16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Another vote for Remy Rouge! I'd describe it as more full-flavored than sweet -- though of course everyone feels different about taste.
It was a real survivor for me two years ago despite the Late Blight (I pruned affected foliage daily). [I don't even remember last year, except that the Late Blight hit even earlier than usual.]
Yes, I've grown it, and actuallly was the first person to introduce the variety by SSE listing it. The link at the bottom notes the history behind it.
All I can tell you is that it's very productive, that may not help much but I don't count how many fruits/plant, nor do I weigh fruits per plant.
A link to Google IMAGES may give you some idea of production, but when viewing such IMAGE pages always put your mouse pointer over a picture to be sure it's the variety you want b'c sometimes some other varieties might be in there as well.
Hope that helps,
Carolyn
Here is a link that might be useful: Opalka
Should I pinch them to promote more growth before it blooms since it will only bloom once?
No. As others have explained it doesn't just bloom once or even all at once. Blooms develop as the plant grows until it reaches its terminal top blooms at 4-6 feet depending on the variety That can take several months. Removing blooms only costs you fruit.
To get the most from the plants you don't remove anything - no blooms, no stems, no branches, etc. :)
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: FAQ - Determinate vs. Indeterminates
Due to weather last year I had an awful year for tomatoes. The one plant that kept giving off fruit. Even in the dog days of 100 degree plus dog days was a det. plant. It was a husky cherry red. We got well over 150 of the tiny maters from June till October. I had it planted in an area that got good shade after 5 pm.
I'd have to check Guilford but shoreline is 1 USDA zone "warmer" than the hills of NW CT (I'm at 1000ft). So your last frost date may be early May, not mid-May like ours. Though who knows this year.
Do you have the plants already? What variety(ies)? There are lots of "heirlooms" so it varies, but at least 2 months and maybe 3 after transplanting.
You want to put tomatoes out 1-2 weeks after last frost (so start hardening them off around your frost date), some people say peppers can go out the same time but they really don't like nights under 50 when tomatoes will be fine, so I wait another week or 2 for them (and eggplant).
Looks like Guilford is 6b so last frost date is Apr. 30th with plant out around mid-May. So if you have the tomato plants - you don't say - then how do you plan to grow them? In the ground or in containers? If in ground, what garden soil prep have you done? If in containers, what size containers and what container mix will you be using?
If you haven't bought them yet - I assume you will be buying them since it is too late to start them from seed - do you know what specific "heirloom" varieties are available for you to buy?
Let's get them planted correctly and actually growing before we worry about when you will have fruit as that all depends on the variety and the growing conditions you provide for them. :)
Dave
Maybe more like a ugly muddy brown. :)That represents an unblemished form of optimism and thereby promotes encouragement and enthusiasm on my part. May try Vorlon x KBX... I have babies of each and both are PL's. Maybe call it ForlornEx. How many F1 seeds do you want for 2015 season ?... with expected demand, I will need to ration them prudently with all due diligence.
Reggie
Leaves as they age will often develop scars and damage but it isn't always possible to know the cause.
In this case I would need much more info - what is your soil mix, is the white stuff perlite, what have you fed them if anything and how often, how often do you water and how much, how old are the plants, are there any signs of insect pests, are they indoors or outside and if indoors have they been outside, etc.?
The issues of NPK are very different for seedlings than for plants in the garden and NPK is not the only issues when it comes to fertilizer. So which are these - seedlings inside or plants in the garden.
Have no idea what UN32 or AZ Best Tomato food are so can't help you there other than to say neither are common fertilizers for tomatoes. Miracle Grow, diluted to 1/4-1/2 strength is often used on young seedlings but it is only one brand of many available.
The goal is to use only a balanced fert with a ratio of approx. 5-2-1 or close and that also contains micronutrients.
Hope this helps.
Dave
I got Tx Wild Cherry seeds from Native Seed Search several years ago and only planted one but it grew into a very large plant that produced profusely. They are a small tomato about 1/2 in. diameter and did taste very good imo and if I remember correctly withstood our very high temps pretty good until late summer when most tomatoes succumb to the heat here anyway.
I should also note, the red cherry was sending up lots of suckers from the dirt line and before the main stalk had a chance to grow well or establish a good root system. So I pinched off the dirt line suckers and clipped several of the lowest leaves that were crowding the container. I also pinched the blossoms off when I bought it from the nursery. Now that it is established, I'll let it have it's way. Same goes for the younger SS100 tomato.
So my response to the original poster would be: Do what floats your boat. I like your idea of making it a grand experiment to see how they do that close. And it sounds that, like me, you may be short on dirt real estate not trellising power. I think that changes how a person chooses to grow their plants.
Also, if there was just one, right, good, proven true method for growing tomatoes, there wouldn't be so many varied opinions on the matter.
And hey, maybe my tomato bucket will not reach it's full potential, I certainly know what a fully grown, fully productive SS100 tomato looks like, so if it doesn't work this time, I will know. But isn't that the fun of gardening? Trying new things, experimenting and finding a personal favorite method for growing things?
Sounds to me like you proved to yourself last year that what" some people say" about removing the so-called suckers and losing all that fruit production should be ignored, right? I sure would. :)
Lots of tips linked below.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning FAQ and discussions
I think it also depends on the variety of tomato. My Super Sweet 100s are sprawling and crazy productive when left to their own devices. I only pinch off the first suckers and flowers until the plants are about a foot high to ensure good root development and then I let them go to town. The same goes for my heirloom pear cherry tomatoes. But, my dad grows bigger beefsteak type tomatoes and has better yield and seeing the fruits fully mature when he prunes off the suckers.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to help me! I ended up getting everything stabilized and they are mostly back to normal. I had a few things which all contributed to the edema issue and then a period of over watering after transplant. As I said, the big closet they are in gets pretty warm and humid due to the door being shut to keep the cats out. I had a fan on them and with the furnace running, it was keeping the room cooler and keeping the humidity down. After transplant, I did a heavy watering. For the next 5 days, I didn't run the fan and it has been warming here, so the furnace hasn't been circulating the air to keep the room cool and to remove the humidity. I think this caused the edema and the lack of water evaporation which caused the wilted leaves from the wet potting soil. After I figured this all out, they all stabilized and are looking much better. With the nicer weather, time for them to start transitioning outside. Still 4 weeks to go. Next year, I will be waiting 4 more weeks to start the seeds. They are getting too big, but I had spring fever. :)
Edie, good to see you posting again. Edie is the peson I referred to in a post above who is a relative of the Estler family,
I wish you'd have let me know about seeds for the Estler one b'c I was offering fresh seeds in my annual seed offer elsewhere, but had you Pmed me from here and included a return em address we could have communicated,
Poor Edie is sick of the white stuff and is moving to Alabama, Ok, look for the ice storms and tornadoes in Alabama, ( wink)
Carolyn
Seyson, just for comparison sake, I will be interested to hear when you harvest your first tomatoes. My MLs usually go in the ground mid-May with my first harvest about mid July.
Edie
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good to see you back. We like to hear fro you from Alabama, The beautiful.
I will let you and everybody know when I get a ripe red from my ML. I wish I could find your Grand Father's version too to grow side by side. Maybe next year. But I believe that the two are just sharing a name but they are two different tomatoes, in many ways.
Anyway, my ML is already planted out but due to COOL weather it is not growing yet. But hanging in there with the rest of the gang (about 20 so far).
Our weather is about NORMAL for this time of season ( 42 to 62F, average)..
Conventional wisdom says move tomatoes outdoors around Mother's Day in WA state,
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Conventional wisdom? Not accurate, OFTEN.
Also Washington state has MANY climates.
I garden north of Seattle and have planted my tomatoes ( I also started them from seeds inside). Our LFD was around April first. And I started planting out around April 7. I have heard some people mentioning "mothers Day". But I have done it 5 weeks ahead of it.
Tomatoes are more cold tolerant than a lot of gardeners thing. Mine have seen few night lows of 38F. Tonight is 41, tomorrow night is going to be 39F. I am not worried. I have done and tested this many many times before, in CT, in GA and here in WA.
BTW: I started hardening off in my mini hoops too, before planting out. Basically, around here hardening off is for cold not so much for sun and heat.
I don't know how much a hoop house compares with tunnel covers that I use, but I have hardened off plants on my concrete porch then planted them in the ground under tunnels from April 1 to 15. They do bear tomatoes earlier than tomatoes planted out later, they don't always get as big or grow as vigorously or last as long in the garden.