16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Actually if frost threatens, your best bet is to pull the entire plant and hang it upside-down somewhere warm for them to ripen. The tomatoes will pull nutrients from the dying plant, and you don't have to worry about pressure-spots from sitting on the counter.
Carla in Sac
I haven't done that but someone I know at another site who lives in a very southern climate has been doing it this year and comparing saved seed growouts of Compari with F1 Mountain Magic which has been advertised as a Compari type.
In summary, I think I'd say that the many plants he put out of Compari gave rise to red fruits of all different sizes and tastes, which is to be expected, while of course the MM F1 red fruits were uniform and delicious.
I know MM very well b'c the breeder, Dr. Randy Gardner formerly of NCSU, now retired but still actively breeding tomatoes, he's the one with the Mountain Series that many know of, sent me lots of seed of MM F1 Smarty F1 and Plum Regal F1 and I distributed them in my annual seed offer elsewhere.
Since Comparis were bred to be grown in greenhouses where conditions are controlled and not outside, I've also read that they may develop white cores when grown outside.
Last I knew this southern gardener did not intend to make selections to get a genetically stable Compari.
Hope that helps.
Carolyn
I grew a single plant three years ago -- the bad Late Blight year.
I picked a few fruit before Late Blight got the plant. They seemed identical to the grocery Campari. I picked them quite early to get them into the house before the plant was infected. There was a noticeable white core, and I wondered if picking them early increased the white core. My notes on the variety say the white core is a problem unless the fruit are allowed to ripen completely, so it's possible I ate them too early.
I made a very delicious tomato vegetable soup this past weekend with some Amish Paste that I canned last summer. I also make a lot of soups and sauces with Opalka.
I've also grown Super Marzano one year. The flavor was good, but not better than Opalka or Amish.
I would heartily recommend those three, But to my palate, Opalka is my #1, with Amish in second and Marzano in third
This year I'm not even bothering with other tomatoes other than paste types. The flavor, firm flesh and easy processing make them and excellent all around tomato. Fresh eating and roasting expecially are good.
Here is a link that might be useful: Check out my tumblr for a post about the soup
Lemon basil thrives for me near my tomatoes, and I like to edge with nasturtiums. I don't get enormous nasturtiums there, but I have a raised bed and perhaps my soil is too rich. Marigolds get devoured by roly-polies so I have given up on them in the tomato bed. In the poor, dusty soil next to the garage is where I get monster nasturtium plants.
In what way are your tomatoes not doing well?
Are you seeing disease?
What was the community garden before it was a community garden? What is the soil like? Has anyone tested the soil for nutrients and pH?
Are you able to water your tomatoes regularly? Do you fertilize, and if so, with what? Do you use mulch?
When your neighbors and relatives complain their tomatoes do poorly, exactly what are their problems?
Tomatoes grow pretty well here in the Oak Ridge/ Knoxville area. I've grown them since I was 9 and almost never had a summer without fresh tomatoes. I think I got powdery mildew once but that was at the end of the season, I mostly lose them to the deer/racoons/possums or whatever else keeps invading my yard :?
My favorite by far is the snow white.....I love the sweet ones! Botanical interests carries a "rainbow blend" that has snow white, green grape, red sweetie, multi colored, and sun gold.....the multi colored is very good too......starts off yellow, then gets a beautiful rose colored hue!
Peggy, things are the way they are here in the Seed Exchange Forum b'c that's the way it was enabled when Spike owned GW and it's never been changed by the succession of GW owners who came after him. Spike did that when the first regs about USDA restrictions were introduced about keeping noxious weeds out of the US. That has to be longer than 10 years ago. While my page shows I've been a member here since I think about 2002, that's wrong b'c what happened is a computer glitch and all info as to when folks joined was accidentally deleted. I've been here at GW for quite a few years over 10 but do most of my reading and posting at another site and come here only occasionally these days.
I don't have a scanner, but if someone here has a 2012 SSE paper Yearbook and knows how to upload a scanned page in a post, well, that might help you.
However, the other comments I made are separate from that page in the YEarbook and are directed at the current reality of the situation as I tried to point out in my post above.
Carolyn
Hi everyone,
I have seeds coming - thank you for all of the information above.
Please do not post anymore on this thread since I automatically get the responses sent to me. If anyone wants to continue a discussion on trading with Canadians/Americans etc please start a new thread so I don't get copied on it.
Cheers,
Peggy
Am I misreading the original post? I thought Rathos was referring to the tomatoes produced in the SAME SEASON as the small yellow tomato being messed up. If so, I was under the belief that such an occurrence was impossible...that only the seeds, and therefore the fruit the FOLLOWING year, would be changed.
she grew a small yellow tomato somewhere in her plot and that the characteristics ended up spreading during the same year, messing up her other varieties... is that possible?
...... is what was said and I assumed it was seed saved from the varieties grown the same season that the small yellow one had X pollinated that season, and if so then yes, it would only show up with saved crossed seed.
But I'm also wondering how the small yellow one was known to be the culprit. With accidental crosses one knows the female parent but not usually the male parent without doing one heck of a lot of grow outs to genetically find a clue as to what the male parent was.
Carolyn
hellbound thanks for the reply. This will be my first summer here in Prescott. I am not so worried about the heat as it gets a lot warmer in TX, it is the bone dry humidity that has me concerned.
The plants right now are still in the greenhouse and I am not comfortable transplanting yet because it can snow in mid to late April. At least it did last April when I bought the property. Up at Flag and GC last April 17th was a white out blizzard. Really kind of freaked out this ole Texan.
I have tried 70 varieties of tomatoes in the Phoenix area and found that Mountain Fresh from Totally Tomatoes never fails to out perform all of the larger tomato varieties including the "heat resistant" varieties for 10 years in a row.
Mountain Fresh averages between 10-20 lbs per plant of #1's (3-4 inches across.) This is 3-6 times more than all other varieties!
NAR, which I introduced, and Chapman are both outstanding red beefsteak varieties. No they don't taste the same I can't really describe the difference in taste but both perform well and load up well for almost everyone.
And no, they don't taste like Better Boy F1 or it's companion Big Boy F1, since both have one parent that it is an heirloom variety from the midwest called Teddy Jones.
Two other great performing large red beefsteaks that I like a lot are Red Penna and Aker's West VA, again, they perform well for almost everyone everywhere.
Hope that helps.
Carolyn
You will want to post this over on the Soil & Composting forum here too as this is the kind of issue that forum deals with daily.
As to what to provide to meet those requirements, there are many options available - both organic and non-organic and the costs range widely. But if you intend to continue gardening then yes, the time and money is well worth it.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Soil forum
Billy, Your question and wording leave me a little unclear of what you want to know and the replys seem to reflect that uncertainty. If you are questioning the expenditure for fertilizer for a 700 sq. ft garden it just doesn't seem logical. More likely you are questioning how to obtain a fertilizer blend to adapt to the recommendation. To that end you need to be more specific in your test results but, in reality, you only need to be in the ballpark with the application.
Keep in mind that your Nitrogen recommendation is almost always based on crop needs rather than test results; Phosphorus recommendation is usually expressed as P2O5(phosphate) as you indicated but Potassium recommendation is almost always expressed as K2O rather than just K and that distinction can affect what you apply.
What you likely should be shopping for is a 3:1.5:4 ratio blend. In real life if you can find a 10:5:10 or even a 10:10:10 fertilizer and apply at the rate recommended for N you will be in the ballpark.
To me, the fact that it recovers overnight suggests it's getting too much heat or not enough water. But I'm not an expert.
When you're growing in dark-colored containers in direct sun, there can be a problem with the soil heating too much. So if that's the case here, you might cover the pot in something that will absorb less heat from the sun: for instance, a white plastic bag, a piece of white cloth, or a sheet of silver mylar (space blanket stuff).
If you don't get more answers here, you might consider cross-posting on the Container Gardening forum.
I have wild ground cherries, but I've never planted them, let alone indoors.
The flowers dropping might be related to whatever is making the plants droop, or could be a pollination issue. According to the California Rare Fruit Growers, "Cape gooseberries are self-pollinated but pollination is enhanced by a gentle shaking of the flowering stems or giving the plants a light spraying with water." Shaking the stems a bit is also recommended for indoor-grown tomatoes.
Thank you for your informed answer. I don't think it's lack of water.. at the moment its roots don't cover much of the pot and I only need to water is every other week.. though the time between waterings is geting shorter.
It's in a light brown pot.. so I think you could be right about the roots getting too hot in the soil. I'll cover it and see what hapens
More of a Soil Forum question since they deal with these daily but IMO it is a darn good set of results and I wouldn't worry about adding much of anything. Especially since your organic content is so high.
Maybe a bit of N with say one of the diluted liquid fish concoctions as needed throughout the growing season. You sure don't need any P or K.
Personally I envy that good of a pH since mine normally runs 8+.
Dave
Thank you!
I posted in that forum; looks like I am not in bad shape, just need to keep an eye on what I do this season and watch my plants to see how they respond.