16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
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 also wonder why folks just don't take better care of the plants they start early.
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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 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.
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.
If I were you I'd leave the flowers. You need something for your efforts. Maybe you will get a tomato. Keep trying and learning. Your local nursery is selling tomato plants so that means others in you area are growing them. Maybe someone at your nursery could show you how tomatoes are grown there or you could meet someone at the nursery and discuss their methods. You will find information here but someone in your area would know what works there. You seem to love plants; good luck.
Thanks Helenh for your advice.
I too feel that since this is my first attempt at growing anything, I will let the flowers grow to see what happens.
As for others that buy the tomato in my area, I spoke to the nursery guys and they told me that perhaps I was the only one growing in containers. All the other have large plots for in ground planting. However, I still have found one guy who will come over to my place and see how things are going at my end. However, I have noticed one thing that the in ground planters over here are not too very aware about the change in dynamics when growing in containers. But lets see.
Yes it I seems that I love plant. But as one member of GW said, my love of plants results in too much attention which can kill them :-)
Thanks again for your input.
Saood
Found this in search of something else, stupice should be pronounced correctly as STUPITZE or STUPIZZEH , c being as Z in Pizza...u being pronounced OO...E as EH.
Walked over the mountain road called Stupice many times, think I ought to trade for the tomato seeds. Irregardless the name as long as it's enjoyed.
Bea
graanib ... your pronunciation sounds more natural to me. I don't know Czech but "C" in stupi"C"e is not pronounce as " c in nieCe".
Also "E" at the end should sound like "eh". So if "C" in Czech sounds like "Z" in German then we will have"
"stoo.peetz.eh". Nothing sounding like "STUPID" : lol
I grew tomatillos this year for the first time. I received the seed in a trade. The plants were very prolific (I had 2), but the fruit were marble size and totally useless. What varietie(s) do I look for to get regular size tomatillos like I see in the store?
John A
I figured I would use the top of the planter to grown something because why waste the space!
Wanting to plant something in the top of the planter implies an upside down tomato planter to me. If it was a hanging basket then it would be the tomato that was planted in the top of the planter.
Deeby - from what I have read from the So. CA growers planting there is much earlier than for most of us - like late Jan to early Feb. rather than in the spring. That's why I suggested the CA forum for best info on planting times.
Dave
"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