16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
How are everyone's tomatoes beginning the month of June? Mine are growing and making little tomatoes. I planted both closed containers and draining containers to see if they show a difference. I used lots of coarse coir for both and am watering the same amount, also feeding live aerated Tea with a measuring cup to be sure everything is the same. Some of my closed containers are clear so I'm watching the moisture through them, to respond to all the plants, of course, keeping an eye on all the exposed plant parts. Still can not decide to prune or not, thinking same ones I have two, will try pruning one Indigo Apple and not the other to compare. Hope all of you are enjoying the process as much as we are here!
In the past I have planted 1 tomato (better boys) one per each sq ft in a 4x4 sq ft raised bed next to a 4 x5 trelis. I then pruned each plant to one vine. I got less tomatos per plant but more tomatos per linear ft. It was a wall of solid tomatos...I got this method from the sq ft garden gook. I'm not smart enough to dream this stuff up
by myself.
Congrats Johns, you built a nice set up for your toms !
I admired all the stuff you guys build for your toms and spent my winter months dreaming about your various ways.
Finally, as I have two left hands and a job that keeps me too busy for my taste, I decided to let my plants do as they like.
I guess it'll end up with crawling toms on boxes.
And more mockery and hypocrite smiles from my neighbors.
Well never mind, anyway I sucked so much from the start that the 50 ones which survived out of 210 seeds have gone through a real darwinian selection ;-)
I assume those 50 ones are pretty life loving toms who can take care of themselves alone.
But I'll never stop admiring your dexterity !
Francoise ... I could post a close up that shows how I sometimes miss a nail with a hammer by a country mile ;-)
(The important joints are screwed, but the feet are nailed on.)
This post was edited by johns.coastal.patio on Mon, Jun 2, 14 at 11:12
Yes I got my info from the same thread. It is a brief pictorial timeline, nevertheless very useful. I have no idea about its accuracy though. But I just take its numbers as ball park figures. Obviously a small fruiting or cherry tomato is not going to act like a beef steak.
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Since they were planted more than 2 weeks ago then it sounds as if they are on track and behaving normally. So no I don't see any reason why they would need to be replaced.
If you feel it is stressing the plant for some reason then you can always pinch off the blooms but usually, once transplanted, there is no need to remove any blooms that develop. If the plant can't support them then they don't set fruit and the plant drops them. Which is common with the first flush of blooms.
Dave
If these cherries are indeterminates, their normal growth pattern is for 3 leaves (compound leaves), followed by a truss of blossoms. That pattern repeats until frost.
And of course a new branch is likely to appear in the angle between each leaf and stem.
Determinate and semi-determinate varieties follow other growth patterns.
My soil is roughly 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 vermiculite in a 14-16" raised bed. The native clay soils here are the reason for that. Good location and at least 8-10 hours of sun per day. The plants are green though I did lose one. I am under the assumption a critter found it because the soil looked disturbed and not much was left other than the roots. The rest appear to be taking their sweet old time. Temps at night have been 50s and maybe lower. I love the way everyone wants to help here! So cool for a newbie like me to learn!
Edit: Is there a simple fix I can do to keep temps up over my plants overnight? Like using gallon jugs that are halved or something? Temps here at night are looking to stay about 60 for the next ten days.
This post was edited by ApacheRosePea00 on Sun, Jun 1, 14 at 19:25
Looks like Downy Mildew in the second pic. Probably other issues too but would need more info. Container size, mix, nutrients, etc.
Is all the damage only on the lower, older leaves or new growth too? Strip off all the affected leaves, bag and dispose of them and spray with a good fungicide to see if you can get ahead of it. If it has an unaffected, healthy growing tip I'd take a cutting and root it so you have a replacement ready to go.
Good luck.
Dave
Good idea about a backup, didn't even think about that.I pinch off the yellow leaves and leave them on the soil so guess that's not a good idea, I'll remove. Thanks.
Yes, new growth look good - green, no curling, healthy looking though not as large of foliage as the bottom. But the curling and yellowing sure are catching up fast.
Container is 5 gal (or 4.75 if I did the math right), I know it's a bit too small. I saw someone's Gardener's Delight in a 5 gal pot and it did well but I know many factors can affect.
Mix is Kellogg's organic potting mix (specifically Patio Plus). I didn't add anything else other than Jobe's fertilizer (4-4-4) when I first transplanted it from the 4x4 container @ purchase to the 4.75 gal container, that was 6+ weeks ago.
Wonder if I will kill this plant after all. Man, I thought I was doing well.
I don't see anything wrong with the plant in the photo other than putting that tiny cage on it was a waste of time and effort as it is already outgrowing it. But as others have said a day or two of partial shade after transplanting is usually all that is needed for the plant to recover.
If it is a Big Boy it is going to need something far more substantial and 4x taller than that for support, but I have to say that plant was very likely mis-labeled. Based on the photo, Its growth pattern and node lengths certainly don't look like a Big Boy. It has the appearance and growth patterns of a determinate variety, not an indeterminate.
Dave
Nice, healthy looking plants Ellen!!!!!
I have some interesting plant protectors that I bought at a Gardener's Supply sale some years ago. They are about 2' tall opaque plastic "surrounds" (like a plant pot or a lamp shade with spikes cut into the plastic to insert into the soil. They also come with tops that snap on and are like an upside-down colander. I wish I had more of them! I put two on a couple of my plants to keep them a bit warmer and to see if they would do better than the other plants, and I think they have helped!
Linda
Very nice, Linda. That plant looks great.
I think WOW is a means of sheltering. I made small cages from rabbit fence and wrapped them with bubble wrap, They work fine but I did not do a side-by-side study to see how much of a difference it made. Certainly, if WOW works for you then that is all it counts.
Have a good season !
I wonder if a pot-in-pot setup would be useful here. Get a bigger pot. Fill it with a few inches of potting mix first. Put this pot in. Drive 3 stakes into the space between the pots and fill in the rest with potting mix.
How big is this pot anyway?
Alternatively, if you can't drive stakes into the ground, and you don't mind building stuff, you can put together a cage with whatever material that can stand on its own.
Someone here shared a design for a pvc tomato cage, for example:
Here is a link that might be useful: Pvc cage.
If you want to use the cage you already have, i think you could just stick it in now - won't cause too much root damage i don't think. and i would just leave the other one there. however, i agree that you may need more than that down the road - and a single stake inside that pot may not be very stable.
the pot-in-a-pot idea might be the cheapest solution - if you can get a big cheap plastic pot.
another forum member just built a trellis on a patio - see link below -
Here is a link that might be useful: johns trellis
Forecast low of 42 here for tonight, strong radiational cooling. I'll go into the upper 30s. Arrr! I seem to have been able to control some early blight on my containerized plants with judicious pruning, Daconil, and moving them to keep them dry. Ground planted indeterminates have no signs of disease, though they're still getting their twice-weekly mist of Daconil, too.
It's been a bad East of the Hudson Valley" spring. So while Edweather in central NY is doing fine, we're swimming in damp cold. Just the pattern we have. Today is another example. Low pressure meandering off the Cape and throwing back showers today to, well, right about 50 miles west of us. But our day will come!
Patrick...very nice description of your weather pattern. Hopefully it will change soon for you folks. Yes we have been fortunate in our little doughnut hole this year. Usually have huge May flooding rains, but not this year. Our nights have been chilly but the days make up for it.
I take all buds and blossoms off my indet and det seedlings after hardening them off and setting them outside at 6-9 inches.
The blossom cycle is abuot two weeks so I would not see blossoms again until then.
In the intervening time all energy produced from the plants will go into developing stems and foliage and a better root system, the vegetative cycle, instead of energy being shunted to the sexual cycle of blossoms and fruit set.
Carolyn
Were the plants all the same size in the 6 pack when you bought them? If not, it is possible the 2 stunted plants had been stunted due to injury or exposure before you bought them.
Is it possible that the stunted plants were more than 1 stem in the 6 pack? The plant on the left above is clearly 1 main stem but can't see the stem of the one on the right. Sometimes multiple plants will sprout in the same cell and if the extras are not removed all of them are stunted and some develop fused stems.
Are there any signs of insects on the underside of the leaves? Both aphids and especially Psyllids can stunt plants.
There are a couple of viral diseases that can cause stunting but if that was the cause one would expect the plant to look discolored and wilty too.
And can you tell me where you are located and how long the plants have been in the ground so there is some idea of the effects of weather if any?
Lastly, when planting was there any signs of soil dwelling pest like grubs etc. that could be damaging the roots of the 2 plants?
Thanks for additional info.
Dave
As I look at your plants ( 4 in the picture) they all appear very healthy, though different in size.
Other than what has been said:
Plants are like humans in a way. They are not 100% identical. If your Romas are hybrid, it is possible that maybe they came from different fruits or source or the seeds were not true.
I have about 4 Siletz that I have started them from seed and have planted them the same time, in the same bed. Some are more vigorous than the others.
But I would just take them as they are. If they are determinant, then it should fine to grow bushy.
Okay, I'll stop putting them out for awhile. Is there anything else I can do to help them recover?
Okay, I'll stop putting them out for awhile. Is there anything else I can do to help them recover?
Sorry but I don't think you understand what we are saying. You cannot radically change the environment of a plant without damage. The damage is done now since they weren't hardened off first so you might as well leave them out. The damaged parts will die and fall off but the new growth will slowly replace it and should be ok . Taking them back inside only to move them back out side later on will only reverse the progress made and then cause more damage.
Plants need to be very gradually - over a period of 7-10 days - exposed to the the outside when they have been grown indoors. This is called Hardening Off and there are FAQs here as well as lots of internet info about it.. They never go from inside directly into the bright sun.
Rather they go in slow steps from inside out into the world. First to sheltered shade like a screen porch or under a deck, then into shade protected from wind and high temps, then into light sun for a few hours, and gradually over several days into more and more sun for longer periods.
And once they start out they don't go back indoors again except briefly in the case of severe storms or such.
Dave