16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
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
"Growing tomatoes in Minnesota must be challenging. What techniques do you use to help speed up the growing?" - In all honesty the only technique I have found to work is patience and acceptance of the fact that the tomatoes will come when they come. And to never fertilize tomato plants with a high nitrogen fertilizer unless you like giant tomato shrubs with poor fruit production. ;) A little bit of neglect in strategic areas can help in overall success and quality.
IMHO as much as I have experimented in the past I now accept that you simply cannot do anything to speed up the process of getting (good quality) ripe tomatoes, as much as I would dearly love to do so. All the more reason to appreciate and enjoy them when in season.
Btw, making sauce with non-paste tomatoes and taking all that time to reduce it until it thickens? My sister does that, best sauce I have ever tasted. IMO a simple method of achieving excellent results of which many people are not aware. As for me, I simply do not have that kind of patience in the kitchen...
The crate of pastes contains Incas, Classica, my own sausage-type, and other crosses.
The crate of beefsteaks include Zarnitsa, Earl's Faux, Big Boy, Oregon, Black from Tula, Mortgage Lifter, Tomesol White, a medium yellow/orange off-type from Kellogg's Breakfast that I saved and stabilized, and one or two crosses.
oh my gosh t-bird, I know! I actually did check the 10 day, a well as the monthly... and I did not see that. But at any rate, I used boxes to cover them, so hopefully they will survive. Last night was the last of it so I'm hoping that wasn't too much for them.
just an update in case anyone comes across this and wonders what happened:
the vine-type tomatoes did great on the pallets. I had to tie them up a few times, but overall they functioned well enough for what I hoped. The bush tomatoes did not do so well on them. Luckily I only had one of those.
I probably won't do this again next year unless I have to though, I think there are definitely better solutions to be had.
these tomatoes are supposed to be "slicers" but I cooked some today and they made very good tomato soup so I will be able to use them at least.
They were grown in huge planters - about 20 L.- have been well fertilized and watered. I am growing 3 other varieties in the same manner that are very successful - lots of fruits and nice flavor and texture
Doesn't sound like late blight.
Please post an image.
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
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