Where do you live that you already have tomatoes this
huge. Mine are just beginning to blossom

Your tomato vines are stunningly beautiful, and so large already. I also wonder what part of the country or zone you live in.

Congratulations on the lovely plants.

I love the tomato pictures! Your fruit is absolutely gorgeous.
I am curious about the 'Rocky' tomato , have you grown it before, it looks like an interesting paste type variety.

Your guard dog is amazingly ferocious!! :)

Joytwo and Yrdling...I'm down in the panhandle of Florida (zone 9) by Destin, Fl...60 miles East of Pensacola. Last frost date usually is in the last week or two of March. I always plan on planting the 1st of April so I start seedlings middle of Feb.

Sunnyk...this year I wanted to try some paste tomatoes so I planted 4 types: Rocky, Big Mama, Opalka and Polish Linguisa. The Rocky and Linguisa seem to be doing the best for me so far but the jury is still out. Will keep you posted. Yes...he's a tough guy...thinks he's 10 feet tall!

cheers

Bing

Nice work Bing. Your plants are looking excellent. I just got my tomatoes planted this last weekend.

I have a question about your trellises. Do you secure them in any way or are they OK by them selves. I'm going to make some trellises like yours but wondering when it gets windy if they will be blown by the wind.

Hi Grb,

As you can see, my trellises are in a very long row. I do duct tape the vertical legs together at the top. I have never had a problem with this set-up no matter how strong the wind.

cheers

Bing

Of course Bing this goes without saying your plants are show stoppers. BTW...I think you should put a disclaimer on every post you make that you live in the panhandle and in zone9, cuz you know the question is coming.

With you progress you are making me phone the outlaws (inlaws) in Jacksonville to see if they have room for the wife, kid and I. That Florida sunshine is crazy good for maters.

All i can say is "WOOOOOOOOOOW" Your tomato jungle is just as cool as Raybo's. I have a question for you, do you prune your plants to a single stem (multi stem) or you let them just grow freely? There is so much foliage, my gosh! Very cool bingster. My problem is sometimes my plants split in to two at the top even though i always seem to prune the side shoots. And have not been able to maintain a single stem. Thanks for showing us the great pictures bing.

Sumilea

Little Man is adorable! I'll bet he scares away predators with the awesome power of cuteness.

MA

Bing,

We had BLT's tonight with our first red one!

Tim

bingster -- afavor please--could you repost the contents and approx quantities which make up your homemade insectiside?? I cant locate the original post and have misplaced my printed copy--Thanks in advance.

Morning all...thanks for your posts,

Hi Earthworm...yes, I do seem to get asked that a lot!

Hi Sumilea...I tried hard this year to keep the tomatoes pruned to a single stem. However, I found that my plants did not set any fruit clusters until about 2 feet up the stem so I quit pruning the suckers after that and let them go. I'm not sure whether it's the varieties I'm growing (mostly large beefsteaks-73 to 80 days) or what but I'm going to do it a bit differently next year. I'm now planting two plants per 18 gallon box just as I did last year. The plants still seem to thrive and I get good production but it does cause me problems digging through all that foliage to check on the fruit, and it does get kind of "messy" after a bit. Next year I think just one plant per box along with a change to my trellis system. I think I'll build a box trellis that encloses the whole row of boxes on both sides. I'll use twine (a Florida weave) wrapped around the PCV cage to support the plants. So next year I am not planning on pruning at all, nor will I train them up the vertical string like I've done the past two years. You need to ask TIMMY1 how he does it...he's the expert and grows in a greenhouse. Search for TIMMY1 for some of his posts...beautiful PICS!!

Hi Mockapple...it's not really even a good picture of him, but yes..he is adorable, at least to me. Don't have a wife or kids so he and "Lil Puddin" are my family...and no one loves me like they do!! Will have to send you a picture of his daughter "Puddin". She's just as cute!

Hey Timmy...I'm really impressed with the Big Beef although only two of my seedlings survived. The BB has the most fruit set and the nicest shaped fruit of any of my varieties. Think I'll make it one of my staples for next year. Am jealous you already have ripe fruit. Bet the BLT was great. I have a couple just turning but still a week or so away. SEND PICS SOON!

cheers all

Bing

Les49,

Here are the ingredients...but will have to go home tonight and get the quantities. Will pass along tomorrow. But to be perfectly honest with you, I don't think the quantities of each really matter that much. Here tis:

What did you use for pest control? Homemade spray mix of garlic, tobacco juice, onions, handsoap and mouthwash sprayed a couple times a week. Didn't have any real bug problems except for hornworn catapillers. Spray did not seem to bother them so had to watch closely for leaf damage and then pick them off.

I always thought tobbacco was bad around the tomatoes
is this a myth?

Les...couple of different recipes...I won't swear by these but they seem to have the right kind of ingredients. I got these out of Jerry Baker's book, Backyard Problem Solver. Don't know if he's a guru and these really work...or... I got taken for $37.95!!

Good luck

Bing

#1.
1 cup Murphy's Oil soap
1 cup antiseptic mouthwash
1 cup tobacco tea (1/2 handfull of tobacco and 1 gal hot water. Wrap tobacco in cheesecloth, pantyhose, sock, etc, put in the water to soak until water turns dark brown. Take out tobacco pouch and strain, if needed.

Once you have your tobacco tea made, mix the ingredients in a 20 gal hose end sprayer and soak plants.

#2.

6 cloves garlic
1 small onion--chopped fine
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon liquid dish soap

Mix ingredients in one quart of warm water and let stand overnight. Strain...pour into a sprayer bottle and spray.

Tennandy,

Believe the tobacco problem you mention is more about actually smoking around tomatoes than using this recipe. Will tell you I used it last year with no harmful effects. Have also read on this site that tobacco mosaic virus is usually not much of a problem anymore with tomatoes. Could be wrong...you might want to do a search on GW.

cheers

Bing

Bingster,

Thanks very much--Enjoy watching your progress and success.
Like others I am envious and hope to be eating BLTs but right now concentrating on planting..

Happy harvest!!

What is the name of the tomato plant 3rd and 4th picture from last (dog picture)?. They look some sort of a plum tomato plant but twice as thick and 3 times as long. They are huge!

Morning Piantini,

I planted 4 paste varieties this year: Big Mama, Opalka, Polish Linguisa and Rocky. The pictures are of the Rocky and Polish Linguisa. The Big Mama (Burpee seed Co.) is a dud. And...I know everyone raves about Opalka but my plants are real average both in robustness and production. As for taste...don't know yet as I'm just getting the first couple of fruits ripening. Got the Rocky and Polish Linguisa from Tomato Growers Supply. Both are touted as producing very big fruit and they do. Some of the fruit are 3-4 inches in diameter and 5-6 inches long. Will send another PIC which will give you a little more perspctive on their size.

cheers

Bing

Glad to hear someone else had the same experience with Burpee Big Mamma. I struggled to even get them to germinate and grow into seedlings. I'm stubborn, so I'm trying another time, hoping I could get some seedlings out in late summer to take advantage of our warm falls.

Bingster,

Nice examples of container growing and great pic of tomato guard dog.