16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Yep. Milk as a fungicide is trending. I just find the numbers to not work out when compared to commercial ones. I may have to do it though, because I don't want the potassium bicarbonate I've been using to harm my freshly released lacewing larvae. Thanks Joe.
Kevin
My policy is to get rid of any yellow/ suspicious/ damaged leave, as soon as I spot them. Then, If I think it is caused by fungus , I will go ahead and spray or do whatever . Such leaves are just a source for additional infestation and do not make any contribution to the plant's life. Most soil born diseases are cause by : TOO MUCH moisture, TOO LITTLE air flow under and around the plant. So that is where pruning make sense (to me!) Some people believe in keeping the lower leaves(even the sick ones) as a source of shade. But I would rather use a mulch that will not remain soggy
Sharon, I see maybe one link that says too much sun, most speak of other environmental reasons for yellow shoulders. And if you look at the pictures at various links you'll see that it's mostly large beefsteak types that are susceptible to it.
And they aren't ones with wispy, droopy, dissected foliage.
Over the years I've seen it many times, not every season, and just ignore it b'c as several of the links say, it's really been impossible to ID a single cause.
I would suggest reading mainly those sites from Cornell and other places where the address has .edu in it.
Annoying when it happens? For sure. But again, in my experience it never affects ALL of the tomato varieties in the same season.
Carolyn
Hi Carolyn
I have read over the different links and considering the CDB was the ant that I had a lot of problems with BER it's not surprising. Like you mentioned its not affecting my other plants. I'm happy to report that after much worrying about Anna Russian it has produced some very beautiful and delicious fruit. And that is one wispy plant!
I grew, for the first time, 3 yellow/orange tomatoes this year: Limmony, Amana Orange and an oxheart. The oxheart will not be back again, due to lack of taste. I did enjoy the color variety. The AO was more productive than the Limmony; I will probably plant both again next year.
Every year is an experiment! And my "want to try" list is not getting shorter.
Any that are almost ripe or even semi-ripe should have already been picked. Nothing is gained, and much can be lost, by leaving them on the vine once color break happens.
The fully green should remain on the vine as long as possible.
Dave
Agree with Jeanne for it doesn't sound like Late Blight ( P infestans) to me either, which is not the same as Early Blight ( A. solani).
The earliest symptoms of Late Blight are the bending down of the petioles and the appearance of the specific lesions on the leaves.
And lesions on fruit would be pretty much the last of any symptoms you see.
You might want to Google Late Blight or even do a search here at GW to get some more information and of course, I also agree that if possible some pictures might help.
Carolyn
The
Dave, thank you for the advice, I will start educating myself on proper techniques. Can you lead me in any direction of good reads on organic fertilizing?
JOE, I do have a problem with white flies I have been trying to hold at bay with Neem and castile soap. I will post more pictures tonight.
Can you lead me in any direction of good reads on organic fertilizing?
Organic fertilizing in general? Sure, we have a great Organic Gardening forum here. But the problems arise with organic fertilizing in containers.
Fertilizing in containers has little in common with fertilizing in-ground.gardening - whether organics or synthetics - just as gardening in containers has little in common with in-ground gardening. Which is why I recommended the Container Gardening forum for the basics.
Containers use different soil-less mixes (no dirt since it compacts in containers, doesn't drain well, and causes roots to rot), plants quickly become rootbound in containers (not a problem in the ground) which is why much BIGGER containers is recommended (10-15 gallons for the average tomato plant), plants in containers must be watered much more often than an in ground garden, and every time you water containers the nutrients leach out of the container. So container plants have to be fed regularly - weekly is common - and fed diluted mixes or nutrients based on the size of the containers. So using liquid organic fertilizers work much better than dry granular ferts.
Organic fertilizers need bacteria and soil microbes and bugs to convert them to a form usable by the plants. Garden dirt contains them naturally but container mixes don't have those bacteria and such unless you add them to it and do so regularly. Some folks do it with compost and compost or manure teas, and some do it with one of the many liquid bacterial supplements available.
So some reading about fertilizers on the Organic Gardening forum will be of help but keep in mind that you are working with containers so much of what in-ground gardeners recommend just work work for you.
The Container Gardening forum does have some organic gardeners too however and they can help balance the two issues for you.
Dave
Peppers are edible at any stage. Most start with green color and keep getting bigger. When they reach a certain size, then slowly change color. Most change to red from green. Some change to yellow, orange, then to red. That is considered RIPE> But the point is that they are edible during all that time and in every stage might have a slightly different flavor.
Unless you re dry those dessicants/ silica gels(in oven, eg), they will be worthless. Because after being around for so long they become saturated with moisture and cannot absorb any more. Unless you can get fresh sealed unused ones.
I think wit airtight container you should be fine.
Browning leaves, at this time of season, in zone 4 should be normal. Even temps in mid 50s is more like fall weather.
Another factor is inherited in container gardening. Normally you would want to cut back on fertilizing at this point. This should be fine for in ground plants but in case of potted plants it can mean nitrogen deficiency. But IMO, that is ok. You want the fruits ripen and not any foliage anymore.
"I prefer black from Tula or black Krim."
Yeah but black krim has it's own problems. But thanks much for chiming in. I have seeds to both BK and TBR, I will try both myself, but only one next year. It sounds like Black Tula may be the one to go for. As another endorsement in this thread from someone who wont be growing black krim anymore. I may look for that one too!
I am not very happy with my BK, It took so long. Now maybe getting ready to color break. But the reason could be that first my seedling was quite small when I planted it. The there was a period of cool and rainy weeks. Since I like the flavor of BK and already have it , I can save seeds and try to start from seeds myself early. I will also do Cherokee Purple. I understand that these are MID season. For the early season I will plant Stupice and Early Girl. I have found out the EG is VERY productive though not the best tasting. So there is a trade off. It has been ripening since mid July and now is loaded with close to 100 more. It is a HUGE double main plant.
Wow! Thanks for much for the advice Vine.
I've been excited because this was a real treat as a first-year gardener. I never thought the plants would grow let alone develop such an interesting looking fruit.
Also, thanks for everyone explaining SSE. I get why it's difficult to narrow down which variety it is, but, all of the responses have been immensely helpful as the original grower said he just threw in some seeds and forgot about what's what. Whomp, whomp.
Thank goodness these are growing in the ground so I've been very careful not to overwater and simply prune daily to keep on top of (potential) diseases.
I agree with Vine, I grow San Marzano Redorta and it looks just like it. I also just tried the oven roast method of sauce making with some of mine and I can say the flavor is just out of this world. Throw a sliced onion and a clove or two of garlic in the roasting pan and then just chop em up in a food processor after they are all roasted and soft for a perfect sauce.
CH
Companies like Burpee, need to push HYBRIDs in order to survive and make money. There is little money in selling heirloom seeds/plants and there are a lot of little internet stores selling them. So I understand Burpee's strategy. Probably, there are a lot of paste tomatoes around that are even better. What is the advantage of size in a paste tomato ? Then there is the question of total production , per plant in pounds.
Larry, we had a particularly wet June and July here too and the tomato production has been awful. Tons of septoria and very little fruit. That said, I got a few nice-sized super sauce, but they weren't as big as the package said. Again, you're right, this year isn't really a fair trial since all of my tomatoes suffered. It was the worst tomato year I can remember. OTOH, the eggplant and peppers are thriving.