16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
jimster is right Plant Physiology will answer your question. From a common sense gardening perspective, after a lot of experimenting ( 25yrs) , If you trim non fruit producing branches from a tomato plant you will get bigger fruit . Trim to much and you'll get some sun burning and splitting ! .
This is the 1st year I have tried pruning non fruit producing branches and have had great success in spite of the fact that this has been a terrible year for growing tomatoes in my area. For example my German Johnson heirloom is yielding large fruit ( 1lb +). I put this plant in ground on May 2nd. It is now loaded with large size fruit that I will be able to harvest before the 1st predicted frost date of Sept 22nd.
What a cute little frog!
Glad to hear your Pruden's is producing well. It's been said many times, patice has its virtues. LOL!
I think I need to grow Pruden's Purple again, it's been a while. They were delicious when I last grew them.
Betsy
So many tomatoes, so little time!
This post was edited by bets on Sat, Aug 24, 13 at 12:11
new poster ..I believe I have late blight and it has spread like wildfire and so I am trying to educate myself as I have never exp'ed anything like this before...I have had early blight with not much trouble of keep pruned and well feed that being enough..This Late Blight is turning out to be a different animal
:(
Last night I actually had a nightmare and woke up in a cold sweat.
I read alot varying advice and went ahead and treated with the Donacil/Chlorothalonil, Ortho"Garden Disease Control" says it stops over 130 Diseases so we will see...My thought is once this has started in your its "All Over" as I have not see anyone say "Its stopped the onslaught" only Prevented..so wiped brow and will see.
My waiting brings me to ask if I pick my large green now before they even look like they have been affected might they still be infected if put into paper bags to try n rippen..I suppose It could not hurt to pic a few and see but wonder if anyone has exp. with this or will they too succume it time..I found this link that I thought I would post too as there is much debate on what to do and use ..
Here is a link that might be useful: Late Blight in Tomatoesàand Potatoesà��
I Don't know if the blight fungus is seriously harmaful to humans. An I doubt that they will persist to exist if you wash the fruits. It is a plant disease, not a humane disease.
That is my understanding.
But if you spray the plant (with fruits on it,) you have to check the pesticide's label. probably you should not consume them for like 5 days. This is the chemical in the spray not the fungus.
About harvesting tomatoes:
I have recently learned on this forum that if you pick a tomato, as early as you see a color break, you can safely pick and let it fully ripen inside, without any bag or direct sun.
So this way, you can save some of the tomatoes even if you lose the plant.
Hi John A - Yes, they are GH grown. Tomatoes need protection to grow in Wyoming - at our elevation! This is the first year planting Brandy Boy (for us). We love the plant - lots of tomatoes - vigorous plant - all the things they say about it were true for us!
Carolyn, please don't leave!
Seyson, one video is not proof (and you provided no other links), especially when the person who posted it said that tomato plants in containers will often exhibit leaf roll. As for my reasoning about the video, I was just stating points as to why **I**, as in me personally, don't consider him to be a tomato authority, and I did watch more than one just to make sure that one was not a fluke.
I also don't consider myself to be an absolute authority on tomatoes. I answer questions based on more than 40 years off and on gardening experience and knowledge from reading credible sources. You will not often see me answering disease questions unless no one else has after a period of time, and even then I will include a link to visual diagnostic aids so the original poster can make their own comparisons. I have been fortunate and have not had to deal with much in the way of diseases in my own garden.
On the point of pronunciation, I just thought it odd that he pronounces Sudduth's with two long u sounds but spells it with an a.
I plan to say no more on the topics of negativity and contrariness.
Betsy
We have been talking about a tomato problem (BLACK KRIM...). We were not talking about somebody elses's personality; We were not making character judgments ; UNTIL .. The record is there and clear.
If somebody feels being offended because somebody else expressed opposing views, that is his/her problem.
For Pete' sake, in America we have the Freedom of Expression, part of our constitution. Can't we be free to express our opinions on some tomato matters ?
This post was edited by seysonn on Sat, Aug 24, 13 at 17:50
I know what you can do with them, send them out here! I picked my first 2 ripe Sophies Choice a week ago and used both for my first tomato and basil sandwich of the year and boy was it good! I went to write in my garden journal when the first ripe tomato of this year was ready, and saw that my entry for the next day one year earlier was that I had just finished canning 14 Quarts! I am over a month behind, but at least I have a small crop starting. A couple of days ago I had my 3rd tomato, a KB that I used for my first fresh tomato and basil pizza of the year. YUM. I have my 4th tomato, the first Mortgage lifter, I will either use for my first fresh "salsa for one", lol, or a tomato sandwich tomorrow. I am planning the use of each one carefully! I pick at first blush to make sure no critters get one. But at least they taste wonderful so far, not mealy or watery as I had feared, but I confess I have only watered once or twice all season. Some disease, I picking off leaves, but not horrible. I will probably try to spray this weekend to keep them going until most of this small crop can ripen.
I've got quite a few ripening on the counter now, may bring some to market on Wed, but Grandma Mary's seem to be getting BER (I know, inconsistent watering but with these alternating monsoons and drought weeks what you going to do?). The Chadwick crosses are all cracked, CP seem to have stink bug damage so Cosmonaut is about all I have that are marketable and those plants are quickly becoming defoliated so though they're loaded with fruit I don't know how long they're going to last. Rose de Berne and the Burpee hybrids are loaded and look great, Grandma Mary's has tons (if we can avoid BER from now on), I hope the weather holds so they ripen by Labor Day (or early Sept) but this year is nowhere near as good as last year (even with the drought), just a late start with June rains, lots of blossom drop during July so not much fruit set and a short season up here in the hills.
I'm giving up on the cherries - GD are dying, SS100 look OK but even the fruit that looks ripe tastes bitter - literally spit 1 out the other day! Maybe another Burpee mislabel since some also seem larger than they should be.
I've got a couple BK, CP, and those crosses that are developing mold in the cracks so they will be used today. Won't have enough for canning this year even if disease wasn't an issue (don't want to can fruit from diseased plants, could be higher in pH). Last year this time I was just starting to bring heirlooms to market but I had a LOT (tubs full, wish I'd taken pix) - in Sept I was even wholesaling them to 2 different stores I had so many.
Not quite as simple as too much water. That is the primary cause but not only factor. Available nutrients is another. No way to know if you are over-watering or not with details on what your watering regimen is.
General guidelines are 1-2 inches of water per week, deep watering less frequently rather than frequent shallow watering, and most important keeping consistent soil moisture levels.
You can pick at color break and finish ripening indoors to eliminate last minute water overloads in the fruit.
Dave
Shadow Boxing has many varieties in the pedigree that were adaptable to container planting. It has some of the blue anthocynin from the precursor of Indigo Rose, and stripes from many generations ago of Green Zebra.
The addition of the Maskotka into the breeding would open up the vines to allow for very blue tomatoes since direct sunlight is required for the blue to show up well.
http://www.tomwagnerseeds.com/index.php/tomatoes/blue-tomatoes/shadow-boxing.html
Hearts, such as Bull's Heart and several hundred other hearts are large at the stem end and then taper down towards the blossom end to one degreer or another, meaning some have blunt tips and others have acute tips.
While Piriforms are the exact opposite in shape, taper at the stem end and have big bottoms, as it were. LOL
Carolyn
Yes, I'v seen it before. It usually happens with store bought fruits that have been stored cool in shipping, so a long time between harvesting fruits and selling them. Note the label on the fruit you show.
And it also is not rare to see it with gold/red bicolors grown at home since the flesh of those is so soft.
Carolyn
Here is a picture of a BLACK PRINCE from the above named net page
I think what I have, is more like this one than the BK shown before, whwn I compare fruits shape.
This post was edited by seysonn on Sun, Aug 25, 13 at 2:02
When I looked at PNWG's blog, I see that even his sungold has some leaf rolling and he does prune heavily. To me, they all look stressed.
Betsy