16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

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I noticed something that made me change my settings ... When you email someone, if they have their email revealed, GW will automatically show you the person's email address. Just in case any spammers ever come trying to harvest email addresses, I thought it would be a good idea to change my settings. Because I use my real, work email address in GW, not a fake throwaway address. Click the first link below and you will see an example of how you can see that person's email address. Typically, when I send a private message to someone using GW, I include my email address in the body of the message, so they can respond without having to search me out using My Page. But I can still keep my email address private within my settings.
I have sent a suggestion asking GW to make this message that appears at the bottom of the email more clear, because it is very confusing how they have it worded. You can send a suggestion too ...
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Angela,
What you have said is true, to an extent. But some people have their accounts set up so that no one can email them.
Qaguy has been on GW long enough that I am sure he is familiar with going to someone's page to email them, so I am sure he tried to do that and "Mary" isn't set up to receive emails from anyone.
Betsy


It would be better to get a fertilizer with all three nutrients (NPK) and use it instead of the bllodmeal. There are no organic sources of P or K that release as rapidly as bloodmeal releases N. Tomatotone is a good quality balaced organic fertilizer that would be available fairly quickly. You would add that every two weeks.


You're pretty darn neat there! I use black plastic ZOne 5b. Usually after digging holes and amending with compost there is usually alot of dirt left that doesnt fit back in the planting hole! Usually I just mound around the plant and always mulch when I am done planting. All this reduces the amount of just black plastic around the plant.

Interesting.
I have tried growing tomatoes in pvc pipes, straight into the ground. I used 10 inch (diameter) pipe 18 inches long, with 2 inches sticking up above the level ground. I did this as an experiment to keep water going to the tomato and less to "weeds". My experience is that the tomatoes (or any of the plants planted in the pipes for that matter) didn't perform as well as those that were not planted in the PVC pipe. I tried this several times over several years with the same results.
I will certainly be interested to hear how your tomato plant produces.
Regards,
Tom

N...I am learning as I go on this...My soil is heavy clay. So, besides not wanting to plant in this stuff (hard when dry, mucky when wet), I would not want to bury my pipe. The container forum here talks so much about the bottom 4 inches being useless muck in pots. The concrete steppingstone on the bottom of the pipe seems to eliminate this! A good thing. I have a feeling I need to up my nutrients in my containers.

No I've not fed them yet, but that's not the problem. I'm just wondering if frost damage that still leaves most of the plant looking ok is going to retard the growth of fruit later it the season. It's a significant question to me because I only have room for 4 plants and if they aren't going to produce much due to the frost, then I want to pull them out and replace them.

"I'm just wondering if frost damage that still leaves most of the plant looking ok is going to retard the growth"
It's possible. Tomato plants are susceptible to chilling injury at temperatures between 32 and 42 F. Chilling can cause stunted growth, wilting, surface pitting or necrosis of foliage, and increased susceptibility to disease. Low soil temperatures also stunt plant growth and prevent root development. Temperatures below 50 F during flowering can interfere with pollination and result in catfacing of fruit.
A lot depends on how cold they got and for how long. If you still feel they aren't growing and you have time to develop a crop on new transplants, then pull them. If you are getting real short on time.... give them a chance because new plants may not have enough time either.
Betsy
Here is a link that might be useful: The Effect of Extreme Temperatures on the Tomato and Pepper Crop

After reading online info I decided to dump the affected plant. I did spray the neighboring plants with copper/lime. Here in Calif...big brother is so intrusive with laws, I never worry about spraying chemicals and ruining the world. Better vegies through science...thanks for advice.

How bad was it? If you are vigilant with the copper fungicide, meaning, that you are out there after every time it rains, you should be fine. Even if a few leaves near the soil start showing symptoms, cutting them and disposing of them should slow it down enough for the plant to take hold and outgrow the disease.
I have had years where the fungi was more virulant than others, but simple practices have always lead to good yields for all my plants. I have ditched one plant over the last 5 years, it was an orange blossom. It was so infected that in the first two weeks I knew it was a lost cause. Other than that, copper spray, keeping the base of the plant mulched and the leaves away from soil splash has done the trick.
This year one plant has been infected. I trimed the branch that showed the symptoms and am keeping a close eye on things. So far not a single other instance.
This post was edited by spicymeatball on Mon, Jun 3, 13 at 1:32

Here you go. You can also find video how-to info on YouTube.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: String tomato discussions


Rhizo I was DESPERATE! I had some kind of blight or fungus that just got worse for the last 3 years. Everything I read said once the spores were in the soil you couldn't get rid of it. I know it was radical. BUT, so far, so good! If its gone then it was worth the expense and trouble!


There is nothing wrong with the plant. It has to do with cold and erratic temps. When the weather regulates the color will return to normal. If you ever noticed geraniums that have been put out too early they do this too. But when the weather regulates they quickly go back to normal. Don't sweat it.


I have a question on when do harvest my Better Bush tomatoes (I'm brand new to gardening anything!)... I added a photo (taken today) of the huge GREEN tomato I have.. it's been huge for about 3 weeks... but it isn't turning red.. when should I pick it?? Something has been nibbling on it.. could that be why it isn't turning red? And also, there are three more tomatoes on the same branch, could this one huge tomato keep them from growing bigger?



The past 2 years have been so terrible weather-wise for my area (eastern Ontario) that we couldn't do anything in the garden (clay loam - impossible with all the heavy rain we're having and takes forever to dry out) so this year I'm doing some container gardening. Just a few hot peppers, spices, and several varieties of tomatoes. I couldn't find single pots of Celebrity at the local nursery and didn't want to waste a whole flat, so chose a single pot each of Ace and Glamour. Afterwards, I read reviews that Ace isn't very highly rated, so will probably check elsewhere for single Celebrity in pots and replace the Ace. I've only got a limited amount of room for containers suitable for tomatoes and peppers, so numbers count. And by the time the weather returns to normal and the garden finally dries out, it will be too late in the summer to bother planting anything. Sigh.


The curled leaves in the final image look crispy.
Are they?
If so, they ran short of water during the day.
During excessive heat, plants can't take up sufficient water to avoid wilting even if the soil/potting mix is thoroughly moist.
Temporary shade (as mentioned in the previous post) during a hot spell slows water use by the plant as well as evaporation from the soil/potting mix.
This post was edited by jean001a on Sun, Jun 2, 13 at 2:19

I agree with the heat/wilt diagnosis, though there's no way to be sure.
Herbicide tends to kill entire plants in the sections of a garden closest to the place it drifted from, not just the tops of a few scattered plants.
Cut off the affected parts of the plant. If it is heat/wilt, then you probably have (as suggested) a rooting problem. The plants just aren't getting enough water to their tops. And yes, giving them a little shade can help. But you really shouldn't have to do that with established tomato plants.
Make sure you aren't over-watering or over fertilizing.
Tip dieback can also be caused by diseases, but in the picture the rest of the plants look healthy, so I doubt that's your issue.

Thanks everyone!
These have been growing for about 5 weeks.
tdscpa..........I didn't even notice that the pot only looks half full! I think I'll tell her to transplant 2, maybe three of them, and pull off the lower leaves of all of them, and use lots more soil.
Thanks!




I don't know if those varieties are spindly by nature. I have had spindly tomato plants when the plant did not get enough sun. The Sun Sugar appears in pictures to be spindly, but the Sweet 100 appears to be less so.