16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

Ami and Tammy those setups look great.

It's a potential combo of late-spring cold frame, plant support and excessive rain umbrella, all in one. Those in hot climates can even make use of the mid-afternoon shade it would provide. Lots of utility.

Going to give this idea some consideration for the 2014 season, thank you for sharing.

- Steve

This post was edited by sjetski on Sun, May 26, 13 at 11:11

steve, next yr I Plan to place some clips along the edge of the bed frame on the long sides so I can stick the ends of pvc pipe down in them and bow the other end to the other side . Then when these hoops in place, I can put plastic over it to make a low hoop house to possibly get my tomatoes outside sooner next spring. Some using mittleider will place the hoops at the top of these frames and put plastic to make greenhouses.
Tammy

When I said I thought my plant was a Siamese twin or mutant, I was just speculating. I am delighted that Carolyn has confirmed that something like that can happen. I wish I'd pulled my "mutant" early in the season when I first noticed how odd it was. I didn't trust my own instincts and wasted valuable space in my tiny garden.

Thanks for the help Ohio and Carolyn. Enjoy the holiday and the summer.....

MKSinSA - last year I experimented with the nctomatoman's dense seeding method where you pick out the seedlings and put them in individual cells/pots instead of snipping off all but 1. I started about 500 tomatoes! Sold some, gave a lot away, planted about 150 but the last 50 didn't get out til the end of June and hastily-prepped bed, didn't do anything. Maybe b/c I didn't bother to water them as much as my main beds - I put them in trenches where they had drowned in 2011 but still not enough rain for them (though the volunteers in the chicken manure compost pit in the same general area did great without any watering!

This year I started about half that number - tried about 24 seeds of each variety but more cherry tomatoes and Brandwines (cherry seeds are small, and I have a lot of demand for Brandywines). Got really good germination on almost all, though I did lose a few with Dad taking care of them for 10 days. I hate to give up on any though (which is why I decided to try this method instead of snipping), so I've got some that it looks like the growing point died from underwatering, but a sucker took over, others I broke potting up ad I buried deep and are doing great, some more larger plants that get bent/broken when my storm window windbreak fell on them, I put those deep in 1 gal pots. I know I'll end up composting them or giving them away, but you know how some people rescue stray animals? I feel compelled to rescue injured plants (though I stay away from anything that looks diseased).

Next year if I want 100 tomatoes, I'll start no more than 150 seeds, I swear! Even if they're tiny and stuck together (though I'm running low on cherry tomato seeds, maybe I'll just buy starts of those to resist the temptation to start so many).

Then again, with this horrible weather, it may be another loss this year and I may give up on marketing, only plant 40-50 tomatoes for our own use next year.

Oh, if buying these "more mature" plants would really give me 2 weeks' earlier harvest it would be worth it.

This post was edited by ajsmama on Sat, May 25, 13 at 7:11

I decided to start from seed this year and got carried away. Then we had a hot spell in early May and I jumped to start hardening off. Learned that lesson fast enough. Weather has been dreadful, cold and rainy in Montreal. Some of my plants are about 10" tall. I just hope I can get these babies outside by the first week of June. I tried the dense method also, but then I feel compelled to transplant too many like you ajsmama. It's too much temptation. I'm cutting back on varieties once I see which ones produce.
Sharon

Yes you can plant them in the ground. You will just need to dig a hole bigger than the current pot and a couple of inches deeper, water it good and then carefully remove it from the pot soil and all and set in the new hole.

Aspirin is not required.

Dave

Of course I used the miracle grow for container plants. I know the difference between the garden soil and container soil and always read the directions.The pots drain really well which probably should have been a sign to me that I need to water more. This is my first year doing this and everyone and their mom has a different method and rules of growing so it's a lot of info to take in.

In retrospect I wouldn't use miracle grow in the future I don't really think it's that great. I used the garden soil to prep my raised beds because there were so many great sales on it but I don't think it's really all that great.

I'll look into transplanting the yellow pear this week, I think I will leave the other cherries alone, they are doing very well in the pots. Thanks for the info everyone.

That's a great tip. Thank you

That's a great tip. Thank you

Easiest way to zap them when you see them, is few grains of salt, as Dave already mentioned...JUST A FEW GRAINS is enough to bleed them to death.

But the biggest challenge is to keep them away when you are not there...hmmmm

You can form a ring around every plant stem with used coffee grinds, they can't stand the stuff and it's safe for your plants. You'd have to reapply after every rain storm.

Works well unless you have leaves touching the ground, which they would use to detour over the coffee grinds.

This post was edited by sjetski on Sat, May 25, 13 at 8:53

Dave's explanation is very comprehensive.
But, you ARE going to get some kind of tomatoes, although it may or may not be the same as you collected seeds from. The parents from which they originated a hybrid had also been better tomatoes. So if you are not religiously picky about it, then it does not matter.

I also, suspect that the seed companies and hybridizers also want to sell seeds and have some revenues..haha

Thank you Dave for your explaination.Now I got it .
@seysonn,yeah,it will be fun to plant some F2 of my tomato next year to see what will happen.Maybe I will get something interesting.

MKSinSA,

I grow Celebrity hybrid every year and have never experienced an insect attractive nature about the plants. W/O knowing what insects you're plaqued with, I would do a NEEM spray, (or Spinosad) like captain-jacks. Then maybe they will confrom to your Big Boy F2's.

I do not remember ever encountering INSECT problem on ANY tomato plant.

I have never seen any caterpillar to eat tomato or potato leaves. ..they love parsley..hehe

I use a BT spray to prevent them but I usually start spraying the leaves and fruit once a week as soon as the plants start setting fruit. The only problem is that the worms have to ingest the BT so they still might bite your tomatoes before they die--I haven't tried using the BT after they are already infested with worms so I'm not sure how well it would work.

I'm a 'sucker plucker' but it is my climate that requires it. I've never touched the blossoms but rarely get them early. A few years ago i was out of town for work most of the summer and came home to a giant hedge without much fruit, (short season, NorthEast altitude). If i miss some suckers i let it go. Personal decision if they are longer than a pencil...so i suppose in am pinching about 65%.

It depends on whether the tomato is determinate or indeterminate. If the latter, pluck away. On my indeterminate cherries, I don't let a flower stay until the plants are 3-4 feet tall. For my determinates, each flower I pluck off is, I have to imagine, a tomato I won't get. That's probably just my imagination though. Hopefully, a determinate isn't dumb enough to start flowering when the plant isn't mature.