16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

Often, pollen is stored under refridgeration for that purpose. I don't know if it works with tomatoes.

Jim

set to start blooming after the variety I want to cross them with finishes blooming.

Sorry but unless you get some bloom over-lap and enough over-lap that both plants are still healthy, there isn't a really viable solution to that situation without commercial freezing/storage equipment.

You "might" be able to dry some blooms and save the pollen but again, it requires special equipment. Check with the folks over on the Hybridizing forum here for more details.

See link below and scroll down to Pollen Collection and Storage.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Guidelines for Emasculating and Pollinating Tomato Flowers

Carrieandrea , One time hydrated lime emergency treatment per Earthbox is 1/4 cup hydrated or pickling lime to one gallon of water.

The purpose of adding dolomitic lime is that peat tends to get very acidic so the lime offsets that. if the mix becomes too acidic it will prevent the uptake of nutrients and BER and other bad things will happen. I use a weekly addition of one teaspoon of calcium nitrate in the watering tube each week to keep calcium readily available.

Growing one indeterminate tomato or two per box is up to the grower. Earthbox recommends two based on total production per box.

Bonide makes a product called Hydrated LIme which is dolomited and I often use it instead of two cups of reg dolomite when I can't find anything else. Cheap, easy to find and works fine.

I used Bonide Hydrated Lime, put 1/4 of cup in a gallon and added to the earthbox. It burnt a few leaves on tomatoes.

I have 4 Eearthboxes with tomatoes. 2 plants per container. The same media, amendments and fertlizer. Glacier and Beefstake have no BER, Zarnitsa - almost every tomato has BER, Black Krim - some BER, some catfacing.
The same cultivars growing in the raised beds show no BER. I assumed that Zarnitsa would appreciate some hydrated lime (per Earthbox instructions) but it matybe was too much

This post was edited by tigrikt on Thu, Jul 4, 13 at 13:36

Tobacco Hornworm?

Not that it matters, damage is the same, treatment is the same.

I may be seeing it wrong though.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tobacco Hornworm Pictures

Yeah they are two different variants. Manduca sexta vs. Manduca quinquemaculata. Tomato hornworms when they are on tomatoes, tobacco hornworms when they are on tobacco. :)

Dave

I'm having the same problem on the coast! It's hot, but only the low 80's. They seem to recover so far at night, but it looks like tobacco drying! I'm using straw, but maybe I should make a thicker layer. Also, I'm keeping the straw about 6" from the base of the plant to prevent mold. I'm not sure if that gap is a problem or if it's really important.

After few cloudy and cool days, when we got a warm sunny day, some younger leave on my EG was wilting. The other plans were ok.
Normally I water early in the morning. But during HOT days I water after sun down, to cool off the roots and intake enough water to battle the next day's heat. In such conditions, a good thick layer of mulch can help a great deal, that act like thermal insulation.

I would just position the stems in approximately the position you want them (but still growing upwards, of course) and then let gravity and nature gradually bend them as they outgrow their support. They rarely crack the stems or damage themselves in this way. They will rarely grow more than a foot and a half above their last support point before they start to tip over, and will not even get that far if they are loaded with tomatoes, but they don't generally hurt themselves if they gradually grow 'over' and start growing down again.

There are different schools of tomato gardening, to trim or not to trim. I am for trimming to keep things down to size and under control. having said that, my small fruited maters are close to 6 foot tall , with gazillion of flowers. I am going to stop their top growth soon. Each has about 4 branches. They just keep growing as you look at them. My situation is that I do not have 16 sqr-ft per plant(4' x4'') . So pruning is a must not an option.

If the recommended mix is 1 T per gallon of water (2 per 2) then give each plant 1 gallon of the mix. I know that is going to be a problem unless the rain stops. But 2 gallons of mix spread over 5 plants isn't much per plant.

Or if non-organics are ok with you just go buy a bag of 10-10-10 granular fertilizer and side dress each of the plants with it and let the rain soak it in.

Dave

Yellow lower leaves if often normal. They do not get any light, they do not make any contribution to plant's well being and thus they are aborted. But if the upper leaves are also pale green, then there is water, nutrient and sun issues. Often a doze of fertilizer rich in nitrogen can help. By experience, as somebody put it, you have to read your plants when it comes to nutrients issue. But One should do it gradually rather than dumping too much fertilizer. That is why I prefer 1/3 recommended strength but twice as often.

I do not believe in quick fixes.

The last pic is great. It is just some minor flea beetle damage and some environmental damage from sunscald.

However there will be problems developing since you are using mushroom compost in a container - never recommended - rather than soil-less potting mix. Bacterial and fungal diseases, drainage problems, and nutrient issues are all possible.

There is no soil micro herd in that bucket to convert the compost nutrients to a usable form by the plants. So synthetic supplement feedings will be needed weekly.

Plus the compost will drain quickly so very careful monitoring of the soil moisture level will be required with 2x daily watering needed as the weather gets hot.

Honestly, if she has a place where she can transplant that plant into the ground or into a much bigger container with a proper mix in it the plant will have a 10x better chance of surviving and producing and with far less work.

Just some thoughts to consider. Also suggest some research over on the Container Gardening forum here for more info on container soils, feeding, and watering.

Dave

I second the idea that you need a bigger container. That looks like a 5 gallon bucket - I'd suggest something at least 3 times as large. Give it some room - that plant looks like it's ready to grow!

Leaf curl from stress of some sort. Usually doesn't affect the growth of the plant. You should be ok.

Thanks guys. No, I don't have a pic. The leaves look a bit better today. Maybe they just reacted to the blast of cold water and fertilizer last night after a hot sunny day.

I've read that the plants are supposed to be watered some BEFORE getting fertilized? I did not do that.

If you added Tomato Tone a day or two ago, it is unlikely it is the cause of your problem. Organic fertilizers take time to break down to a point that they can be absorbed by the plant.

Agree w/ above. Not the TT. I'm guessing your plant will recover. I'd leave the fertilizer, maybe just spread it around a little so it's not too concentrated. Containered plants need lots of fertilizer especially with all the rain lately. 10 bad leaves on 4 of 30 plants sounds manageable.

Okay, I don't have any cracking yet, but, Noteybook, I believe that that black spot may be Blossom End Rot (sometimes referred to as BER). You can google for more information, but, IIRC, it's physiological and common with many first fruits.

I seemed to have solved my fertilizer quandary though! I had thought ALL fertilizers required mixing in water and then watering (I think people call this "fertigating," but I went to Lowe's and picked up Vegetable Tone and followed the instructions, save the watering. As it is going to rain more in a few hours, I figured I'd sprinkle along the drip lines now, and if it's still dry and visible in the morning, touch up water a bit then.

The threat of hail is half of why I moved them under the raised deck! Bummed that I lost some blossoms cuz of the rain. :/

Although I am not a container gardener, but I think that loss of nutrients is an issue here, especially when associated with excessive watering(manual or rain). I think it has to do with SOIL LESS medium. The so-called DIRT(native soil) is better in trapping and holding the nutrients. Plus, garden beds do not drain too fast and because of that soil act like kind of a filter to hold back the nutrients, where as with the soil less medium it leaches out easily.

For the first time in my life I saved a few seeds(after emailing Bonnie to make sure it really is OP) and will try them closer to Fall or next Spring. It's really sick now though. I had a huge flush(?) and hope to get another one before they turn into dripping balls of goo, which a few have. I have a Brandywine right beside it that's probably 8 foot. It's looking bad now too but has given me several nice tomatoes so far. All my tomatoes are sick now. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

I've called it a tree too. I was half joking when I put the extra cage on top of the first. Never really thought it would make it to(past) the top, at least not without pruning.

I found a new grow system called Life Flow. It is half hydroponics and half container. It seems to grow tomatoes in high heat. The large tank supplies cooler water to the roots. A solar panel maintains flow. It is over 90 and I still have flowers and new fruit. www.simgar.com

Have you been fertilizing regularly? We've also had tremendous rain in the past few days, and I think all that water can wash out the nutrients in you containers. plants in containers particularly need fertilizer almost with every watering. Yellowing leaves could be a sign of just being water logged, but unless you have a water catcher under the pot, that is unlikely. A more likely cause (I think) is that all the nitrogen and other nutrients, have been washed out by the rain.

As for the curling, that's (said to be) just a general sign of stress. It happens almost every season to me late in the summer, but it doesn't seem to have any adverse effect on yield or health of the plant.

We're always fighting something when it comes to gardening, aren't we? :)

I fed them molasses once lol.I tried to keep this grow organic but I guess i'm going to wave the white flag most likely & get some miracle grow tomato fert 18-18-21.Even though it ruins the soil,has a ton of salts,& states "Disposal:we recommend contacting your local refuse company to inquire about a Household Hazardous waste pick-up."

Agree with Ed - herbicide damage. It can be the drift from spraying by you or a neighbor up to 1/2 a mile away. Tomato plants are exceptionally susceptible to it.

It can also be brought in to the garden in mulch or compost added to the soil.

Search 'herbicide damage' here for many discussions about it.

Dave

thanks, I will try cutting out some damaged branches hope for new growth, will update after I start picking nice juicy tomatoes :)