16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

Should you add calcum ?
It depend on what your potting medium is. If it came in a bag, read the label to see if it already has calcium. If it does not, then you will need to add calcium. The most common source of calcium for containers is dolomite lime.

For more info you may want to visit "Container Gardening" forum here in GW..

As Cara said, garden soil is not recommended for containers, for the reason being that it can get compacted, causing drainage problem.If your plant is still small you can re pot it into soil less medium.

This post was edited by seysonn on Mon, Mar 31, 14 at 22:55

I will second the advice to avoid garden soil in a container. I learned the hard way myself. Take the plant out and gently wash the roots. Then either plant it in the ground, or fill the container with potting mix.
For fertilizing dilute the fertilizer to half strength. Apply in the time directed. If it says every 7 to 10 days then go with every 7 or so.

If you are in an area that gets days of over 100 degrees then planting them on the south side of the tomatoes may be of some help. I know they say tomatoes should grow in full sun. In areas that get over 100 if something is on the south end to give a bit of shade in the evening it can help tomatoes. The two plants that gave me the most tomatoes last year were shaded in the evening. The plant was still getting 10 hours of direct sunlight.

I think, as long as their(sunflowers' and tomatoes' ) roots do not get tangled up, it should be fine. Probably 1.5 apart is good enough.

^ I grew those a couple of years ago, wasn't all that impressed by them to be honest. They were bigger than Sungold and not nearly as tasty.

sweet baby girl loads up well larger than sungold, grows well in cooler climates, can be rained on when red ripe without splitting ,dosn't do as well in a cold frame too much foliage,5 ft. outside and ease of harvest. the best red cherry I have found in 30 years. I am trying cherry falls,sakura,and suncherry this year.

Calcium Chloride by Southern Ag.
Thanks Carolyn. I respect your experience.
Here is mine: When I don't use the spray, I get BER. When I do spray regularly, I seem to not get it at all or very little.
I have never had my soil tested. I know I should. Oh well.
I mulch with wheat straw to keep weeds down and to retain an even moisture content. I use drip irrigation from a lot of soaker hoses, so my moisture content is fairly consistent, except for the rain storms.

Calcium is one of the essential elements that most garden vegetables need, aside from BER problem.

So as Carolyn has explained it well, its existence in the soil is not a guarantee to prevent BER.

I'd give them half-strength MG. You'll see the difference.
And if you can foliar feed, even better. I'd do that for
a couple of weeks and then go full strength.

Loved the organic gardener/MG hater comment. You're
a man (I think) after my own heart.

I agree with you seysson. All of those in your list are chemical elements. N is N is N, period!

I've heard mixed results, but I'm giving it a shot. I have peppers and flowers out there too.

I'll be interested to see if the winter sowing works out for you. I had several volunteers last spring from the previous year's garden. Until then, I didn't realize it was possible to winter sow tomatoes.

Pineapple is advertised and pictured all over the net as a bi-color. I grew it a few yrs back but didn't see the yellow/red size like I do in Mr Stripey. Still it was more productive for me than Big Rainbow but not as large. Hillbilly is another one that comes out as mostly yellow in my experience but the net pics always show lots of red. Maybe I pick them a little too soon. Both are nice plants and set lots of fruit. I only grew BR one time and didn't have any luck with it but will try it again.

Not to hi jack the topic, (Hoping OP to be able to make a decision),;
I have bought several HEIRLOOM tomatoes from store (NO NAME) that looked like MR.STRIPY, BIG RAINBOW and PINEAPPLE. I am growing seedlings from them right now.

I like colorful tomatoes on the juicy side. I can always take care of the flavor by vinegar, lemon juice , salt, pepper and sugar. Rarely I eat plain tomato except cherries.

I use a special planting stick, an ornamental one made for me by my son when he was small, to plant seeds. I used the planting stick for the last few years, and haven't gotten BER.

Good one Lucille! :)

Dave

I agree Lucille about pruning. I was just thinking about doing that to try more varieties. Just a few tomato plants is probably enough for most of us, but suppose you wanted to try 15-20 different tomato varieties in a small garden. You could grow small plants and do it that way.

I grow my tomatoes (DET & INDET) in less than 2ft spacing, maybe 18 - 20 inches.

Spacing , mostly is to accommodate the top rather than the roots. Lets do a math: A 1.5ft by 1.5ft area with 1ft depth will have 2.25 cubic ft of soil or about 15 gallons(3 bucketful) . That is MORE than what the root system needs to spread, as long as the nutrients are in there. The extra spacing is really more for convenience of the gardener rather than the need of the plants.

ANOTHER IDEA:

I have read this not foo long ago, right in this forum:

PLANT TWO PER HILL INSTEAD OF JUST ONE. that is how cucumbers squash and potatoes are usually planted.

Here how to do do it:
In the same hill plant the two plants 6 to 8" apart.
Space the next hill (center -to- center) 30".

So in effect it is alike planting at 15" spacing but this method offers some convenience. I am going to try this method myself.

Let me say that there is nothing wrong with extra spacing if you have the resources. If nothing else, if offers convenience.

brain,
wants to find a way to grow with no leafs. they keep getting in the way! :)

Oh no, my faith may have been shaken, but I'm in no way turning over to the dark side. I don't prune healthy leaves!

Boston: I'll experiment with the sawdust this coming season. According to the article, it can be done. I just need to find out how, because Lord knows, sawdust is just not useful for a bonfire.

Dave: You're right, a lot of the content in the article is not applicable to a home gardener like myself. However I do think some of the ideas presented in the article are interesting, may be useful, possibly worthy of discussion?

I've read people describing tomatoes as having vegetative and reproductive states. This has always confused me since I have never seen these states. Instead, all my tomatoes produce new shoots and leaves, and at the same time produce new flowers and fruit.

My understanding of the article is that a particular plant can be viewed as either more vegetative or more generative depending on the ratio of leaves to fruit; and that you can get a balanced plant by raising or lowering the temperature.

This is not immediately useful for a home gardener as temperature is beyond our control, but a better understanding of tomatoes and the effects of temperature might come in handy.

Daren

Additional Information on The Japanese Tomato Ring

By: Daniel E
There are several reasons why this occurs, and you can recreate this same growing condition by installing a Japanese tomato ring. ...www.santarosa.fl.gov/extension/articles/japtomatoring.html

Tomato Ring
The Japanese Tomato Ring, which, by the way, has nothing to do with Japan, originated in South Carolina with a postman named Callahan. ...www.pamga.org/Tomato%20Ring.htm

Tons of Tomatoes From A Small Space
Want to grow a ton of tomatoes, but plagued by evil soil or limited space? The Japanese Tomato Ring allows you to grow 5 lush plants in a space 3" x 3", ...
http://floraldreams.net/Plant%20Care/Tons%20Of%20Tomatoes.html

Urban Gardening Help - High Yield Techniques - Small Spaces
Square Foot Gardening and the Japanese Tomato Ring are two gardening methods ... The Japanese Tomato Ring is an unusual growing technique that one gardener ...www.urbangardeninghelp.com/highyield.htm

Japanese Tomato Ring Websites People Who Like Japanese Tomato Ring Sites
http://www.stumbleupon.com/tag/japanese-tomato-ring/

found a similar method i might try this year....use 20 or 30 gal trash can in the middle of ring...plant around it in good composted soil...put compost in can and water your tomatoes by putting water in can...which leaks out water slowly to water deeply...later, up till bloom time, just make compost tea and use it to water tomatoes...might work and also save water too...the indian

Thanks Dave. I did 2 searches and didn't find anything. Loads of threads but nothing jumping with sun-dried.

No body does SUN DRYing anymore, with today's dehydrator technology, sun drying is out of fashion, except in some remote places in the world that do not have electricity or have not heard of DEHYDRATOR.

Cherry tomatoes certainly come up faster than the regular sized ones. I get them a month earlier

OLD thread.No need to go back.

I agree with "snibb".
Because of its shear smaller size, it will take cherry tomato less time to grow and ripen (from flower to fruit) . Then of course there can be EARLY and MID cherry too. That is to say, NOT all cherries will be early.

EARLY varieties WIIL be early RELATIVE to MID and LATE season varieties, growing in the same garden.