16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
has anyone had any success with interplanting basil? Word on the street is that they can share soil space and nutrients rather nicely, and the basil will help keep certain bugs away?
I'm guessing you are talking about the "companion planting" fad? Not much of it pans put in actual practice which is why it never really caught on. They even go so far as to claim it makes the tomatoes sweeter which is well proven to be impossible. Pest patrol benefits - none yet they are very attractive to flea and Japanese beetles and aphids which most of us don't want gathering next to our tomato plants.
That's not to say you shouldn't plant basil near tomato plants if you wish. Many do simply because they go so well together on the plate when served and as long as the basil gets enough sun they grow fine although they don't need nearly as much water or nutrients as tomatoes do. Just don't expect them to have any magic side benefits. :)
Dave
Basil is a warm weather loving plant. It needs warmth and sun. Plus, if you know how to harvest it, it can last all season. So, No, I would not interplant basil wit any thing. I would rather plant it in pots, ALONE. PLUS they can get real bushy and big.
I am not a expert on disease,but I had a similar problem a few weeks back. Here is the thread on my problem. http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3035569/kind-of-scary-looking-disease?n=11
Once I removed the damaged leaves it has not returned. Hope you get an answer.
Agree that it's most likely flea beetles. Click here for info on controlling them.
Rodney
Excellent link, Rodney. Thanks! From what I'm reading there and elsewhere - looks like I have a couple options for homecooked sprays, which I may try out this weekend. Even so, these plants are topping out at 18" right now so I'll keep fingers crossed that they're big enough to tough it out regardless.
Everything is suckered to one stem. When planting at that density suckering is not an option if one wants to prevent foliar diseases. One extension horticulturist who stopped by thought density was still too high but it has worked well for many years and it utilizes every square foot of space inside that have cost me 4 cords of wood to heat (+ 40 # propane) this spring.
Suckering has other benefits. Picking ripe tomatoes is much easier and less time consuming and overall fruit quality is better.
Thanks Barrie, that is what I thought.
I grow in raised beds, densely too. I stake and prune to about 2 (maybe 3) stems. Also all the leave branches lower than the first truss eventually are pruned.
Of course, the above is for indets. With the dets I just prune the very lowest LB and the laterals, for better air circulation.
Sey
You have the right soil : Promix Bx.
You can also root in water and once you see roots developing, pot into potting soil'
Here is a current/recent discussion started by Hudson, called:
" Tomato Propagation"
http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2207385/tomato-propagation?n=7
And here is the link for it
Good Luck !
Sey
sorry sey . i typed that wrong , my lost post i said promix bx ,, mean to say im sure that the problem is this promix brand of potting soil with water crystals is the problem just called promix ( orange bag ) ,,,, i will try rooting some in water than pot them up in the promix bx soil that comes in the big square cube bags like im used to
rooting hormone speed this process up ?
should i get the heat blanket out and make a cloning station near a window ?
thanks guys
zak
The more I look at those poor plants the more I want to say "don't waste your time and work" on them. Buy some healthy normal transplants now, while they are still available, for your garden.
Dave
One good thing about bare stem, is that it keeps the lower leaves further away from the soil, which can encourage disease. I would however assume those plants are pretty badly rootbound, but also that stem looks very woody and unlikely to readily sprout new roots.
Heat retention, helps the growth of the plant. Remove it during the day though or it can get too hot and plants can burn especially if there is condensation on the plastic.
Hey, I didn't even get around to doing tomato seeds this year, had to go by some plants yesterday. Last year I had 80 plants in the garden and they all ended up with late blight, hardly got any tomatoes, was so disappointing. I lived in a 5b zone about 5 years ago and it was not uncommon for me to have tomatoes until Canadian Thanksgiving (early October). You probably should still get a decent amount and of course it does depend on the variety for ripening times.
Ariel, those look about right for seeds started 3 weeks ago. I would leave them in their pots until they get a little bit bigger and stronger. Transplanting them to the garden now might be a too much of a shock and slow their growth. Congratulations on their first true leaves! With the warmer weather, they will start to take off.
Don't assume that the Brandywine is a PA original since Ben Quisenberry who is credited with getting seeds from Doris Sudduth Hill was from Ohio. The Red Brandywine might have better tendency of having PA beginnings. But to get to the meat of the original post I believe you can't get a good consensus on taste since that trait is very subjective. In one reported taste trial of 12 tomato varieties the 5 heirloom varieties in the trial were all rated lowest in flavor. Not all hybrid varieties should be prejudged to have undesirable flavor.
One attribute of all Brandy.... types is poor yield. The older types are very poor whereas many of the crosses like BrandyBoy are just moderately poor. There are many pink tomato varieties to choose from, many with consistently high quality and yield.
I'm a Brandywine lover, but I do NOT love waiting all season for just a few tomatoes.
Last year, I grew Brandywine cherry which was pretty and prolific, but I didn't think it tasted like Brandywine.
I also grew Little Lucky which has Brandywine as a parent. This was my FAVORITE tomato last year. It's smaller than BW and very pretty (red and yellow), and the taste was delish! I didn't find it all that late either!
Linda
Due to health issues Carolyn hasn't been able to post much here recently but she has been asked this many times and her reply is pretty much always the same - "they change every year". Here is a link to a previous discussion about this question from a few months back.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2237502/question-for-carolyn137?n=11
She does mention a few past personal favorites in some of the 'favorite ___________' (insert specific type of plant/tomato) threads the search will pull up for you if interested.
Dave
Yes, comments/posts can be edited for a while.
If you see "Edit" icon on the top, just click on it ... and edit your post.
But the Opening Post has a short window of editing time.
Sey
BTW: The "Edit" icon on the opening post is located at the bottom, IF still available.
Yeah, As Dave mentioned : What did you buy/grow ? A picture can also help.
To my experience , non cherries would have limited number of buds/flowers per truss while some cherries would have clusters like grape. But then I have had some cherry variety that had not been like that.
This is definitely a cherry/grape. No beefsteak will grow like it.
Sey
Those are called "megablooms",which are sort of fused flowers.
It happens mostly early in the season, when the weather is on the cool side.
Also some varieties tend to produce more of those.
The fruits tend to have awkward shape called "cat faced". The fruit quality for eating will be quite low.
Some people believe it is a waste to let them grow and others like it as fun thing to watch them grow.
Sey