16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

Arent Brandywines known to do that when it's not perfect out?

Yes, some Brandywines are said to have difficulty setting fruit, even in good conditions.

Maybe soil temps, better soil? The black pots would make it warmer and most likely have better soil. They both look great to me!

I think they all look great! :)

No one talked about how you are watering? I would recommend having drip irrigation that feeds water to the root zone, at least 4 to 8 inches below the surface, let the top 1" of soil be dry, eventually at every watering the top soil gets moist due to capillary action.

To prevent further moisture loss, use mulch cover as everyone said. Mulch is no good if you are watering from over the much. a lot of water will get soaked by mulch and will not get to the roots of plants.

Mulch is the answer for sure. Once tomatoes get established, they have very deep roots, and with the addition of a deep mulch layer, you'll rarely have to water.

I use two layers of mulch. First layer is mostly composted grass/leaves. Top layer is usually pine bark, wood chips and/or chopped spruce or pine cones and needles. The first layer provides N and other nutrients, the top layer breaks down slower, allows water to pass through and doesn't steal N from the soil. The combination replenishes the soil and retains moisture. It all usually breaks down by the next spring. I usually don't have to add any additional amendments or fertilizers when I do this.

Any brand names of soaker hoses to buy? FLEXIBLE being most important. Don't want to go with drip - I have a 60 X 12 plot planted in rows and soaker is great for me.

I cant speak fora large farm but for small gerdeners I think drip lines is one good choice. I have successfully used tale-apart flag drippers with 1/4" tubing from plant root to 1/2" main tubing. Best part is that we all have water that has solvents and drippers clog up. these flag drippers can be cleaned easily and could last a very long time. Although I have found that after few years of use, the main 1/2" tubing could start leaking where dripper is punched in, then again 1/2" tubing is cheap to replace. I have been plugging in lose ones and moving over the dripper by few inches.

It looks like I'll be the outlier. I band my tomatoes lightly with granular 10-10-10 about 2 weeks after they're in the ground, then again in about a month. You need to be careful to keep it off the plant itself. This has been very successful for me.
John A

Thanks for all the helpful responses here. One often does what one is used to doing. In this case I approached the tomato plants the way I do bulbs and some perennials, scratching in granular fertilizers in the top couple of inches of soil. But tomatoes aren't bulbs slowly storing nutrients for a bloom next year and I can see the advantage of relatively fast-acting liquid fertilizers. I'm not persuaded that granular fertilizers are wasted on tomatoes or of no benefit to them.

The reason I ask about Texas heat is because some varieties don't pollinate very well in the heat and production is low. That is why I ask.

The reason I ask about Texas heat is because some varieties don't pollinate very well in the heat and production is low.

No tomato variety, even the so-called "heat tolerant" ones, pollinate well in the heat and that is an issue for all of us in the south. It is called Blossom Drop and it is the nature of tomatoes.

The controls for that, insofar as it can be controlled, is in the growing conditions provided, not the variety. Earlier planting times, provided shade, heavy mulching, consistent soil moisture levels, windbreaks, extremely large containers if not in ground, low N fertilizers, etc. etc.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Blossom Drop FAQ

Oops! Meant to say, that's *not* damage from Roundup.

When it comes to 2,4-D versus dicamba, it's most likely 2,4-D.

jean is right, that is *not* glyphosate damage, that looks like 2-4D damage. My first year of gardening I listened to my grandpa and he said "aw hell just spray roundup around the plants to keep the weeds down. Well, my tomatoes looked like this afterwards:

2-4D causes plants to basically grow themselves to death, it causes the plant to grow in all kinds of weird directions and shapes, it makes them curl.

If it is herbicide damage, then My vote goes into the 2-4D type of chemicals. Are there any farm fields next to you that might have gotten sprayed?

Another thing no one has mentioned yet is disease, I was scolded and scared by my dad and grandpa when getting advice "you never never never plant tomatoes in the same dirt year over year" they said. Eggplant, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, and tobacco are all in the nightshade family. They will be vulnerable to the same sets of diseases.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Garden

Djole, I would have sworn when I bought the seed they said indeterminate. But after Dave said they were determinate I went back to the website and it said they were determinate. Maybe it is like Celebrity tomatoes. Depending who you ask or the website some say they are determinate and some say they are indeterminate. I know that used to be all my neighbor grew and his get up to around 7'-8' tall. It would be great if they turned out to be semi-determinate.

If not I am also growing some Delicious and Red Beefsteak up a string as part of the experiment also. Although I don't have as many of either of them.

Guess we won't know until you actually go through it :)
Best of luck!

Hmm, crushed egg shells and tums? I guess that would work, lol. I generally go for a little bit of lime and bone meal....

I'm guessing it's a troll.

sierra_nevada, did you talk to your county's Cooperative Extension about identifying the soil problem? Some tomato varieties have been bred to deal with some of the soil problems.

We have the 2 gallon pots of grafted tomatoes here for $16.99, which I think is kind of dear. Perhaps in a few weeks they'll be reduced in price.

I wonder if the rootstock affects the flavour of the grafted tomato at all? And can you save seeds (or cuttings) for the grafted tomato if it's an heirloom...or will it become a Franken-mato?

LIttle round transparent like spots are often a reaction to the enviornment, ie: sun, wind. Is there any possibility that strong sun is being magnified by a glass window?

Growing indoors is a huge job. There are so many variables to consider.

First, the water that comes out of the tap is chlorinated, and it has a good bit of flouride, depending on where you live. Chlorine will evaporate out of the water, if you leave the water in a pitcher open to the air for a day or so.

temperature and humidity are a big issue too, tomatoes like it warm, top production happens at 85 degrees, and they like some humidity. Also, for pollination, the plants need wind to shake the pollen loose in the flowers that they set, you can use a fan or give the plant a shake every day.

that is a picture of chlorine damage in my indoor grown tomato

Here is a link that might be useful: My Garden

Thanks all:

luvahydrangea, you brought up a very good point. I thought the point of mounding is to have the root ball above ground so it warm up faster. If you have mount and plant below ground level, then doesn't that make it even worse because now it takes even longer to warm up the root ball.

Johnny

I don't believe it needs to be above ground, just not too deep as the soil temperatures are cooler the deeper you go. What I usually do, is dig out a shallow trench, and lay the tomato plant on its side to bury as much of the stem as possible. Its below the surface, but only by about 3 inches which is close enough to the surface to warm up fast.

my Black Krim is doing the same thing! The blossoms just drop without any pollinating. All of my cherries, my better boy, celebrity, mariglobe, and several others all have developing fruit on them but none of the black krim. The weirdest part is that the BK plant has the most overall flowers. Last year this time the BK was packing on some serious weight with all the emerging tomatoes, but not this year. Im pretty frustrated.

I can't help but wonder that since the Black Krim is an heirloom and not a hybrid tomato, it's going to be a little more finicky when it comes to weather conditions? Heck, if I were going to "make" a new type of tomato, I'd want to engineer it to grow under less than ideal conditions.

I have to keep reminding myself that's not even June, and patience is in order.