16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

Thanks, everyone, for all the great ideas. I decided to try the Florida Weave and am happy with it so far. I drove t-bar into the ground at the ends of each row, and stretched synthetic baling twine tightly between the pairs of posts; the synthetic twine has not sagged at all. The tomato plants are about 3 feet apart and the line not only does a good job of keeping things upright, but it also allows me to quickly "espalier" the branches to the lines using my Tapener gun.

looks good kudzu / i like the colorful twine / gotta tell ya wertach thats the best use of a election sign i have ever heard of /hehehe

If you add your zone and/or specific location to the Zone bar provided with posts it then becomes permanent for all your posts and no need to type it in each time.

It really is vital info. They need to remove the "(optional)" element from it because it isn't...optional.

Dave

Hey Guys, thanks. I will click around and see if I can make my area permanent for posts. It is annoying to have to type it in each time.

By the way, Dave, the tomatoes have already started to heal and it's only been about 24 hours-amazing. Thanks for the good advice.

That is great. I will have to try that out too. I could plant out some of my super early varieties. I could have tomatoes in may.

MrsDlight, is there a super early variety that tastes good? Early Girl doesn't have a lot of taste.

Tim

digdirt beat me to it, so I will just add that adventitious roots are also seen as shallow green, white, or tan bumps on the stem (sticking up perhaps only a millimeter or two).

Sometimes people who haven't seen them before think an insect has pierced the outer skin of the stem and laid eggs in a line along the stem.

The tomato's ability to send out adventitious roots means that if your seven-year-old breaks off a branch, you can cut off the newest several inches of it and root a new plant. And if you don't stake or otherwise support a plant, it will root wherever its stems touch the ground.

Well, Thank you!!

Thanks for the link, Dave. I have plans for that stuff....

Birds? No, it never trapped or entangled birds. Sometimes my cats catch some, but that's unrelated.
For tomato bed I suspended CRM on the long sides so I could tie 4 layers horizontally. For pepper and eggplant bed I used stakes on the side to tie 2 layers. There is plenty of room for working through the lower opening to plant lettuce and so on. It is strong enough to support the heavy load last year, but I would like the setup to be more tout for better appearance.
Last summer was the first time I didn't have to frantically trying to add-on or to expand to the CRM. :) I ordered 4' X 328' so there is still a lot left over. I think I'll try to use it vertically for beans this year.
Here is a link that shows a setup diagram similar to mine.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hortonova setup diagram

We have Ground Squirrels...nothing has worked with them. Have trapped, used pellet gun, flooded their holes (one goes under our house!), and put poisoned bate in their holes. Any suggestions?

The famous 5-gallon-bucket chipmunk trap:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/ipm/msg0502514826494.html

We've had both the 18" and 24" for about 8 years. They are spendy but there is nothing that I've seen that is nearly as good. We have a limited amount of garden space which also translates into limited storage space or I'd make my own from rewire. These fold flat and I can store all 12 of my cages in an area about 2 foot wide by a foot or so deep.

The 18" cages aren't really large enough for a full sized indeterminant tomato but we grow stupice and some skinnier varieties in these cages.

I can't recommend them highly enough.

I use the 24" BUT always grew indeterminates until this year, since I decided to try one determinate. I am zone 5-6 (on the line). I might try the 20" next. I am very happy with the 24" but I am not sure they are REALLY necessary, and if the 20" are less expensive, I am sure they will be fine. I kinda like the idea of having both sizes. :)

Like suncitylinda said, I wouldn't be too quick to set them in full sun. They've been in shade, are small and might have trouble with hot weather. Let them grow a bit and slowly expose them to the sun. A bit more sun every few days and you should be OK. Same with planting them deeper. Fill the pot until only the leaves show.

You could have planted those sprouts as well if you wanted too. They prolly would have done fine.

And now you know that once again, it was obvious what would happen! Sandwiches!!!!! lol

Were you pruning and taking out the suckers? That would have helped the situation. Next yr try growing a smaller variety that will not get so bushy. I always stake mine and forget the cages. I then tie the larger branches to the one supporting stake.
You could transplant the pepper plants to another section of the garden. I hope you have good luck w/ good, red, ripe tomatoes! I always go w/ smaller tomato plant varieties anymore!

You should invent a compost blower, something like they use to do blown in insulation. As long as the compost is pretty dry it should work fine. If you are the inventing type that is. Otherwise, just use your hands.

Good idea about the scoops MTO! By the handfuls works for me as I can work it in with my fingers at the same time. Especially when I can get the grandkids to help.

Otherwise it all depends on what kind of cages you are talking about and what the opening size is. I find that the grandkids' kid-size gardening tools are quite handy for many things adults do in the garden.

Dave

My roma was similar. Found it at walmart. Someone had deliberately pinched it to have 3 main stems, perfectly spaced. I kept those and have rooted most of the suckers. I never saw this done this way before.

My roma was similar. Found it at walmart. Someone had deliberately pinched it to have 3 main stems, perfectly spaced. I kept those and have rooted most of the suckers. I never saw this done this way before.

I had a bad experience with Burpee some years back. Sweet potato starts arrived nearly dead (dry). Most of the soil for a potted astilbe had escaped from the pot; the pot was loose in the box, not secured in any way. The astilbe was way too tiny, and I don't remember if it survived.

I will buy seeds from Burpee if it's something I can't get anywhere else, but not plants.

I only ordered plants from them once, and actually it's
the ONLY time I ever ordered plants from anywhere, but I was mad.

They had introduced what they called Red Brandywine Hybrid, this back in the 90's and I'm sorry, but I don't like OP heirlooms being converted to hybrids, and especially back then b'c it was the first time it happened.

So I ordered seeds and a 6 pack of plants, started some from their seed, started plants from my heirloom Red Bandywine and put out a few of their plants.

There was absolutely NO difference in my RB plants as compared to their supposed hybrid.

They changed the name several times and I think ended up calling Buck's County Hybrid.

I agree with the suggestion to buy plants from Darrels website Selectedplants.com it comes right up when you GOogle it. Prices are reasonable as compared to many other plant sites I know and packing and shipping are very good indeed. And a huge selection, but of course at this time of the eyar I have no idea what he might have left. You can e-mail him off his website about that or I think he may even give his phone number as well/

Another place with a good reputation is SSE ( seedsavers exchange). Go to the PUBLIC catalog at seedsavers.org and take a look. Not as many varieties as Darrel usually has, but plants are good as are prices and shipping.

Carolyn, who thanks you for tweaking her memory about her one time plant buying experience. LOL