16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
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
I'm glad to find this blog but not happy about it. I also planted Jet Star for the first time spring '13 and my plants and trusses look exactly like those at the beginning of this blog. They have from 12-25 blossoms per truss, some look like 2 trusses near enough to be a double. The fruit setting appears it is going to be like a grape or Porter Tomato. They are setting fruit very good even in this East Texas heat, but they sure ain't jet Star.
Like some others the seed packet is Ferry-Morse 20 Pelleted Seeds, bought from Wal Mart Feb '13 dated 2012 LOT J1. The pkt has an 800 number, wonder if they'd answer? Larry
I have used Kelloggs PatioPlus in containers before but I live in a very hot arid climate. The product does contain manures and compost as I recall which could allow the container to become compacted and waterlogged. Most container growers advocate a soiless mix, based on things like sphagnum peat moss, perlite and bark.
Tomatoes tend to be fast growers and heavy feeders. Growing them with only organic ferts in a container can be challenging. In addition to watering issues you could be seeing some nutrient deficiency.
I throw my hat in with the "no rocks in the bottom of the pot" clan.
Thank you all for your help.
How often do you think I should water them and how much do you think I should give them each time I do water them?
Also, should I add some type of wicking now? Is that still possible? and if so, what do you recommend?
Thank you!
There could be any number of reasons. Maybe the ground level is a bit lower there and so the water collects there. Maybe the soil in a particular spot doesn't drain as well - that is common. Maybe the soil grubs are thicker in that area. Maybe those particular plants weren't planted as deep so are more shallow rooted.
Maybe they are a different variety - you don't say what they are - and different varieties respond in different ways. Maybe before the storm even came those particular plants were already root stressed from over-watering or poor drainage - most people way over-water anyway - so the storm affected them more. Those are just a few of the possible explanations.
The tops, the new growth, reflect what is going on with the roots before the rest of the plant does so that is why you see the tops drooping - they are root stressed/damaged.
Bottom line is, just like any plant, they will either adjust to the growing conditions and recover or they won't and will die. But they certainly don't need more water. That would be the worst thing to do for them.
Dave
Agree. It is very common and assuming the plant is in a big enough container so that it isn't rootbound then they pose no problems. As mentioned their appearance is an indicator of overly wet conditions or a rootbound plant. If the wetness is due to the weather you can't control it other than to insure well-draining soil and make sure you don't over-water. If other symptoms of stress develop I would suspect the plant may be rootbound.
Dave
We'll see how they do here. Got everything in except for 6 Mark Twain I'll try to do tomorrow. Of course I have backups (extra) of everything except the Camp Joy and Cheeseman's, now DH tells me we're supposed to get another 2" of rain tomorrow (had over 2" on Friday, 3.5" last week, 7" since May 19).
Say I decide and let these survivors grow to maturity. Could they produce a tomato of quality or does this generation have diminished properties regarding taste and/or texture?
elliot
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