16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
I didn't find it so. The reason is that after you weave, side shoots and sckers come out of the weave. Then it's a mess to cleanup after season. I instead bought the 3 or 4' green yard fencing. Stretched it between poles and tied the tomato branches to it using the old pipe cleaners that are still carried at Wmart.
I had very good success with it, at the end of the season, I just cut one end and pulled it through, then disposed of dead plants as usual. I used 6 ft t posts, and they still flopped over the top, but a huge improvement on my other methods.
I have been growing Ramapo F1 for the last 2 or 3 years and it is my favorite tomato. You should get loads for very good tasting toms from a plant that does not get over 4 to 5 feet tall. I will always have some of these in my garden. Great choice and good luck this season.
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.
Usually when I have had problems it has been early in the spring and does not reoccur later to any serious degree. I don't know if that is typical however. I treat with Pyola, which is pyrethrins and canola oil and that has always done the trick. I have tried homemade solutions of dish soaps and rinsing and I think it did help but not as well.
I've used ladybugs as a safe and biologically-kind deterent for aphids in the past. Most decent garden centers sell lady bugs by the bag. You may want to try them if you're having serious aphid infestation. A bag of ladybugs can chomp a serious amount of aphids before they move on and there's never any harm to your plants and the ladybug carnage on the aphids is kinda cool to observe hehe :)
Spinosad is commonly recommended for thrip control in all the previous discussions about the problem.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Thrip control discussions
Best gardening move I've made in years was signing up to this forum. Never knew about thrips .. always thought those were sugar ants in those flowers.
Just went out to check the plants and found a bunch in the cuke flowers. No wonder they've got little, dried up cukes. Have been blaming it on weather/irrigation issues.
Thanks!
Just to throw this out there, I have been very impressed with Husky Cherry Red. It is the most beautiful plant...stocky and strong with tidy deep green leaves. It is a dwarf- or semi- indeterminate, so it keeps growing thorough the season but stays (in my experience) below 5'. Good production and flavor. I think they'd be good candidates for an 8 gallon bag.
Thanks everyone for the great info! I love this place already. I have decided to go with the Sweet Tangerines for this season. Since I'm planting a bit late (zone 7), the shorter growth cycle of a determ. is a big plus. Also, I'm ordering seedlings rather than starting from seed, and the ST's are the best looking determ. seedling I've found available so far. Depending on how much potting mix I decide to make up, I might just spring for a 14-gallon plastic tote, drill some holes, and grab an indeterminate as well. Thanks again for all your help.
This post was edited by King_Kale on Thu, May 23, 13 at 11:51
Although other responses might be correct I wouldn't get too excited just yet over these observances. It could be just the plant reaction to higher soil salt level combined with higher temperatures. Some composts may be too high in nutrients (salts) that would trigger that type response from the plant. Many tomato plants will show a degree of wilting in the top growth just from high temperatures.
The bottom line- do plants return to normal rigor after the sun sets? It could be that all you need is a shade cloth.
After thinking about this more, I am pretty convinced that it is the compost. When planting there were 2 plants that I know of that I forgot to put the compost in the hole....and they show no signs of the issue....yet.
I am going to run the test from the link that jean001a gave to verify.
In terms of treatment, I did see a post on some UK forums that suggesting watering steadily over the course of a few days to help flush the area. Then, hit them with a fertilizer. I may test that on one plant to see if I can get it to come out of it a bit sooner than the others.
Yellawood is supposedly certified as safe for most any gardening use - comes up for discussion often for use in raised beds. The only things it leaches is copper.
CCA treated wood (the green stuff with arsenic) has been banned from sale since federal law in 2002 except for commercial construction.
No personal experience with using it as tomato stakes but that's just because I don't like staking tomato plants, not because of the wood.
Dave
I use cedar, It is a bit more expensive though.
I would make a hohe with a rebar ,or somethind, then I drive the sharpened end into ground. I buy like 1 by 4"s and rip it on table saw. This way it is quite less costly than if you want to buy the ones sold by piece at like 3 bucks each. Rebaris another alternative if you want something that lasts for the rest of your life and beyond..LOL
I've been using the bamboo double trellis method for years. Though different climates and weather conditions require finding the best solution. Try freecycle or CraigsList in your area for cheap materials. A woman in NJ right now is in need of help with her bamboo that has taken over...just mentions to bring a shovel and please take what you want.
I have ordered my bamboo only twice in 15yrs. I trellis just like the picture linked, but in two long rows, one for toms and one for beans. I need 50. You would only need 25 for 16 plants. My garden gets high winds in an open field so i need the support. I use velcro ties. Mulched with straw it is attractive and low maintenance. I grow a thick patch of carrots down the middle for a nice late fall treat.
Lots of ideas on this site for free trellis plans...
http://free.woodworking-plans.org/tomato-trellis-designs.html
Here is a link that might be useful: bamboo
CHEAP cages are just that ;CHEAP and waste of money.
After reading about the REWire sheet (40" x84") here, today I went to HD and bought ont , $7.20 +tx.
I cut of about 14" from it(endin like 40" x 70") and made a nice sturdy cage . I also cut off the last horizontal wires(ground side) so the vertial one could be stuck into ground.
After doing that, it felt pretty stable bur I also fastened it to a stake. At $8.00 bucks, this is far superior even to the so-called Heavy Duty cages sold at big box stores.
But with this one, you have to be handy and willing to do some fun work. A big bundl of the same material is sold for about $105. and probably you can make more than 20 cages from it. In this case, you cam make them slightly conic (like paper cups) so that they can be inserted into each other for ease of storage .
Perhaps the only draw back of this (to some) is that it is about 4 1/2 ft tall. But to me that is ok. After 4.5 ft , I will let my toms to cascade. they will never reach the ground.
homegardenpa...that looks just like my open area where i grow zuks, melon, fall squash, pumpkins...
I lay down a thick run of newspaper, then hay. I do get a seeding clump or six but not at all like actually weeding. It is also a good soft protective bed for the fruit. We tend to have more rain than drought here in the NEast. Mulch needs seem to be regional and what is available.
My tomatoes are in a raised bed and i use straw. It is expensive here but clean and only need one bale. It is a large compressed bag sold like peat. Straw is the dried stalks of cereal plants, like wheat. ItâÂÂs a by-product of harvest. If any seeds remain on the stalks, itâÂÂs by accident. Therefore, straw is nutritionally void, and is not animal feed. However, that lack of seeds makes it a fine mulch. The expense is that it is free of pesticides.
Wood chips don't work in my garden. They might for some. I do use a dump load to path the way to the compost piles. Free here by handing off my address to the road crew when trimming tree branches from power lines. I'll have a big pile within an hour or two. No more mud in the back yard as i have it about one and a half foot thick now. I tried it once around the perimeter of my garden and was good for a year but soon started to break down and was hard to keep up with the weed growth.
Hay bales are usually fresh and sweet smelling green and used for feed and can be expensive. Lesser quality hay bales from a later harvest are dry and useless and i suppose for animal bedding. Both can be full of seed so i keep it out of my raised beds. Once again a regional thing...dry crispy hay bales are free here.
Tottally agreeing with Dave and Jimster and now with Seysonn too I just wanted to add that under the best of conditions there have been a few varieties I tread carefully with. Red Zebra and Marzano types, especially Super Marzano, have been problem varieties. Granted that the problem almost always goes away with time but the agrivation can be frustrating. This year I'm giving Pozzano a try as a sauce variety less prone to BER. Likely I'll not see any BER on other sauce types this year to compare.
Consistent watering is important in preventing BER. Larger tomatoes such as beefsteak are more likely to get it than tiny tomatoes because of the structure of the tomato.
Here is a link that might be useful: Blossom end rot
Gunnar, good idea to check the med ones and I just did.
The one I know best is Medovaya Kaplya and I've linked to that one below. While Tania says yellow, fruits do ripen up to a kind of golden/orange.
The other one that's from Russia is described as being an orange heart, and here's the link to that one:
http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Medovyi_Spas
And I haven't grown that one.
The other"med"ones are the wrong color.
Carolyn
Here is a link that might be useful: Medovaya Kaplya
ABlindHog - have you considered planting earlier under protection to extend your season. It works for many of us in the warmer climates, even warmer than mine, that have to 'beat the heat'. With something as simple as WOWs you can gain 2-3 weeks earlier planting times which gets you good fruit set on many varieties. And with a small low tunnel even more time is gained.
Plus keep in mind that even on those days that reach 100 degrees it isn't that hot early in the morning so some blossom flicking and cage rattling in the early AM can also help with fruit set even through the hot summer.
I just hate to see anyone stuck growing only the early (60 day DTM) varieties.
Dave
Check the moisture level before waiting to water, it may be dry.
Was the plant root bound before transplanting? In a very small container? Perhaps got a bit dry before transplanting?
Or just jealous of its sibling that went into the ground?
Yeah, I know I'm being silly, but I think if you maintain proper moisture in the growing medium and feed that baby appropriately, it will do just fine.
Betsy
Betsy , the plant may have been root bound ? Not sure since this is my first time ever growing from seed. I did see the roots around the soil when I did the transplant. But I also transplanted the healthy looking one twice and its thriving. I will check the moisture later and post back.
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.