16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

You can also use French/nylon tulle. They also have gift bags made of them. Use Onion bags ...

Pantyhose - yeah, I sort of remember those. I bet I've still got some from back when I actually used to wear skirts! :) The t-shirt idea I did try at some point, but maybe I didn't make my slings wide enough. Thanks, guys for the suggestions. I'll look into the tulle idea, too. There's a fabric store I pass by occasionally, that I could go in and buy some yards worth.

If on the blossom end and not the stem end, please consider the condition called zippering,link with IMAGES you can click on and several good links as well in the link below,

Carolyn, who notes that zippering can start with a small scratch and then enlarge, but not always.

Here is a link that might be useful: Zippering

dragonfly - I dug up all my notes on Ace for the two years I grew them - not impressed so gave up on them - and I find I noted "Very prone to BER" about them both years.

I was growing them in containers - Earthboxes to be specific - so since BER is so much more common with container plants I tended to lay the blame it primarily on the containers. Are yours in containers or the ground?

As Jean said if it is BER the key is evenly moist, consistent soil moisture.

But I also noted it was a very thick-walled fruit. So I'm now wondering if another factor might be that the thickness better disguises/hides the BER symptoms so that they aren't as obvious early on as with most other fruit.

If you have any green ones showing the blossom end you described - the hardened scratch - could you post one? A pic of one of the ripe tomatoes would also help.

Cracking is a totally different issue and both types of cracking are associated with the stem end, not the blossom end.

Dave

Thanks Ajs,

I Feel better now, I was gona let it grow if it was just to see what happens but now I will scrap it and probly alter the mix or just add new and put the fresh seedlings in there and hopefully correct the BER I had last year.

Weed. Probably ragweed.

determinates have terminal blooms at the ends of the branches.

That isn't the only difference. And don't take that statement too literally and then claim that unless the blooms are right at the very tip of the branch it must not be a determinate.

I suspect this means there are more or less 100% chances it is hybrid...?

Hard to say. Odds would favor it being hybrid but I don't know what the percentage might be in foreign markets.

Dave

determinates have terminal blooms at the ends of the branches.

That isn't the only difference.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I did not say that it is THE ONLY difference,

I had Yellow pear last year. I liked the shape and color. Cannot remember the taste. But it was not a good producer in my garden. AND after reading some NOT SO positive reviews , I was scared off. hehe

We planted a YP once. My goodness, it was like a jungle!! Outgrew every cage and/or stake we tried to put in. We ended up giving up and just letting it take over a whole section of the garden. Wish the tomatoes we got off of it would have been worth losing so much real estate to it. But now we grow Sunsugar, a yellow cherry instead. We love the flavor much better and it is a better-mannered plant. However, having said that, if someone were to offer me a bowlful of YP's, I wouldn't say no ;^)

Edie

My digital was at 39F at 6am. I'm in a valley with a large pond, so I assume that contributes to cold.

Have to go pull off the covering on 40 ground planted tomatoes now. I won't even begin with the peppers...

These last two weeks have given me such anxiety, with all the rain and erratic temps. At least the cabbages, lettuce, and radishes are in heaven.

Oh, yeah, frost pocket. Good luck!

Yes, you should have a light directly over them. An inexpensive fluorescent shop light works pretty well. However, leggy tomatoes can be planted deep or trenched.

Thanks. I will look into that if artificial lighting will work. I am definitely not going to feed my plants chemical fertilizers to make them presentable. I do want them to be healthy and I know the key is to make the soil healthy and to keep bugs off them. Tomatoes need a great deal of light too. If I can figure out how to put a light over the plants on the balcony, I will do that. Thanks again.

Seysonn, the reason that most tomatoes shipped in in the winter from FL and Mexico, etc. do not taste that great and are a pale pink instead of red is b/c they are picked green and then gassed with ethylene in huge chambers.

Ethylene is normally produced by the fruits in the ripening process, It's one reason that some folks still put fruits in paper bags and add either a cut apple or a banana, since they produce ethylene as well, and the paper bag allows for concentration of that gas.Same story for those who wrap unripened fruits in newspapers.

Most greenhouse tomatoes these days are grown hydroponially and many of them are darn good tasting. There's a hydroponic tomato place near me and their fruits are sold all over upstate NY and they take them to the Green Market in NYC as well

The first time I went there to see how the operation was run Phyllis asked if I smoked, I said yes I did, and she wouldn't let me in.LOL. I tried to tell her about TMV but made no progress.

I stopped smoking for a while, was let into several of the greenhouses and it was really interesting to see, and yes, the tomatoes they grow, special ones for hydroponic growing, tasted darn good.

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Shushan tomatoes

Thanks for the explanation Carolyn but you've only further convinced me that vine ripened are better tasting. A neighbor farmer always picks his tomatoes pink so they have fewer blemishes but his sales have dropped over the years because the consumers can definately tell the difference. Some have told me that they taste like gased tomatoes (which he doesn't); others say the flavor is just lacking.

I'll even go one step further against the lacking scientific evidence in the complex flavor of tomatoes in stating that tomatoes ripening in cooler Autumn weather have poorer flavor profile and those tomatoes found under the tangle of vegetation that never develop more than a pink color take on the musty rotten flavor. There are some who will swear that the imitation flavor additives taste better than the real thing but common sense tells us better.

From what I can tell from your photos the new growth looks healthy, correct? These older leaves are showing some signs of environmental stress and nutrient deficiency that can be caused by several issues including the excess rain which means - if nothing else - they need feeding.

The problem with using organic fertilizers in containers is that there is no active soil food web developed in the container to convert the dry fertilizers to useable nutrients for the plants. Liquid organics, ones that can be suspended in water, are the quick fix in that case. Things like fish and kelp emulsions and even epsom salts for magnesium to eliminate the yellowing.

The environmental issues should disappear as the plant settles in and matures although you may lose the damaged lower leaves.

For next year I would suggest planting them much deeper as there is a great deal of leggy stem exposed that may weaken as the plant grows. Are they getting enough sun?

Dave

Thank you for the quick and informative reply. I will definitely get some liquid organics on them and see how they respond. This was my first shot at starting from seeds (which I pulled from a great tomato appetizer at a restaurant last fall). For next year, I think my light/heat set-up needs some work so I don't get that leggy stem you mentioned. I suppose I could try to reset them a bit deeper, but that wouldn't be wise at this point, right? Sun in our yard is a problem. Right now they get sun for about 10 hours a day. That will go down a bit as the trees get some more leaves.

A successful tomato is like a successful party. Prepare the best you can let nature take it's course. Lately my best trick is to make sure the plant is fed properly. In past years I've had a bias toward underfertilizing. Not this year. My plants are dark green with bright yellow blossoms, and they look really healthy. Also spray fungicide early rather than after it's too late.

I'm a gifter... always sharing good tom crops with friends and neighbors.
In season around NYC and NJ, the farm stand toms can be very good and abundant.

Store bought, hot house grown, picked early and green, varieties grown for transport and shelf-life, are bland and watery. Companions for iceberg and Diner salads...bottled blue cheese dressing or 'ranch'.
-the exception being the Cumato i had this past snowy January when my local market had them on sale for 4 lbs for 5$. A winter treat.

Finding what does well in your healthy soil and climate/zone, will give exceptional flavor picked just shy of ripe. Some i eat in the garden as snacking, ripe on the vine...others are counter ripened if a heavy rain is expected....
Anna Russian here may not be the same there. I grow many varieties not knowing what my season may be like. My first tray of starts is a mixed variety as is the second...the third tray is all oxhearts from TGS (tomato growers supply)...a row of each. They consistently give a good crop of meaty toms without trouble and great flavor. Sweet and tart.

A local small garden center can give great advice as to what grows best in your climate and soil as well as a neighbor or friend...
Buying a few healthy starts locally is a good beginning.

Wow, giant tomatoes! Are you planning on entering them in a fair?

I'm surprised it was that hot in PA already. It was supposed to get to 83 here on Memorial Day, it was more like 75. Only 54 now, drizzling, I did go out and start building some raised beds but it's miserable. Came in to charge cordless drills/drivers since both are DEAD. Not getting much done today I'm afraid.

I am hoping to break the world record. lol.

I thought the season for growing tomatoes in FL was in the winter.

I'll need to figure this out because we'll most likely be moving down there in a couple of years.

I couldn't find the bag I bought of soil go figure. I picked up a fertilizer you mix with water today to see if that helps
I started growing them end of March so it's probably been around 2 months that the plants have been growing.

Here's the part where it gets junky: Could I cover part of the tomato cages with a colored (not black, not clear) plastic bag to make it so the seedlings get morning sun?

Any fabric that lets air through it while still protecting them from the wind and providing some shade will work much better than plastic unless cold temps are still a problem for some reason.

Dave

Thank you so much for your responses!

Linda, I love the idea of using plant pots and I happen to have some extras laying around the potting shed that I could use for this!

Deer eating them is unlikely but not impossible. I was actually wondering if I should do the cayenne and water spray to keep them from being delicious until they're bigger.

Dave, I'm planning on the plastic bags being just on the tops of the tomato cages to shade them from the hottest sun right now, sort of like a little parasol or something. :) I have some black gardening fabric, but I was afraid that the black would make it too hot under the cover, so that was why I was thinking I'd do the plastic bags.

I'll get them out in the garden probably tonight and get all my stuff rigged up and if I remember I'll take a picture so I can show you my handiwork. :)

Thanks again for your responses!

Jessica

another photo. No stem or petiole lesions-yet.

Most of the images show water shortage. Not disease.

Perhaps occurred suddenly, as in windy; extreme high temps that burst in on a hot spell; very low humidity; too small a pot (are they in pots?)