16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

This was the first one I made...... you could see the progress in the above picture; it was a few later, and much more uniform lol . . .
This is in my experimental no-till row..

and last but not least: I plan on just stackin them behind the shed at summer's end.. That's their only down fall - not collapsible, but I have the space so it's no issue for me.. I think i'll eventually cut a small section of the lower horizontal wires just for easier access when applying compost teas etc...

We had some problems with blight in recent years and found that being more careful to rotate did seem to help. This year our main garden is getting a year of rest and we're planting in alternate areas--hoping that a year off for the main garden will be beneficial for next year.

Woodyswife, it depends on which disease(s) you refer to when you say blight b'c that word is used a lot to just indicate a sick tomato plant.

Most of the foliage disease ones caused by fungi and bacteria can exist in the soil, as shed from the plants, for many years,which is why I don't think just leaving an area for one year will help solve the problem/

Turning over the soil deeply to bury those spores and bacteria, as I posted above, can help.

Just my opinion (smile)

Carolyn

lindalana wrote:

> Daniel, am sorry for your seedling loss but hmm, never seen tomato seedling dropping dead from temps 55Fâ¦

Wellâ¦

55â F was measured in the garage, at 6 ft. high, were the thermometer was. I think at the level of the COLD concrete - were the trays were - the temperature was in upper 40s.

I am aware that in a GREENHOUSE - where you can easily control the temperature level - 55' F is no problem. But outside... imho, is a different story.

> or even drop in 20 degree temp difference.âÂÂ

Well, do you dare to take out your seedlings from inside 75â F to outside 55â F in the first few days of hardening off, and leave them there the whole day - like I left mine the whole night in the garage ? I DON'T... anymore !

> Must be some other cause.

What kind of other cause could be ? The seedlings were BEAUTIFUL the previous day(s) and dead the next day, when I took them out from the garageâ¦

I am big believer in cold treatment for seedlings right about at the stage when they put out first leaves. I guess this is why I neither grow my seedlings at 75F nor have problems with dropping 20 degrees in temps. Am sure that loss was dramatic and made you being very careful.

Dave and seysonn - thank you for the advice! You're right, I probably just need to chill out and be patient... it's just, even when they were all barely growing, the other two still even put out suckers that I had to pinch out, and this one isn't even doing that... but y'all are right... if it ain't broke, don't fix it?

seysonn, I believe I planted them April 20th or 27th - not sure which one, heh. The beds are a foot deep and they have good drainage... excellent drainage! Probably why we accidentally overwatered at the start.

Is there a length of time I should wait around for growth before I consider doing something to help out/that something else is wrong?

the other two still even put out suckers that I had to pinch out

It will shock many here but I'll let that pass.

Other than patience, like John said you can always try giving it a feeding and see what happens. As to length of time to wait - that all depends on how much it bugs you. It sure isn't worth losing sleep over so if patience or time is limited just pull it up and replace it now.

Dave

Change doesn't happen through selection.

Change happens through mutation. Selection eliminates poor changes.

Adaptation is a mechanism to improve the chances to survive ( carry on the survival of the gene) A black rabbit cannot survive near the north pole. Also a white bear might die of hunger, To be white they have a better chance of survival. We are not talking about mutation, not even a major change. Polar bear is just a bear.... a Tomato adapted to Siberia is still a tomato. Call it NATURAL SELECTION or SURVIVAL OF THE FIT(to climatic conditions), it is the same.

Those tomatoes came out of South America and some ended up in Siberia and few learned how to cope and survive. That is what I mean by adaptation.

what size pot is ideal for this plant? how often do you guys water your tomatoes?

Since you don't know what the variety is there is no way to know how big it will get or what size pot is "ideal" so a lot of this will be guess work.

The minimum recommended size container is a 5 gallon bucket. Bigger is much better for the plant and less work caring for it. So get the biggest container you can afford to buy and fill with a good quality soil-less potting mix (no soil). Then transplant it. If it survives that, buy a big tomato cage and a 5' stake for the pot.

Watering is "as-the-plant-needs-it" which can mean every 3-4 days some places or often means daily in some hot climates, less often in other climates. Take that wood dowel in the pot and stick it in the new pot 6-8" deep and use it to check the moisture level at the root level to know when to water.

Buy some water-soluble fertilizer and feed it a 1/2 strength dose once every 7-10 days.

Good luck.

Dave

I have extras here in Vacaville. You are welcome to them!

Really you should repot, but I hesitate if they were over a foot tall (leggy) b/c you could damage them in the process, best to just do it once (at transplant) than twice (repot and transplant a couple of weeks later). Best I can recommend at this point is to water sparingly, make sure they don't get soaked with rain, and try to harden off and get them in the ground in the next couple of weeks. When you plant, plant them deep again - they're not likely to have much of a root system so be careful taking them out of the containers, the soil is going to fall off of them.

I hope you have lots of drainage holes in the bottoms of those yogurt cups - if not, try to take a drill and put some in.

I will defer to Dave's experience - he may have a different opinion on the best approach. But you may find yourself buying new plants no matter what.

Whoa sorry I'm bit reading carefully on the phone. You reported when they were 3 inches tall not 13? When did you start them? I'd repot even if in individual cells if 6 packs or something about 2 to 3 inch diameter and 3 inches deep so you can fit them under lights and let them grow abut. Harden them off the end if May and plant after the 7th of June should be about right.

thanks jean and dave! it is in a 18" high raised bed, filled with native soil (sandy loam in the LA river floodplain) with lots of composted organic matter worked in before planting, open bottom to more native soil. hopefully stabilizing the water will help. san marzanos must be more sensitive to it - my sweet 100, sungold and first lady II so far are okay though in same conditions. (so far....knocking on wood...)

All paste types are more prone to it due to their shape.

Dave

Then since any compost will continue to decompose and shrink and your soil level will fall as it does, using that high % of compost means adding more of it each year will be necessary.

Dave

I re-use my potting mixes...adding fresh material to it every Spring. Two things: do not re-use any mix material that grew a diseased plant. Also, keep in mind for the container grower...material breaks down and starts to restrict water movement through the medium. Avoid this "fine particle" situation when container growing.

Those are not the classic leaves of CMV (tightly rolled, string leaves). Nor is it the lime green mottling of TMV (which is a very uncommon disease anyway in the US).

The mottled appearance and the otherwise overall healthy appearance of the leaves is more like early mildew or a micro-nutrient deficiency, probably manganese and magnesium.

This is based on just the pic. Would need more info on plant and a photo of it as a whole to be sure.

Dave

Actually since I took the pic it has grown rapidly and the new growth does not have the pattern. It seems to be mostly at the bottom now on the old growth so whatever it is it looks like it is growing out of it. Strange that it is the only one. I was ready to pull it. seysonn, I was asking a question not making a statement.

This post was edited by fairfield8619 on Fri, May 16, 14 at 16:54

I would spread out on plain paper plates, put in a dry, warm area for a couple weeks, then store as others suggest in very small ziplocks until you wish to start up.

Most will likely germinate.

i had the same problem but with MANY seeds... (darn weather man called for clear, and it dumped buckets while I was sleeping) They dried out on their own in their bags, and i planted them with MUCH skepticism... but around 75% of them germinated. About the same rate I got with seeds that had no issues with icky weather. tomatoes, cantaloupes, and watermelons... even a few types of beans. Give it a shot, the worst that will happen is nothing, but at least ya tried, rather than just throwing them away with out knowing. :)