Growing Tomatoes
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16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Thee only relevance of zone number to growing things like tomatillo, tomatoes, is the length of growing season : Namely ; when the danger of Lasf Frost (98% certainty) is over and when your FFD approaches. Whatever happens between those two frost dates has very little significance to do with summer growing condition I am not talking about FL, TX, AZ and SoCAL.
I can tell this with certainty that a lot of locations designated as "zone 6" has much favorable summer growing conditions than our zone 8. Then ATL, GA, Dallas Tx are also in zone 7b/8a., like Seattle WA. There is no relevance.
I pushed and pushed and started planting out on 4/8 til the end of April. Now a lot people in zones 6 and 7a are ahead of me in fruits setting.
Last year my tomatillo started setting fruits in September. (hehe , Zone 8 !!)
The best gauge for summer gardening is find out your HEAT ZONE number. Ours is ONE, the lowest, maybe similar, to zone 4 somewhere in Wisconsin.
JMO
Sey
Sey,
Big Beef OP is not a determinate. I have four of them and they are already 5 feet tall and full of tennis ball sized fruit. I don't know what is going on with yours, unless it was incorrectly labeled. If it is, no worries... I have three hybrids also to make some comparisons.
I grew EG in 2013. It did not live up to its name and the claimed DTM. Plus the taste was mediocre in my garden.
This year I am growing Fo J. So far it has flowers almost 50 days from plant out where it was supposed to produce a ripe fruit by then. I know my climate is not near ideal but not that bad because I have half a dozen varieties that have set fruits before it flowered.
So I already have placed F o J in my ZAP list.
Sey
Nice, thanks for the JB review Hudson. I like the way it looks sliced, meaty & less seed, which is my preference. My mind is pretty much made up for next season.
Jenn, good news, Rutgers University has secured the original Rutgers parent lines from the Cambells soup company. I wouldn't expect a miracle tomato or anything, but since i've been eating all of the subsequent Rutgers lines my entire life, i now want something closer to the original! I'll be monitoring the Rutgers website for updates. More info on page 2 of this PDF file: http://www.njfarmfresh.rutgers.edu/documents/WhatsinSeason8-27-12.pdf
Steve
They look great I can't wait Hudson for mine as well, sorry for no photos, I took a few today and JB is producing fruits. I got some, but want to show the photos over the next few days once weeds are out ect... "I just bought a weed wacker" :). Kind of forced too by the development association but all is good. $100 fine :( It is a TORO and powered by Battery
My mother and little brother used to take care of our lawn and I did the tomatoes. But this weed wacker is gona kick some major but, was just afraid of the family of rabits and I am highly alergic to weeds and pollen, so for $95 I bought this wacker and built it tonight. I can't wait to show photos :) of the new yard
I lost a bunch of peppers this year because of bacterial wilt. The recipe for that was a very heavy rain on a bed that was very heavily mulched. So the bed just didn't dry out. I turned the soil over two weeks later (after two weeks of sun and heat) and found big wet clumps. Gaack.
I'm not convinced that these beds are damaged in the long term. I understand that the bacteria involved can be killed by aeration, sunlight, and some drying. So I recommend turning the soil well several times during the next few months and then trying again in the fall. I had a couple of pepper plants die in the same way last year, at which time I didn't recognize the cause of death to be BW. After good cultivation of the bed I planted tomatoes in exactly the same place this year. They are doing fantastic.
Everything I have used has worked. I am just looking for that one "fix" that is crazy good. I also do not want to spend tons of money or spend a lot of time building and taring down at the end of the season. I used 5' hog panels for years...and it worked well. Then last year I saw a video of the Florida weave on Youtube and tried that. It worked...but could have been better if I didn't have my fence posts so far apart. This year I only have 2-plants between posts.
These cages above are awesome...and I know they were expensive...
I had a roll of CRW around the property for years so I made these cages...
And yes, good idea at the time was to plant beans up the north side as a trellis... note to self... unless a little shading is beneficial under the summer sun, not as good idea as I thought lol. The beans, although planted after, easily outgrew the maters.
So that they can be separated, if need be for storage, 3 panels, each 3 'squares' wide, tied together with tying wire (very easy to take apart and put back together.) The bottom horizontal is removed to create 'built-on' stakes.
keeps the bed tidy and fairly well contained (important when low on space.)
Peppers get half-height cages.
Today's High forecast = 88F. This is the 4 th day in JUNE , so far, that highs reached and/or exceeded 84F. So practically our HEAT ZONE is pushed to 2 from 1, just by June record so far.
But starting tomorrow the highs will be in 77F - 80F range. Even that is more like July weather , maybe even better. Last Jun was was very cold.
Anyway: I love it and take it . Give me more of it. hehe
Sey
Jenn, the weather is just perfect. Today in my area we hit 90F. But it cools off at night considerably ( down to mid 50s).
But no ripe tomato in sight yet in my garden but they are setting. My CPs have surprised me so far while earlies like Siletz and Legend have NO fruits. My tiny Hahms Gelbe Topftomate is the winner. With under 14 inches in height keeps pumping.
Jenn- thanks for the wormgirl explanation - makes sense. Sweet 100's still produce but visiting out-of-town Gkids over the summer wipe them clean. We need back up support during the summer - haha. Staggering them gives them plenty to eat later in the summer and local Gkids barely keep up with Sweet 100's earlier. They all look forward to picking cherry tomatoes in the GH !!
I always think the first tomatoes to ripen aren't as good. Very unscientific theory, but I find the ones that set fruit in cooler weather aren't up to full potential yet. That sungold had me wanting a ripe tomato! I have four on the counter that need a couple of days.....so it will be soon.
Jennie
Yeah they are awful. I had one groundhog take down 10 broccoli plants just as they were heading, in one sitting. Dug under a 6 foot high fence. They are major pests where I live, between them and the deer you really need a fort knox fence to grow anything.
Here's some more pictures.
Sweet Tangerine determinates (less than ideal sun)
Jet Star (less than ideal sun)
Bush Delicata on the right, Honey Bear Acorn (bush) on the left (the acorns definitely taste better out of the garden... wonderful nutty taste.)
Beets.. several are very ready to be picked.
Sugar Snap Peas not minding the heat one bit.. 7 feet tall.
Onions in the front, leeks in the back. The Walla Walla are bulbing up, not so sure about the Red Zepplin.. the Ringmaster whites I don't see, there were few in the Dixondale seedling pack and they were small.
I keep saying I will finish mulching next weekend... just can't seem to find the time. Soon those squashes and tomatoes are going to be very large and almost impossible to mulch and I am going to regret it when there are huge weeds.
I'm sure others will add opinions, but my take on it is that I notice my different varieties have slightly different leaf color. Certainly the Indigo Rose has an unusual coloration, quite "blue green," so I wouldn't look to compare that to the others. So, it could just be that.
Or, it could be the soil, for sure. Some people find they have better success in the ground, and some better success in containers, depending on their garden soil.
On watering, I am no expert at in-ground watering, but it sounds to me like you are watering shallowly. I hear it is better to water more deeply and less often. You could, for instance, use a soaker hose, and run it for 30-60 minutes to get water a foot or more down in the soil. This will promote much better root growth and plant health.
It's also better to water based on the actual state of the soil that day, rather than an arbitrary schedule. Feel the ground with your finger (or a bamboo skewer or wooden chopstick, which can go deeper) and water when the soil is getting dry. Doing this will teach you how much water it takes to moisten the bed deeply, and also, how long your soil stays moist after a good watering.
Jenn
PS: Pictures would help! They are easy to post here.
Yeah, different varieties have different shades of green.
---Indigo Rose has almost purple foliage. It matches the color of its fruits.
-- Black from Tula, Black Cherry, Red Cherry ... have dark green color, so does Ananas Noire.
-- CP, Big Rainbow, KB, 4th O July , Polish Dwarf .. are pale green.
Just to name a few .
You can see them growing in the same bed, side by side.
Sey
Congratulations on having a garden again. I know how it is.
I misspoke before - Green Zebra is NOT a full size tomato at all (sorry, I have not grown it and was confusing it with others). It's salad size, 2-3 oz.
I looked in Carolyn's book "100 Heirlook Tomatoes for the American Garden" and she says: "indeterminate but compact habit." Perhaps this explains the confusion.
Anyway, it looks like you have plenty of time to ripen them. The top turns gold/orange when ripe.
Thanks a bunch Jenn and Cindy. All very good uses.
Jenn, I love your soup recipe'.
Yeah, How did I forget Frittata and pizza ! >> say Cheese. haha.
Those stuffed , skewed tomatoes look yummy so does that frittata. And of course spaghetti with cherry tomatoes. I can't wait til my tomatoes to get ripe.
I love fresh raw tomatoes bu I also like them in cooking.
OK. Keep it coming. The tomato season is almost upon us.
Sey
Tomato cut in half. Add a dash of salt and pepper and sprinkle romano or parmesian cheese on top, grill. mmmm good!