16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

I have several cages made with 2x4 welded wire mesh. You just take some wire cutters and cut several random, scattered 4x4 or 4x6" holes in the cage. Works fine.

Dave

This year i have two each of 8 varieties. I picked the flowers off half of them. so far there is no noticeable difference in plant growth (both are thriving) and a few of those original flowers set fruit and are sizing up nicely. Others seem to have aborted. Since it doesn't seem to have affected their initial growth I will probably leave the flowers on in coming years, but I may do the same thing next year as a second test.

The varieties I planted are below. All had flowers or buds when I transplanted them on May 3rd.

Cherry Roma (seemed to abort many of the early flowers, but there are a few tiny fruit).
Park's Whopper (seemed to get fruit from all (most?) early flowers and is sizing up nicely),
Black Krim (some fruit)
German Pink (No fruit yet)
Marianna's Peace (no fruit yet)
Kosovo (some fruit and sizing up very nicely. this one might be my surprise winner for early toms)
Opalka (no fruit yet)
Italian Heirloom (most flowers seem to have aborted but I have one tomato)

Those that I pinched the flowers off have no fruit but have lots of new flower/bud trusses (trusses?) so, even though the growth seems to be similar, perhaps they will set more fruit later in the season. But, I really haven't paid close attention to which ones have the most flowers. I suppose time will tell.

-jon

ps. i really appreciate all of the regular responders on this forum. I have learned so much. thanks.

Good job on #1. On #2 they aren't the wasps you see. The parasitic wasps are very tiny ones of the family but as you apparently have them - then go wasps!

#3 has some problematic assumptions in it.

First, Lime if it doesn't screw up your soil pH which is easy to do when using it can be a good source of calcium if you use the right type - there are several different forms. But no, you sure don't need to re-apply any more of it.

It should never be applied without first knowing your soil pH. For example my native soil has a pH of 8.4. If I added lime nothing much would grow at all. Sometimes in our enthusiasm to fix one issue we manage to screw up even more things so well-informed baby steps usually work better.

Second, most soils have sufficient calcium already in them, calcium poor soil is very rare in the US and when one does find low-calcium soil there are much better ways of supplementing it.. Extensive testing has proven that tomatoes with BER also have sufficient calcium in them. It is just poorly distributed. That poor distribution is tied to - wait for it - watering as explained in the FAQ. :)

Also, the soil where they are planted is always really moist and I water well.

Is not necessarily good. Overly wet, poorly draining soil and over-watering contributes to BER just as much as under-watering or overly dry soil does. Most inexperienced gardeners way over-water and more plants are killed by over-watering than by anything else.

The goal with tomatoes is consistency of a low soil moisture level. That usually means watering slowly, deeply and less frequently and only watering when the soil at the root level 6-8" down needs it. Obviously container plants will require more frequent watering than in-ground plants. The containers also require regular nutrient supplements.

So you may well need not only find out what your soil pH is and fix it but also to do some more research and evaluation of your watering regimen and soil permeability/drainage.

Dave

Just want to add - do a soil test not only to check pH, NPK, Ca but also Mg. If you need to raise the pH by adding lime, you will get Ca from calcitic lime but also Mg from dolomitic lime. My native soil is very low pH (around 4.9 -5.0) and a little low in Ca but high in Mg so when I lime I use calcitic never dolomitic.

As a general guideline, container plants require regular feedings as nutrients leach out of the soil every time you water. So while you definitely need to stop the daily watering as Ed said above, you also need to regularly replace the nutrients.

Many, myself included, find that liquid supplements that can be mixed in with your water work better than any dry/granular supplement. A common recommendation on the Container Gardening forum is to use a full-spectrum, liquid fertilizer, diluted to 1/2 strength weekly.

All fertilizers are not the same. Sustane is an organic compost-based supplement intended for use in in-ground beds and on lawns where there is an active soil micro herd in the soil to convert it to usable nutrients. It is not intended for container use as there is no soil bacteria/soil food web to convert it into plant-usable nutrients.

If you only want to use organics then there are literally 100's of organic liquid supplements available that will work far better for your plants - fish and/or kelp mixtures, compost teas, worm castings and teas, (see link below for just a few examples). Otherwise use one of the many synthetics available that are intended to be dissolved in water.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: examples of liquid organic supplements

Thanks Dave

I said elsewhere that I've had noticeable fungi in one particular bed for maybe two months now. I'll include the pic again. Same bed, maybe the same fungus. It seems to always be an artifact of actively rotting wood shreds. This bed is full of flowers and it's a jungle. The fungi are all part of the system.

CANNOT get rid of them, are they bad for the plants?

Runner22-

The point is, as was explained before you posted your question, is you don't need to get rid of them. They pose no threat to you or your plants in any way and are generally considered a good sign of healthy soil.

Dave

I like John's idea if you have the space. I had a bunch of tomato plants zapped by a late freeze and did just that: bought some new, but left the zapped ones (I don't have a huge number of plants and there was room for both Teams A&B). Some of the B Team expired, but some are now vigorously producing.

After 2 months of no care while stuck in a cell pack? Sorry, I agree with Jean - toss them. They are well-stunted and their circulatory system is severely damaged already. Even if one was to survive it would be very prone to pests and diseases and wouldn't be a productive plant or worth the time and effort of trying to save it.

Dave

Yes! Leaf-roller it is! Thanks for that suggestion!

Surprisingly, I couldn't find much by Googling "leaf roller caterpillar" and "tomato," but I did come up with the GW thread below with a pic. The monster in the pic is much larger than the ones I squished this morning! The ones on my plants were even slightly translucent, mostly dark green.

-Bruce

Here is a link that might be useful: Leaf roller thread

I get them about the size of yours.... 1/2" to 3/4" but not on my tomatoes. Mostly on my blueberries, raspberries, and apple trees.

Third image. It's hard to tell, but some of the edges on lower leaves have small dried-up edges and/or little dried-up spots.

This post was edited by Stella_z6 on Mon, Jun 2, 14 at 13:56

Hi, just posting again to knock this post higher up the thread. Still wondering if anyone has any ideas what might be causing this group of tomato plants to curl upward, look stunted, and have some slight darkish discoloration.

Maybe it was early exposure to cold weather? If so, I imagine I'll just have to wait and see if these plants bounce back? I'm tempted now to replace them, since I don't have scads of garden space, although I'd be sorry to give up on these plants.

Many thanks again.

Harden?

Harden?

To gradually accustom a plant to more difficult living conditions

Plants need to be "hardened-off", an adjustment process that takes 7-10 days to gradually adjust to a new environment prior to transplanting outside.

So were these plants purchased or did you grow them from seed? If bought were they outside or inside? If you grew them did you move them directly out from growing inside to the outside rather than giving them a period of adjustment?

Dave

PS: are you sure there was no damage to the stem done when transplanting?

Thank you for the insider knowledge regarding member approval.

When I didn't get the acceptance email first thing Monday morning, I figured it was something like that, since I can see by viewing it's well run.

That's going to be a long hard task to catch up. Been there, done that...it's like keeping the dishes done or the weeds pulled. As long as you do a bit every day, it's not so bad, but can become a monumental problem if left too long.

I'm just grateful I can view the carefully gathered information. It's a treasure for sure.

So thank you to all of you more experienced tomato folks that take you time to guide the rest of us, not only here, but on other sites as well. I'm a very experienced gardener, but tomatoes are not my specialty at all, So I'm here and there lurking and admiring your plants. Inspiring !

The only actual insider knowledge I have is that now when we get new members we get A LOT all at once and that is because the owner carefully screens out spammers. I am guessing he sets aside as much time as he can to process new members, working around the constraints of family, employment, his own garden, etc.

I can only imagine that every thing is much more time consuming now that we are nearly 15,000 members. But, we are still getting new members approved so hang in.

hahahahha

Hummm ... and in the off season that would be perfect for dandelion removal.

My evil twin made me post it!

Yes, BLT with white cheese. It was a Dwarf Wild Fred that set while it was still in a pretty small pot. I read online that somebody said it wasn't worth planting so I never did. I did keep feeding it often with a balanced liquid fert so I could taste it, and it turned out to be very good. Now it is in a 5 gallon bucket and Wild Fred will surely be invited back!

Some folks say it taste like Cherokee Purple, I am probably the only woman in America who has never tasted one. The actual patents are Carbon and New Big Dwarf.

Last year I couldn't wait for a sandwich so I cut a bunch of Sungolds in half. It was pretty damn good.

O ! That is interesting. Now you know the trick how to grow a variegated tomato plant : D

"And the most recent issue with them has cropped up in just the past couple of years - sprayed mulches and compost containing sprayed ingredients that is brought in as tomato garden mulches and can still damage the plants."

^ this should be considered posted above by Dave.

The past couple weeks i have collected a bookmark file of conflicting pics and guessing on this issue with tomatoes. 50/50 split between drifting round-up and iron/nutrients, and some tap water issues, etc.

I may have mentioned a month or more ago about how odd my potting-up mix seemed. With-in days it seemed hard and dense and ashen looking. I switched to pro mix and started using my rain barrel water...though did not keep notes on individual pots, but my later, and properly timed tray of starts are fine. (started three weeks later than the early trays)...
I have maybe six out of a hundred peppered throughout my starts that are showing this pale yellowing in the center of fresh growth...

I used that questionable soil in a few 5 gal pots and put in a few toms that were way to big to wait for in-ground planting....(my bad for starting too early), but 'all' those toms are showing pale centers...now about three weeks later...A light hit with iron last weekend a few have recovered...one that had gone much more pale white did not. -still very much alive but the few leaves affected did not.

Spray drift can travel miles. On a clear sunny calm day.
Two systems can collide and lift without notice. Or in the time it takes to go in and refresh your coffee to return moments later and your folded newspaper is all over the lawn...

I'm not quite convinced that 6 out of a hundred random starts would be round-up drift.

One house maybe a 1/2 mile up the road might spray weeds...a tidy home...lawn art, fake wishing well, seasonal banner flags...'happy spring', and sports 'go Nicks'...a ring of glossy painted rocks around the mailbox refreshed every year...a very green lawn.
The rest of us are deep in a natural forest landscape....home of hosta and ferns. No one near me has a veg garden...or much of a lawn to speak of...just not possible. My starts have been outside and need to be moved around to get the slivers of sun near our driveway on various tables set up...
All will travel to the mountain garden and planted this weekend...finally. Some have been planted and some are in a southern window in the barn...curious how they are doing...