16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

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.

Do these rub off when you run your thumb over them?

Dave

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)..

My tip is to wait until the last frost date and maybe even a couple days more. An unexpected late hard freeze can do a lot of damage to planted out seedlings.

You might be planting the seeds too deep. I put the tomato seeds just barely under the soil, not much deeper for pepper seeds.

I started my main batch March 31st and April 2nd, which is just about at the tail end of my normal sowing time. We still have a lot of snow on the ground, but the temps are finally supposed to get in the 40's and 50's this week so hope it melts fast so the ground gets some sun to start warming up. I'll have to shovel snow off my raised beds to put in early spinach and lettuce and try to set up my plastic hoop frames. I'm also hoping the night temps will stay above 25 degrees in a couple of weeks, because I don't trust my overnight greenhouse heater much lower that that. It's not too bad carrying in a few trays overnight, but after I pot up it's too hard on my knees to traipse up and down my steep hill to my greenhouse fifteen or twenty times. I started around 65 varieties or selections, most from 4-6 seeds each, but about 1/4 of those are 8 to 10 year old seed, so not expecting all to germinate.

It's always a mad rush to get plants in the ground by the first week of June, especially when the weather is cool with near frost nights. We have annual reservations for a week long fishing trip on my husband's birthday the 2nd week of June, and I have no one reliable to fuss with pot bound seedlings that need daily watering by that time, so they have to go in the ground and hope for the best. I've had some cukes with frost damage, but have lucked out with tomatoes in recent years. I can only hope that once the weather finally warms up we will be back to a hotter than normal summer pattern, like the last 10 years have been here.

I have not looked here since I posted last...that was April 3rd..today is April 14..still have not started any seeds yet.
I plan on starting the oldest ones on the 27th..as I am going away until May 5th..that should give them a chance to germinate..then I start the others..very very late for me..
But..the snow is just melting and we are expecting some more snow tomorrow!! I can't even plant my peas as the garden is
thick with snow and ice under the snow is like rock..
So a late season with patience..
Good to read your posts Carolyn..
cheers to all ;-> Martha/zucchini

I would take off all buds and blossoms when planting out my seedlings and planted out 6 to 9 inch seedlings.

I think it's a good thing to do since it gives time for vegetative growth of roots and stems and foliage, all energy being directed that way, before allowing them to go into the sexual cycle of blossom formation and fruit set.

The blossom cycle is abut two weeks long, so soon it starts again, randomly on each plant, and of course those I let go on to fruit formation.

Carolyn

Thanks all. Nipping it is!

Kevin

My salsa recipe calls for "tomatoes" but doesn't specify a variety. I like to take Dave's suggestion and mix it up. Since I practically live on home made salsa during the summer, changing around the tomatoes is a good way to keep it fresh and different. That way it never gets old, and the taste blend can be more complex as well. A mix of colors also gives it some additional visual appeal.

The one thing I find most important is to avoid grocery store tomatoes. Farmers market tomatoes and the ones from my garden work very well no matter what variety. But grocery store tomatoes and anything else are just tasteless.

Angie

For fresh salsa (NOT CANNED) I like juicy, tangy, some sweet tomatoes. Now that I grow different varieties, colors, I can incorporate them. Same goes with the pepper varieties. I like to add cilantro, maybe little chopped basil too. How about a little YOUNG garden fresh cucumber ?

To me salsa is just some kind of salad, without lettuce and any leafy greens.
It is all about personal taste and preference.

After my Dad died in 2010, I was cleaning out his freezer and found several different variety's of OP tomato seed that Mom had saved in the freezer. I know she saved them because of the handwriting. She died in 1998 and was disabled for 5 years prior to that.

I had 80 + % germination with those seed. I wish you luck and I believe you will have good luck with that young seed!

Carolyn,
Yes I drove up to NC just for the tomato fest. I was so into tomatoes, I loved the fresh flavors! I have so much garden space compared to what I had in Fla.

I have the seeds soaked and into soil, so I will let folks know what I get. I got some new Mexico Midgets from Craig last year, but they are somewhere in my piles of stuff, lol.

I have some Italian peppers that are 5 yrs old that took, going to narrow down so that I only have a few that I like.

Cheri

I found the culprits -- quail. Some small poultry netting cages solved the issue.

Sjerin, bird netting lets almost all of the sun through. If it had a shade rating it would be less than five percent.

Zeuspaul

my tomatoes leave turned to dark green color and don't grow much, what is the possible problem? they were nice and green when I planted them in my 5 Gal. containers,
thanks,
Kasey

Because containers are watered more often and are shallower and smaller in volume, some good portion of the nutrients go down the drain (literally). For that reason two methods are more suitable, IMO.

1- fertilizing with a weak fertilizer solution (like 1/4 rec. strength, water soluble) more often (Maybe every other time)

2- mixing in CRF to your potting mix before potting. That is how and what MG does and says it (plants grown in their potting mix) won't need fertilizing for up to 6 months. That might be an over blown claim but there is some truth to it. And CRF is responsible for that property .

One more thing: Use a CRF that also has calcium in it. I am using MG "Shake n Feed".

From time to time I also use MG "all purpose" water soluble (the one used in sprinkler type feeders)

So, there are many ways. It is hard to say what is "BEST".

Is tomato tone anything more than just a fertilizer? Googling for ~ tomato "Tomato Tone" site:gardenweb.com ~ it seem there are more questions than answers here on this GW tomato forum. [careless hyperbole].

This post was edited by albert_135 on Mon, Apr 14, 14 at 16:52

Is tomato tone anything more than just a fertilizer?

No it is just an organic fertilizer like many others. Made by Espoma and has a rating of 3-4-6.

Googling for ~ tomato "Tomato Tone" site:gardenweb.com ~ it seem there are more questions than answers here on this GW tomato forum.

Not sure what you mean. Yes there are lots of questions posted about it. And they all have several answers posted to each of those questions.

Dave

Once a plant reaches a certain size and age then it is normal for it to start forming buds. Pinch/snip them off. If it gets rootbound in its container or if it is growing in very warm temps they form buds due to stress.

Your plants would appear to have been started too early as the plant in the photo is more than ready to be planted out much less wait another month.

Dave

Early budding is very common with rooted suckers. I see hundreds of open flowers on 4" plants that likely barely have formed roots. I believe there may be stress involved in certain cases but other times the plant is just programmed to start producing fruit.

The picture of your plant bothered me a little. I can't see the growing point on the plant. Did you top the plant or is the growing point obscured?