16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
I tried a grafted plant this year and I'm very impressed. I can't comment on productivity, although it is outgrowing all other plants at a fast rate. But what I find valuable is the fact the plant can tolerate bad conditions a lot better. We had too much rain and all my tomatoes lost lower leaves to yellowing from the excess water, except the grafted plant which seems to thrive under any conditions.
So in places where it rains a lot or have shortened seasons, it is a definite plus. Not surprising as grafting has worked so well for fruit trees. A great idea!
That pot looks awfully small...maybe that is stressing it? It's not only the yellowing at the bottom, the top leaves are showing signs of curling too. Your fertilizer brand (Fox Farm) was mentioned on something I read recently and it was not recommended for some reason, maybe check and see whether others agree...
We always ending up staking our cages. We start out with cages (the kind with 3-4 rings). Our plants always get huge and our cages start leaning. At that point we bring out the stakes and kind of weave them between the rings in the cage and then pound the stakes into the ground. It works really well.
Thanks all
The tomato was about 5ft high Uncle T, the others about 4ft. As far as them Cherry bombs I will post a new photo thread on hotpepper. I just put themsome in new in fabric pots I just got.
@tomatomike thanks, for the response, I just hope to get this thing :). I thought it could be a catipillar. only one way to see. I am setting my GoPro camera out to film for a few hours.
I really want to go after this varmit "Bill Murry style from cadyshack". Last year we did have a squirrel problem and many years before as well. But this year a huge red bird "Not Cardinal" but has been sitting on the fence and lives in the tree next door, it has a redish orange belly.
Out of my own stupidity I just sprayed Wd-40 on the fence before I read the replys, someone at the garden shop said it prevents birds if that is the culprit but who knows.
I will take everyones advice and thanks again both for replying. I posted a video of my squirrel problem last year. with my GoPro camera. The squirrel kept coming into my back yard and was trying to see what he was doing.
Edit on: Tomatoe in trash thanks again both :) Just hope it is not an inlaw as Uncle T said
Here is a link that might be useful: my squirrel problem last year
This post was edited by thebutcher on Tue, Jul 9, 13 at 19:02
Sorry for double post, but I just set up the gopro to see what happens aimed at where it happened. If it is a catepilar then it would make sense why the birds were watching. Trying to see if that varmit goes for anything. :)
PS Uncle T that last black bag is one of the Cherry Bombers.
- Mr Beno
Seysonn,
They may look like Baby Roma or San Marzano.
But they also look like Amish Paste.
or
Amish Red
or
Opalka
or
One of many other pointed red/pink tomatoes:
Anna's Multiflora
Apple Tree
Vzryv
Aztec
Bobbie
Brandysweet Plum
Brin de Muguet
Britain's Breakfast
Burkina Faso
Burning Spear
Cornue Des Andes
Eleanor
Ernie's Pointed
Ernie's Pointed
Lau's Pointed Leaf
Erotica
Fireworks
Food Pantry Grape
Gallo Plum
High Crimson
Howard German
Iditarod Red
Jet
Jolly F1
Kiev
Kimberley
Kotlas
Kron-Prince
Laketa
Larisa
Legenda Tarasenko
Micro Tom
Myona
Polish Linguisa
Rianto
Roger's Juicy Red Oblong
Romanita
Roza Vetrov
Rozovyi Flamingo
Russian Dagger
Sarnowski Polish Plum
Shapka Monomakha
Sosulka Rozovaya
Sweet Dreams
Téton de Vénus
Téton de Vénus Jaune
Tip Top
Trinity Red
Ukrainian Poet
VB Russia
Zwerg Israel
Or hundreds of others.
Yeah, I know not all of those are paste tomatoes, but they are all red or pink and usually do have nipples on the blossom end. I didn't really want to narrow it down more, but you shouold get my point.
MY point is, with VERY few exceptions, you can't tell a variety by looking.
Betsy
T-5 (hyphen needed). Everything I have read about it is that it is still just in research field trials (last season was apparently the first) so seed wouldn't be available to the public. It will go out to a few selected local commercial growers first once field trials are finished if it follows the usual path.
You can always contact TAMU Extension for info on when and if it may be available to the public.
Dave
No apologies by anyone necessary. I was not very clear
which is why I've edited my original post.
I only stated where and how I got the plants and my selection
process to show my agreement with sjetski's selection process.
In fact, I picked up a cilantro plant at a big box store the
other day and didn't even look at the tag. I got home
and the tag said 'oregano'. It's not, because I know what
both oregano and cilantro look like and smell like.
Besides needing a little fertilizer to green them up, your plants look healthy. The heat is probably making the leaves defend themselves a little by curling. The Osmocote is slow release. Give them a dose of a liquid or water soluble fertilizer and you'll see faster results.
Agree. Tomato leaf roll is a physical response to stress. Remove the source of stress and it goes away. It poses no threat to the plant if the cause of the stress is fixed.
The growing method you describe has several possible stress causes in it: containers, containers of unknown size, the growing mix you are using, the frequent shallow watering leading to shallow rooting, keeping surface soil wet causing even more shallow rooting, the feeding regimen you are using, etc.
I would suggest some reading over on the Container Gardening forum here and a review of the 'growing in containers' discussions on this forum since trying to grow in containers is a unique form of growing tomatoes with its own set of needs. The search will pull them up for you to browse through.
For example, common recommendations are containers of 12-15 gallons minimum, soil-less potting mixes only, weekly feeding with a full spectrum, well balanced fertilizer, adding beneficial soil bacteria if using organic fertilizers so they can work (otherwise you need to use synthetics), less frequent but deep watering to maintain consistent soil moisture levels, etc.
From the color in the photographs your plants could really use a good feeding. In a container you can't count on compost for nutrients since there is minimal if any soil bacteria.
Dave
Excess fertilize causes good plant growth but no tomatoes.
Use about 5 oz of some triple fertilizer and 1/2 bag of Humus & Manure Compost from Wal Mart. I mix this in the soil about 12 inches with a pick and also garden tiller. This year were the plant goes I used a post hole digger to get the 12 inches of depth I wanted. My vines are now loaded with tomatoes. One table spoon of Epson Salt and Lime.
Plants raised from seed and grow lights. I'm not very good with grow lights.
What could be causing this and how can I get them to grow/ripen faster?
Any number of factors could be causing it. The unusual weather this past spring is the most obvious for most growers. Nutrient availability, soil moisture levels, excessive soil moisture causing root rot, sun exposure, the variety, stress from pests or weather, etc. etc. etc.
However, expecting ripe fruit within 5 weeks from fruit set is not realistic. Tomatoes run on an average of 6-7 week cycles and the average # of days between fruit set and ripening is 52-60 days. So patience is required.
What you can do is insure adequate nutrients and consistent but not excess soil moisture. The rest is determined by the genetics of the variety and the weather for the most part.
Dave
I Think that foliar feeding is effective. Plants have ability to absorbs water/moisture through leaves. AND if there are nutrients DESOLVED in the water, they will be absorbed it, naturally. We know that herbicides like Round Up is absorbed through the leaves and then goes down to the roots and kills the plant. Some years ago, an older gardener told me that a herbicide is actually a VERY strong fertilizer(Nitrogen Solution ?) that burns the plants.
So, in conclusion, there is no doubt in my mind that foliar feeding works thou I may not be able to measure its amount and degree of effectiveness.
"Generally, ... foliar application of particular nutrients can be
useful in crop production situations where soil conditions limit nutrient availability."
From "The Myth of Foliar Feeding"
at
http://puyallup.wsu.edu/~linda%20chalker-scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Foliar%20feeding.pdf
Here is a link that might be useful: foliar ferts explained
There are lots of Zebra varieties - Tatiana's lists 147. Even when narrowed down to the reds and/or blacks there are still more than 50. There is no way to even know if it is an OP or a hybrid. Best Guess - Black Zebra (odds are at least 20:1 that is wrong).
So as we always say every time anyone asks to ID a variety from a photo - it is impossible to do. Search pulls up 291 requests for an ID and the answer is the same in every case.
Sorry.
Dave
Thanks Dave,
The colours look exactly right for Black Zebra, but BZ doesn't appear to be a plum! I thought that with the shape and the two-tone stripes there might be a chance that it could be obvious to someone who has grown it.
Linda