16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

I haven't seen the tomato but the strawberry looks yummy. I keep my PC updated so it isn't causing any crashes. If a video ad does crash your computer let GW know, but also search for and install updates that will lessen the occurence of crashing.

Dear chuggerguy:
I think I love you.
Thank you from a tech-incompetent nitwit who is now enjoying an ad-free experience.
T

Since we are talking tomatoes you might also want to check for dominant wind direction for pollination purposes and choose one that won't be fully blocked.

And I'd really check the soil in the plots I was interested in. It won't all be the same so smell it and squeeze it and check the texture of it 6" down.

Dave

Hi tomtom,
Lucky you getting to be part of a new community garden! I am a community gardener, but joined several years in, and I love hearing the stories for the original gardeners when they tell about all the challenges/triumphs they faced in getting the garden going.
My thoughts for you:
1) I totally agree with missing the obvious about not wanting to be at a low point - being a part of a community garden means learning to live with outcomes of others' behavior (like overwatering), so its great to have a spot where such transgressions will effect you least.
2) In my C.G. cane berries have become quite the thing. Unfortunately, a lot of people put them on shared edges, and they spread. If this is a concern, I'd prioritize a corner spot so you have 2 clear edges.
3) At my garden, the plots are blocked in rows, two deep on the N/S axis. I have the southern plot, with shared borders on the E and W. This keeps me from having to worry about my neighbor planting ridiculously tall plants on my S-facing edge and reducing sun in the spring and fall. I like that, but it also gives me the responsibility to not plant tall plants on my N edge.
4) What are you pathways going to be like? In my C.G., the roadways/pathways quickly became overcome with quack grass. Because of this I am SOOOOOO grateful I have three shared edges, which reduces my exposure to it. I routinely spend more time in my C.G helping my neighbors combat quack grass than I do actually working my own plot.
5) On a last note, what kind of gardener do you want to be? At my garden, the first plot inside the gates belongs to one of the old-timers who acts as a sort of welcome beacon. Her plot is more beautiful than productive, and she thrives on the community aspect more than the garden.
6)I like Dave's comment. I know the home-test soil testers aren't all that great, but perhaps if you are torn between a couple plots you could do a couple tests and see if one is better suited for the plants you want to grow?
Best of luck, and happy community gardening!
T

I am by NO means a tomato expert nor do I even eat them, lol.. However, My wife loves the Campari tomato's - We also raise box turtles and they love worms - we have a 1/2s wine barrel that we raise worms in - I feed the worms differnt types of food - one day late winter/very early spring - I had a few Campari tomatos that I had tried to feed the box turtles and they were not interested - I threw them in the wine barrel - mainly because I was too lazy to walk around the house to the garbage and maybe the worms would eat them as they rotted???? around the first of May or last of april - I saw two very small tomato plants spout in the wine barrel - paid very little attention but left them out of couristy.... We left for a 4 week road trip on May 17 and got home on June 12 - walk to the back yard and WOW - those two plants in the wine barrel were HUGE - yesterday I noticed several small tomatos and called the wife - the plants seem to be the Campari I threw in there - NO other tomatos were thrown in - the new tomatos look just like the ones she bought from Costco and the stock of the plant is very stout - agian, I am NOT an expert and these plants sprouted and grew with NO effort on my part - One thing I will say is that the dirt in the wine barrel is very fertile because of al the worm casting.. I can post a pic, IF I can figure it out here and if there is an interest.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/harley0711/T1.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/harley0711/T2.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/harley0711/T3.jpg[/IMG]

harley0711@yahoo.com if you want a pic emailed

Here is a link that might be useful:

I saved some seed from a Campari that I purchased from Sam's Club back in the Fall 2011. I planted them in pots and they are currently loaded with tomato's. However, they are the strangest looking plants that I've ever seen. They have mitten shaped leaves that are about 6-8" long, and they are very "weepy" looking plants. The flowers were very large, but the shape of the tomato's that are growing on them are very true to what they looked like when I purchased them.

Brett: it sounds to me as if most of what you are doing is right. The only exception is that it sounds like you started too soon. My plants get to about 12 inches tall in six weeks. Some of the giant heirloom types can be growing almost an inch a day at that point. They get very floppy when they get that tall. Each year I force myself to start later than the previous year. Our last frost date is around April 30, but I don't put my plants into the garden until two weeks after that. I started my plants April 1, and they are already four inches tall. I'm nervous that I started too early once again. In spite of all the talk on GW about putting out plants earlier because of mild temps, our 10-day forecast calls for lows in the low 30s on most days.
In your situation, I would transplant to larger, deeper pots and bury at least 3 inches of the stem. I would also increase the hours of light to 18 and add a small fan. I really think you need to wait until the soil temperatures are over 50 and night time lows are reliably above that before you start a week of hardening off.

Last year, my tomatoes got very leggy because the garden kept flooding when it was time to plant them. When it did dry out, I planted a good long section of the lower stems and they did fine.

It's worth it to try to prevent them from getting leggy when you can because they're awkward to handle and are more easily damaged when they flop around, but it's certainly not the worst problem they could have. It will probably be a lot easier to safely harden them off, though, if they get planted deep into larger pots.

Linda, Joe did not breed Boondocks, I hope my post didn't indicate that.

For many years he participated in the seed exchanges at Organic Gardening and National Gardening, as did many others way back then. And that's where he got it and he had no history for it.

But Joe did breed Isis Candy and all the so called white ones, like Snow White, Ghost, Rabbit, as well as many others, but by the time he got to some of the Marizols and the various Sara thises and thatses he was making up histories for then to pass them off as heirloom varieties.

As he once said, if it's heirlooms folks want, I'll breed them, and he did.

What I know was authentic from him, not made up, was Eva Purple Ball and Marizol Purple and Marizol Gold.

And it was me who was responsible for waking up the varieties of Box Car Willie, Mule Team, Red Barn ( so overlooked), Great Divide and Pasture, b'c he found glass jars in the toolshed with varieties already named and couldn't germinate any of them and sent them to me and I was lucky enough to get up the ones I've mentioned.

There were three I couldn't wake up and I always wondered what they might have been like.

Carolyn

Thanks Carolyn, wasnt sure so glad you clarified. LInda

Thanks for the responses!

How are you all having the seeds germinate? Do campari seeds germinate by putting them in the small containers with potting soil and water in depth about 3 times their size ? Any special needs for them? ferment? dry and wait one year? etc

In the winter, do you bring them indoors or grow plants each spring time? Do they survive below 50 degrees?

thanks!

Yes, I start them in styrofoam cup I pick up off the ground. Then I advance to a 44oz cup from the convenience stores that I pick up off the ground. Then I put it in its final pot or in the ground. I just give it a little water every day.

As for the seeds, there is nothing special. You can stick them right into the ground from out of the tomato although it is probably better to let them dry. Fermenting is not necessary unless you want to get fancy.

You can grow them in winter if you are so inclined if you bring them indoors and have enough light. Most people just grow in the spring and keep them around until the cold kills them off or the heat in the summer.

No special needs except for a little fertilizer every now and again. That can be fertilizer you buy at the store. Compost tea you brew up with a bag of compost or composted manure. If you want to get cheap and really radical and give them a top-notch fertilizer, you can even use your own pee if you dilute it down to 10% or so.

Comparis can get really big so you will need a big pot to grow it in. At least a 5-gallon bucket.

"...gallon pots with 90% potting soil 10% compost"

The soil is probably responsible for your issues. You should never use potting soil in a container. It's too heavy and does not drain well enough for containers. Always look for a soilless potting mix. The ones that say soil on them are usually labeled that they are not for use in containers.

"...gallon pots"

Are you potting up again, or is that the final home for your tomatoes? Most growers recommend a minimum of a 5 gallon container for growing tomatoes in containers.

All in all, I think if you get them into larger containers (if they are to be container plants) with a quality growing medium they will snap out of it. They have been badly stressed, especially if they were not hardened off.

I hope that helps.

Betsy

Agree totally with bets. I was about to post the same info.

Pretty much as sconticut outlined above. There are many discussions about how to re-use potting mix in containers available for all the details. Check the container gardening forum.

Standard recharge approach is to dump all the containers out on a tarp or such, let it air dry, mix well together, sift or sort out any weird stuff, add in some fresh mix, fresh fertilizer of your choice, maybe some lime, maybe some fresh bark fines depending on mix you are using, etc. and refill the containers ready for planting.

Personally I don't use compost or manures in my containers. I keep them soil-less.

Dave

Here you go.

Here is a link that might be useful: re-using potting mix discussions

Thanks Marullo! I will take good care of them, and in fact I do use my seeds to help out world hunger. I grow alot of starts and give them to folks in my neighborhood who don't have the funds to buy seedlings from the local nursury. I also encourage and teach a lot of folks to grow home gardens.

Good for you, Kevin. I read your impressive resume so I know those seeds are in good hands and you will do the right thing. Now, the Tomato Nazi, she's another story.

ljbrandt: How did you make out?

My pepper and tomato flats were getting too big for my lights, so I brought them upstairs to put outside in greenhouse during the warm weather. Got them out for several days, and they grew a lot. Last three days though, they've been stuck inside, no surprise, however waking up to a couple of inches of snow this morning was quite a surprise. Hope to see it warm up soon and get them back out in the green house.

I've always used plastic garbage bags down to about 25 deg. If it gets below that I'm SOL.

Thanks Dave. Even at this young age what I think are Sungolds are a little taller than what I think are Black Krims.

I am really looking forward to trying these two.

I haven't had Sungold, but Black Krim is a wonderful tomato.

oops.

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