16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
If I will share... Then I like movie franchises for example Harrypotter, James bond, Twilight. All of these are my favorite movies.
There are several ways to disinfect seeds. My personal preference is simply to mist them with a 1:10 bleach solution. Then dry them well. Some prefer to use diluted hydrogen peroxide. I use cheap disposable coffee pot filters for seed drying.
Other methods of disinfecting are discussed in the Saving Tomato Seeds FAQ and in other discussions here.
Dave
Perhaps the most important thing with tomato plants is sunlight, sunlight, sunlight. Temperatures from the lower 50s to upper 80s allow them to grow. Cooler temperatures at night are not generally a problem, but if the temps drop into the upper 30s, you should provide some protection (even if frost isn't predicted, you can easily get it with temps below 40 degrees). One study I saw said that tomatoes germinated best from temperatures in the lower 80s, but grew best from 65 to 75. Don't know how true this is. They don't need massive amounts of water at first, in fact more water can slow them down, but the soil shouldn't be drying out more than about a half inch down.
If you tend to have inconsistent weather, with Spring periods of nice sunny days followed by a few days of freezing or snowstorms, then that is one place where Walls of Water might excel Here is an Amazon.com page for about the best price you will see them at: http://www.amazon.com/WALL-O-WATER-3-PACK/dp/B0000DI86C/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
When planting, I generally plant them up to just below a set of good, bushy leaves. But in NO CASE do I plant deeper than about 8 inches. If the plant is longer than that, I tend to tilt it and lay it on its side, so that most of the plant is 4 to 8 inches deep. This is based on tomatoes I had in the past where I planted them up to 1 1/2 feet deep (they were large plants, okay) and later in the summer, I had occasion to dig them up. First of all, production was no better than on a smaller plant, planted only 8 inches deep. Second, all the new roots that had developed were in the first 2 to 6 inches below ground.
I don't believe they develop roots from 'fuzz' but from almost anywhere along the stem, particularly at the joints.
Lastly, it is very common once you plant ANY tomato plant for it to shut down for 2 weeks or so. This is kind of a SHOCK process as it adjusts to it's new home, but it doesn't mean that nothing is happening. It may be not just adjusting, but actually starting to send out additional roots and otherwise preparing to grow. Warmer temperatures and bright sun (with adequate but not excessive water) speed this process, while cold, wet, cloudy conditions extend this period of time. It is also true that if your plants are well hardened off and able to deal with stress, that they might move through this period better. If you have plants in Walls of Water, some people think that the WOWs may actually help the plant to go through this adjustment period earlier. Other people think that the Walls of Water DESTROY any hardening the plant has been through, and that the plants will delay, again, for a week or two, once you take the Walls of Water off. I personally am not convinced of this. As I said, I am a big believer in walls of water and have enough for over 100 plants at a time.
Once you do put the plants out into the ground (hopefully they are exposed to as much sunlight and warm air as you can get) keep the soil moist - damp, but not flooded. In the early days it is generally better to water a little bit in the mornings, every few days than large amounts all at once, and try to avoid watering at night during the cooler weather periods (watering at night chills the plants more from evaporation).
Fertilize VERY SMALL amounts perhaps once per week or every other week, rather than large amounts of fertilizer all at once. Fertilizer can stress the plants too, for sure.
Avoid excessively windy areas, if possible.
Keep weeds away from the plants.
If you do all of these things, then, when the weather turns consistently warm and sunny, your plants should take off and grow very well.
No way to know without growing them out just as with any other hybrid. There are too many genetic variables - color, size, shape, brix, skin thickness, etc. etc. etc.. I don't know Sungold's parentage but It isn't always just two parent stocks with F1 seeds and these are F2 seeds.
They are grandkids or even maybe even great-grandkids if grandma had a really dominant gene or two.
It boils down to your choice.
Dave
Since you didn't add the fert strip why do you feel you can't add it now? If not for some reason then you will have to feed the plant weekly with a liquid fertilizer of some kind. Many of us that use Earthboxes give it a liquid fert boost every couple of weeks anyway even with the fertilizer and lime strip in place.
But yeah you can't expect them to do well without some sort of feeding. Your big problem will be that you have two plants with different nutrient needs in the same box.
Dave
Don't know which one you bought but all granular organic fertilizers contain ingredients that will be attractive to animals. That is the nature of the ingredients in organic fertilizers and plants need feeding/fertilizing.
The problem is that the dogs have access to the garden, not the fertilizer.
Dave
Depending on what bush variety you have, you will probably need some kind of support for each plant. Even if the enclosure keeps them all upright, you'll have to get at them to pick your tomatoes, and you don't want a tangle of vines falling out on you whenever you open the door :) the critters sure wont get at them, though!
I'm growing Better Bush this year, and it would definitely sprawl if not caged/staked.
So I tried what was supposed to be Opalka this year based on the favorable reviews in this 5 year old thread.
Results are small plants (not spindly), with small sized fruit which more resemble San Marzano. In short, I believe my purchased Opalka seeds are something other than Opalka.
I also tried Amish Paste as a comparison this year. Plants are tall spindly; two to three times the height of the "Opalka" plants. Production looks OK - fewer fruit but much larger than the supposed "Opalka".
I may try Opalka again next year but if I do so will definitely need to find a different source for the seed.
This post was edited by grandad on Tue, Jun 11, 13 at 9:54
Hi Capoman, Lesuko, yes intakes time for tomatoes to ripen. I know what u mean about being frustrating, especially cause we've had such hot weather and some of the tomatoes took off then stopped or took forever to make fruit. Most of my toms are in containers. I've always had better luck, no slugs, hopefully no earwigs.....
Sharon
I generally grow 100 to 150 tomato plants in my garden every year and have easily grown 500 to 600 varieties over the years. I also breed tomatoes as a hobby, so I am always interested in how long it takes from Fruit Set to Ripeness.
My general rule of thumb is about 25 to 30 days for small and cherry tomatoes and 45 to 60 days for large tomatoes, BUT, it varies based on a lot of factors such as variety, temperature, sun exposure, rain/cloudiness, size of the plant and how many tomatoes the plant is producing.
Some of the 'early' varieties, such as Early Wonder or 4th of July are pretty surprising sometimes. They can produce fruit quite fast, though it isn't large. There are also those varieties such as Oregon Spring and Polar Set that can set fruit even at low temperatures (without being fertilized) and sometimes will produce earlier because they set fruit earlier (though I have never been impressed with the flavor of varieties like that).
If you figure that you plant a small cherry tomato and a large late tomato, such as Italian Sweet or Stump of the World, and the plants grow at about the same rate, and set blossoms at about the same time, then why are the Cherry tomatoes often ripening by late June or early July and the Late Season tomatoes don't produce until mid August? (I'm talking about growth and fruit set under GOOD conditions here in Salt Lake City, Zone 6.) They have ALL been growing and setting fruit at about the same rate, so the difference in dates to ripeness, in that case, are due to genetics and size.
Perhaps it happened post an extreme hot period? We had 3 days of 95 degrees and then a drop off, tropical storm with cooler darker conditions. I searched for the megablooms and found some info but nothing specific to this variety so it's relative as another chimes in that the same happened to them. I also did not see much about what exactly causes it.
While the one tomato is producing gum ball blosson my San Marzano Redortas have nice singular long ones. I hope to have many nice long and thick wall sauce tomatoes. My most aggressive plants too(who have experience +120 degree temps.).
I searched for the megablooms and found some info but nothing specific to this variety
No you likely won't find anything that is variety specific because the condition isn't variety specific. It can and does happen more frequently in heirlooms rather than hybrids and is more common in beefsteak types than paste or hearts or cherries but it can happen with them as well since it is air temp caused, not varietal caused. Since it is far more common in early spring and first fruit set clusters it is normally attributed to cooler temps.
But it isn't considered a serious condition in any way, poses no threat to the plant, so as I mentioned most growers just remove them and don't worry about it.
Dave
Hornworms also eat fruit - just like that. But so do other things - birds if they have access, if low to the ground then squirrels or turtles.
You don't indicate your location or zone (please do when you post) but here the hornworms have started so they may be there too.
Dave
The main stem of my tomatoes do a major split (fork) at about 12" to 18" above the ground. My first tie is at this point or a few inches above, by looping a strip of cloth around the plant and stapling it to the wooden stake. Any suckers that are not captured within this tie are topped, i.e. just the growing tip removed. If I let these branches grow, I will either have to go back later and tie them, creating a dense base, or they will lean over and drop to the ground, often breaking. I prefer to keep the lower part of the plants more airy and all branches above the fork supported. More air circulation, cleaner appearance, and less work.
TomNJ/VA
again, a very nice discussion, probably with my climate in Sault Ste. Marie, which is just slightly north of upper UP Michigan, I'll start to keep the garden in check at the beginning of September, I am hoping to extend my season by covering with a hoop house/ plastic when it starts to get chilly - if we get a warm fall, that will certainly help - have a nice day, paul m. :)