16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Stupice and Moskvich are two you might try. Also get a Territorial Seed catalog, which has information on heat units required for some varieties of tomatoes.
I grew Cherry Chocolate (Chocolate Cherry?) last year, and it tasted better in cool fall weather than in our hot summer.
Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato microclimates - cool summers
Not clear if the non-gardening boyfriend wants to grow these or if he wants you to grow them.
If he wants you to grow them, make sure he does the grunt work in the garden. I've tried maybe ten heirloom types, and never got more than five toms off any one plant.
If the plant is aborting fruit then something is stressing it badly. Is it rootbound in the pot, have you fed it regularly and recently, is it getting enough water?
You would need to provide much more info for us to be able to narrow down the problems.
What size pot, how big/old plant, what fertilizer and how often, how often and for how long is it watered, any sign of pests, changes in weather lately, etc.?
Dave
Dave, do you do anything with feeding the tomatoes when they start to blush? I like to pick them before the other critters want them for lunch. Thanks neighbor!
No my feeding is primarily steady fertigation. If any boost is needed then it is timed to right after each fruit set episode.
I put a piece of apple in the bag when tomatoes are picked early and placed in a paper bag.
That is ethylene gas ripening just as commercial growers use on a big scale. It is a rushed and artificial process. You might as well buy store tomatoes rather than grow your own.
Dave
They are the size of an XL egg. I thought they would be much bigger than that.
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@GreenThumb
That sound about the normal size for Roma: XL EGG !!
But then fruit size can vary, depending on the plant's health and growing conditions.
I'm having the same problem with my roma's. The plants are strong and healthy with loads of bloom, but so far the tomatoes are thumb sized. They are growing in my greenhouse to protect them from summer hail and I know it got exceedingly hot for a few days, but I would go out during the hottest part of the day and hose down the outside to bring the temp back down. I'm hoping that the first few tomatoes are just "beginners" and that they'll produce bigger later on. Fingers crossed, sigh.
Just got back in this photo there are 2 F1's and a "4th of July" that started to blush. I took this 4th off 2 days ago when it glowed from the others, and the middle ramapo I took off yesterday before I left and the other one I think a few days before but unsure when it blushed.
I am afraid to leave them on the vine because of so many birds in my yard. Also to note they were grown in identicle 20 Galon Fabric containers with 5-1-1 and using MG tomato foord (1.5lbs water soluble).
Also to note the middle F1 Ramapo showed some cracking on the top. I also watered them 2x a day during the heatwave last week.
Thanks again all,
- Mr Beno
No I don't wear protective clothing, just my normal jeans, shirt and shoes. But I note the wind direction so it isn't blowing on me and try to spray on non-windy days so the mist isn't blown around all over.
Please note in Toxicological Section that these studies were done with 97% pure Chlorothalonil not the 29% in the available sprays and were done on rats and rabbits and dogs. Even after a full year of exposure at that high strength and regular doses the negative effects are low and inconsistent.
No evidence of adverse developmental effects in rabbit and rat studies. Except for the minor skin and/or eye irritation mentioned above.
It's your choice of course but perspective is important. Daconil has a much lower toxicity rating than most any other garden/lawn chemical available. And even organic sprays such as sulfur and copper have potential side effects too.
Dave
Enough water will kill you, A few years ago in a water drinking contest a young lady died, though she did win the contest! So maybe those afraid of Daconil should also withhold water from their plants in fear of absorbing too much when eating the fruits, and the fruits do take the water up systemically, unlike Daconi, no doubt you do consume the water you spray on edible plants. Be careful!! Also don't forget your protective gear!.
I went nuts this year and planted a Black Russian tomato. It is loaded with very squat flat green tomatoes that are taking forever to turn black (well, really dark purple). I can't wait to try them. I'm looking forward to making grilled cheese sandwiches with Virginia ham and tomatoes. Of course if they are duds, I still have my old standbys growing back there (Box Car Willie)
"...they shouldn't be as small as you say..."
Variableness in fruit size only, from large to small.
"... My plants were fairly large and productive, and semi-early as most hearts are...."
Ditto
This post was edited by sidhartha0209 on Wed, Jul 24, 13 at 4:12
I'm growing AR for the first time and its given me fits. It was my smallest of seedlings, now it's quite large, over 6 ft, but it took a long time to set blossoms and only now starting to set fruit. I'm holding my breath. On top of that we had a storm last week and one of the stems broke. I thought it would be one of my earlier tomatoes, but its not even close.
I currently have 2 brandwine's and both are about 5 foot tall and have at least twenty fruits set each already. The plants are still growing and I can see more flower sets coming on. We have even had a few weeks of 100+ weather and it has not affected them. I have grown them the last two years here in ID with similar results. I never even heard of them until last year when I bought a plant on a reduced sale from one of the local nurseries. It was half dead but I only paid a buck for it so I figured what the heck I will see if I can rescue it. It was labeled a pink Brandywine when I bought the original plant last year. It did great and showed promise after even only a few days after transplant. I think I ended up getting about 30 fruit from it but they were very late in the year so some I picked before the frosts started in October. I saved some of the seeds from the plant last year and did several starts this year, gave some to friends and only kept the two plants this year but next year I think I am going to do more. And I might add they were very good taste wise....can't wait for my first BLT on homemade bread this year.
I'm still waiting for some of mine to set fruit. At this point it's a waiting game. My BK took awhile, but I'm starting to get some fruit. That one is in the ground. My other container plants have varied in how long they either set blossoms or set fruit. I added a solution of vinegar and water because my ph was a bit too high and apparently this could help the absorption of phosphorus. I don't know this is a weird season.
Its been extremely hot and humid in the mid Atlantic states for the last month. Last week was the worst. I think all of my plants took a break during the heat.
Unfortunately, I was away last week and my plants went a week without water. Few flowers or new fruit upon my return. However, the plants were green and healthy.
We have had much better weather the last few days. I think you will see more activity over the next few weeks.