16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Yes, very hot here in southern Colorado..average 100 degree weather the last couple months. I also grow in grow boxes in a greenhouse so even hotter in there though i have it vented and also have a fan on the hotter days. The larger tomatos dont seem to be as effected as the smaller ones.
Granddaddy Estler routinely got 2+ pounders so it could easily be your ML.
And, guess what? I found an ML hidden back in the back of the plant under all the foliage and it's about 1/2 ripe already. We'll be eating a BLT soon!! YAY!!!!!
Edie
Interesting - I'm in Denver and the last couple of Beefmaster tomatoes I've picked have had some uneven ripening. Not quite as noticeable as the ones in your pics, but definitely different from the ones I've been picking all summer. They do seem to eventually ripen fully though, so maybe its unrelated to what you have.
I've never grown tomatoes in your neck of the woods, but what have you got to lose?
Doubt that your highs for the next few weeks will be worse than what we've gone through for the last month or so here, and many of us are still harvesting fruit. I'd give it a shot.
Remember that shading your plants can really help when needed.
Just an update to my update:
I should have mulched, I was indecisive as to which kind to get, got busy with other stuff, and wound up not getting any.
Here is a link that might be useful: DFW Gardener
Another update, after a month of brutal heat:
Those super sweet 100s sure are amazing!
Here is a link that might be useful: DFW Gardener
I have them on my tomatoes. They hide at the bottom of the plant and deep inside where the foliage is thick. All my tomatoes are damaged by them but not as bad as last year. Mine are not orange I wish they were that easy to find and squash. My hand vac is not strong enough to suck them up because they cling. I should run a long extension cord and use a shop vac but mine are not easy to find even if I did that.
Hi Carolyn and Dave,
You're Rita I did leave off part of the name. The fruits are huge. Don't know why it's called a cherry tomato! I won't be agressive, I know they need the leaves, which is why I am hesitant. I'll take you're advice and be cautious. I did have 3 that had blossom end rot but the rest look fine. Quite a prolific plant. Still waiting for the first one to ripen.
Remove leaves from the bottom of the plant as a general rule, since those are the leaves that tend to get attacked and diseased from the soil. Most years, I haven't had to remove any leaves above, except for this year, where the plants are so bushy that it's humid inside the plant and doesn't get air in there. If you think the plant has too many leaves, remove some leaves from the center that are totally shaded and allow some air through the plant. Don't remove leaves that shade fruit though to avoid sunscald. As Dave said, don't get too aggressive. Just remove enough to avoid splashback and help with air circulation.
Kellogg's Breakfast 2 yrs ago edged out Brandywine as my favorite tomato and was the first tomato ever to be able to do that! Just by a bit, but edge it, it did! I had hoped to compare KB and KBX this year, but the "permanent" marker I used washed off every plant marker except Anna Russian, so I will still be left guessing at what the difference in performance might be for me. Must be I need to learn to relax about it, because I usually even use initials to label the fruit as I pick it so I will know which one it is and if I like it and how the plant does, but the fates are laughing at me this year. :)
Humm, I never even though of using marker on the tomatoes as I picked them so as not to get them confused. I will have to try that.
Sorry your markers faded and you will not be able to decide on a favorite. At least not know what variety that favorite is.
Rain sometimes splashes up, or carries in it's ground hugging mist, herbicides which will make branches look like that, they can shrivel up pretty fast too.
Unfortunately, because i won't learn my lesson with herbicide application, it has happened to me again this year.
I have no idea if this is what happened to your plant, but like you i wouldn't take a chance, I'd snip the offending branch and begin spraying the proper fungicide.
If it's wilt fungicide won't help, but I will spray tomorrow when it dries out a little (I hope) in the AM. I did pull the whole branch.
I don't use herbicides, neither do my immediate neighbors, neither does the farmer I got my mulch hay from and it's only this one plant, 1 sucker (so far) so I am stumped. I really hope it's not going to spread to my entire crop (have about 80 tomato plants and I don't remember how many peppers planted in this soil, more tomatoes planted 30 ft away in another area using same manure and hay, and more veggies - mostly curcubits - planted near the house with again same manure and mulch hay).
Little trick to find them. They glow under blacklights. If you can get a portable blacklight, you can find them much easier. Also, if you have good hearing, you can hear them munch as they are quite loud when eating.
Humm, don't know were to get a black light.