16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

No problem, I had same questions couple years ago, and my ugly and disfigured Black Krims actually tasted better than normal ones.

But it could be because most of the pretty ones were given out to friends and family :)

Peaches do the same thing.

Isn't it funny how the "right way" to garden is determined by the weather? Which, of course, none of us can predict, especially lately. If I knew it would be cold and wet, I'd plant in a ridge of soil and cover it with black plastic. But then the weather changes, and the 100 degree sunshine comes out to cook everything.

A large-scale tomato farmer near me puts out about 40 acres of tomatoes every year. This year he switched from black plastic to the kind that is white on top and does not get so hot. They have a single stake holding up each plant. I know they have a lot of sun scald this year.

My shallow-root tomatoes not only did not grow well, their taste quickly went downhill as the plants got worse. Sweetness went down, skins got tougher, and there was less flesh to the inside of the fruit.

My main concern was the need to fertilize and not over water, sooo not an issue three days later. They got their dose, and no rain, so wait for the sun to drop and give the poor things some H2O. They hold up in this heat a LOT better than I do, I wilt after about 45 min.
I guess I didn't add enough 'organic matter' last winter.

"Maybe add a little Tomato Tone in the potting mix."

Whoops. When I said "Floramato," I meant Tomato Tone. My fault.

I am pretty sure if I put fish juice and molasses in my potting mix that the Ecoterrorist (Squirrels) would dig up everything I have. Probably would call in the raccoon's at night also.

Thanks......hopefully my plants end up using all that space. Not familiar with Woody's cages.....is there a site?

Google is my friend:

These look great. Thanks for posting Nu2. I prefer wood over metal, thinking the plants would prefer wood over metal too because of the metal heating up. I would paint mine a bright blue probably. I'm not sure of your location Nu2 but here in Phx, heat factors into everything.

Here is a link that might be useful: Woody's Tomato Cages - Instructions

Where does one buy Daconil or copper spray in Ontario, Canada? (for early blight)

Ty

^Look for Bordo Spray...Home Hardware stocks it. Both Wilson and Green Earth have versions of this product.

to add to this question, My Toms are planted about 36 inches apart and the leaves are just about touching each other. They are in 20 diameter 6 foot tall cages that i made from a garden mesh. My issue is that growing season is only about half over and my plants are already over seven feet tall. Pretty soon the main shoots are just going to kink and flop over.

I also debate whether to trim.

Thanks for you expertise.

elliot

What I DO thim, however, is a portion of the inner leaves within the cage just to keep the air flowing throughout the plant's inner matrix.

Thanks for the link thisisme!

I have had good luck with Sweet Millions in 111+ degree temperatures with humidity. They were probably one of the only tomato plants out of 30 that produced tomatoes because of the high heat.

I prefer sweet millions over sweet 100 because of the amount of tomatoes it produces. However, this year so far seems like they are slow to produce or someone sold me Sweet 100's and called them Sweet Millions. (You get crazy conspiracy thoughts running though your head when your tomato plants are slow.) One of the best places I grew the Sweet millions plant was under a pine tree with a cold compost soil amendment into heavy clay. The plant went nuts and produced more tomatoes than I have ever seen off of one plant. It was nearly 10 feet tall before the branches started to break in high winds.

Cole Robbie, that is a great idea! I did notice some of the leaf ends getting a little brown, which doesn't quite look like the blight damage, so I think that maybe the roots are too hot. I think I will mulch them with some straw. As far as the bed, for the most part it is surrounded by marigolds so direct sun only reaches very little of it.

Quick update:
Hopefully I don't jinks it by saying this, but my plants are doing really well. They are growing and setting fruit. I've only removed about 6-7 more leaves since last time i posted. Maybe it wasn't late blight (or gray mold) after all...

Copper has long been known as an antimicrobial and useful in either modifying, inhibiting or actually destroying a multitude of bacteria and fungi when applied in proper doses.

How it does it varies with the organism and dose level. In some cases it changes the pH, in some it destroys the bacteria's amino acids, in some it alters the cell structure. A Google of 'antimicrobial properties of copper' gets you all kinds of info.

Rather than mixing the two and applying at the same time since they can interact and even neutralize each other to a degree, the most common recommendation is to alternate applications of the two different compounds.

Dave

Carolyn and Dave,
Thank you for your replies.

Another area of confusion regarding fungicide application is so many people saying that you have to cover the entire plant with Daconil. Carolyn, I've seen posts from you that say only the upper leaf surface has the fungus attachment sites, so only the leaf tops need to be sprayed. Why all the different opinions?