16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
I picked 2 off one of my BW last weekend, saw another that wasp had laid eggs on so left it - the guy's still there today, and 2 little greenies got chewed. Big poopies - I don't know if there's another one on that plant, they're good at hiding. Don't see any signs on other plants (yet). Guess I gotta get a black light bulb for flashlight and go out at night.
Luke - those little white butterflies lay eggs that turn into little green inchworms that destroy cole crops - so check your cabbage, etc. if you have any planted.
Tomatoes don't have any problem with "damp" soil. Waterlogged water retentive soil is another thing. Just make sure the soil is not soggy, and maybe increase the fertilizer a little. Sometimes the liquid fertilizer will leach through the soil quickly. Try and shade them a little or do something to lower the temperature. Even though they are light in color, those rooftop tiles absorb a tremendous amount of heat and can cook the black containers.
I'm not an expert, so there may be some reason to go ahead and cut the stems off due to disease, etc. But most of the time I just tie the stem back up to where it was and it usually heals itself. Last week I had the same issue, and of maybe 10 I tied up, only one ended up wilting, so I cut that one off.
I like the hoops to make covering the plants easy for season extending. My raise bed is more like 8' wide, so it wouldn't really work for me, but I bet it is convenient when an early frost threatens, and I kinda of like how it looks, too. My garden is almost all tomatoes which are too tall anyway. Still, I really like how you used them, especially like the black ones, and I think it looks nice, too.
Doesn't look like it. I'm assuming it's the lower foilage. Just remove the bad foliage. I'd probably use the Daconil soon. My Black Cherry went in the first week in May also and I just got my first red/black ones a few days ago. It's been hot here too. Just use the Daconil and keep them watered. You should have tomatoes soon.
Yes, it is the lower leaves. If this is not late blight, what is it? Whatever it is, it's moving at a quick pace on this one plant. I just took another 3 or 4 limbs off today (so 8 limbs in 24 hrs.) It is moving UP the plant. The interesting things to note: no stem lesions, no fruit lesions, just harvested first blushing fruit today (3 of them). I have gone 3 days without watering it (which is longer than normal) to see if it could tolerate it as I will be gone for 9 days and was trying to see if these plants could go 3 days without water. Could this just be water/drought stress? I am going to water it tonight (with an overhead sprinkler, bad I know) and see if that improves the limbs that look bad but not bad enough to pull. The small suckers starting (about 8-12" high) do not seem to be affected. So the lower limbs are affected but not the sucker limbs at the same level. I'm considering pulling this plant and just need to know if it can be saved at this point or not as I do not want it to stay in the bed if it could spread to my other plants. Thank you!
Late Blight only over winters on live tissue (like the potatoes themselves) not garden debris. So if it is late blight that is your answer.
If it is something else, which is far more likely, then garden debris can become an issue. It can always be well tilled in for the winter and fresh mulch applied in the spring.
Whether composting garden debris is sufficient to destroy pathogens is heavily debated and how effective it is all depends on how and how well the composting is done - active and hot or passive and cold. Lots of reading on this over on the Composting forum here since it isn't tomatoes related.
Personally I belong to the active and hot composting school and find little problem with well composted garden debris. JMO
As to digging the potatoes - nothing is gained by digging them now and long term storage would be lost. But it is basically your choice. On the off chance that you do have LB just don't sell or plan to use any of them as seed potatoes and plan to rip out any resprouts.
Dave
Marion is my grow every year tomato. I know it will produce well if nothing else does! My Dad started growing them when they were released in 1960.
He grew them every year of his life, until he couldn't garden any more. But I still planted and harvested them for him in the last 3 years of his life, he died in August 2010 at 88 years old!
They produce 6 to 8 ounce fruit, not big, so it's a two or three slicer on a sandwich. Kind of acidic, which I like.
They taste great to me fresh, frozen, and canned. They are excellent in homemade veggie soup and sauces.
I have never had many problems with disease, a few cases of BER but not very often, Zero BER this year. I have had BER on everything but Marion some years.
From Bonnie's website:
"Marion tomato was developed in the South and released in 1960 to meet the challenges that heat and humidity that create, plant diseases and cracked fruit."
Here is a link that might be useful: Bonnie
The reason lots of tomatoes peter out is because they run out of nutrients mid season.It's possible your plants are short on nutrients and for this reason not fruiting. More or less water won't help in this case. They probably are not setting fruit due to the current high temps. If you continue to water and not prune the healthy part (do remove dead lower leaves)they will set fruit and produce, with a little luck until early November. Try some compost tea and continuing your watering regimen. Also mulch to lower soil temps. Are you watering sufficiently that the soil in general has adequate moisture?
*sorry, a single order is a minimum of 6. Meaning either 6 plants, or 6 seed packets.