16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

I was discussing this with the sample lady at the grocery store (I will talk to anyone!). I have a row of San Marzano, and a row of Chocolate Stripes, 25 of each, right next to each other. Both varieties started from seed, by me. The Stripes are producing BIG, both in fruit size and number. The San Marzanos look like large pear shaped cherry tomatoes.

I am in South Central KY, she is a good 100 miles away in NW Tennessee, having the same issue with San Marzanos! Hers were bought as plants.

No answer, sorry, just commiseration!

Nancy

I agree with one of the other posters that it's best to take the tomato plant out of its container (no matter which type of container) prior to transplanting. I go as far as to break the root ball to "free" the roots. Otherwise, you get a limited root system and small fruit. Nurseries sell products to prevent transplant shock, and while I'm sure they don't hurt, they're probably not 100% necessary.

Since your plant is in the ground, you could take something like a yard stick or similar device and poke it into the ground as far as it'll go and it might help break the bottom of that biodegradable pot and maybe free the balled-up roots.

Picked my first one last night! Not entirely ripe, but since rain was predicted for today, I didn't want it to split. It was one of my mystery tomatoes from my Glacier seed pack. A little over two ounces. Have more blushing on the same plant and fruits start to blush on both of my Stupices! So excited to start having ripe tomatoes!

That is great. I have picked 3 so far ; One BB and 2 siletz. BB was real small, maybe less than 2 oz but Siletz were about 6 oz.

I have read that tomatoes should be fine in pH range like 5.6 to 7.2 but 5.2 would be way too low. I would add fast acting lime. Probably the soil test has also made some recommendation on how to deal with low pH situation. I would shoot for like 6.8 as optimum level for 99% of garden vegetables. But anything from 6.2 and up should be fine in the short run.

OTOH, changing pH takes time and cannot be done overnight. The best time is in the fall , to add lime and let it work.

Could this be my problem?

Definitely. Plus compost isn't going to neutralize soil pH within one season and most compost has a pH of around 7 not 8. 3" of compost will decompose fairly quickly and the soil will return to its native pH.

Dissolving some lime in water to use on the plants may get you through this season but I can't begin to know how much or how often. You'll have to let the plant appearce tell you if it is working or not.

Then this fall consider liming the soil well so it has time to work before next year.

Hope this helps.

Dave

I would have started it early, topping the mains and letting lower laterals to take over. But probably it is not too late. It is only early summer.
The winds knocked down my Mortgage Lifter. Its branches were like 8ft but only 6ft supported. Now, I let them drape but I pinched all its growth tips. I'll see what happens.

Cherry tomatoes especially will do that. You can give them a wider space to grow rather than straight up in the future. Trim or pinch or let them go as others have suggested, whatever you want. Not a problem that many of us mind having :)

Carolyn:

These are all new varieties for me. It was not my intention to smear TF. I know things happen and I'm sure they would not be in business as long as they have if this was a common occurrence. I was freaking out a little I guess as I was looking forward to these varieties and not knowing exactly what I had. As far as my end I can only say I am very meticulous, but of course mistakes can happen. After looking at the opalka plants with suspicion for a long while I noticed that my SMR were getting very long and slender and then finally they were unmistakably opalka. I thought then maybe I had made a mistake so I looked up the growth habit for both and they were indeterminate and what was supposed to be opalka were determinate. Also the Anna Russian were noticeably wrong. I think the Italian Heirloom are probably right. They are decribed as pear shaped and while a few look like hearts most are oblong with slightly pointy ends but more oblong than pear I would say. I will look again at the NAR as they might not be completely ripe. I was going to wait until the other varieties showed color before I reported anything. I was just wondering if anyone else was having any problems. From Baker Creek I got Green Zebra, Cherokee Purple, Kelloggs Breakfast, Pantano Romenesco, and Stupice. All of those excluding KB (which have not blushed) are looking good. Also I grew Yellow Brandywine, Black Krim, German Pink, and another variety that I got as a local heirloom that are all looking good. I will gather more info and see if I can figure anything out on my end but it looks like some are not showing true to anything that I was growing.

Upon further review:

I think the NAR are OK. I was either looking at the wrong plant or thought it was blushing pink. I have one on now that looks like it will be red.

I think what I thought was Italian Heirloom are in fact Anna Russian. Wispy foliage and the immature fruit are dead ringers on tatanias database. They were early as was reported. I would say they are more orange red than pinkish red though.

So either I have blundered badly, but only with the seeds from one vender or they are mis-labeled. All the packages are identical except for a printed label. I am going to try to start more seed and see if I can get them up big enough to at least identify them if not get some mature fruit. It's going to be pushing it with average first frost being early to mid-October. I do hope it was my mistake. I will report my findings. Thanks Carolyn.

There are two kindsof Powdery Mildew so I'm asksing where, specifically are you growing your tomatoes,in a geographic sense,such as coastal CA, coasta lFL, hot humid south with plants too close together or otherwise
,so it might help if you did that.

The treatment for both is the same,a good anti-fungal, but first take off and dispose of all affected foliage before you treat with any ant-fungals.

Carolyn

Yep I did prune as much as i can, as for the whole GMO thing I dont even understand it, I just want to use a pesticide/fungicide that not going to have me keel over if i eat my own tomatoes lol. As for why I want a "3 in 1" spray is because I am a newcomer to gardening. Much like my mature plant paid the price when I just jumped into using miracle grow.

I see some occasional bite holes, and the powery mildew is indeed on my two youngest plants. But Im trying keeping it simple as possible. Thats why i went with the tomato spikes. Helped the Nitrogen burnt plant recover and flourish. Meanwhile keeps me error free.
Also Im in the midwest,Nebraska to be exact. we've had some unseasonably friendly weather. Its late july and were are hitting 70s tops. Usually in the 90s. Sparse rain, but here in the midwest anythign we get...is usually too much lol.

Nothing you can do given the situation in the pic except some massive pruning which will only make problems worse for all. I'd root some cuttings from the one you want to save and then plant them elsewhere. It is still early enough in the season to get some fruit from them. Meanwhile leave this one alone and see what it does. Consider it a good learning experience for the future.

Dave

Thanks Weicker and Dave. I appreciate the fast responses.

I never thought about a later setting variety. It makes perfect sense though. I know it doesn't look it but there wouldn't be much pruning except to remove some of that flowering cilantro(the trellised vines of the loner plant are right there). I may try that and root some cuttings but I will leave everything else alone.

This is all one giant learning experience Dave! I think that is what I enjoy most about gardening outside of the satisfaction of growing my own food. :)

Eugene - I sent you an email.

Dave

I have had this problem this year and so have 2 other friends that live 10 miles and 12 miles away. I took my leaves & soil the CSU diagnostic lab and they said it was herbicide damage from contaminated horse and cow manure! The worst part is that the hay meadows were sprayed with herbicide to kill thistles, the animals ate the hay, the herbicide went through unchanged, the manure was 6 years old. Dang! It was still toxic to tomatoes even after being in the environment that long.

We washed all the soil off of the damaged tomatoes and repotted in potting soil. They really didn't improve but the new plants in potting soil are fine.

The people in the lab said that the fruit is PROBABLY okay to eat.... DANG again!

So today is the 22nd, figured I would give an update on the plant. Can't say im seeing any progress, certainly not seeing any new growth.

leaves :still burnt
Stem: still looks green:
Conclusion? I dunno...

The plant had up to 8 flowering buds over the last 2-3 days. now they are gone. Not sure if that is a good or bad sign.

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv327/MechPilot2/WP_000341_zps63bda2ae.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv327/MechPilot2/WP_000344_zps86dbaf1d.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv327/MechPilot2/WP_000342_zps6a09d3a0.jpg

So im curious what the heck does one do with a (Dead plant)? just dig up and toss it aside?

welp after some weeks of careful pruning, and using the jobe tomato spikes http://www.amazon.com/Jobes-6005-18-Pack-Outdoor-Fertilizer/dp/B001REDIZ2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1405700098&sr=8-2&keywords=jobe+spikes

I must say digdirt knew what he was talkin about all along. The plant would indeed recover. No only that its got tons of fruit!

pics

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv327/MechPilot2/WP_000382_zps0c687c07.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv327/MechPilot2/WP_000376_zps362d3a43.jpg

http://s696.photobucket.com/user/MechPilot2/media/WP_000385_zps7ac75fc6.jpg.html?sort=3&o=3

thx again! knew coming here would pay off =)

Looks like late blight.
Facilitated by overhead water -- rainfall or from a "helpful" gardener -- during warm weather.
If so, you'll know soon enough because the plants die in short order.

It really might be late blight upon better inspection and reading about it on the internet. And yes, many people have the same problem. The weather last two months has been exceptionally good for molds and similar. Not so hot as it should be, lots of humidity and loads of rainfall.

So the best thing is to remove the affected plants to minimize the possibility of disease spreading to other plants?

Is there really no chance in them surviving this? And how long does it usually take for the sick plants to die off? A few days, maybe a week or a couple of weeks?

Did you plant different varieties this year (indeterminate whereas last year were determinates)?

Thanks everyone.... Yea I trained and pulled suckers last year but had to go back and forth a lot from my house to my parents so was unable too keep up. However I sniped off a lot of the long stretchers. He'll some were 6ft long going from the back of the garden to the front. I even pulled 2hole plants out that seemed to be slacking due to no light getting into the hole garden. While my other tomatoe plants are breaking the metal cages and my hot peppers are not hot so. Maybe to much water That's my next issue also

ha ha, am reading Teaming with microbes now. Good stuff!
How did you find Teaming with nutrients- I heard it is pretty heavy read...

Haha great minds think alike! Excellent read, right?! I'm midway myself..
Teaming with Nutrients is on Amazon! They have soooo many excellent books.. You'd probably benefit from "Compost Tea Making" as well - with your current endeavors.. I just got it and am cheating in between the "Teamings" lol..

"Compost Tea Making" - (copy and paste)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1452822972/ref=mp_s_a_1_sc_1?qid=1405646337&sr=8-1-spell&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70

I just discovered that Casady's Folly is a wispy leafed variety.. Is that what you were referring to as "skinny heart?" I'll tell ya, although the leaves are smaller than average, they're sooo numerous that the surface area is surely comparable.. Of course there are so many wonderfully different varieties so perhaps you had a particular one in mind...?

Here is a link that might be useful: Teaming with nutes

Have you considered adding ladybugs to your garden?

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