16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

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jean001a(Portland OR 7b)

Knobby stems may be the result of root initials. Seldom, if ever a problem for the plant.

Stem knobiness can also be due to a whiff of 2,4-D or other broadleaf herbicides of the same group. That said, I don't see the damage that often shows up on the leaves at the same time.

Compost contaminated with long-lasting herbicides such as clopyralid can cause similar symptoms.

Tomatoes are also sensitive to Roundup but the symptoms are different. The new growth at the tips becomes bright yellow.

I don't see any evidence the stem has been chewed.

Any chance of posting more images?
- view of several plants in a row
- view of one entire plant

This post was edited by jean001a on Wed, Aug 7, 13 at 20:46

    Bookmark     August 7, 2013 at 8:44PM
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labradors_gw

Jade,

Are you using any manure in your garden? Sometimes farmers spray their hay with a broad-leaf herbicide, the cows eat the hay, and the herbicide is not completely deactivated and remains in the manure. I have read that it can be quite a problem if we buy this manure and plant vegetables in it!

Linda

    Bookmark     August 8, 2013 at 8:52AM
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Bets(z6A S ID)

There is a red submarine, and it is RL. (Which is what your plants in the second picture appear to be, I think Seysonn was looking at the Basil leaves in the background of the first one.) There is also a red pear (haven't grown it) but the pics I have seen of it tend to be more narrow at the top: Red Pear. I've also seen a couple of other tomatoes with Red Pear in the name, but they aren't shaped anything like that, more knapsack shaped.

What you have looks more like red plum, but as Dave said, no way to know for sure.

You may want to contact Seeds of Change and let them know what you are getting, I'm sure they'd like to know. And if anyone else has gotten the wrong type from their SM seeds, they may want to pull the stock of their San Marzano. Of course, you may have just gotten a stray seed. It happens.

Betsy

Here is a link that might be useful: Red Submarine at Tatiana's TomatoBase

This post was edited by bets on Wed, Aug 7, 13 at 15:31

    Bookmark     August 7, 2013 at 3:17PM
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seysonn(8a WA/HZ 1)

@ ir4ten & Betsy

As Dave mentioned, I also thought that the tomato in question has PL. But since we did not know of a ROMA with PL, then, I looked into other possibilities. I was not sure what color the ripe tomato will turn into, Yellow or red.
It was a 50/50 draw.

Anyway, I searched and came across a CHERRY ROMA, just like in the first photo.

Below is the picture of the Cherry Roma.

    Bookmark     August 8, 2013 at 4:46AM
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tonytony2

Thanks, these tomatoes add great colors

    Bookmark     August 8, 2013 at 12:19AM
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robeb

Not sure what you mean by "trouble free" tomato plants.

I've never heard of anyone growing tomato plants for their attractiveness. Most grow them for fruit, not eye appeal.

Even the most healthy and pest free plants look pretty ragged by the end of the season.

    Bookmark     August 8, 2013 at 2:54AM
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lartomato(5 northern AZ 7000 feet)

Picked these yesterday for my wife's RED HAT party

    Bookmark     August 7, 2013 at 10:52PM
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lartomato(5 northern AZ 7000 feet)

Picked these yesterday for my wife's RED HAT party

    Bookmark     August 7, 2013 at 10:53PM
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digdirt2(6b-7a No.Cent. AR HZ8 Sun-35)

Dang that looks fine!! Just the thing to go with the grilled pork ribs planned for dinner tonight.

I'd want a twist or 2 of fresh ground pepper on top but then I'm a ground pepper lover.

Ever tried it with some shaved fresh parmesan on top?

Dave

    Bookmark     August 7, 2013 at 4:55PM
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thebutcher(6b (Philadelphia area))

Thanks both of you and thanks again for the support. Parmesan is great on top as well, and another great thing is fresh Mozzerella. I will show you some awesome Italian stuff to do with tomatoes soon. I got to go away on another trip but will be back in a few days and get some more nice photos. I will also have the old lady do a youtube of the old fashion italian recipes with tomatoes.

Also remember you may need to adjust the garlic basil ratio to your taste along with salt.

- Mr Beno

    Bookmark     August 7, 2013 at 8:40PM
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Bets(z6A S ID)

The intensity of light drops of rapidly the further from the source that you are. (The inverse square law of light.) Typical street lights range from 35 to 250 watts. If at 1 yard from the light the intensity is 250 watts, at 2 yards, it is 1/4 strength or 62.5 Wats, at 3 yards 1/9 strength, or about 28 watts, 4 yards 1/16 = 16 watts, 5 yards 1/25 = 10 watts, etc, etc.

So it is very unlikely that any street light will affect your tomatoes, even if you are using the lamp post as a stake. (LOL!)

The inverse square law of light is used to measure distances to stars. (I took an astronomical physics class.)

Betsy

    Bookmark     August 7, 2013 at 2:55PM
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edweather(Zone 5a/b Central NY)

Not to go sideways, but back in the day I could get a charge of 0.1A from a full moon on my solar panels.

    Bookmark     August 7, 2013 at 4:38PM
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carolyn137(z4/5 NY)

Trying again.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pink Accordion

    Bookmark     August 7, 2013 at 8:46AM
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carolyn137(z4/5 NY)

I switched from IMAGES to the web where there are some pictures, and as long as the rest of you can see it that's all that matters.

I did misspell Accordion as Accordian at first, but that shouldn't be a problem.

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Pink Accordion

    Bookmark     August 7, 2013 at 8:52AM
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sheltieche

ajsmama, when do you start your tomatoes? Here in Chicago zone 5 as well, we can èsafelyè plant on Memorial day but I have found over the years that plants put in the garden earlier will do much better. Most years it is safe for me to plant out around May 15.

    Bookmark     August 6, 2013 at 11:02PM
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2ajsmama

I usually start in mid-late March and then set them out sometime the last week of May (23-28) but this year May was very dry, cold, and it was hard to harden them off - there were a couple of times I had to cover the strawberry bed b/c they were flowering but it was going to be below 40! That last week we had a lot of rain and 3 days around 90 so I put them out June 2-17 (the very last ones, Mark Twain and Latah) in between rain storms. All of June was very wet (about 1 ft) and the ones in the main garden turned purple and stalled, I replaced almost all the SuperSweet 100 and Rose de Berne, half the Gardeners Delight. The "determinate hybrids" from Burpee planted in the house garden never looked as bad (purple) but grew very slowly and are now about 4ft tall, producing many more tomatoes than the heirlooms but none are ripening - and 1 was supposed to be 49 DTM (put in 6/2)!

My neighbor put hers in around Mother's Day but hasn't gotten any ripe ones yet either.

    Bookmark     August 7, 2013 at 6:54AM
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Bets(z6A S ID)

Gilgamesh8,

When you say you "I have watered it diligently, deeply and when it needed it." how much water are you giving it?

Betsy

    Bookmark     August 6, 2013 at 11:27AM
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Gilgamesh8(4)

Hi Betsy,

I try to water it deeply 3-4 days apart, provided there has been no rain. Is it too much/too little? I follow the same schedule with my other plants and they are doing fine. However, I must add that the Sunsugar looked much better today overall and its tomatoes are getting gluttonously consumed in the backyard itself.

    Bookmark     August 7, 2013 at 12:31AM
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sharonP68(6)

Dave,
As always, thank you for your help! I'm just so frustrated after having such wonderful success last year with this variety (10 quarts/38 pints and many, many eaten fresh). This year, they aren't shaped the same (more pear-shaped than the oblong ones we had last year). It is different seed, but same seed source and variety.

I'll update this post as the season continues.

Here's hoping there will be a change in the weather and we all have a better harvest than we thought!

Cheers!

    Bookmark     July 31, 2013 at 7:17PM
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esbo

Some very nice pictures there, I am growing some Roma too and those pics may give me some help as to when they are ripening, they seem to go from a lighter to a darker green first.

Cannot really off any advice on the toms though, at least not expert advice.

All I can suggest, on the positive side is the that the plant knows best and decided to drop those fruits, perhaps because it had such a big crop? Too may mouths (tomatoes) to feed? But why would it drop them? Well maybe if they rotted on the plant the whole plant might become diseased?
Sacrificed for the greater good?
I am just guessing of course, I am a novice grower, just trying to apply some tomato logic.
I guess it remains to be seen how the plant will get on.
There is picture of my Roma in the linked blossom end rot thread. I am just wondering how long that big one has tell it ripens. I think some of mine fell off last year too, but they were all hit by disease. I would consider ripening ones falling off a success, none of mine got that far before disease set in!!
I'm in the UK though and they are outside, so I was never expecting much, I started earlier this year and am hoping things will be better this year as the weather has been better (sunnier) too. All my plants are twice the size as well, it's like a jungle out there!!!

Best of luck with the rest of them!!

Here is a link that might be useful: my pic in blossom end rot thread

    Bookmark     August 7, 2013 at 12:30AM
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seysonn(8a WA/HZ 1)

Excellent !!
Any problems with that ? lol

    Bookmark     August 6, 2013 at 11:25PM
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pnbrown

Thanks for the reply, Carolyn. I checked my specimen and the leaves are not hairy, so I guess it is cerasiforme.

Sorry about your disability, that is very tough for a gardener.

    Bookmark     August 6, 2013 at 8:11PM
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joeroot(12b)

I just want to point out pimpinellifolium typically have smooth stem and leaves, not at all hairy like regular tomatoes. Also, cerasiforme contains genes from cultivated(esculentum) and wild tomatos(pimpinellifolium). All three are interfertile and have been mixing before humans got involve. There's a studies that suggest cerasiforme is a result of interbreeding between esculentum and pim. And another that suggest cerasiforme have originated from pim (this is a bit newer and found it more convincing).

About matts wild cherry, it is speculated that it's late blight resistance comes from Ph-3. The Ph-3 resistance gene used in tomato breeding come from pimpinellifolium. So, it possible matt's wild cherry is a pim or a cerasiforme with pim genes. Idk if it's tolerant to early blight.

As for early blight resistance, IâÂÂm not aware of any good resistance(like those for RKN, V, or F123). You may want to check out NC State University Tomatoes like Mountain Magic, Plum Regal, or others (NCSU or other sources) for tolerant varieties.
Both parent lines of Plum Regal were moderately resistant to EB (also resistant for VFF). So, it might a good tomato to use for crosses if you plan to improve some OP tomatoes tolerance to EB (and add V, Fol1, Fol2 resistance).

    Bookmark     August 6, 2013 at 11:12PM
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edweather(Zone 5a/b Central NY)

O M G. Very sorry about your crop. I'm more afraid of late blight than anything. Five years ago I lost most of my plants in about 3 days to late blight. Glad you got a few tomatoes.

    Bookmark     August 6, 2013 at 4:02PM
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joeroot(12b)

You might want to check out some resistant varieties such as Mountain Magic and West Virginia 63. West Virginia is an OP and bigger fruit. Mountain magic has better LB resistance but is small fruit/saladette.

    Bookmark     August 6, 2013 at 5:40PM
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monet_g

Hi Daina,
I'm in SE Michigan, zone 6B. I planted Black Krim, Cherokee Purple, Brandy Boy and Sun Sugar. I lost the BK and CP to some type of wilt disease. I pulled them a couple of weeks ago in order to save the other two. They had started producing though they were kinda mealy.

I'm getting wonderful fruit of the SS, but not as many as in prior years. I picked a couple of blushers off the BB and found what I think was BER. But, there are some really nice, large tomatoes coming that, hopefully, won't have it.

Both plants have a bit of Septoria. I don't plan on spraying, just removing leaves. Weather has been coolish and wet here. Just a bad year all around for tomato growing.

Gail

    Bookmark     August 6, 2013 at 10:28AM
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seysonn(8a WA/HZ 1)

Agree with Dave 100%

When driving stakes down, TOO CLOSE and TOO LATE in the season it can cut through the roots. That is why it makes sense to stake (those close to the plant) at the time of transplanting.

    Bookmark     August 5, 2013 at 12:18PM
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dmnc

Thanks all for the advice.

I think I must have damaged it. I tried to be as careful as possible when putting in the stake in so as to enlarge the old hole rather ramming in a new one but I guess I wasn't careful enough.

I probably would have been better off leaving some of the leaves touching the ground but I got scared as we've had quite a bit of rain recently.

There are some images attached to the post above or at http://imgur.com/a/LKhkV.

    Bookmark     August 6, 2013 at 7:34AM
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