16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Mine have been late ripening too, but they've grown well, full of fruit, and the heat of the past few days has started the late summer deluge. First Black Krim and Mr. Stripey came in today. Brandywine and Mortgage Lifter should be ready in the next 2-3 days.
Yeah, mine are really putting out with this awesome weather lately. I'm still waiting for my Hawaiian Pineapple bi-colors though. There are some green monsters on the vine, but no blush yet. One must be 1.5lbs. At least the shoulders aren't cracked, and if they have to stay on the vine for another 10 days, so be it. Weather is supposed to stay great for at least another week.
Hi my Son and Daughter come over and we make over 100 32oz jars of tomatoes sauce we do it in the middle of sept
there really is no different in taste we buy 3 bushels of Marzano tomatoes I make about one bushel from the garden what I call pepper tomatoes but because they are bigger they give more sauce and they are cheaper lol
Yeah the thing with sauce (if you pull up the many previous sauce discussions here and over on the Harvest preserving forum) is that far far better sauce results from using a mixture of varieties and types rather than just paste tomatoes - any paste tomato.
Contrary to popular belief, no where is it written that one must use only paste tomatoes to make sauce. And very few paste tomatoes are noted for their flavor to begin with. Especially so when compared to the flavor of slicers and hearts. So if the tomato lacks flavor so will the sauce.
Like you we can quarts and quarts of tomato sauce each year but paste types are only about 1/4 of the tomatoes that go into it.
Dave
I respectfully disagree with the other posters who prefer SunSugar over SunGold. The SunSugars are very prolific, and have a sweet taste when you first bite into them. But they have an aftertaste that I don't quite like.
I still haven't found anything to compare with the amazing taste of SunGold. If only there was a full size tomato with that flavor ... it makes my mouth water to think about it!
I was able to try Sungold this year for the first time. Obtained seed through trade. I am not a fan of cherries but my daughter is, so I grew it in a topsy turvy as an afterthought. I was very impressed. Great tomato flavor in a small pakage. I still like my slicers better, but it's hard to dislike Sungold.
If you are asking about canning tomato juice then this is a Harvest forum question as it is the food preservation and canning forum.
But the basic answer is no. They aren't acidic enough to lower the pH to the safe level. Only stabilized bottled lemon juice meets the pH requirement. Or you can use citric acid or vinegar (not recommended).
You can learn all about this over on the Harvest forum or at the link below.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - Canning tomato juice
This post was edited by digdirt on Tue, Aug 20, 13 at 18:19
The top picture looks like what I have on my plants, but they NEVER get past that point. I've never had that issue before. It's like they just give up in our heat (I'm in Texas). Lucky you! Wish mine would get past the 'ovary stage'-- grrr!
Enjoy!
The first four pictures are of a "heart" tomato which "Coeur de Boeuf certainly is. So everything is absolutely normal. That is how they should look at this early stage in their growth. They're also quite healthy looking.
Congratulations, that's some nice gardening and good photography.
Well, a brief search with the phrase "grow tomatoes in dallas texas" turned up the following from the local newspaper. Sounds like a challenge but it is possible.
Here is a link that might be useful: tomato tips for Dallas
More info, this time from Aggie Horticulture
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/newsletters/hortupdate/2013/mar/protecting-tomatoes.html
With all the info I found online, sounds like most folks in your area had serious challenges with their tomatoes this year. So, in case it's any comfort, you have plenty of company.
Around here, the weather isn't near so extreme as it in Dallas. But now and then, we still have a Green Tomato Summer!
Here is a link that might be useful: Aggie Hort info
I don't think it is the same difference, because the whole idea with the red mulch is specifically about reflection:
"Developed by the USDA & Clemson Univ., this 1.0 mil thick, durable red plastic film reflects far-red wavelengths into the plant's canopy, triggering photosynthesis and stimulating rapid growth and development." That particular statement is from Johnny's Selected Seeds page where they sell the red plastic mulch.
Betsy
I have come to agree with Dave, fully.
Ripening can take place within a fruit, separated from vine, tree etc.
It happens all the time that certain fruits even OVER ripen after harvest. Unless they are refrigerated to slow down that process. I always buy peaches pears .. that are hard and not quite ripe. After a few days they become nice and juicy.
It is the same concept with tomato. Plus, picking them early offer added advantages.. for example you take the first bite before the squirrel does. lol
Thanks for your responses. I know it was a question that probably had been answered before, but I don't regularly follow this forum.
For what it's worth we've had lousy weather here in Western PA. for tomato growing this year, but I have a pretty good harvest from the 4 Big Boys and 4 Better Boys I put in. The started ripening around the 10th of this month.
In your picture, notice the lower right one where I see lesions in circles.
Knowing that I'm going to give you two suggestions, but since you said nothing about any other symptoms such as leaf lesions, lesions on stems, these are just suggestions, and maybe you can share with us if there are any other symptoms we should know about.
First is Buckeye Rot, linked to at the very bottom and if you read some of the links you'll also see pictures other than those shown with this Google link.
The second suggestion is Late Blight ( P. infestans), and I don't if it's present in KS.
http://www.longislandhort.cornell.edu/vegpath/photos/lateblight_tomato.htm
The link above is one of the best I know for Late Blight. But the fungal disease Grey Mold can also mimic LB, so you might was to take a look at that as well since Grey Mold is present almost everywhere if the weather conditions are right.
And it really would help if there are other symptoms we should know about.
Carolyn
Here is a link that might be useful: Buckeye Rot
To preserve a variety, you want more than one fruit from more than one plant. Ideally some fruit picked early in the season, some picked in the middle of the season and some picked late. (unless you are talking determinate tomatoes).
Even professional seed companies can sometimes end up with degenerated variety. Seeds of Change had noticed the Burbank Slicer had been getting smaller and less and less popular, and decided to discontinue it. The membership of my local seed library (Seed Library of Los Angeles) has taken up the task of restoring the variety to it's original size. Full story linked below.
The larger the breeding pool, the more stable and resilient your seeds will be. But for the average gardener, it may not be practical to grow and save seed from more than a couple varieties in any volume. That may be fine for individual purposes, but keep in mind you may unintentionally end up with something that differs from the original variety.
Here is a link that might be useful: http://slola.blogspot.com/search/label/Burbanks%20Red%20Slicing%20Tomato
What a soap opera ! Not fun !
OK Gary, me friend, you are summarily kicked out of the MOST group. LOL
But as I posted above, the woman who sent Earl the Red Brandywine seeds, when contacted by Earl said it was Brandywine that she sent, by mistake, or whatever.
It's hard to recreate exact words for something that happened so many years ago.
I know you have a vested interest in Missouri Pink Love Apple, I've not grow it, and if I had I wonder if I'd say it was the same as Earl's Faux? Or even my Brandywine ( Sudduth)
Carolyn, glad to hear that your Brandywine ( Sudduth) was from me, ( wink)