16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

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.

I am also a second year grower. Tried a few different things, made a number of mistakes. Had some plants that produced well and some didn't. It's a learning process for the backyard grower.

Some people here prefer staking, which requires pruning the plants more heavily. I've tried it and decided not to do it since I don't want to bother with regular pruning and it tends to decrease production on a per-plant basis.

This year, I've chosen to make my own cages and let the tomato grow without pruning. Here is a photo of one of them made from 7 foot plastic covered metal garden stakes, bamboo sticks and tree branches fastened together with plastic zip ties.

You'll have to make do this year with some hodge-podge supports for those cage things. But before next year I suggest reading through at least some of the many discussions here on cages and stakes and other methods of support.

You'll quickly discover that the cone ring things are generally considered a waste of money for most tomato plants.

They work great for pepper plants, eggplants and such but for tomatoes, aren't much good as they require additional height and stronger support.

As others have already said you will need to tie them off to a fence or add some sort of outside stake to keep them from falling over. Many of them are already leaning in your photos so work to get them as straight and deep as possible. If you try to put stakes in your containers this late it will only damage the roots.

Dave

It is impossible to identify the tomato because there are so many different commercial red medium fruits out there. Since it just said "Tomato" on the description, most likely it is a hybrid bred for greenhouse production, early pick and/or shipping hardiness. As for the seeds, since there is all manner of ripening techniques and speeds associated with commercial production, the variation in colors is not surprising. You did not mention why you were interested in learning it's identity. If you liked it, save the seeds and plant out next year, with low expectations of the results. If it is a hybrid, you probably won't get anything like the parent, and germination rates for manipulated ripened tomatoes is going to be low.

Agree. We get at least 1 "ID this tomato" request per week and the answer is always the same. It is not possible to do. Even holding the tomato in hand and eating it would still be impossible. DNA testing might narrow it down to 50 possibilities, maybe.

slightly flat, average size being 2.5-3" diameter to 1.5-2" height. Bottom of the tomato has a slight central depression. The tomatoes are very meaty, sweet, and do not have many seeds. The seeds seem to have a small black spot near the pointy end

That describes over a thousand varieties if not more. The fruit was harvested immature for shipping so the seeds are likely not mature and may have been damaged by the artificial ripening process used.

Dave

Am wondering how those requirements change in regards to climate. I can get plants to 7 feet growth but it would be to detriment of production, our summer generally coolish in June and what I get in Sept is a bonus already so couple of flashes indeterminates and we are done. I think spacing and pruning has to be determined on case by case basis with just general suggestions kept in mind.

OP here. Thanks for all the inputs, everybody. :)

We're definitely Zone 9, smack dab in the center of California's Sacramento Valley. Major agriculture everywhere around me -- almonds, walnuts, olives, rice, livestock feed. We have long, hot summers. Jul-Aug-Sep are daily avg highs in the mid-90s every year.

I'm noticing that my wood cages block a bit of sunlight, so I may have to tear down and re-built next year. Also, I need to prune my Mulberry a bit as it blocks the sun in the afternoon. Most of the sun they get is morning sun.

Next year... maybe with the Tormato support, in buckets, in the front yard.

I've gone ahead and pruned everything I could to single stem. I had to keep a couple as two stem because the second stem was already bigger than a pencil and I didn't want to stunts the plants if not necessary.

Still tons of airspace so far. Most are approaching 18" tall at this point.

Here is a link that might be useful: Avg Weather

yardenman: Thought about it. It's possible they're starving, but they've only been in the potting mix for about 10 days. I guess some other problems could arise from the mix as well, such as acidity and a few other things. My biggest fear is that under and over fertilizing can have similar symptoms....

thewallawallaian89: They've been between 65-80 degrees indoors. Usually in 70-75 range. They shouldn't be complaining too much I hope.

Is it possible to see a photo of them? I don't have any experience with the problem your having, I'd just like to see what it looks like and see what the census ends up being.

If cutworms are what is actually doing the damage rather than something else then yes the stick along the stem works.

Cutworms are a chronic problem for me but the only time I have lost a plant to one is when I have neglected to get the straw or stick in for some reason.

As I said above this is new info but has been common knowledge among farmers and gardeners for over a century if not longer. :) And it is always possible that the small worm you see isn't the one that did the damage.

I know some seem to really push the cardboard tube collars but that assumes the worm can't come up inside the collar or crawl over it.

Dave

I've found that toilet paper tubes placed over the seedling and pressed in slightly always seem to work. Not that other enclosures don't. And I make a 6" hole of good composted soil so I am removing any cutworms from close to it anyway.

I just did the same thing to my plant--I tried to train it, but bent the main stem too far and it came off in my hand, right at the joint. What's this about rooting the tops? How do I do that?

Because I've been very lucky, lazy, and cheap I have collected scads of five gallon buckets. They are very easy to take off and to put over plants, even those of some good size, and they are far sturdier than any other method I've seen for protecting plants from frosts. If the weather gets stormy, rocks or bricks will weigh them down well, and they stack well when not being used. Just a thought.

I have used WOW to get earlier tomatoes for a number of years. I am not talking about a month early, only a couple of weeks at the most. In my experience, there are multiple factors that must be addressed. Here are two: Tomato selection is fundamental. Pick an early small like 4th of July or SunSugar (they do best for me). Regular size or larger typically won't set fruit until the temps are to their liking. The earlies will set in the frost free days of late spring. Second thing is timing. WOW are only about a foot tall when T-P'd, so if your plant outgrows them and you still need the frost protection, it's bye-bye tomato plant.

Seysonn, that is about what I did for years, I plant one of each variety into WOW and then later plant same variety without, so yeah, I do have more robust plant and better- earlier yield with WOW, no questions about it in my experience. Here in Chicago, it is really not the frost that is most damaging, it is bouts of really windy decimating storms that usually happen once or twice in May. Granted there is possibility of low temps but near the lake where I garden it is less of a problem. Another thing that most people agree on, that planting bigger plants does not help and tiny seedlings will establish better. It is true and not so true... i.e. bigger plants will routinely give about one week earlier yields . While it might not be much but it counts for short summer areas.