16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

I've heard the "collar" of the tomato dries up?

Aside from colo - Feel them. A ripe tomato has a totally different feel and hand weight from an unripe one. They are softer and heavier, have a 'give' to them when lightly squeezed between thumb and finger.

Dave

@ Edweather,

In the sam FAQ it says( quote below)

"Slow Growth
When seedlings refuse to grow it is usually because the temperature is too low or the nutrient level is insufficient. "

That is what "nanelle" and I have mentioned.

One has to realize that medium is just that "MEDIUM" a mediator. So as long is it has proper moisture retention/drainage and supplied with needed nutrients , it make littl difference as what it is made of. SURELY, some media are better b'c they offer a better and balanced moisture retention. Believe or not , I have germinated all kinds of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants in garden soil in the past. Not the best, I admit but it can be done.

But sowing seed in 3" (or deeper?) of compost and watering only when it's dry "a few inches down" doesn't help. The roots aren't that long yet.

Looks like sun and or wind burn.

Thank you all for the comments. It looks like you were all correct, and it was just sunburn after all. I am still surprised that they were not yet hardened off, given how long they'd been outside with partial sunlight, but now I know.

Ill be cozying up next to fire and grumbling. Winter is still lurching around here, with several inches of snow in the forecast for Sunday, after a fine week of high 70's-low 80's. I'm beginning to wonder if gardening in Colorado is worth my time and effort anymore.

I went up to see my mom yesterday, did some yard work for her, went to lunch, but got to harvest a box full of avocados from the tree I planted in 1975. That thing has supplied us pretty much since, and everyone loves the fruit (Fuerte).

My Mom loved four 'o clocks. I lost her when she was only 78. How blessed you are that you still have a Mom ! I'd give anything to be able to use the word Mom again. Give yours a big Happy Mother's Day hug from me !

Thanks for the replies. Linda, I remember seeing these hornworms in 4 o'clocks when we used to grow them. Guess I was thinking the hornworms would come for the fragrance of the 4 o'clocks and stay for the tomatoes!

Deeby, I'm very grateful to still have my Mom around. I try to keep flowers around for her to enjoy and I keep a small vegetable garden for her. Mom and Dad always enjoyed gardening. Dad is gone and Mom is too old to do the work but I think it's important for her to see these things still going on in her yard.

Buck

Bookmarking.

Sharonie and David,
Thank you! It is the first time I planted tomato. You are right: there is full sun for it. So it could be the root is not building up properly. I added some bone meal and make the soil very lose around it. See if this helps. Should I take the two small tomatoes off the plant? (This was what I originally thought when I saw your discussion here)

Have you started to harden off yet? Last year we had a week of really warm weather in May, and I jumped the gun with hardening off. So I'm not going to get fooled by Mother Nature this year. She can be cruel!

Yup, they are done and ready to be planted. I don't worry too much if they have to stay inside for a day or two (happens all the time when I'm gone for a couple days every month to go play Army with the National Guard). It's really just me, who hates snow even in the throws of winter, getting fed up and tired of the s****ty weather, and also not wanting to go buy larger pots since I ran out today.

Often asked over on the Harvest and Cooking forums here as the skins bother many.

Simple solution is to toss them into a ziplock bag and freeze. When they thaw the the skins slip right off and can easily be picked out of the tomatoes before cooking.

Dave

About the skins: 50% of the nutritional value of the tomato is in the skin and seeds.

with some of the "heavyweights" weighing in....your answers are all there. Do keep in mind that after a few days...the more sun the better. Do not use "moisture control" potting mix. Free-draining is what you want. Have fun...

If they are Bonnie Plants that say for containers then I am going to guess at a few types.

1 Husky Cherry Red
2 Better Bush
3 Bush Goliath
4 Patio
5 Container Choice

If it one of those then I would say you can easily use a planter that is 12 inches across, by 10 inches deep at a minimum. I say this due to the fact that they sell large bush plants in the container with the cage for $14.98 or so. I bought one a while back. It is doing fine, and not showing any signs of being root bound. I have been eating cherry tomatoes off of it for the past couple of weeks. It was badly pruned by a hail storm. I was temped to pull it, and start over. The thing is every time I am going to it has more fruit set on it.

For a planting medium as has been said above use a potting mix. Also several of the people I know have said to avoid Miracle Grow Moisture Control. All have nothing good to say about it. (More than 6 people.) I was using either Vigro, or Miracle Grow until I started making my own.

Note the plant is in the 3rd round container on the right. I will if you wish try to get a better picture of it tomorrow when I get home from work.

I proved the skeptics WRONG.

Here is a picture to prove it ( I have many more but cannot post more than one at a time directly)

I planted it out ONE MONTH ago. Ever since then this and other plants that I have planted have been out there, seeing temperatures all the way down to 38F without any protection of any kind. Because I took time to acclimate them to the outdoor growing condition before doing so. Even in the past 24 hours the temperatures have been in 43 to 58F range. But my tomatoes have grown almost 8" taller within the last 30 days. Not a whole lot but considering the conditions, still an accomplishment. .
I have set my goal to pick ripe tomatoes in time to celebrate The Furth Of July, part of the RED in the flag.

BTW: This is a Bloody Butcher. You can even read the tag.

Now that I have learned how to use Photobucket, I post few more pictures

but my HZ is 3. Sure feels hotter than that though :)

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Yeah. Heat zone 3 can be hot too but only a for short time; (8 to 14 days over 85F) It can even go to 100F. But statistically it won't be longer than 2 weeks during the whole summer.

I think your HZ is near PERFECT for gardening.

"Update: Wait a second, is that supposed to be days per year above 86F? I am definitely above 7. It would guess 2-8 weeks, depending on the year. "

Johns coastal patio: You're in SoCal on the coast, correct? There is no way in hell that you have even close to 4 weeks(28 days) of >86 temps. This year you might get close because of these SPRING Santa Anas, but I'd say it's closer to 2 weeks, at most, in normal years.

I've lived in San Diego all my life(50 years) and the only time(except for the odd year like this year) it gets mid 80's(or above) on the coast is during the October(or so) Santa Anas.

So figure it out. 3-4 Santa Anas per year in the early fall, at max. 3-4 days of heat each one.

I agree about 20 miles inland though. Totally different climate than ON the coast. Been dealing with the heat of the valleys almost my whole life..

Kevin

Well, we all gotta use what's available to us.

Have you considered mulching with woodchip, often available for free from tree services?

http://aswcd.org/Woodchips.pdf

https://freemulch.abouttrees.com/#!/home

I'd be concerned about termites or other wood loving pests. I have used rotted wood bark and the soil turned into something really nice but that was more the result of cleaning up an area and planting a garden where wood had been laying around for years.

Another thread gave me an idea to contact area farms who might have old straw. Straw is safer and gives soil a great feel after it rots. In that post the guy got 36 bales for $10. New straw is about $8-$9 around here.

So far I picked up 2 bags of cow manure.

Tell you one thing I can hoe most of the bed without stepping on it.

Saw another thing at Home Depot I want to look into, high desert sand. I was thinking maybe in small doses mixed with cow manure and some peat might give my tomato and pepper hills nice drainage.

Thanks for the replies! I have three beds of tomatoes, so I may try a different mulch in each of them and see of there is any noticeable difference. I'll continue to add leaves and grass to all of them in the fall, but use it as mulch in only one bed this summer. I'll try hay or straw in the second and wood chips over newspaper in the third bed.

I'd choose straw over hay. Hay can contain a number of different weed seeds that would just love to germinate in your nice rich soil. Cardboard under straw is awesome.
Edie

Suggest removing affected foliage immediately, and spray with a fungicide, maybe Daconil.

As I suspected. Albeit, a little befuddlling, given recent weather conditions - essentially no rain, until today ironically, and I really have watered very sparsely. Weird that it seemed to originate on my well established, well mulched rose bush as well. Dang.
I believe the rose is too far gone. Thinking about deadheading to the ground and disposing of it all, in addition to the mulch below.
As for the maters, as suggested, I removed as much affected foliage as I could, and thinned out below and between plants. Really had to butcher a couple badly. Then, since it finally dried up today, applied Daconil. Don't have high hopes, though. Been too busy, and let it get out of control before diagnosis. :(

Thanks, all!