16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Bump as I have a seed packet of 25, likely only to germinate 3-4 with the intention of transplanting 2 to the garden and wondering if anyone has further info, specifically with respect to height and size. Figure they are rather large so placing them on the north side, but kinda stuck as to whether they are larger than Ruby's German Green (which would go in front vs back on the row). Went with Dester this year over Lifter for the larger types, but I know Ruby's can get really large come late summer and was wondering which in terms of size is bigger. Thanks
Are you sure that mid-May is a reasonable last frost date to use?
I live in zone 5, and and I use April 15 as my last freeze date. (I think it's actually supposed to be April 21, but the part of my yard where I plant first is somewhat sheltered by the house and woods, plus the frost rolls downhill, away from me.)
I entered my zip in an online lookup, and got:
"Each winter, on average, your risk of frost is from October 12 through April 21."
So for the output above, the average last frost date is April 21. I've actually been using April 15 for years.
So I put my tomatoes out around that week, or often earlier under a water clotch called a wall o' water. For early tomatoes I'd rather get them outside sooner than keep them inside longer.
One year we had a really mild winter and I had my first ripe early girl tomato by the end of May!
Yes I have grew tomatoes in my yard for 40 yrs. Twice in the last 5 yrs it has frosted on the 20th of May. One of those times my car was parked twenty ft from the garden. I went out in the dark and drug my fingers arcross a wet winshield at 5:00. When I went out 90 minutes later there was ice that my winshield wipers wouldnt dislodge. I cussed all the way to work. But my tomatoes were not bothered...go figure. I have grown maybe? lol at my grammar
angmnelson, I'm wondering why you had to pick San Marzano and Costoluto Genovese green and bring them inside.
How long is the growing season? (If you're not sure, ask your county's Cooperative Extension office: WA Extension offices.) Did you set the plants out too late for fruit to mature on the vine? Did it take too long for the plant to set fruit? Was the weather unusually uncooperative?
Some tomato varieties want to send out a zillion suckers and even make an attempt at making a new leader out of a fruit
sprig or whatever it's called. I try to avoid these but if one shows up in my new varieties I'm trying I just whack the heck out of the suckers and try to train it maybe to 3 leaders and hold her down a bit.
I sure do agree you don't want to remove all the suckers.
I like cages but stopped using them because winter storage became such a problem. Were I just doing 6 to 12 plants I would certainly get back into cages-probably the ones made out of reinforcing wire.
I tried hogpanels and they worked very well but certainly limited my travel in the garden! Once again, the number of plants has a lot to do with what is practical.
Yes, the goal is to put growth lower to the ground which, as I said, is the strategy that may ensure survival of the plants. That counts as "plant health", I think.
But that's important about secondary stems perhaps having lower capacity than primary. That is, using secondary stems closer to the ground may not be a lot better than primary stems farther from the ground.
Good hints about cuttings. More specific than some of the many discussions I've seen. Growth tips, rather than leaves and branches, eh? I'll give it a try.
Yep, manic cherries are beasts unto themselves. But the astounding productivity in early summer is addictive, which is why I'm sort of desperate to find strategies to keep them going!
Hi Kristimama...I also live in the East Bay (Oakley). I try all kinds of things with tomatoes (usually because I don't know any better). Last year I grew Better Boys on a trellis.
When they over grew the top, I let them keep growing and tied them is a gradual curve heading downward. This seemed to work very well.I kept pruning the suckers,and treated them as as vine.
I had tomatoes well into the fall.
Any hints on how to keep them from splitting during the last part of the season?
I know eggplants and peppers take longer to germinate, this is why I soak them in filtered water for 24 hours and then wrap them in moist paper towel and put it in ziplock bags over the top of refrigerator. they germinate within 10-days that way
Dave, I've read that the flea beetles injure the plant, leaving it open to infection by the fungus (and other things), so I guess one isn't necessarily the consequence of the other. I want to treat for both however.
I don't know if I want to plant a 'host' plant for the flea beetles! It used to be recommended hereabouts that people hang out traps to attract Japanese beetles, then they would leave your plants alone.It ended up that you had a beetle convention on your property and more arrived to party than were killed by the bait!
I may try Serenade for the fungus; it's supposed to be organic.
I researched flea beetle control last year when their numbers became exceptionally high in my tomato garden. The only thing that I found that has any indication for treatment of flea beetles (that is organic) is the use of beneficial nematodes.
They can be purchased online and are mixed with water and sprayed onto the soil, and subsequently watered in. The nematodes do nothing to kill the adult flea beetles, but rather, they kill the young flea beetle larvae while they are still in the soil - effectively breaking their reproductive life-cycle.
I used nematodes last year and it appeared to have good results. They died back much sooner than they had in the years past and I was able to limit the damage they did.
I normally don't use any controls of any kind for pests, but their numbers exploded early in the season due to an early spring and very wet weather. While flea beetles won't normally kill a healthy stand of tomato plants, they are capable of inflicting significant damage - and I grow plants for food me and my family, not for flea beetles.
I'm glad to hear that I wasn't the only one with a bad 2 years. I'm not giving up yet. ;)
I plan to have 3 30gal self watering containers on the patio with a total of 6 plants. Of course other containers back there for herbs & peppers.
Again this year I'll have a lot of plants at a friend's 10 acre organic farm with the hoop house. The farm is just too far out for me to get there more than once a week. The produce there is sold to restaurants, at the farmer's market and donated to charities. It's a work in progress. lol
I'm still deciding on some varieties. For the back patio I'll be growing Sungold, Black Cherry, Green Doctors, Matt's wild cherry, Snow white, and a slicer or paste to be determined. I like sweet cherry tomatoes obviously.
Last year at the farm I planted 22 varieties and they didn't do well, but I can't judge them as it was such a horrible year weather-wise.
I'm just waiting to start seed. The weather here for the most part has been so very nice it's hard to not do it.
Here's to hoping it will be a better year. :)
Kc It has to be better.. I'm going to try a little bit of everything this spring. Hopefully a few will do well. green cherokee
druzba
eva purple ball
paul robeson
hawwaian pineapple
green zebra
mortgage lifter
carmello
kimberly
kellogbreakfast
purple haze
dr. carolyn pink
damiel
red brandywine
jd special c tex
black from tula
franks red barn
sungold
carbon
black cherry
muleteam.
hopefully that should keep me busy and maybe i'll have a little success. If not it won't because i didn't try.
As far as the weather here the last yr and a half have been strange. Last winter we had around 36" of snow( alot for here) followed by a summer that was as hot as I've ever seen here and now basical not winter at all.I hope this summer returns to normal.
Some of that was disheartening, but I needed to hear it. I told my sister the same thing about yellow pear, but she insists... Pork Chop and Olive Hill - that was hard to hear, because those are two I was really looking forward to, but I'm taking it under advisement. My interest in Microtom is only for breeding purposes - I'd like to get a great favored heirloom in a small package, eventually. I may skip it and just go with its reportedly better-tasting yellow sister, Micro Gemma. And as curious as I am, that is too many desegregating hybrids to keep track of... Some of the yellows are getting a few years on them, and I just wanted to increase and refresh seed; maybe the younger ones can wait their turn. You all have been very helpful in trimming this year's list. Thanks again for lending me your perspectives!
Glad you got it, Larry! Sorry about your loss-great tomatoes, especially home crosses, are like members of
the family!
I got Dixiewine and the sisterline to Big Cheef (maybe
it's larger than BC). I've grown out some of the F3 Brandywine/NAR and it'll be interesting to compare
Dixiewine to them-they're all RL and PL reds (all appear
the same). Bill has said elsewhere that he may recross
Brandywine and NAR for sale on Marianna's site next year
for anyone interested in looking at the various genetic combinations-maybe some good pinks like I've seen discussed. Anyway, it might be fun for some of the younger
members to try some of Bill's crosses and find a favorite
to stabilize and name.
I think I've probably been near the areas in PA/Ohio you
mentioned-doing wear tests on jeans worn in underground
mines (Consol) near Washington, PA and in strip mines
in Ohio-beautiful countryside. Darlene
Darline,
Yes, we are blessed with some of the most varied and beautiful country in the US here in what I call Pennsyltuckie!
What struck me 30+ years ago when we moved here was the deep green color of the leaves, the twisting country roads through valleys and hills, seams of coal exposed wherever roads were cut around and beside hills and mountains, and the evident humor and industry with which the folks in
West Virginia, eastern Ohio, and western Pennsylvania
addressed their lives.
I worked in the coal industry for awhile also, Darline.And
I was in mines run by Consol near Washington, PA. And, oh my, tomatoes seem to love the weather and well tolerate the the mostly soso soil we have here.
Salute!
Larry
Yes. there is l;ack of P uptake when the plants are grown on the cool side sometimes. I don't know of any specific temps, I just look at the plants and when the undersides of the leaves and the stems start to turn purple I just use a foliar feed of either seaweed or fish prep which are high in P noramlly and that cures it until they get outside in the warm soil.
Even outside when there's a cold snap they can turn purple but at that point I just ignore it. And to be honest I sometimes just ignore it when the seedlings are inside as well b'c I don't see it as a major problem IMO.
Carolyn
I asked Extension Service in my area about this last yr as I was experiencing trouble with my seedlings. Pale color, purple undersides and general weak looking plants.
He explained that poor P levels in my growing medium was not good at the 2-3 in. stage. (Miracle Grow water saver stuff)
He stated that these spagnum products did not contain enough phosphorus to benefit the plant for storing the needed element to produce abundant fruit set later and help the plant in the best way at this stage.
I was noting to change the NPK this yr. What is the absolute best amounts at which stages Carolyn?
I assumed it was weather as to why I had poor fruit set after set out in warm soil.
Is it such a factor in seedling stage?
What is the color most would describe for the outside of the tomato?
Variable measures of green, pink and yellow. Inside: pink, red, yellow, green... a fantastic bi-colored tom. Typically on the sweet side from my experience. Some folks whose experience with the tom berry defines it as a red round thing may initially question whether it is really a tomato berry at all. Berkeley-Tie-Dye's berries also demonstrate an elaborate and wild interior flesh color scheme... as do many others. I would not be without growing a few of these types... not only for the gratification of looks of incredulity that they may provoke but also for the outrageously good taste.
Reggie
thanx a lot