16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
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?
Jrslick:
I'm interested in your plan for cold weather (nights). I will plant a few hundred plants in a tunnel in 2-3 weeks but I plan to provide heat as needed thru April. With a little extra heat most of those nights the plants seem to grow better and produce much earlier than without. Do you use row cover within the tunnel or any other protection?
Hi Linda,
Glad to hear the B.f.C. are up and growing!!!
I am actually using a 50/50% blend of the Old Tomato-tone, with the New Tomato-tone. So, it is a bit more potent rather than just using 100% of the organic New Tomato-tone.
In addition to the Tomato-tone, I will supplement with Grow Big and Tiger Bloom ferts during the Season.
Now getting the EarthTainers prepared for plant-out March 1 this year. Been a VERY warm Winter here - in the 70's for the next 10 days.
Raybo
Thanks Ray, I thought that was the case. I supplement also but I am going to use at least 1 cup organic mixed in and two cups in the strip. I may use more since the Garden Tone I have is something like 3s and 4s for everything. Cant remember if its 4-3-3 or vice versa. Going to be a great week here too, in the 80s!!! I planted out early March last year but we all had such bad spring storms I am planning on late March thru April staggered plant out. Probably will plant a Moskvitch and maybe SunGold earlier. LInda
Just a clarification on 5 gal. containers. You can grow any indeterminate variety in them if you provide the plant with support and and give it nutrients two to three times a week. Daily watering will be required and during hot weather watering twice a day may be required. I've had plants load up with 20-30 fruit no problem. Container Ted who posts at TV lives in your neck of the woods and does both growing in containers and in the ground with the wildlife you mentioned. If you like shoot me an e-mail and I can put him in touch with you. Ami
I use four-foot shop lights with a mix of cool and warm flourescent 40-watt bulbs. With those, it's best to keep the lights as close as possible, like no more than an inch or two. Even if the lights touch the leaves for a few hours, they won't burn. When my seedlings are growing well I have to raise the lights a bit every day. I also have to say your soil looks too wet. Once the plants develop leaves, you need to let the soil dry out a bit between waterings.
Ohiofem,
Too wet, yes, I agree, but also NOT ENOUGH LIGHTS!
Observe the way that the two rows in the foreground are leaning towards the rear, while the seedlings towards the rear are bending forward. The ones along the centerline just appear totally confused.
Those seedlings are starved for light. It looks like they are under one weak lamp. Nowhere near what they need in order to avoid legginess.
In a way, lowering the single lamp is going to make the seedlings along the edges lean even more.
I'll repeat what I said to bailey, who also has leaning seedlings.
Is your lighting setup at least as wide as the all the plants you are trying to grow under it?
Ideally your fluorescent light array should be a little wider (and longer) than all the trays of plants you have under it. That way the plants sense light coming from all directions. Otherwise, of COURSE the plants are going to "lean in" to try to get closer to the lights.
I use simple 4' fluorescent double shop lights, set side-by-side-by-side. There's really no need to buy anything fancy. You might check out the "Growing under Lights" forum here for more tips.
Here is a link that might be useful: Growing under Lights
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.
I prune to the tips Of my fingers on top and when the plants reach the next plant on the side. Simple plan, excellent yield.