16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

what is WSJ ?

The Wall Street Journal.

Thanks All,
Yes Dave is right, it was direct sunlight.
Okey then, Gene, I dont have any idea about how to make compost tea? I now ppl suggest buy compost, soak in water for 3-4 days and brew it and then add to plants. but dont know where to buy that and what is the exact method.

Thanks.

I am making my first batch of compost tea as I write this. I found a ton of useful videos on youtube. I used a 30 gallon molasis tub recycled from a farmer friend. I also used about 30 feet of soaker hose, connected to a dual output air pump from a fish tank. I placed 3 bricks on the soaker hose that is coiled up on the botom of the 30 gallon bucket. I useda 5 gallon paint strainer bag that I purchased from sherwin williams. I filled it with about 2 gallons of compost I purchased in a bag from walmart, i also put about a gallon of compressed freshly picked weeds from my neighbors field. I picked some clover but mostly true tap root style weeds. My thinking on the weeds is that tap root weeds take up hard to reach trace minerals and well clover is a nitrogen fixer. So I figured the green plant material would be a fertilizer boost. I zip tied the compost weed mixture so no solids will fall out. I had filled the bucket the day before with tap water, adn I areated it for a few hours. that should hav egotten most of th emunicipal chlorine out. Now I place the tea bag in the water, adn it sank. i also added about a cup of molasis. It has been bubbling about 24 hours now. It has a nice faomy layer on top, adn the soaker hose allows bubbles all over the bucket so there are no dead spots void of O2.
My first batch is not finished yet, but it smells the way many describe, the color is very tea like, adn it has the soapy bubbles as it should. I would guess I have a very good first batch. I have 24 dollars invested in the pump equipment from amazon , the bucket was free. the compost was left over from some mothers day potting gifts, but cost about $3 for the bag which is still over half full after several pottings, adn this batch of tea.
aerated compost tea is quite inexpensive adn cheap to make. dont be afraid. But if you were local to me I would be happy to give you a gallon to try out.
I am thinking about selling it at the farmers market. I figure have a frsh batch ready on saturday morning, and tell people to use it up by Sunday. I have read it sells for $3 to $10 per gallon. Ill probably play with mine for this year. See how it works out. If I think it is the real deal offer it to others. I know compost tea is the real deal. i just dont know if mine is.

I sprinkled some garden tone around my tomato plants

What are the application instructions on the box? Usually sprinkling dry fertilizers around plants is just a waste of fertilizer and has little to no benefit for the plants.

Dave

It said to sprinkle about 1/3 cup of it around the base of the plant

Yes, the crack will scar over. Don't throw the fruit out unless it gets to the point where there's so much mold the fruit begins to rot.

Try to keep moisture consistent as that will prevent future cracking; it doesn't look like you've mulched the container; if not, that will help. You can use almost anything as mulch, including shredded office paper, plain newspaper, or even cardboard.

Thanks guys. I'll mulch it. As for what it is, it is an F1 Better Bush x Black Krim on a Black Krim parent plant. I was hoping to pull some seeds when it ripened.

It would help to know roughly where you live and garden, that info is not given at your page, b/c I'm of two thoughts on whether you need to use cages or some other method of supporting a plant.

Here in the NE most of us just let our plants sprawl and of the about 3,000 plus tomato varieties I've grown to date, maybe 95% have been grown by sprawling and the rest in cages and sometime the same variety in the same season in both a cage and sprawled.

I spaced plants 3-4 ft apart in a row 250 ft long and the rows 5 ft apart. Yes, as the plants mature the vines pretty much cover the area between the rows, but I don't find that to be a problem at all since I know the traits of each variety I plant out before I ever sow the seed so have little problem following the vines out to harvest the fruits I want to save seeds from. Each season I'd put out several hundreds of plants and varieties.

The major diseases where I grow were/are the common foliage diseases that almost everyone has problems with and sometimes an occasional plant with Verticillium which is one of the soil borne systemic diseases and those plants usually grew out of it.

Yes, there is a small amount of fruit loss from fruits resting on the soil and rotting, but if you've never sprawled plants you may not realize that the majority of fruits are nestled in the foliage and never touch the ground/

Other critter problems? Not really.

However if you live in the south where it's hot and humid and have many critters that can and do eat the fruits and/or damage them, then you might want to get the plants off the ground. Continued high heat and humidity can result in leaf diseases b'c of poor airflow which is increased somewhat if the vines are supported.

So as I see it, it depends on where you garden, geographically, what space you have, if you're growing mainly indet with some det varieties, and last, but not least, how many plants you're dealing with.

No one solution for everyone. ( smile)

Carolyn, and from the picture of your plants they appear to me to be too big to now set a cage around them and try to train them to the cage. One should set out plants at perhaps 6-9 inches tall and THEN put the cage in place.

You guys are awesome. Thanks for your help. I am definitely going to work on staking them or supporting them. I was out of town all weekend and when i came back I had a nearly full grown tomato just sitting on the ground growing - woops!

I hope it's not too late to guide them upwards....

ps. I am in north Georiga if that matters

I bottom water in a tray when soil is fairly dry I don't over water. Yes there are drain holes.

These seeds are from Longkeepers a standard non-hybrid variety. As stated in my recent post the seeds I used in my current test are from the same seeds that I planted in the same window last year and grew just fine.

I'm really stumped on this.

I'd water them more often and see what happens. It's either that or the seed-starting mix.

I started three trays of seeds -- mostly tomatoes -- each a week or so apart. The first and third were normal and happy, while the plants in the second tray were an odd color, not as lush, and shorter than the younger third tray. I used Burpee's seed-starting mix with all three: most of a bag for the first tray, the rest of that bag and part of a second for the second tray, etc. No explanation, though the second batch were happier after being potted up.

Thanks for the input!

@Tomato_Jam--I sent you an e-mail about the seeds.

dbannie04-

I'm so sorry - I'm not on GW all that much any more - and I'll happily send you some seeds (sorry it's so late) - my email address on here is ancient, please send email to clarkbooks@gmail.com. Sorry again.

julie

And I typed that before I saw you posting that link :P

Similar to Earthbox, which I grow in. A SWC (self watering container) known as a closed system. Earthbox was invented and developed by a professional tomato farmer in Florida. All the ferts get used instead of washing away. It is not uncommon to have plants do better than they would in the ground. Typically use the same type of solid ferts as would be used in ground, be it organic or synthetic. ONe thing about many patio, bush type determinate plants is that a lot of them have a different leaf type which is heavier and greener than even potato leaf tomatoes. It is called Rugose, maybe that is what you are seeing.

Here's where to find out more info about the dwarf project.
http://www.dwarftomatoproject.net/History.php

Also, there are a number of crosses that have originated in
the U.S. One is Brawny, which I did a couple of years ago
to make a Dwarf Cuostralee... which is still a work in progress.

Check out tomatopalooza.org for lists and images of many of
the dwarf varieties that have been sampled over the past
few years.

Summertime Gold is the best, imho, followed closely by Rosella Purple.

Lee

Yes, Craig only goes weekends.

The dates and times are given at his blog, but he's through for the year right now.

I think you should go to the go to the next Tomatopalooza, which is organized by Craig and Lee. So you can meet Lee as well and all the others who attend.

Lee, does that Tomaopalooza link give the directions to Efland where it will held again this year? A storm is coming and I don't want to take the time to take a look, and besides I'm also thinking of Yellow Bosnian. LOL

Carolyn

Same here. Just as I posted on your duplicate post of this question on the Vegetable Garden forum - only the one time when my drip system broke and flooded the area.

Dave

Thanks guys. THey're not getting too much water. They're in pots so that is what it is. I currently water 2-3 times a week.

I had this question myself, I switched to organic soil with chicken manure added instead of shellfish...what little research I found said that 1. people react to the proteins in shellfish 2. the proteins are broken down during composting 3. so there should be no problem. So far all I have growing in that is basil, and me and my father are both eating that basil right now, and we are both allergic. Ill let you know what happens.. I planted all my other herbs and veggies in the soil with chicken manure, just because the idea of shellfish makes me paranoid and why deal with it if I dont have to. If I would have read the first bag with the shellfish I problablly would have bought it. STILL what I've read says there is no problem....

*wouldnt have bought it.

All of my plants are planted in the ground. They have been in the ground for about 8 weeks. The wilting started about 3 weeks ago, and the weather has been in the high 80's the last two weeks. However, these plants only receive direct sunlight for about 5 hours a day. Thanks also, for telling how to post a picture. One picture can be worth a thousand words. Only the top parts of the plant are showing the curling of the leaves.

Richard,

Is the "wilting" occurring in the evenings, but they look fine the next morning? That is relatively common when one is watering frequently but shallowly. Shallow watering does not encourage deep root penetration, which means the roots are near the surface and far more affected by variations in temperature and moisture levels of the first few inches of soil, which may account for the wilting of your tomato tops.

Cool weather or soil with lots of clay needs will be less water, hot weather or sandy soil will need more.

Dig down with your finger about 4", is the growing medium wet, dry, or just right? If it is wet, don't water, if dry then water. If it is just right, check again the next day. Water deeply once or twice a week. Watering daily encourages shallow roots which means the plant is affected more by variations in soil moisture. In my garden during the heat of the summer, I water deeply every 4-5 days, early spring I may only water every 8-9 days and when the weather is moderatly warm (70-80 degrees F), about once a week. I have several dowels that I push into the soil six inches or so, in several areas of the garden and leave them there. By pulling up a dowel and checking the end that was in the soil, I can easily monitor the soil moisture.

Mulching heavily (to a depth of 6 - 8 inches) with compost, straw, hay, rotted leaves, grass clippings, even shredded paper or sheets of paper or cardboard helps maintain a consistent moisture level.

Betsy