16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
We got German Giant from TGS this spring and we planted 36, worried that we were wasting valuable space. I was surprised and delighted. It is an early potato leaf variety with huge, delicious red tomatoes. The plants don't last long. Once you get that wonderful burst of tomatoes the vines are the first ones in the garden to die. But we got really large, productive, great tasting tomatoes that sold at the farmers market for $4 lb. That is roughly $4 per tomato.
Every year I swear that I'll do a really good job of keeping track of tomatoes by variety / plant, and I usually do a good job in the beginning, but when they start coming in by the bucket I have a big enough job just keep the plants picked and finding suitable places to put all the fruit.
That said, now that things are starting to cool-off / wind down production-wise, I did finally manage to do an accurate count on a recent picking of Big Beef.
I picked 52 tomatoes from two plants pretty evenly distributed between the two... So figure 26 tomatoes per plant, but this was ONE HARVEST - I thought that was crazy. I mean, I've been picking tomatoes off of this plant since late June / early July. If I had to guestimate, I'd say they'll have to end up at about 75 fruits per plant, and, honestly, that's probably being conservative. Also, there's still probably 1-2 dozen left out there that should ripen before frost.
This year I'm resolving to finally get organized about production numbers. Even though I'm far from a commercial farmer, it's good data to have for reference when planning things out for next year.
As I have finally pulled the last tomato of the season, here is my count, sorted by size:
CHERRY
Sun Gold - 197*
Sun Sugar - 567
Black Cherry - 108**
SMALL TOMATOES
Green Zebra - 24*
Bloody Butcher - 96
Black Prince - 133
Taxi - 53
MEDIUM
Big Beef - 23*
Rugters - 22*
Rutgers (Det) - 41
Rutgers (Ind) - 43
Black Krim - 19*
Jet Star - 15**
Lemon Boy - 44
LARGE/JUMBO
Black Sea Man - 29
Kelloggs Breakfast - 37
Cherokee Purple - 40
Brandywine Suduth - 38
Brandy Boy - 52
Pineapple - 35
* These were all container grown plants whereas the rest were grown in ground. While not always comparable because the varieties are different, it is interesting to note that the production of container grown was a fraction of those grown in ground.
** These were mid-season replacements which I grew when the determinates (black sea man & taxi) quit producing. Had I put them in the ground earlier, I suspect they would have done just as well as most of the other varieties. However, they didnt get into the ground until it was hot (affecting fruit set), and didnt have a full season before cold weather set in.
Overall, I was very happy with production. Also, the numbers above are only for tomatoes that ripened and were edible. I picked a few dozen green for fried green tomatoes, and I probably lost about 10-15% of my crop to weather (splitting after heavy rain), neglect (rotting on the vine), or squirrels.
Re-greetings, Dave! Well, that's one way of looking at it. But maybe it would be less discouraging to consider that some might realize the limitations of their situation and abilities and wish to grow the best they can within that scope. Then rather than a cop out it is wanting to use thoughtful consideration in choosing. And of course, I do not frequent this particular forum, so I am not very aware of the phenomena of which you speak.
I personally favor taste first, then suitability to my area, then productivity when choosing things to grow for my own use. Generally speaking, blemishes don't even hit my radar, which is why I know so little about the causes of some of them. But I know enough about the people who will eat at our restaurant to know that they won't eat tomatoes with healed over cracks, and I can't in good food safety conscience send them tomatoes with open splits. So if I can stack the deck in my favor, genetically speaking, then I am reasonably assured of my abilities to avoid splitting in my tomatoes most of the time, and so I will come out ahead. That's my fond hope!
You might give "Mountain Spring" a try. Medium-large, and about the most crack-resistant, blemish-free variety I have ever grown. Taste is quite good (but not extraordinary) when fully ripe (IMO).
BTW, my experience is that tomatoes grown in a mostly covered container (such as an EarthBox) and which have a more-or-less constant moisture profile have much less cracking than those subject to alternating wet/dry cycles. Might be worth an experiment for you. (?) Even growing tomatoes using plastic "mulch" seems to help with cracking as well as controlling weeds and lessening foliage diseases. And putting a "soaker" hose under the plastic sure makes watering a lot easier when dry conditions prevail.
-wc2k8
1. ignore that. It only applies to certain types of plants and yours isn't one of them. Even then it is optional, not required. You can learn more about it by searching 'pruning' in this forum.
2. continue as you have been doing. As the temps increase you will likely have to do it more often. Don't let it dry out.
3. approx. 6 weeks
4. once temps consistently exceed 90 shade will help. Check out the FAQS here, especially the one on 'blossoms falling off".
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Growing tomatoes FAQs
On point 4:
The ideal temperature for fruit set is between 17 and 25C (62 and 77F). In borderline conditions, fruit may set without adequate pollination, however this can result in puffy and flat-sided fruit that contain few seeds.
For best pollination and fruit set, minimum night temperatures should be
below 27oC (80F) and daily maximums above 18C (64F). If the temperature exceeds 28oC (82F) fruit can be softer and yellow or orange in colour, especially if there is not a lot of leaf cover.
Here is a link that might be useful: Best Juicy Tomatoes
I picked the last bushel of field grown (covered) tomatoes Monday (11/6). Many of these were just turning red. My greenhouse tomatoes are doing well with woodstove heat supplemented but I'm going to reluctantly cut off heat by next week. My goal was 6 full months of harvest from mixed indeterminate varieties. It is hard to pull the plug on such a good harvest season. Most cherry/grape varieties are loaded with blossoms. Customers are still raving about the homegrown flavor.
I love green tomatoes. I've not met one I did not like yet.
I can not comment on disease since all I get is fungal diseases.
Cherokee Green tastes great. I think better than Cherokee Purple. They make a lot of tomatoes at the same time, and do not have very long shelf life.
Malachite Box is the sweetest GWR I've had. So to me the flavor profile is different than others. It is very productive.
Aunt Ruby's has a fantastic flavor. It is not overly productive though.
Humph is my personal favorite. Very tasty and productive.
Garden Lime tastes great. But I do not not know about the plants as the tomato I tried was grown by someone else.
Moldovan Green has a wonderful flavor. It was not overly productive for me, but it had a bad growing spot, and since I've only grown it one time. I can't save for sure that is the norm.
Grub's Mystery Green is an other excellent tasting variety.
Captain Lucky does taste wonderful. It was late for me as I suspected it would be being Lucky Cross is a parent. It was not overly productive for me. Again I'll hold complete judgement since I've only grown it once.
Lime Green Salad is a nice small green on small plant so good for containers.
Remy
Personally I'd stop spraying the plants with all that stuff as it only contributes to the problems. Foliar spraying has a role in gardening but only under very specific circumstances and only when done with great care, proper timing, and well diluted mixtures.
Root drenching with your various mixes is far more effective.
There are numerous liquid fertilizer products available, both organic and non-organic, that could benefit your plants and that don't require the months of soil activity to be of benefit to the plants that all your dry or granulated additives require.
Dave
If you have the money, I think the best option is one of the new external wood stoves that heat water, which is then recirculated through the building you want to heat. They look like a metal shed in your backyard. They're not cheap, and there is a lot of trenching involved in burying the cable, but for about $10,000 you can have some very nice heat. If you used it to heat your house, too, it could pay for itself over enough time. It's nice to have the mess and smell of the wood smoke outside of your structure, instead of within, and from a physics perspective, it is a lot more efficient to heat water than to heat air, like I do. I just didn't have the $10k :(
Heating a greenhouse discussions from the Greenhouse forum - the FAQs too.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Heating a greenhouse discussions from the Greenhouse forum - the FAQs too
Thanks for the post. Mine, when small, are in a greenhouse with lots of sun, but, that also means high heat which seems to make them grow tall and leggy. I also try to have a fan going, but that only gives minimal air movement. I would assume theirs are in a greenhouse too, maybe they are able to control the temperature better than I do. I wonder if they use some kind of magical elixir. :-)
Just a suggestion that you may not like but my cherry types keep producing in higher temps whan many other heirloom varietys just drop blossoms. Picking Black Cherry is more labor intensive but harvests are continuous and dependable.
If you don't like the cherry fruit option the next best producers are the smaller fruited types. Pink or Red Ruffled, Japanese Black Trifele, or Eva Purple Ball are reasonable choices.
I'm growing close to 200 heirloom varieties in a greenhouse setting where summer temps. often reach 100F in the daytime and they all produce fruit, most at levels that meet my satisfaction, some less. I shy away from anything with "Brandywine" in the name.
well, usage is on the label most of the times. in organic we dont find higher NPK numbers, most like 10-10-10 or 20-20-20 are mostly synthetic. I like the ingreadientes of this organic fertilizer, so 4-5-3 could be prety balanced here with the exception of low K number here. I know Espoma sells tomatotone 3-4-6 20lb for $17 (only at Ozbo.com), so if you look at it from comparizon perspective, this one is sure a big steal, specially when I see prices of this 15lb elsewhere well over $15. I am stocking up and will mix this with Espoma and make y fertilizer 4-5-3 (Garden Elements) + 3-4-7 (tomatotone) = 7-9-10
If looking for cheap organic: contact a local chicken farmer.
If I had to pay those prices for I'd be broke before the season ever started but i'll admit I splurged on a whim and bought 2 1/2 gal each of foliar applied nutrients- Nutri-Cal & Nutri-K for $100. I guess we all need to try and learn.
when I hear it's going to hard freeze, I go out and pick all my larger green and turning tomatoes. I take them into the garage and sort them into green, breaking, and pink tomatoes, and pack them into 10 lb tomato boxes in single layers. I stack the boxes on shelves in the garage, heated to 40 degrees. then I go in there about once a week, check all the boxes for spoilage, throw out any bad ones and take the "pink" ones to the house and put them on a shelf in the kitchen to ripen up where it's warmer. In about a week they're ready.
Then I sort again, and continue doing this until all the tomatoes have turned, shriveled or spoiled. I usually have tomatoes until around Christmas that way.
I sell tomatoes at the farmers market and they don't taste quite as good as summer tomatoes of course but I still manage to sell most of them at a reduced price, "they're not as good as summer ones, but better than store ones"--and use what's not pretty enough to sell.
I ended up throwing my greenies away. Some of them eventually turned, but the texture was weird and the flavor lousy. If they are too green, not much hope. I agree with Carolyn, it's just not worth all the work, especially if they haven't turned at all.
Sharon
I planted old compost from my compost bed. then why is it killing all of my plants? from jan. till june.
I've had my compost pile for about 3 months now. I turn it every day, water it regularly and add fruit and veggie scraps, newspaper, dead weeds, leaves and any other organic stuff I can find. I'm wondering if there is a point when I should stop adding things to the pile? Should I let it "rest" for a while when it starts looking more homogenous? Things are breaking down in it, but the pile never feels really hot--just mildly warm. I'm concerned about that as well. Any advice is appreciated.