|
| OK, I planted my heirlooms out late this year. But to my surprise, they grew faster. I looked at pictures from past years when they were planted earlier and they weren't as large at this time then. I have 7 Cherokee Purple fruits on one plant alone and I am thrilled with the growth of the Brandywines, Aunt Gerties Gold, Striped German, and Prudens Purple. And they all seem healthy. To any who recalls that I tried grafting heirlooms on hybrid rootstocks this year, well, that didn't work (the tops just fell right off after 3 weeks). I think I tried it when they were too old. I'll give it another try next year with a little more exoerience. But that's why I planted double the usual number this year. Some for the grafting experiment, some just regular. I am SO looking forward to that first Cherokee Purple this year. Brandywines are great, but Cherokee Purples are better. |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| My CP are doing well too. Looks as tho some will be 16oz fruit and I've been weighing maters for two yrs now on kitchen scales so I have a pretty good idea. I have some in the big garden of heavy soil and 12 in a lighter soil across the property that drains much better. Some of those plants have clusters of 5 tomatoes where the first truss formed and some are baseball sized. Its becoming my second favorite tomato. Estlers Mortgage Lifter just a much larger tomato that sets ok and tastes good too. |
|
| Interesting that you say you planted late but they grew faster. I decided to plant tomatoes in stages this year since we have two growing seasons. I usually end my tomato growing by mid-July because of early blight. So I am doing stages this summer to see if I can extend the growing into the Fall. 5/9/14 28 plants 76 plants all together - very interested in how this method will work as far as consistent production beyond mid-July. And I agree - the later planted ones seem to grow much quicker - must be the air temperature. Grafting sounds interesting. Am anxious to see how yours does. |
|
| Well it is your choice, but in my opinion planting tomatoes in stages in zone 7b, is not going to make a big difference. The reason being that once a tomato plant comes into production, it should last for months. In locations with long growing season like southern coastal Califirnia , with 8 to 10 months of tomato season some plants might get tired but I dont know when is your end of season (FFD ). In my 7B/8 zone we have 5.5 months of practical growing season length. |
|
| LKZZ said " I usually end my tomato growing by mid-July because of early blight". ************************************************************** My tomatoes are also usually so heavily infected with disease, It is better to start new tomatoes rather than try to control the disease on the existing tomatoes. That is the reason LKZZ is staggering the plantings. That probably won't work very well because the diseases are easily spread from the old tomatoes to the new tomatoes. Next year I will try Daconil as a preventative. |
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.
- Please review our Rules of Play before posting.
- 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
