16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

Oh no Edie!

Thanks very much for the warning. I didn't think that tomatoes suffered from vine borers either. Shows how much I know!

Linda

Carolyn, as I garden in limited space community veggie area, I have no way of rotating my plants, they are all nightshades, so if this one is vercillium which probably is, so my option is to graft next year to rootstock like Celebrity which has at least some resistance to vercillium and 2 types of fusarium just in case...
Fungal issues are run abound at community gardens but there is no resistant to Septoria and Early Blight rootstocks... not greatly familiar with subject so my way of thinking might need corrections...
Just broke down and finally bought aerated compost tea brewer, pricey one from KIS. Hoping this will help as well.
Here is my tomato haul, Noir De Crimee, Bychie Serdse, Koroleva and Biyskaya Roza. They probably need another couple of days of ripening...

Dwarf Rosella Purple is supposed to be as tasty as any black tomato, but it's larger than a grape or cherry tomato.

I really like cherry tomatoes too, and there are several early red and yellow varieties that do well in containers, but apparently no black ones.

You might like the taste of black cherry, chocolate cherry or black plum, but they all seem to be indeterminates. At least it will be fun to grow them on your balcony! One suggestion would be to grow them on strings that can be lowered and curled around, as they do in commercial greenhouses.

Linda

http://www.heirloomtomatoplants.com/Small%20Plants,%20Patio%20Garden%20Plants.htm

There are two black varieties listed here that are short, although larger than a cherry.

Linda

It so happens that as you know, SanMarzano is a BER prone. It has nothing to do with the containers size. But on the other hand you should've supplemented your potting soil with some form of calcium. For example, MG Shake n Feed granular slow release has calcium in it. Or adding some dolomitic lime could also be another option.

But Your plants look very healthy and happy, to me.

I don't want to hi-jack this thread, but I'll respond quickly and say that I did incorporate dolomite when I "prepped" the buckets in mid-March. When I transplanted in mid-May, the dolomite had distributed nicely within the moist mix. I think my localized climate with cool nights at the time of first blossom set (mid 40s) combined with very warm days nearing 100 contributed more to the BER than calcium. All in all, no complaints. It's fun learning what works well and what doesn't work.

I tried my first ripe tomato today, bison heirloom. It was smallish, juicy and tangy. The others amish paste, and better bush hybrid are not yet ripe. I know better bush is a great tasting tomato because I grew it last year :)

Well our CP hasn't came in yet (planted late) but the brandy boy is AMAZING! Both when red and/or Fried Green tomatoes!

Thanks Sharonie, for clarification.
I am happy that JBT is a great tasting tomato. I am also growing Kumato and Cherokee purple in that category. I have grown CP before and liked it a lot.

moosemac, you may have unveiled a secret. Sometimes original color might not indicate ripeness.

Growing Indigo Berries this summer, just started harvesting them last week.

They started out very dark purplish, but when fully ripe, are almost a rose color with little splotches of dark brownish coloring on the "shoulders". So they don't really stay indigo once they are ripe and at their best to consume :(. Seems to defeat the purpose, unless you like growing them ornamentally so that they can look pretty on the plant before they mature.

Flavor wise, they're okay. Not terribly sweet, but a good strong tomato flavor.

Overall, I wasn't impressed. Probably won't be growing them again.

You don't say where you live and garden which is important since Curly Top Virus is only found in western states, is transmitted by Beet Leaf Hoppers and is a real problem for folks who especially live near sugar beet fields.

The leaf hoppers descend ,not just on one plant,but usually almost all plants in a garden.

So no, I doubt CurlyTop Virus,

Curly leaves, upside down leaves, etc., can be due to several reasons , but methinks I'll let others describe those since I'm still recovering from lack of sleep from the wicked storms of yesterday and days before and am going to take a nap after I'm through at GW right now.( smile)

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Curly Top Virus

Thank you so much Carolyn!

I do NOT live in western US. (NorthEast actually) Phew! Well, that at least eliminates 1 virus from the list. Lol.

Sadly, I've had such poor luck with my tomato plants this year. Up to date I have lost 3 seedlings. 1 to heat stroke (maybe??) and the other 2 were malnourished and perhaps infected. I of course helped their demise by overpruning them.

Now, I am left with 5 tomato plants. All of different variety.

2 were from the previous batch (which have been pruned...but seem to be thriving)..and there are 3 newbies.

Of the 5 remaining, the Celebrity (which I purchased for it's disease resistence) is the only one with this curly leaf issue.

It has been relocated, but still same amount of care.

I am washing my hands between care of the plants (just in case).

The other 4 plants are

husky cherry red, patio, big boy, and yellow gold.

HOPING at least 1 of the 5 produces an edible batch of fruit to enjoy during it's season.

Hence my username. LOL.

Wish me luck, and thanks all for the support!

Happy and healthy growing to ALL! :)

I think it's safe to say that we all love everything Carolyn has to say! Belated Happy Birthday Caroline!

Now I understand what GW members mean when they say that the tomato has a "non acid - sweet taste!" I am not sure whether or not I like it? Maybe one acquires a taste for it? This Mortgage Lifter Bicolor Version certainly has a "sweet taste!" IMO

The herbicide theory is not convincing, the way you have outlined it. UNLESS the county/neighbors used herbicide that its drift touched your plants.

One of the such herbicide contamination tests is to plant tomato seedlings in it . It will show better because the younger plants are more sensitive to it. Now your plants have been there for months and the herbicide residue was hiding somewhere !!

OP, those kind of temps happen all over the Country all the time summer after summer. Nothing unusual about them. A few days in the upper 90s is not going to cause the symptoms your plants are showing.

First CP I picked was a double bloom fruit and was big for that cultivar. It was my first ripe tomato...sweeter than I remembered that type being but good none the less. I have 17 of these and they all have done well. The neighbor behind my home is addicted to the Indian tomatoes and he is past 80 so I grew xtra plants just for him. One of his relatives is a missionary and took the seeds to Africa so I will be eager to hear about those.

The one year I grew CP, it seemed, like Seysonn said, more prone to fused flowers then a lot of the other tomatoes I've grown. No problem, just an extra big tomato for me ;).

I'll get more pictures in the morning. Not chance of weed killer that I know of. My garden is close to the buckets and there are no issues with those plants. They are in my yard and I don't use herbicides and the no one lives next door. The fertilizer I used is miracle grow for tomatoes18-18-21. I have no clue what else could be causing it. I have 6 different bucket and the all did the same thing on the same day. The weather at night has dropped about 15 degrees and 10-15 during the day. From what I read it looks like some type of stress. I haven't overly watered of anything I have slowed down some watering in the buckets.

Leaves curling like that can be due to various causes.

1- Soggy soil : this is not the sams as overwatering. If your medis is well drained you can water as much as you want. The only drawback will be washing down then nutrients. In this case a pale/yellowish foliage will be an indicator. Sogg soil keeps the air/oxygen out of reach of the root system, causing stressful conditions.

2- Certain varieties are prone to lave curling. I know two examples: Black Krim and Indigo Rose. There can be others.

3- Pests: Some pests also can cause leaf curling.

Herbicide seems to be an easy target, to me. But it is not the sole cause.

I will find the info and get back from you. I believe it is from a University. Mike

Check out Cornell University research paper- Managing late blight in tomato and potato- An essential part of gardening.
www.longislandhort.cornell.edu/vegpath/late. Check out Cornell chronicle as well on Iron Lady tomatoes. http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2013/03/ready-plant-iron-lady-tomato-punches-out-blights

There are other articles that support this position, however I am certainly not an expert, just looking for answers too

I buy a skein (or whatever it's called) of avocado color yarn and tie my plants higher up as they grow, using cedar stakes that are super tall. Maybe 7 feet. The skein lasts forever. I like the yarn because it matches the color of the leaves. Any guys reading this are probably rolling their eyes. LOL.

I grew several of them last year but this year I decide not to be bothered with S100. The fruits were mostly too small for me and the plants were like out of Dr. Frankstein's lab. I am growing a bigger red cherry and Sun Gold. So far, SG fruits are quite larger than cherry.

Then of course, I realize that we have different taste and preferences. So go for it!

hey Linda,
It makes no sense for me to find out whether it will breed true or not though I don't mind offering you some tomato seeds, the weather here is same all year round as I live in a tropical country which is hot and humid, humidity is around 90% all year round. So my tomatoes plants won't die, a tomato plant can live at least 5 years, and if I need new plants, I can just cut off the suckers and plant it and it will be true to type as it is part of the old plant. And if I do grow and save seeds and with my original plants, assuming if it is not true or it is a f1 hybrid, there is no way to know because the flower or pollens will mix so I won't be able to tell the difference, assuming if indeed mine is a F1 hybrid and i give you the seed and you plant again over and over again, you will know the difference, so I won't mind sending you seeds if I have extra seeds and if I want to send that is for you to test it out. My one month old tomatoes plants now have around 10 flower buds each plant and i have six of them and they are growing real fast because tomatoes thrive in hot weather.

http://www.gourmetgenetics.com/tomato/aperitif.html

According to the above link, from the company who bred Sweet Aperitif, it's NOT a hybrid, but some seed vendors would have us think that it is - sigh.

Thank you Monashguy for your very kind offer to send me some seeds, but I have quite a collection of tomato seeds that I'm keen to try next year, and enough room to grow them all.

You are so lucky to live in the tropics where you can grow tomatoes year-round! I am very envious!

Regards,
Linda