16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Sounds to me like the growth point terminated with the flower cluster. This happens occasionally to my plants too, and I've never been able to figure out why it happens, either. It happened to one of my "Supersteak" tomato this season
That said, your plant will be okay, methinks. In my experience, when the main stem stops like that, a sucker or two takes over in place of the main growth point.
It is called "stunting". The plant itself is stunted and sets its terminals blooms. Stunting can be caused by several different stress factors but the most common is early exposure to overly cold air and/or soil temps. It is one good reason to avoid overly early planting out.
Dave
There is an old adage - "N for shoots, P & K for blooms and roots." It has more than a bit of truth in it.
Container plants are normally fed at least weekly. Nutrients wash out of the soil every time you water. The smaller the container the faster the nutrients leach out and the more frequently you need to feed. So while your approach may be fine for in ground plants, it isn't sufficient for container plants.
Further container mixes usually lack the beneficial soil micro-herd needed to convert organics to nutrients. But since you have been adding that organic liquid ferts should work for you although more slowly. But pick up one that is heavier on the P and K side than N or at least balanced, and use it much more often. See link below for ideas.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Liquid organic fertilizers
Good to know. I knew that care for container plants is different, but I didn't realize it was that different.
I looked at that link. I'm familiar with Alaska fertilizers (that's what my current 5-1-1 is), so I'm kind of leaning toward one of those products, either the "All Purpose Fish Fertilizer" (2-2-2) or "MorBloom" (0-10-10).
Which one of those would be more ideal? I still want SOME Nitrogen, right? Would it be a good idea to use MorBloom for the heavy P&K content and then use the stuff I have now as well for Nitrogen?
Daniel,
Sorry about the damage caused by your learning experience.
Another suggestion: Replace your clear lid with a shade cloth lid or row cover lid when the danger of heavy frost has past. This will keep high temperatures at bay, provides a frost blanket on a rare chilly night and provide shelter from a cloudburst (the rain drops breaks up on the cloth and sprays gently into the box or runs down to the wall)
You have electric heat (lightbulbs) and your ground temperature will be warm enough to survive a few cold nighttime hours just using a shadecloth lid.
I built a light shade cloth lid that I mount on top of the clear lid in the few weeks of in-between weather and then use as the only lid in warmer spring weather. It is still opened with the automatic opener and activates the fan within.
Once it is warm enough to plant out, my coldframe is done for the season.
Hope this helps,
Rick
There are lots of opinions on whether to take off blossoms and buds from plants to be set out and some have even used the same vareity and done that to one plant and not the other, and some say it makesno difference and some say it does,
I'm of the opinion that all buds and blossoms should be taken off,You want theplant to remain in the vegetative stage of forming a good root system and strong stems and foliage before diverting plant energy, from photosynthesis, to the sexual cycle of blossom formation, fruit set and fruit maturation,
The stronger the plant is itself from initial vegetative growth, the better it will be for good results with that sexual cycle which ends with the fruits that we all want to see and eat,
So that's my opinion.
Carolyn
So, here's a picture of that tomato now. I dug it up, looked it over, didn't see a problem, and stuck it in a bucket. It's doing great!
And, I put a new tomato in the ground where this one had been, and it's doing great. No clue what made this one unhappy where it was, but all is well.
If it's an F1 it must be one of the many Goliaths offered at Totally Tomatoes, of which there are many,and as I recall all F1's.
THey may call it Old Fashioned, but the original Goliath is an OP heirloom and I've linked to Tania's page for it where you can see it's from the last century,
Nope, I haven't grown any F1 Golaith's. ( smile)
Carolyn
Here is a link that might be useful: Orginal Goliath
Yeah I've posted about these tomatoes a few times before. Neighbor puts out several hundred od these to market by tailgate' I grew the one you referenced last yr and it was big but not very productive...oblate or beefsteak whatever. Neighbor's fruit seem to be right against the stake in clusters of three or four about baseball size. I have Park's Wopper also and have grown Better Boy many times so I will have easy time in comparing these tomatoes. I read somewhere that people in the south compare this hybrid favorably to Big Beef. We'll see!
Although it depends on the specific varieties you want to grow, whether early, midseason or late season varieties I would definitely NOT direct seed in the growing zone you indicate.
IN warmer growing zones, as some folks above have indicated, possibly yes, but not in a 6b area. From mid-May onwards to the middle of June, or so, the weather can change quickly, and does, so IMO not the way to go in your growintg zone in terms of growth, fruit set and fruit maturation. Besides, the soil temps in 6b at this time of the year are still on the cool side which will affect seed germination.
Hope that helps,
Carolyn
At a soli temperature of 50 degrees F, tomatoes take about 43 days to germinate. At a soil temperature of 77 degrees they germinate in about 6 days. So, soil temperature can account for much of the difference in time required for growing them directly seeded in the ground compared to starting inside. Use a kitchen thermometer to check your soil temperature. Soil temperature can be quite different from air temperature when the sun strikes the soil.
Cool temperatures can slow the growth of established plants too, of course. They don't make much progress until it gets warm.
But, based on experience with volunteers, tomatoes definitely can be direct seeded.
Jim
Here is a link that might be useful: Germination Temperatures
Uscjusto, what variety of tomato did you grow last year? Hybrid varieties won't come true from seed, so you might not get anything you recognize. I've had the same thing happen with seeds in the garden and ended up not getting much, but it was certainly fun to grow them out and see what I got. It's too close to your chosen plant, so put it in a pot and see what you get. :)
Best guess - mis-labeled plant. Don't know how they could claim heirloom and F1 combo- Better Boy unless it is a grafted stock plant. Maybe they used BB root stock with some heirloom cherry graft? Never heard of it being done but with all this "organic" and "grafted" hype floating around lately it could be anything. Call the vendor.
But yeah, those aren't BB tomatoes.
Dave
2 days in the 40s can do a lot of damage to tomato plants if they weren't covered. In time they may recover but depending on the type of plant they may remain stunted.
Your soil appears to have a great deal of wood chips in it so there may be some nitrogen binding going on and you will have to supplement with extra N. Otherwise what have you fed them, added to the bed for nutrients, etc.?
The new growth appears basically ok but those older leaves will likely die and fall off. Purpling can be just the result of young plants, cool temps, and poor root development and goies away as the plant matures. But it can also be a symptom - if seen in older growth - of phosphorous deficiency. While P deficiency is relatively rare your soil filler may be low in it. So again a good feeding should help. But I would use a granular side dressing rather than a liquid since since over-watering is already an issue.
Hope this helps.
Dave