16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

In a general way they are all symptomatic of catfacing and classed at that but with some fused fruit (fasciated blooms) and some zippering in this last pic. All are relatively common with early blooms and can affect most any variety. Some research indicates it is more common with potato leaf varieties but is far from exclusive to them.

It is usually a result of cool temps at the time of pollination In some cases the sepals of the bloom may adhere to the fruit and cause them to be deformed, in some cases a second fruit or a partially pollinated ovule (as in the tiny one near the stem in the next to last photo) are incorporated into the dominant fruit causing the deformity. and zippering can be caused by all sorts of damage or injury including all of the above.

But none of them preventable in the usual sense of the word as they are primarily weather related and none are indicative of pests or disease. They are simply classed as physiological damages. The fruits are still edible and later fruit seldom displays the same symptoms.

Your yellow leaves you asked about is another matter. That is mostly nutrient related (based on the photos) and while you will lose the leaves already damaged, since you are feeding them the new growth should be healthy.

Hope this helps.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Physiological, Nutritional, and Other Disorders of Tomato Fruit

Definitely your very first picture depict a defect due to some possible culprits damage. One can see the chewing marks.

In the above two picture also they are not typical catfacing either (IMO) catfacing is normally centered around the blossom point, not on the side or stem end.
This is my understanding of Catfacing. It starts at pollination and shortly after that can be visible. Any crack and/or defect developed later is not a catfacing.

Thanks all. I did some reading and I'm guessing the problem is that I've been overwatering the past few days. I wouldn't have guessed that just a few days would have such a big impact, but earlier fruits did not have this problem and the only change is that I've been watering more often.

I've been kind of winging it on watering up to now. That has worked OK for hot peppers in the past, but I gather maters are more sensitive about such things. I guess I'd better go get some dowels.

The good news is that you caught them quickly, and not when the tomatoes were almost full sized.

Over-watering or abnormally high amounts of rain - a common problem for much of the country this year - is one of the major contributing factors to lack of taste.

Dave

In the link below Tania explains some of the info about this variety that many of us have problems with.

Baker Creek is not the only source of seeds, see link below, but as I recall Solana in Canada does not ship to the US, Diane's Flowers is in the US.

Tania notes that SESE lists it as Black Brandywine, which is wrong, but two folks from SESE in VA will be visiting me on WED and I'll call that to their attention.

Carolyn, who has never eliminated a variety that comes well recommended, or even a new one, if it doesn't perform in one season. Just too many variables associated with weather especially, as Dave noted above.

Here is a link that might be useful: True ??? Black brandywine

(deleted duplicate sorry)

This post was edited by slowjane on Mon, Jun 30, 14 at 13:52

Yes, the infamous microclimates of the LA area....still getting my head around it. I moved a couple miles north a year ago, and I swear the weather is different, because we're over the hill on the valley side of LA now - from Sunset 23 to Sunset 20/21

Sunset Gardening description: "The combination of weather influences described for Zone 20 applies to Zone 21 as well. Your garden can be in ocean air or a high fog one day and in a mass of interior air (perhaps a drying Santa Ana wind from the desert) the next day."

Right now highs are mid 80's and lows are mid 60's, with a whopping 80% humidity that makes me feel like I'm in Massachusetts.

I'm thinking that since my garden is so small - I might pull the plants as they stop producing and put in a new plant. Or even a clone from one I've got now? And perhaps do a second tomato season like Dave suggested.....if I can bring myself to actually pull out one of these plants....

Do folks ever take a cutting and cultivate a clone for a second planting in the same year?

Sorry, I didn't realize that it wasn't clear both BX and HP were made by ProMix. HP has more perlite, no vermiliculite, less peat according to website. About 10% less peat than BX.

I may try to find a source for the mycorrizae and mix my own in the future, but I really don't like working with perlite (I've bought bags in the past and used it to lighten a mix). Creates a lot of dust. Have to wear a mask if mixing it in volume. Same with lime, unless you use pelletized lime.

Here is a link that might be useful: HP ingredients

HP has more perlite, no vermiliculite, less peat according to website. About 10% less peat than BX.
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Vermiculite is what makes soil mix more than wet, "Soggy". It absorbs many times its weight in moisture (water) and expands in volume. I think that is what make some commercial soils "Moisture Control". That on top of peat moss base make together a bad combination, IMO. Then they come and add perlite to it to nullify the effect. Just does not make sense to me.

Maybe leave 2 for a little while just to make sure at least 1 survives and no accidents happen. You can always cull the other one in a week or so.

Now that you have them, leave 2, (furthest apart in the clump). I am experimenting with double planting. I think 2 of them together may be able to produce as much as a single. But more than two will be crowd. Double planting is quite common in cucumbers, melons and tomatoes cousin potatoes. The difficulty here is managing the top. With good cage and staking that can be handled.

What zone are you? It maybe too hot and not getting enough water that is what it looks like, Beefsteak will burn and dry out faster then cherry varieties.

Zone 6 / 7 mid TN. Is beefsteak more water-sensitive than other non-cherry tomatoes?

Well it is your choice, but in my opinion planting tomatoes in stages in zone 7b, is not going to make a big difference. The reason being that once a tomato plant comes into production, it should last for months. In locations with long growing season like southern coastal Califirnia , with 8 to 10 months of tomato season some plants might get tired but I dont know when is your end of season (FFD ). In my 7B/8 zone we have 5.5 months of practical growing season length.

LKZZ said " I usually end my tomato growing by mid-July because of early blight".
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My tomatoes are also usually so heavily infected with disease, It is better to start new tomatoes rather than try to control the disease on the existing tomatoes. That is the reason LKZZ is staggering the plantings. That probably won't work very well because the diseases are easily spread from the old tomatoes to the new tomatoes. Next year I will try Daconil as a preventative.

So even though this yellowing happened in a matter of 5 hrs, your saying it is a nutrient deficiency?

No, I was saying it is a combination of issues but leaving it in the bucket filled with topsoil feeding was the only one you could fix.

By transplanting it into the ground, assuming it survives and bounce back will help. But you will still have to feed it.

I would like to stay organic with the plant, what would your recommendation be?

As I said above, one of the fish/kelp blend liquid supplements works well.

Dave

I have a theory :
I think you can even pot with/in garden soil provided:

-- It has adequate drainage and porosity.
Medium has a role, that is to store right amount of moisture and nutrient.

You can do this by adding perlite and pine bark fines, for example, to it.
As I have read, plants roots also need air (Oxygen). So the problem with garden soil in small containers is compaction and with that comes lack of air, unless it gets real dry.
Plants can take much water provided with that also comes oxygen.

I can't see those spindly stems supporting any tomatoes, if they even produce any. Are you sure there's only two plants? Looks like multiple stems coming out of the ground in both places. If your season is long enough, it's probably a good idea to take those cuttings and start again, or dig one up and put it in a more ideal spot...it's not going to amount to much in its present location.

Thank you all for the sympathy and advice. I'll take cuttings.

Plaidbird, that area of concrete/brick is already growing lots of tomatoes. And a couple of herbs. Heat isn't really a problem here in coastal South Carolina, but this garden definitely has more shade than I've had to deal with before.

I can't see the graft point in your photo. Hopefully it is well above the soil line somewhere. If not it should be. If it is then the choice of what to remove as I outlined above is yours.

Assuming your balcony railing is of average height then your plant is still relatively short compared to what it would be normally. Next year pick a determinate variety instead or plan on a much better support system then what you have now.

Dave

Thanks for the advice guys! I admittedly got over excited at the prospect of growing a grafted tomato, that has apparently won all kinds of taste awards. I'm going to have to plan this one better next year! These things better taste good! :-)

I'm with Carolyn on this. Tomatoes cease flowering/fruiting above 90F.

Have you considered temporary shading to keep their temperatures a little lower?

Well, flowers not fruiting is a separate problem from plants not flowering.

As to the former, I'll take my chances. Costalutos are well known to be pretty heat tolerant, and I've had good luck with them in the summer months previously. The fruiting had stopped in May of this year, with high temps in the 80s. But I'm not sure that shading is going to make a big difference. The air temp is what counts.

I tried many staking and twine systems when I started. But concrete remesh cages are the way to go. I tried them once 20 years ago and never looked back. And they are all still working just great.

I use cut up old t-shirt strips to tie the vines to the supports. They're gentle on the budget (free) and gentle on the plants (stretchy and soft), and gentle on the environment (recycled cotton, not plastic or whatever). Cut 2 inches wide and 10 inches long and you can get 30 or so ties from one shirt.

The only organic fertilizer that I use is Manure (Cow, horse, chicken). And I use them as amendments not really as fertilizers.

I have respect to those who practice organic fertlizing, but I have come to believe that when it comes to fertilizing it make no or very little difference to the plants whether it is inorganic or organic. Furthermore the effect cannot be detected in the final product (fruits, veggies). To me the most significant aspect of organic fertilizing is the concern for the environment. Inorganic fertilizers, used in excess, can become environmentally pollutant.

The slight purple color in the leaves concerns me. Most likely, this is a phosphorous deficiency. You want to water in a liquid fertilizer with a low nitrogen number and a high middle number. A last high number won't hurt, so something like 2-6-6 or 2-8-6.

I happen to use WOW which is like 9-2-2 or something (it changes) and N-Lite which is like 2-6-6, so I can apply them differently as needed. Something like the N-Lite should help.