16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

A Chinese woman.... Oh, geez....

Maybe you planted an orange variety ?

Thank you! those are good questions and it is a bit of experiment for me. Weather is still quite nice, we have occasional light frost in the mornings but days and most nights are good. I think we will still have 4 weeks of growing easily before growth stops and cold sets in. I will have to figure out exactly how village does its tilling as they are doing it with big machine, I would assume they do not remove èweedsè and just plow them under but have to check

Lindalana ... good luck !
I am curious to see the outcome. Please report back, if you will. My impression is that fall crop has to grow enough to make it worthwhile , as green manure around April.

Very good kOticc... good selection there.

I have not done much container gardening. But I intend to do some, mostly smaller pepper plants. That is why I have been a regular over "Container Gardening" forum, trying to educate myself.

Most difficult part of container gardening is managing WATER and FERTILIZER. This is especially true with some of the potting mixes discussed in that forum. (Like 5. 1. 1). Those mixes are unknown territories to me. They all seem to be TOO WELL drained and thus not having storage capability for water and the nutrients. But I will experiment with them the next season.
Container size is yet another issue. But I think for annual plants like matoes, pepps, it is not crucial if they get root bound by the end of season. Container size becomes a player for perennial plants.

lindalana, you make it sound so easy lol.

I will be using a mix based on Al's 5-1-1 mix. I haven't figured out what will work best but I'd rather start will a very well draining mix and go from there.

I am trying to do all this organically, and the consensus seems to be using larger containers will help keep temp and moisture more consistent (and therefore more likely to keep those soil critters more consistent). I already have that thread going so I won't go more into that.

"Damping Off" normally happens with seedlings. I'm thinking Linda had another affliction on her plants. Linda, you could have indeed had something nibble on your plant opening a wound to allow bugs, virus or bacteria to enter.

In the end, anything can go wrong, but generally everything goes right. Sometimes they just need a little help.

Gail

There are three genera and species of fungi that can cause damping off, which is shown in the picture and without one of them being in the grow medium no damping off can occur.

I have never used sterile seed starting mix, no need to if you use a good one. In past times those that have Canadian Spaghnum moss have been a problem. And never but never use potting soil or real dirt, only artificial seed starting mix.

And not just seedlings can be affected, but plants up to 5 inches tall, which look fine until then. There's a great pictures in my tomato pathology book showing that.

Cinnamon does not work to prevent fungal growth although it's suggested by many. Same for sulfur.

Linda, what you describe on mature plants could be one of several diseases.

Carolyn

I also have the impression that BEEFSTEAK refers to the size of tomato, it is slicer, one slice is big enough for a burger.

Also most cherry tomatoes are famous for their sweetness, as they are exclusively eaten fresh and in salads. But anyway, I personally like a bit "Tomatoey" taste more than just sweet. Now it seems that there are choices. Good to know.

I looked at Husky on Totally Tomatoes. It looks good ! Thanks !

I agree with the previous poster cherry tomatoes work better in the winter months then bigger tomatoes. Cherries have a wider range of temperatures they will set fruit in.

I suspect that the box stores see a potential for profit and act on it. They wouldn't do it if there would not be some incentive.

I also wonder why folks just don't take better care of the plants they start early.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
BECAUSE:
The two options (starting from seed early, indoor and providing protection for HUGE plants at the end of season) are not the same. I can easily manage to grow 20 tomato or pepper seedlings in my living room for 3 months. But I cannot accommodate even a single 6- 8 foot plant inside. The only option remaining is to have a greenhouse. Your high tunnel is just an attempt to create a greenhouse BUT a much less inefficient one.

That is why I BELIEVE trying to extend the season at the fron end is less costly and more convenient. ( for the reasons I mentioned above)

Seysonn, if huge plants are a problem for you then you must be content with the production limitations of smaller plants. I'll admit that I have "Maxed-out" on the tomahook stringline reserve on most cherry & grape varieties translating to plants that have grown well over 20 feet over the season and I agree that a greenhouse is the way to achieve more than season extension since the framework also serves as plant support.
I have grown tomatoes in the ground under high tunnels for more than 10 years now and I have made some changes early in the process that have made a large impact on success: Exhaust fans, circulation fans,a wood stove and lights. I could never understand why most people take multiple steps to improve their personal comfort yet draw an absolute line on where they cease to care for their plants. For the first and last months of the season the roll-up sides of my tunnels remain locked down and thermostatatically controlled exhaust fans keep inside temps in control. Circulation fans are a huge benefit in insuring uniform air temps, lowering fungal diseases and even in polination- they're cheap and pay for themselves many times over. As far as wood stoves go, it's just the cheapest heat source for most people when all factors are considered.

Starting plants mid-season means that for that ground surface area you have ZERO production from the time of transplant until harvest begins, usually 8-10 weeks. For me that translates to $thousands. Just do the math.

I don't know if there are hybrids that look like your picture. I think there is a good chance you can grow that tomato from seed that you saved. It is easy to do and if it is not what you usually do, it would be interesting to try it.

yes we have said quite a few seeds :)

I just ran across this site because I was looking for a cause of this and if and how to plant my tomatoes. I have 2 tomatoes, on the same vine that were bought in the store about a week ago. My house temp is about 68-70 degrees and I have sprouts that broke the surface of the tomato. It looks rather cool but like I said, I don't know if and how to plant them or if I can this time of year.
I just put a link on here, not knowing what I am doing to see if you can get the picture.
But, can I just plant it inside, whole in the tomatoes so that I don't mess up the cause of the growth?

Just happened to me from a tomato I got from a food shelf. It was a vine on variety with two tomatoes. I ate one about two weeks later and the other waited at least 3 weeks. I can't say it's been chilled. No. I had it at room temperature for all of about 3 weeks. Normally I see tomatoes rot and go bad if not eaten in enough time.

But this one was different. It got softer but didn't rot. When I opened it, I saw the seeds beginning to sprout. I removed those, planted some. Ate the rest of the tomato without the seeds. I found this thread looking up the phenomenon.

Tomatoes should never be stored at temperatures below 50 F. If you refrigerate them, the volatile compounds that contribute to the taste breakdown and the texture becomes mealy. I even notice that the flavor of tomatoes left to ripen on the vine is not as good when we have nights in the 40s in the fall. Part of the reason store bought tomatoes taste so bad is that they have been transported in refrigerated trucks.

I am still eating green ones I picked and stored in my basement. They taste pretty good. I would not keep them in a basket or more then one layer deep in a box because I do have to check every couple days for rotten ones.

Ah, sweet mystery of life at last I've found you, c'mon you all , you can sing along with me. LOL

Carolyn

For size comparison: Husky Cherry, two of the "Roma"s, Roma-type Golden Milano.

::shrug::

I've grown Rosella Purple but not Wild Fred. Perth Pride performed better in my Alabama garden.

Due to space requirements, I have been seriously looking into some good early determinants. Here are some that I found. The source is selling only plants not seeds .So I am interested in seeds not plants:

--CASCADE LAVA ...DTM..70
-- 42 DAYS ..DTM ...42
---GLACIER MIGHTY MATO ... DTM ...55
MANITOBA ...DTM ...66
-- BLACK SEAMAN ...DTM ..75
Then I can get following seeds: Bush Beefsteak . Beaver Lodge, Siletz.

Anbody has grown any of these?

Asalamua'laikum Ameera

Its great to have someone from UAE. I was actually looking for someone on GW from my part of the world. Glad to meet you. I even thought of recommending to GW admin to have a Middle East Gardening Forum :-)

And thanks for all those advices along with pictures. I actually for some reason did not plant them in the final containers. Will wait for some more time.

One thing I wanted to ask you was about those containers of yours. What are those? They seem to be some sort of fabric type. Are they available in UAE? Many things I could not find in KSA (Al Khobar) but found in that tiny island of Bahrain. I believe UAE would have much more to offer. Though not a concern right now, but I think with coming seasons I will be increasing my gardening activities and since container gardening is the only option for me (at the moment), the potting soil cost is going to get heavy which I will have to reduce. Any suggestions?

Wa aleikum salaam :)

Unfortunately those pots are not available here... I bought them online from smartpots.com and they delivered them to me from the US. This was over 2 years ago and they actually under-charged me for shipping because once I received the package I saw they paid a lot more for shipping than they charged me. I just looked and they did raise their shipping cost.

There are cheaper brands that I found but the sites don't ship overseas... just in case you are interested in at least seeing it (maybe you would want to buy some if you ever travel to the US or know someone who will be there) ...here is one brand:

http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/category/fabric-pots

I chose fabric pots because of the extra air flow in hopes to extend the chance of ripening tomatoes a bit longer once the heat sets in (keeps soil cooler than a plastic or ceramic container). Also because it causes air pruining:

http://www.smartpots.com/smart-pot-air-prunes

For supports for the tomato plants I found everything at a Japanese store named Daiso --I looked and there is one in Al Khobar so hopefully you can find some good stuff to use as support. Other stores like Ace Hardware or other Gardening stores were way more expensive.

My supports ended up looking like this (I gardened on my concrete roof so no soil to dig the stakes deep into the ground):

I did a combo of two things. I got some plant cages but since they are too weak to support a tomato plant by itself, I supported them with those green long plastic stakes and added plastic rope horizontally as the plant grew taller.

Now, my very first try at growing tomatoes I did successfully grow them in 7 gallon plastic containers (but they were Determinate varieties that only produce tomatoes once and then the plant dies) :

For soil, I fortunately found a local company and spoke directly with the owner who sold everything at wholesale prices. I was very fortunate because I needed to buy A LOT of soil.

But before I found that here is some advice I got previously:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg091512275112.html

As I said on that old thread of mine, if the soil is on the expensive side, I would just buy a few bags here and there over time so you aren't stuck buying all of it at once and being shocked by the price.