16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

Seysonn....plants don't have intelligence ..
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"intelligence" by conventional definition as if it just belongs to humans. But it has a UNIVERSAL meaning.The thing is that humans are the most intelligent in the animals kingdom. There is different kind of intelligence in the plants kingdom. That is why/how they survive. This subject belong to Natural Philosophy.

I think plants are way smarter than people. At least they're still in The Garden :-)

Here in Georgia we have fortunately not been hit quite as hard as states West of us, though we had some pretty bad thunderstorms this morning. I hope those in areas hardest hit are okay and my prayers are with them. We're just keeping an eye on the weather here because it's not supposed to be over yet and those storms are supposed to head straight our way!

Grace

I saw that NC got hit hard. We're moving there this summer. To the far southeastern part of the state. I'm glad I'm already used to tornadoes, having lived in parts of OK for 13 years. That looked like a monster that hit NC,too.

Can't offer you any comparative measurements as my tomato plants can't even be planted out yet here. So they are all just 8-10" tall transplants living in the greenhouses.

You have several distinct advantages in your climate that most of us in the rest of the country envy on a regular basis. Let's compare notes long about end of July. :)

Dave

I'm actually trying the tomatoes in a place where they say "don't try" or "needs 12 hours direct sun." I have learned that heat matters too though, and the west wall behind the tomatoes has helped in a cool overcast April.

It was mostly 60's and 70's and then BOOM.

Santa Ana winds today and we blasted up to 97 in the sun.

(I found a reference that said tomatoes should "double" in 12 to 15 days. I am at the slow end of that, with about 15. I feel good about that though, given the coastal zone.)

It poisons the soil if you put too much on, that's what it does. Otherwise the idea is that it will improve production. But as stated you don't know if it will help your production or not without at least first having an idea how much phosphorus is in your soil already.

My simplified opinion that few areas do really need phosphate, the problem is in what is in the soil exist in such form that does not release easily into plants so by introducing compost and manure we help phosphate to be released as a plant food. And overabundance can be harmful.
Soil test to be done so areas can be identified that are naturally low in P. Another thing to remember it is not only P that might be a problem but other minerals as well as they have relationship where one wonôt work without another.

Wow!

OK, first, it would help if you talked about "soil magnetism", in more detail. We need to understand your thoughts on that better. I know what magnetism is in general but not how it connects to plant growth. But "the soil is magnetic"? I have some trouble understanding that.

My understanding on phloem and xylem is pretty standard, but a bit different from you. I don't have any problem with water and sugars moving around a tree through xylem and phloem, but I'm not seeing where "Magnetism" is involved.

"Clay with the clay attracting"? You lost me there.

Well, anyway, I have 6 healthy grafted heirloom tomatoes (2 Cherokee Purple, 2 Brandywine, 1 Striped German, and 1 Aunt Gerties Gold). I put them under the lights 2 days ago and they are responding well. All have several healthy leaves on the scions. I will cut the silicon collars off tomorrow. They live or die on their own after that.

If they don't, I have more than enough heirloom seedlings to plant as usual and 2 Big Beef hybrids as back ups.

As a first try at grafting, I think it went well. 25% of the grafts worked. I learned a few things and can sure do it better next time. And I will do this again with what I learned this time.

No...I actually add about 1/3 part of cactus mix. It helps the standard potting mix to drain better. You might consider more perlite as well. Drainage is a really big issue.

I use free city mulch from Los Angeles, made from shredded and (partially?) composted yard waste.

http://www.lacitysan.org/srpcd/mulch_giveaway.htm

It does have a small amount of plastic particles mixed in (due to people putting these things into their green recycling bins) but they are easily enough to pick out. But they are free and work pretty well for the tomato garden.

Can't see the controversy either. You were expecting what on the label? I have grown thousands of plants of this variety and sell plants as well but when I sell plants I just put the name only on the tag. Sure the plants will grow more than 40" tall but if you cage plants and your cages are 36" tall than the plant weight will limit height. Mine typically grow 7-8 ft on stringline and my average size of the beefsteak fruits is a consistant 9 oz., some getting bigger on occasion. I could talk for hours telling you the merits of this variety and to put it all on a label would probably do disrespect to the consumer. This AAS selection winner (1993) is well worth the effort in many aspects: yield, flavor, disease resistance just to name a few. I call it my "Work Horse" tomato.

Looked at BB plants today at my fav greenhouse. The labe said Big Beef but it also had two sets of numbers suggesting spacing between rows and plants...24-40. Coul that be what you mean?

Oh forgot to mention, nice plants cetompkins :D Look nice and strong.

Cetompkins... looks like you used Plant Growth Regulators on those things. They look like little rocks!

OK, sorry, did not see any punctuation after 'did not fertilize.' I read it, 'did not fertilize after a few days under the grow lights.'

i cant believe it but all my tomato plants look amazing already! all the leaves have uncurled, they have a nice bright green and they are just beautiful!

i left a few things in paper and peat pots and sure enough they are sooo dry compared to everything in plastic.

you guys are great on here!

The constant hot dry wind in the Texas panhandle calls for extra precautions. Before you replant set up some cages that are wide enough to contain the grown plant entirely. Wrap the cages with visquine or translucent row cover to protect them from the wind. Get some mulch on that soil as the wind is sucking it dry. Avoid dark colored mulch that might absorb heat or light weight materials that might blow away.

Thanks all for the replys! I know the soil looks really dry, but it's only the top half inch of soil. The top 2" are a raised bed garden mix that I thought would also work as a mulch, It is well watered 6 or more inches deep. I have the cages and the mulch, (not quite finished compost), just could not get it put down in the wind. I will replace the tomato's and be ready to cage and mulch. The peppers will be OK I think. Crazy, but it is now raining with a 0% chance of rain.... Love the Texas Panhandle!

By sub-irrigated do you mean a SWC (self-watering container)? If so then when it rains or is top watered the nutrients wash into the bottom of the container into the water storage part and are re-absorbed by the soil and plants from there. As long as it doesn't over-flow they aren't lost.

renzokukin - misting(aka foliar feeding) can be a bit risky in your zone because of the heat. While more northern gardeners can get away with it easily those of us in the more southern zones have to do it with care or we end up with damage to the leaves and increased possibility of foliar diseases.

Epsom salts is a source of magnesium and used by many of us, but as a root drench, when we know for a fact that our soil is low in mag. If it isn't low then it can be a waste of $$ and effort. But either way magnesium supplements aren't required weekly and it is possible to over-dose the plants with it.

But all plants need NPK and some micronutrients on a regular basis. Feeding "weakly weekly" is a common recommendation and that means with a balanced fertilizer.

Hope this helps.

Dave

With regard to the topic question and based on my observation of your picture I THINK, also as Edwaether said, it is normal for new growth to be of lighter color. That can be partly because of fast grow rate and low level of Nitrogen. THAT IS NOT WHAT i CAN CALL "yellowing". Interstingly, I can see that the tip of those leaves ( older) have darker color than stem end (Newer growth). This is just within a single leaf. "Yellowing" will normally start from the tip of leaves not from the stem side. .

Another OM, so up to 6 out of 9 - and 1 empty cell, maybe those 3 are coming, that cell could have been off the edge of the heat mat (smaller than the flat). 1 Sophie's Choice barely showing so up to 3 out of 12 (if I can count my tomatoes before they're up LOL).

I will start more of those tomorrow with DD and her friend - they're growing tomatoes for a science fair project 5 weeks from now, plan on starting a few seeds every week up until a week before, so they can show growth (they'll also make a poster, but we thought it would be nice to have potted plants there too, I'm going to lend them some of the ones I started March 29 and May 6 so they have some older ones though not the same variety).

I did start 4 more SC and 3 more OM on the 17th, 2 of the OM (placed on diagonal crossing the old ones so I know at least 1 of them is from the 2nd planting, middle one could be either but I'm pretty sure it's from the 17th) are up though no true leaves yet - took less than a week.

But only 1 SC just barely showing TODAY. In the middle of the "empty" cell (put 3 seeds there and 1 in corner of a cell with 1 seedling) so not sure if it's from the 6th or the 17th but again I'm guessing the 17th. Since these are in 6-packs with seedlings that have a pair (or more) of true leaves I don't have them on heat but I am really surprised that SC is taking so long to germinate and so far I've only got 4 out of 15.

I guess since these are fairly early determinates, I could start a bunch more on paper towels just to see what the germination rate (percentage and time) is, put whatever comes up in pots if too late to plant in ground. WWYD?

Thanks for all the advice! I will hold on any further fertilizer for a little bit and then dilute it more.

I will definitely break up the peat pots. I have been keeping them in my dining room which is about 65 degrees but they are near my slider so maybe it is a little drafty.

I will try adding some more soil to them as well!

I have dug up peat pots a year later and they had not broken down. I could have re-used them.