, even given ideal growing conditions I'd "send Juliet far away" :) but with the growing conditions you describe it will be difficult, not impossible, but difficult to eliminate the BER issues. Determine the size of your pot first, then strip off all the already symptomatic fruit, then reduce the watering to at no more than every other day and even then water only when your finger stuck deep into the soil comes up dry, and cut the MG to no more than 1/2 strength weekly for the next couple of weeks and see if that helps. Good luck. Dave |
|
| Ha ha! I would "send Juliet far away too" because she is a spitter with thick skin! Linda |
|
- Posted by carolyn137 z4/5 NY (My Page) on Wed, May 28, 14 at 17:19
| Juliet F1 was bred by the Known-You Seed Co in Taiwan and they also bred the variety Santa, which was the first true shaped grape tomato made available to the public by Andrew Chu in FL. Juliet F1 is not considered a grape variety by most folks. What most folks don't know is Juliet F1 available now was an improvement, ahem, of the original Juliet F1, whatever that means, but those who had grown the original said they didn't like the improved one at all. I grew it once, and that was enough for me. Literally many thousands of other varieties to chose from that taste better, etc. IMO. Carolyn |
|
| I grew Juliet last year, and was very disappointed until I decided to oven roast them with olive oil, garlic and oregano. It was delicious to eat! But I would not grow it again, and didn't this year. I had some BER with it as I do most of my growing in containers. |
|
| Hi Kathy, I'm wondering if you might be able to figure out some way to set up a capillary wicking system at this late stage. I've done that a few times when it turned out the pot/plant combo was getting dry too fast. Each set up is different but since you say your experienced, I'm sure you could do it. A science experiment ! |
This post was edited by plaidbird on Wed, May 28, 14 at 21:46
|
- Posted by kathy9norcal CA 9 (My Page) on Thu, May 29, 14 at 0:02
| Thanks for all the responses! I measured the pot and looking at it now, it is probably not large (deep) enough. It is almost 20 inches across, but--eek, only 10 inches deep. It looked so big when I put the tiny plant in it. I am thinking Juliet is like carpet/landscape roses or Stella D'oro daylily--bought only by those that don't know any better! I really don't think it is drying out too much as I am making sure it gets enough water. One day I didn't water it enough and the leaves curled. I have been really careful since then. And if I get any J's, I will roast them in olive oil! |
|
| It is almost 20 inches across, but--eek, only 10 inches deep. %%%%%%%%%%% Your pot definitely has good volume. (about 12 gallons) IF it is filled almost to the brim, should be fine for any single tomato plant. Tomatoes will grow lots of fine lateral roots, if they have no place to grow tap root. |
This post was edited by seysonn on Thu, May 29, 14 at 3:25
|
| Wood chips, no matter how small, added to a soil mix will tie up the nitrogen that would otherwise nourish your plant. Of course being a tomato plant your Juliet needs more phosphorous and potassium (for flowering and rooting) than nitrogen (for leaf growth). The container is too small, should be 10 gal. at least for production, but the biggest setback is the mix. Get rid of the mgrow and add some OMRI listed fish fertilizer to your soil mix and you can begin to address the problem. And do you have a container under the pot? Its best to water less while the plant is young, letting the soil dry out a bit between waterings and making sure to water evenly but not so that it remains soggy. I have some customers that adore Juliet tom toms. Good luck! |
|
- Posted by kathy9norcal CA 9 (My Page) on Thu, May 29, 14 at 15:29
| For anyone still looking at this post, her is the infamous Juliet. She looks so healthy, is about 3 1/2 feet tall.
|
|
| She does look amazing--thanks for posting the pic so we can stop speculating. Lots of green growth. If it were mine I would do some pruning just to redirect some of its energy to ripening fruit. Or just wait it out--I've seen alot of BER and blossom drop in other tomatoes in the beginning of the season, esp. during heatwaves which the 90's is around here. But like someone said above Juliet is usually foolproof... I think your mgrow was poss. too high in nitrogen. I would get some fishbone meal scratched into the top to give the roots some phosphorous which will definitely help the fruits ripen. Cheers! |
|
| Lots of green growth. If it were mine I would do some pruning just to redirect some of its energy to ripening fruit. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% That has been exactly my thoughts before you (vinemaple) posted. Then I know of some experts who would probably say : Don't touch it!, It can cost you production. |
This post was edited by seysonn on Sat, May 31, 14 at 6:04
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Growing Tomatoes Forum
Information about Posting
- You must be logged in to post a message. Once you are logged in, a posting window will appear at the bottom of the messages. If you are not a member, please register for an account.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review your post, make changes and upload photos.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- Before posting copyrighted material, please read about Copyright and Fair Use.
- We have a strict no-advertising policy!
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
Learn more about in-text links on this page here
