16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

Hi all,

Let me see if I can answer the additional questions....

The soil was not old (at least I don't think so) - bought it this year and it wasn't really early in the season.

Yes - the baskets are wire, then have a liner, then the soil.

We are talking about rain at least twice a week for a few weeks. When it has been raining, it's been raining almost all day. Not downpours all day, but good, drenching rain. It looks like it's been about 6 inches over the last four weeks.

I bought these plants as seedlings from a friend who grew them for me. Actually, I bought her the seeds and she grew the plants. She was going to keep any extras and sell them herself. Out of a packet of 10, only 4 came up. They never did well from the beginning and were stressed when I got them.

I got almost 50 other tomato plants from her, and all the others are doing very well. Maybe we just had a bad packet of seeds.

I was thinking about trying again from seed, but the reason I had her grow them for me is that I have horrible success with tomatoes from seed. I can do peppers just fine, but tomatoes get very leggy very quick, no matter what I do. I do have a grow light, I just can't seem to tomatoes. Could I direct seed them in my zone (8)? I also hate paying for the packet and shipping when there are so many varieties available locally. But, not any cascading (or small patio) ones. I guess that's what we all deal with, huh? Just part of doing what we do.

If I do get seeds, I probably will get something like Patio Princess - they are more seeds per pack for a lower price...

Thanks for all the thoughts so far!

Jennie:

Why don't you do this, start with giving them some liquid fertilizer (Miracle Grow would work). I would suggest you do this every week until you start to see them green up more.

6 inches in 4 weeks would really wash the nutrients out of the soil.

You could have got some bad seeds maybe, but they did grow to this point.

MTO: I know you weren't the original poster, I forgot to write in the OP name when I started the questions for her.

I do prune some of my determinates, just the bottom few suckers to get them up off the ground.

Good Luck!

Jay
Jay

Also, I know it will vary from fruit to fruit, but what is a rough estimate of how many seeds could possibly be found in one Brandywine tomato? Will there be very few, a decent amount, an abundance, what?

Agree with edweather, that said:

" Some people "bag blossoms" to ensure no cross-pollination"

You can bag (cover with fine netted french tulle) a cluster before flowering untill fruits are set. Then tag that cluster and remove the bag. Let the fruits ripen to perfection an then collect the seeds from it .

Just like when I was looking for pickling salt - looked in the big chain stores, Walmart, a small mom & pop grocery 7 miles away. Finally found some on the bottom shelf of a family-owned grocery "chain" (2 locations LOL) that's been in business 90 years, 11 miles miles away in the other direction. Lots of pectin (and Gulf wax) but people in CT apparently don't can anything but jam (or grow anything but flowers) LOL.

I have noticed over the past 5 years or so, local retail businesses, even the large chains, have scaled way back in the brand variety they offer. This is a pervasive change extending from home and gardening items to groceries and it is not a happy one for the consumer. I am ordering more and more online. But so far I have not starting getting soil online. Most places now only stock one "name brand" and maybe a store brand. They used to carry mulitple formulaitons of Miracle Grow, Hyponex, Pro and generic versions. Now Miracle Gro with moisture control and sometimes a generic is all I have found.

Thank you so much.

I have opened the door and the temperature isn't rising above 80. I will be sure to keep them watered and not let them stay out in the intense heat to long as the days get warmer!

A max-min thermometer is useful to monitor temperature in a greenhouse.

Jim

I am excited to try Brandy Boy and German Giant. Can anyone tell me how these varieties perform/taste? We have always had good luck with Better Boy but expanding to a few new varieties this year.

Can't wait, should be able to plant out everything this week. Was hoping to jump in whole hog with OP varieties but didn't get it done this year. I had a lot of seed so I decided to just use up what I had.

Roma
Rutgers
Big Boy
Better Boy
Delicious
Early Girl
Black Krim
Porterhouse
Super Steak
Super Beefsteak
Yellow Brandywine
Unknown German Red
Unknown German Pink

I don't recall reading postings from uncle t in the past, so I say welcome, and wow, you seem to have some impressive knowledge on disease pathology. Dave has been providing excellent knowledge on a wide variety of subjects for as long as I have been visiting this forum, and also has an excellent knowledge of disease pathology. I have learned a lot from him. I have a degree in Horticulture, but practices and ideas change in this area of knowledge as they do in all.

The massive late blight epidemic of a few years ago forced many people to reevaluate their cultural practices, and increased disease knowledge and treatment for a great many people.

I am pleased to see another knowledgeable person posting to this site, it only adds to the quality of the whole. I believe that we all have lots that we can learn, and lots that we can teach.

In all public forums where there is no ability to judge inflection and intention, the posibility of misunderstanding intent is increased greatly. We must all consider our words carefully so as not to be misunderstood, and risk offense.

Again, I am pleased to have two such knowledgeable individuals posting on this forum.

Steve

Then my apologies for not typing out Alternatia Canker and only referring to it as Alternaria. Although as I said, doing so is a common practice in the context of tomato-growing forums and might well be considered splitting hairs. The link attached to the post made it quite clear that Alternaria Canker was what I was talking about. But if one didn't bother to click on the link I attached then they would have no way of knowing that.

________________

Lorabell - there are literally hundreds of discussions here about your question on fungicides and Daconil is considered the fungicide of choice unless one wants to be totally organic. In that case the options are one of the several copper-based fungicides or selective use of Actinovate and/or Seranade.

Dave

PS: thanks Skeip. :)

Excuse me, but frost can easily form at 34F. 32F will freeze, but I've seen frosts, albiet light, at temps in the mid to upper 30's. And all it takes is an hour or two of frost or freeze to kill a plant! Once ice is on the leaves, bye, bye plant. There is a less likelihood of frost on breezy nights because the air circulations keep mixing in warmer air from above. It's the dead calm clear nights when the warmth from the ground radiates straight up into space and the air right near the ground cools quickly causing frost.

I covered everything that is peaking through with a nice layer of straw. Tonight should not be too bad, its Sunday night that I am worried about. Then look out next week....80's. go figure!

Still not putting my tomatoes in till at least another week. They are happy right were they are. Rutgers, Mortgage lifter, Brandy Wine, San Marzano, and Sun Sugar. I also have two Yummy peppers I am trying this year.

Thanks Dave. So pruning is simply a matter of controlling the plant size/shape? For some reason I thought it was also supposed to help with the quality of fruit, and the number of fruit that reach maturity. My space isn't a problem really, especially with so few plants. So maybe I'll just leave them alone. Thanks again, I appreciate all the help you offer on this board!

or some reason I thought it was also supposed to help with the quality of fruit, and the number of fruit that reach maturity.

Number of fruit to reach maturity is a length of season issue. Those in cooler zones with short growing seasons may prune the plant top late in late-season to speed up ripening of fruit already on the vine. Whether that works or not is debated, Root pruning is more effective IME.

Quality of fruit is a growing conditions provided and genetics of the variety issue and is not affected by pruning. If the growing conditions are optimal so is the fruit.

Size of fruit may be affected by some pruning. Some claim it results in larger fruit but most of the studies I have read say the increase is minimal and overall production is sacrificed to get it.

So yes, IMO the primary reason some choose to prune (other than those that still mistakenly believe that all "suckers" must be removed because they steal energy from the plant and/or never produce fruit anyway) is plant size and shape control. We get all kinds of "my plant is too tall for my cage/stake" and "my plant has run wild" posts about it.

This excludes of course removing the lower branches that drag the ground, removing any infected or damaged foliage, and the limited selective removal of leaf branches to insure good air circulation within the plant but most don't consider that "pruning".

Dave

I also have only 6 hrs of sun for my garden. Plus I cant plant out until the end of May. The big producers for me are the roma sized tomatoes. Last year my Genovese Costoluta, and Purple Russian were my biggest producers by far. Early Girl did fairly well, but the fruit were not large. The other various beefstake types I tried produced very few tomatoes. I have similar experience with peppers - hardly get any Bell, but Anaheim sized are prolific.

Thanks for the names of the varieties you have had good luck with, mandolls. I have one full sun bed in the front of my house and tried a couple of Bush Champion out there which were only 3-4ft tall and I could hide them from the street. They did produce a LOT of tomatoes, and they actually tasted good. The only problem was they were very dense and all the tomatoes were in the middle and all developed at the same time. So I did have some foliar problems toward the end of the season. Plus in order to rotate crops, I can't keep planting them in the same place. So this year I'm skipping tomatoes there and using containers in the back where I have only the 6hrs of sun. I'll try some roma tomatoes. I've done okay with Peppers but again, 4-5 fruits per plant. I got a lot with Giant Marconi which are long and not bell shaped.

So would not watering them as much help

There is a FAQ about this over on the Growing from Seed forum that you'll want to read. Using compost for germinating seeds isn't normally recommended for just the reasons you have discovered - it doesn't drain well in small containers and contains too many bacteria and fungi. Plants often die due to damp-off and root rot.

However since you are already using it then for it to work you have to control your watering of the plants VERY carefully and you have to increase the air circulation in the area dramatically with fans.

Watering when using compost in small containers often has to be reduced by at least 1/2 and sometimes more. It can't be done by the appearance of the surface. You have to stick your finger deep into the soil to the root level to determine moisture levels. When in doubt, do NOT water. No misting and bottom watering only will help.

Air circulation is vital to suppressing mold and fungus growth. Small fans in the area delivering a gentle breeze across the soil surface and lightly stirring the plant leaves will help a great deal.

Dave

Last years tomato crop - pinching out all the suckers and pruning the leaves as the the fruit on each tier was harvested. We had tons of tomatoes !!

I agree. pinching suckers is another name for pruning . I do that mostly to the lower branching to have good air movement and discourage moisture based plant deseases.
And also, because I plant them tightly( less than two feet) I have to prun and keep plant size under control.

So to prun or not to prun is gardner's choice and style.