16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

In my opinion, you should separate them. Then you can either plant in their final destination(garden or pot) or plant them in a 4" pot and later on do the final transplant. The smaller the seedling, the less shock from transplanting. But transplanting individual seedling from a 4" pot to permanent location will not disturb it. All you would do then is to water it , wait a while, take it out of pot(by inverting and slight tapping on the bottom and putting in the prepared hole(garden or planter) .I would not touch the roots, although tomatoes are tolerant.

I agree with seysonn...that's what I did this season. My plants are in the garden and look good (except for the unending rain, which I hope does not cause too many problems...got the fungicide ready).

I don,t think that grubs(some kind of larva) are harmful at that stage. But problem start when they turn into caterpillars, beetles etc.
Moles, eat grubs, that is true but if there are no moles in the area they won't appear suddenly from nowhere. One way to get rid of grubs is to use grub killer. But then you will kill the earthworms too. I would rather not do that.

Probably a type of scarab beetle which includes the June Beetle, Japanese Beetle, Hercules Beetle, Stag Beetle, etc.

Eating rotting matter...compost, perhaps?

I would remove and relocate or feed to birds (or chickens).

Here is an interesting read: http://ag.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/whitegrubs.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Stag Beetle Larva

Well after temps down into the mid 30s Memorial Day weekend, then rain for a week followed by a heat wave in the 90s for 3 days, I finally got them in. on May 28th. It feels like I am way behind this year. Last year I planted out May 20, but with larger plants that were started earlier and I had a really good year and canned quite a bit. The year before I didn't plant until June 3 and had crummy weather I think, and poor year for yields, and I didn't can any. But we will see what happens. When I look at previous planting dates, I am actually not all that late, but I think I had larger plants to start with because I started them earlier. I keep a very sparse journal and try to remember to at least record seed starting, transplanting and planting out dates as well as first harvest dates for tomatoes. I have the last 3 years and in a few more SHOULD be able to draw some conclusions about what works best.

I will probably decide the weather has more effect on the outcome than anything I do. But it sure does make it hard to get them hardened off properly.

Don't feel bad. I've only got 30 in the ground so far - another 85 or so to go (I only put 20 determinates near the house instead of 24 b/c I ran out of room - spacing got a little off b/c of rocks). But most of yesterday was spent watering the pots, picking up T posts, putting up a CRW "trellis" in the interior row of my main tomato area (1000 ft from the house). Got 5 SuperSweet 100 and 5 Rose de Berne in that area before I had to quit, clean up, and take DD to Girl Scouts.

Today I'll see how many I can get in before riding lesson. Supposed to rain the next 2 days. At least my beans (planted 5/30) are germinating without me having had to water them!

The tomatoes and peppers are the only things left to go in - peppers are hardening off now (here we go again!).

BTW, I think the past years were unusual knock in wood) - 2011 was so wet, and 2012 so hot and dry. Off to a little bit of a late start this year, but hopefully it will be more "normal" (temperate). would be nice to have warm weather into Sept/Oct so we have time for late season tomatoes and of course the peppers.

great ideas....thinking it is not ripe as long as I can see the slight area of green. Like the reds...wont this green area disappear when ripe?

Some black tomatoes keep the green on top. I have grown BP but I forget. Go by the touch method described.

Wow Hudson, those tomato plants are huge! What variety are they? And what an amazing set up! How'd you do that? Is that a greenhouse? Are the plants draped over top of that cage-like structure and did you build that yourself? I've never seen anything like that before and I'm super impressed with your creativity and super jealous of your beautiful red tomatoes.....

Hi Cheryl - thanks for your comments - I have to come clean - the photos are from last years crop. The first photo was taken in July and the second in October. Here are photos of this years plants.

Last years tomatoes were all Better Boy - this year we have Better Boy, German Giant, Brandy Boy, Sweet Baby Girl and Super Marzano. I use cattle panels to support our tomato plants and prune them to grow between the panel and the GH roof panels. We designed and built our own GH and came up with supports and solutions on the fly. We are still learning as we go and appreciate your compliments.

Our tomato plants are about 8' in height now (all of our plats are indeterminate) with good size green tomatoes on the lower clusters but Sweet Baby Girl cherry tomatoes are the only tomatoes ripe to date.

A few inches should do the trick. Many times the surface
will be dry but not deeper down. Don't forget, tomato
roots can go down 3 feet deep or more.

GardenWebber sprouts_honor (Jennifer from Cleveland) had a wonderful suggestion on how to tell whether or not you need to water your tomatoes, and I quote here: "Get a wooden dowel rod (or two) and sink it in the ground near a plant or two and leave it. Pull it out when you think you need to water. If the top is dry and the bottom is a little damp, it's time to water. If it looks dark and feels saturated, wait to water. I use this technique with potted plants that don't like being over watered and it's helpful with in ground plants too."

Betsy

where is the other post? Need link, please.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg0609292728380.html?4
The post titled "Help what to do?"

I have a few options for you.

1) Companion plantings: Try planting Marigolds, basil, onions. They produces a pungent odor that keeps many pests away.

2) Sprinkle Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth around the base of each plant. It also adds many beneficial trace elements to the ground. It's real cheap at the box stores.

3) insecticidal soap.

Try any or all of these and good luck.

My father gets them bad. One will destroy a plant in 12 hours. The only good way to get rid of them is to find them an kill them.

Just cove one cluster when starts blooming until fruits are set. But tag that cluster and get seeds from the fruits of that cluster.

Nylon tulle( finest mesh, sold at all fabric stores will do. I use it also for insect deterent.

Thanks for the advice. I have never saved seed before from a tomato so even after reading all the FAQs and past threads was nervous about it. I will bag just a cluster of blossoms before they open. The part that is so fun for me is trying a tomato I have never had before!

Jennie

When I harden off, I generally do it over 2 weeks. I sit them out on my front porch which is shaded for 2 days before I even start to give them full sun. I leave them out overnight during this whole time (unless it got too cold). Then, it is limited to an hour the first day and gradually lengthen.

I think they were still too sensitive to the elements. Wind can really play havoc on tender plants.

edweather-
the containers shown aren't the final destination. They were my last pots used before putting them into my raised garden bed. I start with jiffy pucks, then move them into 5 inch pots, then into 9 inch pots, then transplant into the garden when ready. I do use pro-mix in the containers which is a soil free mix.

tripleione- yes, they were showing stress during the hardening process, which makes me think they just weren't ready for the outdoors yet. live and learn i guess.

Thanks for all your help.

So I inspected the underside of an affected leaf and there is a fine white spider web like substance with dark specks?

Then you most likely have spider mites in addition to the Early Blight. The webbing indicates the mites although the adults are usually reddish orange, the nymphs are a dark brown-black. See pics linked below.

There are several sprays available for controlling spider mites but effectiveness is debatable. If only one plant and only a few affected leaves then hand squishing and affected leaf removal is as good a control as anything. With a bad infestation then buying ladybugs helps or you can use insecticidal soap or insecticidal oil or neem,

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Spider mite pics