16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Clickable link:
http://imgur.com/a/vwk2H
cody_au, I know very little about fusarium, so I'll just ask what the weather's been like where you are?
And how and when did the problem begin, and how did it progress?
Kevinitis,
That's cool you're in Ogden. I'm in the greater Salt Lake area. :) As for a trade, unfortunately I didn't see any I'd be interested in right now, and although I have one you're looking for, Opalka, I don't really have enough seeds to really even to just give 'em to ya, sorry! But I do see ya posting on this board often enough so should I think to grow a new variety I'll have to keep an eye on your trades list!
Farmerdill, the best I recall, southern blight infests the soil. If you have it, it is hard to get rid of and if you don't have it, then avoid importing it via infected plant materials. There is at least one line available in ars-grin that is resistant to southern blight.
DarJones
missingtheobvious, yes with florecents, heat is often not a problem. It looked to me like in the pic he had incandecents, which put off more light intensity but also more heat. I have used both and had burn problems with the incandecents. With florecents I had problems with low light intensities which caused sun scald problems when you move them to the outdoors for hardening. If you don't have high enough light intensity then you have to be really careful when hardening them off. Even a short duration of sunlight can scald young plants when they were grown under grow lights with insufficient light intensity. If you have exposed your artificially ligted plants to sunlight light for even a half hour on a bright day, you could have experienced sun scald. I try to introduce my young seedlings to natural sunlight as much as possible, as soon as they sprout. That way they develop protective pigments in their tissues early. Sometimes that's not possible, but I do so whenever I can. I have had much better success with hardening them off that way.
Light duration could also be an issue. Guidlines for indoor lights for tomato growth are often 18 hours and some sources even suggest keep the lights on them 24. Longer duration of light is needed when using artificial light because light intensity is lower. However, I don't recommend 24 hours based on physiological reasons. Plants need darkness for some phases of photosynthesis and respiration, without which they develop excess sugar build up in the leaves which can cause yellowing and leaf damage. How long are your lights on?
I also think you should evaluate the factors that fusion_power and digdirt recommended. You might have more than one thing going on there and they are right on about what it could be. If you cover those bases you will probably have your problems solved.
How do you guys purchase seeds or things for your garden, just in case you want them on time for summer? Would ordering now and using payday loans do? 'Cause a friend suggested me this could as she did. I was thinking. Hmm. :)
Soon as those babies pop out of the soil you will need a light source. If you have a protected spot on the patio that will give them some bright shade that might work.
They won't 'get to the size of [mine]' without a strong light source. Just a shop light from the auto parts store could work if you only have a few.
You are in zone 6? It will get cold again even though today was beautiful. It is too early for a cold frame for tomatoes. You can use a desk lamp and a compact fluorescent bulb on a few seedlings, but still would need more light as they grew big and they will by the time for you to plant outside. A shop light from Lowes with cheap 40 watt bulbs will open up a new world.
Take a look at this discussion from over on the Greenhouse forum. Great pics and should be right up your alley zone wise - or close anyway - if you have a good way of cooling when needed.
In my zone it wouldn't work as it gets way to hot in there after about mid-May but it should work for you.
Personally I'd limit it to determinate and bush varieties just so the size can be controlled. Perhaps New Big Dwarf, Cobra, Tropic just for suggestion.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: My Riga greenhouse pics discussion
You'll find that greenhouse growers are split between Determinate type and Indeterminite type plants. Personally I only stick with INDT varieties in my structures using the frame and stringlines as a support; I love it. For field grown tomatoes I use Det. varieties and 2' cylindrical cages.
As an answer to your question you can grow anything better in a greenhouse, hybrids and heirlooms. But for a good base tomato you should go with a proven "Workhorse" variety. I always grow Trust & Big Beef and for cherry types Favorita is exceptional. I've tried Rebelski last year and was impressed and this year I'm trying a few Caimen plants. I've been less impressed with Massada, Petenza, Geronimo and Caruso but others have liked them.
What I would suggest is that you look for a variety with Leaf Mold resistance and if any other foliar diseases appear then you can adjust your varieties another year. I've not had Late Blight problems inside my structures even when field grown plants had issues. For field grown Det. varieties I predominately plant LB resistant varieties.
Tatiana's has two more names for it: "Limbaugh's Legacy Potato Top" and "Pink Potato Top," and lists some vendors here -- hopefully someone who might have the right seeds:
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Limbaugh%E2%80%99s_Legacy_Potato_Top#tab=Seed_Availability
Larger containers is the solution. Even smaller determinate varieties can develop BER when grown in small containers. Shoot, even cherry types can.
It simply isn't possible to maintain consistent soil levels of moisture and nutrients. Using a drip set-up on auto timers helps but takes a great deal of ultra-fine tuning and adjustment.
Dave
Glad to see your recommendations Carolyn, especially in light of a post I just made regarding wispy leaved foliage on most hearts. I was so tempted to try Danko (from Gleckler seedmen, among others I'm sure), but for the reasons I mentioned in that post, am extremely reluctant to do so. Hearts, I am told by my other Oklahoma friends and expert tomato growers, do not generally perform well here, and I'll leave it at that since I posted this question as a separate post. But, apparently, another issue is that we are anticipating another extreme heat, continued drought summer here. It is not exactly the appropriate time to test a heart.
Susan
I had great luck growing Sun Sugar in the past, but I couldn't find seeds or plants locally last year, so I grew Sun Gold. That one plant branched off in ten different directions and grew like crazy - I had cherry tomatoes for the entire neighbourhood! I've grown SG in the past, but never as successful as last year. I had thought Sun Sugar was the more vigorous plant but now I'm not sure. Taste-wise they were similar and if I remember correctly, the SS cracked less.
I prefer Sunsugar. To me, Sun Gold has an odd off-taste or aftertaste by midseason and I don't like them anymore. I eat Sunsugar all season and don't get tired of them. Also, in my summer-dry climate, Sun Gold splits when it's picked, and Sunsugar doesn't.
Tomato Timeline from fruit set to ripening. You can reduce watering to improve flavor but it doesn't really speed up ripening.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Timeline
Just noting that the timeline Dave linked to was done by Paul, who used to be here at GW and uploaded all of the new FAQ's that seveal of us wrote and cleared with the then memebers who were here at that time, in fact solicited their opinions on what should be included and what not to be included.
You can find his name at the bottomof several of the Faq's we did such as How To Prevent Cross Pollination, the Foliage one and now I can't remember the others and if I go back to look I lose this post. LOL
I miss Paul very much and never had his contact data so don't know what he's doing these days.
Carolyn
Puzzlefan, I didn't take the timeto read the link Dave gave,and I probably participated in some of them, but I see you're in a zone 5 area so you have few if any soilborne diseases.Rootstock and grafting is directed against soilborne diseases.
What's most common in zone 5 and similar are the fungal and bacterial foliage diseases, and off hand I don't know of any rootstock out there that helps with foliage diseases.
Carolyn
Go to church: A Ham and Bean Supper. They always fill up a barrel with styrofoam coffee cups. Take them home, rinse and plant. You might even rinse them off in the church kitchen! I can attest to the fact that tomato seedlings do very well in them and you can't beat the price. I learned of this trick from Roger Swain of PBS Victory Garden program some years ago.
Victor
I always save plastic drinking cups, styrafom cups, cottage cheese, yogurt, sour cream, etc containers throughout the year. I also have a paper pot maker that makes decent newspaper pots for smaller 4-5 week seedlings.