16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

Yep nothing you can do but be patient. After 6 weeks of it not ripening then you can get impatient. :)

Dave

Here's the magic I learned from my Swedish grandmother.

patience is a virtue
find it if you can
You'll find it in a woman
but seldom in a man.

QED

Ripening will happen when those darn fruits WANT to ripen. LOL

Carolyn

I get the 6-12-12 in 40 or 50 lb bags at Southern States but Wal-Mart has it in small boxes in the garden center. I pullsuckers bigger than some say....maybe 12" and push it all the way down to the bottom of the big size Styrofoam cup which leaves about 4-5 inches protruding. Keep it wet and there will be lots of roots in a week to ten days.

It is much faster and easier to do it from cutting/suckers than from seed, if you have a plant to begin with. I have done a Husky cherry. It has a full size fruit and more smaller ones.

I like to root in water and then plant. Though you can do it in soil too. The advantage of rooting in water is that you can actually see if it is working. In the soil you cannot.

Maybe you had a megabloom or fused blossoms. They turn into really weird looking tomatoes!

Linda

Tends to happen when the temps are cool at the time of pollination. Not a disease, and nothing you did.

I remove most of my "ugly" catfaced/fused toms when young so the plant can put its energy into producing new fruit or focus its energy on the fruits that aren't jacked up looking.

I have been giving it a kelp fertilizer (diluted, every few waterings), and while planting have amended the soil-less potting mix with rock dust, mycorrhizae, and an organic pelleted fertilizer.

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Hard to say it's N deficiency when the plants are getting Kelp at every watering and pelleted fertilizer as well, I don't know what that's composed of, but I agree that the picture of Sara shows very wet mix and nor do I know how often they are being watered, so perhaps too much water for only a 5 gal container and if no drainage that's a problems as well. Which may explain all the yellow leaves,

Sara forms a very large rampant plant in my experience and would not be happy happy if kept in only a 5 gal pail but it looks too big to transfer at this point IMO.

Carolyn

It might be an N deficiency, but it has been getting regular fertilizer, which all of the other tomatoes are happy with.

I had just watered the plant before taking the photo - I only water when the soil mix is dry as far as my finger will go into the soil. My other container tomatoes are much larger and a dark saturated green colour, with lots of tomatoes.

It must be some sort disease of these seeds - i'll try to get sara's galapagos from another seller for next season.

Thank you everyone for your help!

I've grown tomatoes in containers and found that they are much smaller than if grown in the ground. I suspect there is a limited root system in the pots. With that being said, the tomatoes still tasted very good, they were just small. If you didn't break the rootball when transplanting them into the larger pot, you might want to take a yard stick (or something of similar size) and poke into the soil to help the roots expand.

Thanks everyone! Patience was key and I really didn't have to be patient for long. Some of them are starting to turn red. I appreciate all of the help!

I didn't break the root ball when transplanting, thanks for the advice. I would have been afraid to do something like that without help :)

The tall, circular frame you're describing is a "tomato cage." One might help.

Also, you mentioned you weren't fertilizing. I talked to someone who works at a nursery about this topic earlier in the season. He said if you use Miracle Grow potting soil, which does have fertilizer, it's ok not to fertilize for a little while. BUT ... the label on Miracle Grow bag that says it fertilizes plants up to 3 months or 9 months (or whatever time frame) doesn't apply as long to potted plants because of the way they're watered. When watering a potted plant, the fertilizer escapes much quicker. Therefore, it's important to use fertilizer. Liquid plant food/fertilizer mixed with water according to instructions in an old gallon jug should do the trick.

Also, yellow leaves are totally normal, especially at the bottom of the plant. Even an occasional yellow leaf in the middle is ok. Just clip it off. The photo of your plant looks fine.

I'm not fertilizing, I understood that the Miracle Grow potting soil I used contains fertilizer.
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That is a claim made but the evidence ( your plant as a good example) shows that it may have some nutrients enough for some plants, but not enough for a tomato plant all season long. Furthermore, the mix might maintain P and K for a while but N will not last that long. And yellowing is a sign of N deficiency.

In my opinion MG Moisture Control potting mix is a bad choice for tomatoes. It tends to stay too soggy and thus allowing very little air to the root system.

An old rule of thumb is one gal of pot size to each foot of expected growth.. Bare minimum - stick with a 10 gallon and up...

i agree, pot way to small....tomatoes need root room to grow...also water is key to raising tomatoes...too much kills, not enough also kills.....use good potting mix, for good quick drainage...i finally invested in a good water meter for determining when to water in my pots....my pots are homemade, 2x4 wire about 2 ft tall and 2 and l/2 across, lined with screen wire, need to set on ground...they produce more tomatoes than any other pot i have tried, including 55 gal drum cut in half....just add compost every year...and use handufl of epsom salt in planting hole, cover with 2 or so inches of soil under plant...the indian

I will post pictures of the plants as soon as I get home about 45 mins from now thanks for the interest in helping me figure this out

are only maybe 2 inches in diameter. I thought these plants produced big tomatoes,
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You are estimating that they are 2" in dia. Maybe they are bigger and are , say 2,5" in dia. A 2.5" tomato is almost twice as big as a 2" tomato. Another thing is that the fruits set in cooler weather early on, tend to be smaller. Yet another thing, tomatoes do not grow consistently one size fruit.

I had a tomato stem damaged by a fall due to high winds. I tried to mend the stem first but, since it was so thin, I couldn't get twine or masking tape to hold the two pieces together. I decided to cut the broken portion off completely and place it in a cup of water as it already has some fruit on it. I know roots will develop soon and then I'll have two plants. :D I'll keep everyone posted.

AS long as they are attached , can be re-supported and wrapped together with some thing like cheese cloth, nylon netting. They even have special wrapping clothes in HD. What you want to do is to prevent drying out and rotting.

Thanks for the input you guys =]. I gave the dry larger plant some liquid fertilizer so hopefully that helps. I was advised to drill a hole into the container halfway up to see if it was really wet or just moist. The larger one was actually pretty dry, the small one still rather moist. I'm assuming the larger one just consumes more water because its got a substantial amount more foliage and tomatoes. As well as the increased drainage holes and lifting it off the ground.

Now my only issue is understanding how much water to give them. I have a gallon watering jug, I gave the big one about half a gallon. I didn't want to over water it again. But I just feel like that couldn't be enough? I'm also watering at the base of the main stem, thats where I read is the best spot to do so? Should I also be wetting the surface of all the rest of the soil too or no? Upon watering, I didn't feel any increase in moisture at the midsection hole. But.. I also figure this must be due to the fact I'm watering in the center...

Anyone have an idea on a per gallon basis, how much i should be giving this large plant in a 17 gallon container?

Oh and this is a rather large tomato plant, its 4.5 feet tall and 5.5 feet wide all around.

Found this nutrition deficiency article: http://www.haifa-group.com/knowledge_center/crop_guides/tomato/plant_nutrition/nutrient_deficiency_symptoms/

Phosphate deficiency.

In a raised bed with miracle grow and top soil, typically add a 13-13-13. Will add a little more. Thanks for all info everyone.

Congrats, neighbor on your first.

You can post single image directly from you pc.
Press "Browse" on top. It will take you to your pc. Then go to the folder, locate the picture, double click on it.
You are set. Now review your post, the picture should appear.
Once finished writing, just submit.

Thank you seysonn.

For a follow up, I took photos on July 16th, and noticed this on my Rutger's Ramapo F-1, a friendly Wasp or Bee taking control. I just got back from a business trip and looking over the photos.

Even though I am allergic, I guess they are my friends now.
- Mr Beno

Thanks again all, and tonight I spotted another hornworm.

No More Mr Nice Guy, these things are going down!
noticed 3-4 spots on a leaf prior taking photos earlier today. After the photos it was getting dusk so I could not pinpoint him. But knew where he crawled. I just Hope my new friends the "wasps" take care of him after my appointment tomorrow..

- Mr Beno

My vote goes with birds as well. I am an expert on squirrel damage! They are absolute terrors. I would never have believed that a squirrel could "pick" a beautiful 12 Oz. Carbon tomato and run with it in his mouth. But I saw it! I was right after him. They are not cute!

Had this problem last year. I thought at first it was a squirrel until one morning I caught a glimpse of a grey bird pecking my ripe tomato. Looked like he was after the seeds inside, so he will make a hole in one tomato, gets the seeds and move on to the next⦠So frustrating.

This post was edited by green_go on Sun, Jul 20, 14 at 20:33