16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
I have never done it with a black sea man. But I very carefully transplanted a really big better boy from a 5 gallon bucket, with fruit, to the garden this year. It never lost a single one and is doing very good.
I let it get very dry so that I could get it out without losing the soil around it. I dug a 5 gallon hole, set it in, covered and watered very good for the next few days.
This year I had fruit plus a 2nd set of blossoms already on an Early Girl & it transplanted just fine last month even with our cool weather in WA state. Now have 2 more sets of blossoms and those fruits are growing nicely.
Try trench planting it. Dig your hole at an angle big enough for the bucket to fit. Test it using another bucket. I usually do about 45 degrees, but do whatever angle works for fitting in another plant in your space.
Amend the hole with what is recommended in your area. Here we add a handful of calcium carbonate and bonemeal and about 1/2 cup complete organic fertilizer & mix up.
Use a scissor to remove the lower leaves up to the fruiting leaves. Be sure the fruiting leaves won't be touching the soil when planted.
Water with warm water only for the 1st week or so.
This has worked for me.
Peggy, the "white bubbly bits" are most likely not rot but adventitious roots, and not a problem.
The tomato plant's normal reaction to high humidity (whether in the air in rainy weather or along the ground) is to produce roots.
Here's a thread with more info and a photo of some unusually long adventitious roots:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg0623230816529.html?3
Even if the broken stem is wilty when you get home, give it a bit of shade, keep it watered, and in a week or so it will look like a brand new plant (which it will be).
Well, I decided to sacrifice them instead, mostly to give space to more eggplant.
But thanks for the advice. It has been humid in the house. I might give a few seedling to a friend, and I'll just tell her to bury it deep and let it do its thing.
I have several smaller seedling that I might plant a little later so when the bigger ones give out (containers might be a bit constricting) I'll have replacements.
Thanks
Peggy
The only non-equipment items I see at your last link are:
= a blossom-set spray [Those are only effective in the cold weather of early spring. I don't think you have any need for it in Indiana in mid-June].
= a spray that purports to stop Blossom End Rot [Those don't work: the problem is not a lack of calcium in the soil -- or even in the plant -- but spring weather conditions and the young plant's inability to get the calcium to where it's needed quickly enough. By the time you notice a problem and use any of the supposed cures, the season has advanced enough that the worst of the blossom rot is over -- and that would also be the case if you don't use any of those treatments!].
What you do need is something that will provide the plants with the nutrients it needs.
By the way, both of those sprays can be purchased at most garden centers or big-box stores; you don't have to buy them from the EarthBox people.
Re. staying organic, take a look at this thread:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg062100105311.html?10
At the moment I am unable to see any videos (grrr) and I don't remember if you mulched around your plants. That's important if you don't have the cover. You can mulch with commercial mulches, grass clippings (provided the grass wasn't treated with any weed-killing product in the last few months), last fall's shredded leaves, newspaper, cardboard, or even shredded paper.
You should be able to see the link, by just copying it into your browser.
Matt
Here is a link that might be useful: My trim down plant
Windburn and sunburn are unfortunate, but will not affect the new leaves.
I'm wondering about the purpose of the pots set in the earth in the background. What kind of pots are they? (They don't look like peat pots -- which despite all the advertising, really do need to be removed before planting.)
Thanks for the replies. Glad it sounds like wind/sun as opposed to a disease.
The pots you see in the background are made of coconut fibre and I had my celery in them. First time I used them, but look like they will break apart pretty quickly.
Thanks a lot for your responses, Just found these forums yesterday - what a wealth of information!
Best regards
Doesn't really look that odd to me. Usually there is at least one fruit on a plant that looks like this. The "One side larger than the other side" thing is the result of uneven pollination. When this happens, one side grows faster/bigger than the other, but it doesn't detract from the health of the tomato.
Basically, I wouldn't worry about it. It's just a tomato with character. :)
Dave, I bet you meant to say Fusarium or Verticillium, for instance, for soilborne instead of Septoria Leaf Spot, which is not and is strictly a foliage bad guy. ( smile)
Other than that if one of your plants goes down with a confirmed diagnosis with a soil borne disease then it means that there's a good possibility that plants in the same area might also do the same since usually the soil in an area has that bad guy and it's not jsut the bad guy underneath the affected plant.
The main foliage pathogens are:
Early Blight ( A. solani), fungal
Septoria Leaf Spot. fungal
Bacterial Speck
Bacterial Spot
....and those four are transmitted by wind and embedded in rain drops or irrigation waters.
Then there are the insect mediated viral diseases of which there are many as well, but they don't exist in certain parts of the country since the insect vectors are not found there. Same with many of the soil borne diseases which are not found in all parts of the country.
Although not widely known at least Fusarium is known to also be transmitted by wind.
So the key to knowing what you have is proper diagnosis and one place to go is to the Pest and Disease Forum , link at the top of this page, and look at the Problem Solver thread if no one answers your questions, or better still show some pictures if you can.
Finally, I know of nothing that is effective against soil borne diseased plants, since you said above you were treating them. Varieties with tolerance such as F, for fusarium are only tolerant and live longer for a week or so more but that's enough time to get the sugar concentration up for large scale farmer's harvest. Tolerance for several seed borne diseases do exist, but those were developed mainly for the large scale commercial farmer, not for we backyard hobby growers.
Carolyn
Dave, I bet you meant to say Fusarium or Verticillium, for instance, for soilborne instead of Septoria Leaf Spot, which is not and is strictly a foliage bad guy.
Duh! Yep, thanks Carolyn. That's what I get for thinking faster than I can type. And that's hard to do at my age. :) Septoria goes later in the sentence.
Dave
Mega-blooms are also called fused blossoms.
I have also seen them called king flowers (though as far as I know tomatoes don't have king flowers like those on some other plants which bear both large and small fruit at the same time: for example, some strawberries, also artichokes).
Someone also used the term conjoined flowers. I don't know if that is correct, botanically speaking.
I have also seen them called tomato sunflowers; that seems like a gardener's imaginative term rather than a botanical one.
Most common cause by far is over-watering.
Otherwise if there are no signs of a disease - no spots etc. - and no signs of pests then it could just be old age depending on how old the plant is. Tomato plants will normally age and shed the lower leaves as they grow.
Without seeing the plant or a picture of it or having a great deal more info on how it is being grown, all we can do is guess.
Dave
Coconut Head,
My market plot is actually in Clinton, NY and I work in Utica. I was thinking Syracuse mostly because I know a very good and inexpensive venue there and I know a fair number of people that would attend. I really didn't figure that I would draw much from the Buffalo event since that is still close to three hours from here but in any event, I would make sure that it is not within a few weeks of the Buffalo gathering.
Hi All,
I'm one of the people who hosts the Buffalo~Niagara Party. As Carolyn said, we do have a forum, but unfortunately it can't be link to from this forum. Below on the link I have some pics from last year's party.
It all started out with just 3 of us deciding to have a party. I didn't know how many people would come, but I figured we would have a good time if was only a few people. But quite a few showed up, and we've had a good crowd ever since.
Remy
Here is a link that might be useful: 2011 TomatoParty Photos
I was thinking, maybe its a MITE issue?
Here is an album with pics: http://imgur.com/a/BrfD7
Watering issues generally result in the lower leaves turning yellow first and not the upper (at least for me they do). I plant solely in containers and water every other day unless it's been rainy. Then it's every three days. I fertilize every 7-10 days depending on the plant.
There are lots of 'favorite' discussions here. Favorite beefsteak, favorite cherry, favorite determinate, favorite 4-6 oz, red, favorite green, etc.
The forum search bar will pull them up for you - the one at the bottom of the page - if you just type 'favorite' in it.
Personally I have about 20 favorites because they consistently perform well for me and we like the taste. Of course the taste of them grown in your soil would be very different and may not appeal to you. Rutgers, Giant Belgium, Cherokee Purple, Arkansas Traveler, Champion, San Marzano, etc. just to name a few.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Some of the favorite tomato discussions
Matthew, I live in the US (the Blue Ridge Mountains are part of the Southern Appalachians: a narrow band across southern Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and ending in northeast Georgia; I'm in North Carolina).
Whatever it is, it's not any variety Bonnie Plants was selling last year. Almost certainly a cross of some sort rather than a known variety. (How many pink-purple egg-shaped tomatoes can there be?)
And who knows how the next generation will come out? Lots of seeds and gel last year, unfortunately.
Well, the plant has continued to show the same disease signs. I thought maybe it would get better and looked like it might for awhile. The BER is on every fruit from top to bottom and now showing sighs of gray wall again. Will pull the plant tomorrow and get rid of it and the soil in the trash. This is the first time to completely get rid of the plant and soil. Bummer. I don't know what else to do. Thanks everyone. RIP Celebrity plant.
Thanks but I don't need a picture. I have several gallons of it myself. What the label says is *Not for use in organic food and crop production. Note the asterisk. Now note what the asterisk is related to, the reason for the asterisk - Natural Organic Based in the name.
That is because the base contains inert materials and certain stabilizing acids which limits the amount that can be used by Certified Organic Growers, limited, not restricted. In other words, that is the standard asterisk note that all approved organic products with some restrictions on them are required to use to alert certified growers they must monitor the amounts used.
If you want to go by those reviews then please note that the second review down - and more current one - says the product is on the OMRI approved list and that the claim not for organic gardening is not correct.
It is on the OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) list as approved and has been for many, many years.
IF you are a certified organic grower growing for sale of food in the marketplace - which you are not - and if you are in the process of applying for Organic Grower Certification - which you are not - then there is a restriction on how much of it you can use because of the acids used to stabilize it. That restriction does NOT apply to home gardeners.
You can go to the OMRI website linked below and pull the product up to read it for yourself if you wish.
You are going to need to make a choice. Do you wish to be a Certified Organic Grower or a home gardener that grows things as organically as possible while actually having things grow in your garden? The first takes 3-4 years to qualify with all the rules and restrictions and many inspections. The second also takes 3-4 years of soil development, amending, and hard work to accomplish and in the process some compromises have to be made.
Organic gardening is a long-term goal, not a first year accomplishment.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: OMRI
Thank you again Dave. I am certainly not trying to start a dispute. I posted the link not because I'm going by the reviews, but to show you that another person is referring to the same thing I was (since I didn't have a picture) that's written on the bottle. Your clarification is very helpful. I am certainly not trying to get certified and I now kick myself for not buying it. Honestly I was wondering if maybe there are two versions of the product. Would it be helpful if I started using it in a week or so and if I discontinue using the other one I bought?