16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
The Fullerton Arboretum has a famous annual tomato and pepper seedling sale in March with over 250 varieties.
Carla in Sac
Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.fullertonarboretum.org/ps_MonsterTomato.php
Don, Can't help you on seedlings which as you found out is a crap shoot but the seed suppliers that Carolyn listed are some of the best. I have personally bought and grown seeds from Victory, Glecklers and Tatianas and have had nothing but excellent results as far as germination and variety trueness.If you want to take a walk on the wild side check out the selections of Wild Boar Farms which is located in Napa.
I have heard of and have gotten seeds that were not true to the stated variety from Tomatofest and Baker Creek.
As far as KBX sources are concerned I know Glecklers has the true variety because I was their source and my source was Martha Hufford which I first grew out in 2007.
If there is anything in particular your looking for maybe I can help. Ami, born and raised in Whittier.
Here is a link that might be useful: Wild Boar Farms
If you have a recycling center near you, one that includes plastics, they are often a wealth of inexpensive container possibilities.
You might also want to look in "Grow Pots", a brand of heavy fabric containers. They are just one type of inexpensive large containers for gardening.
Dave
As a tomato grower in Oklahoma, I want to punctuate Dave's suggestion for MUCH larger pots. Remembering that we had more than 60 consecutive days of 100 degree plus temps last year, you are fighting an uphill battle with such small containers. While that size is sufficient in other parts of the country, and CAN be used here, it is really tough to keep them not only adequately, but also evenly watered.
I'd also encourage you to think about DTM (Days to Maturity) in your choice of variety. My average last frost date is April 15, emphasis on average. For the last several years, we've gone well below freezing around the 5th of May. Then, we've gone from 80's in the third week of June to 100s in the fourth week. We just skipped right over the nineties. Since production of many tomatoes drops significantly once temps are in the nineties, DTM is an important consideration. From the 5th of May to the fourth week of June is less than 50 days, which excludes many of my favorite tomatoes. One way to beat that is to plant out earlier, then be prepared to protect your plants from freezing if needed. Secondly, consider varieties with shorter DTMs. That's the one that's hard for me, because so many of my favorites are in the 85-90 day range.
Now that I've given you things to ponder, I'll share the varieties that did well for me in last year's heat. Notice, that despite what I just said above, several of them have long DTMS.
Bar none, my top producer last year was Dana's Dusky Rose. The other producers in the heat were Indian Stripe, Sioux, Big Beef, Black Cherry, Sun Gold, Tumbling Tom (Red and Yellow), Mountain Magic and Ananas Noire.
Lastly, I want to invite you to stop by the Oklahoma Gardening forum here at GW. We talk a lot about tomatoes, and the challenges specific to our climate. Hope you'll drop in.
Seedmama
Jebeld17, we really need more information. For instance, how is the plant "obviously ... related to the tomato"? Leaf shape? Fruit? Something else?
It would help if we could see a photo. Here's how to post one on GW:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hosta/msg0513322013993.html?14
Then if you don't get an answer here, try GW's Name That Plant forum.
Some nightshades have white or whitish flowers; they tend to have dark, not-furry leaves.
I've never grown eggplants or peppers, but I believe at least some have white flowers.
Tomatillos and ground cherries have cream-colored flowers, mostly with wine-brown in the interior.
You didn't say anything about spines, so I won't mention the nasty ones.... Horse nettle's the only one I remember having small white flowers.
You could search Google Images for the above; you might want to add "flowers" to the search terms.
You might try Googling the genus Solanum. There are many species in that genus, only one species are tomatoes, which wouldn't have white blossoms, potatoes and eggplant are also in the genus Solanum but there are many many other species that are in that genus as well.
Trying to track down exactly what you have will not be easy, it could help if you saw some fruits and what color they turned out to be.
Carolyn
Thanks again...
basically my "garden" is a small brick courtyard, brick facing on both sides, hours of direct sun exposure. I call it the "brick oven" in the summer. The tomatillos love the blistering heat. The 'maters, not so much...
I figure this year I'm just going to go with mostly tomatillos and experiment with some heatset varieties for mid June to late August.
IF, we see a repeat of La Nina I need to cover my bases and have at least one tomato able to product some fruit in the heat. Last year was my worse year ever! Please tell me if you had any lucky with Solar Fire/Flare/Set?
PS, I'll take blah tomatoes over no tomatoes like last year. My standby Jet Star have lack luster last year with the La Nina heat. Supersonic was just a bit better. And all the others, Money Maker, Bloody Butcher, were swiped out from the heat. Only Sun Gold and Supersonic bounce back from the heat at least.
'Organic' and 'untreated' are 2 different things. Many places sell untreated seeds. In fact the vast majority of seeds sold are untreated and even when treated are offered (they do have advantages and many of us wish more were available) they are labeled as such and untreated seed of the same variety is usually also offered.
So if you are looking untreated seeds then you can order from most any vendor and just check the listing for the "Treated Seed" tag before ordering it. If in doubt the vendor will always tell you if it is or not.
If you want organic seed then there are not as many vendors since the demand for it is low. Even certified organic growers are not required to use organic seed. Baker Creek is one source, Johnny's Seeds is another. Seeds of Change is one of the biggest.
The link below lists several organic seed vendors.
Hope this helps.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: organic seed vendors
RLydia, I think those are mealy bugs. I have no personal experience with them on tomatoes (that I remember, anyway), but found this info:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tompests/msg0622481625115.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_5506159_kill-mealy-mites-tomatoes.html
Hopefully someone else will respond. In the meantime, consider using some horticultural soap.
I have realized that underwatering and leaving the fruit on the vine as long as possible is the way to go for the best tasting tomatoes. I grow in containers in the dry season here so I have to water more than those of you who plant in the ground. I have to watch out for BER since we get no rain at all this time of year.
Momo, Avail is Heritage Tomato Seed (San Diego)
McClintock�s Big Pink � $1.75
approx. 15 seeds � indeterminate � potato leaf � mid season � McClintock�s Big Pink is a very good pink beefsteak made popular by Amy Goldman�s book. We have a small amount of seed so are offering smaller quantity packets at a reduced price.
(Mine just arrived last week)- Randy
Here is a link that might be useful: Heritage Tomato Seed
rocketship,
When I read your post I immediately thought of Nepal. It should produce tomatoes big enough for burgers. Maybe Gregory's Altai also. I think I would look around FEDCO in (Maine), or Annapolis Valley Seeds, shoot them an e-mail of your situation. -Randy
Will you be growing from seed or buying transplants? If using transplants then your choices will be limited to what is available to you to buy locally. If from seeds then there are lots of choice but some will do better hydroponically than others.
As ralliea suggested the hydro forum here could give you the best info on tried and true hydro varieties. The link below includes info on some of the standard hydro-grown tomato varieties.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Industry tested hydroponic tomato varieties
Good information. Growing tomatoes here in florida during the winter does has it's drawbacks. The days are short which results in slower ripening. Plus so little rain. But I'm glad I'm not having to can in August and September like folks up north. Every place has it's good and bad points. Its probably best that there isn't one state that is total perfection for tomato growing,as there might be a population imbalance with too many people like us on this forum wanting to move there!
Rex
I was thankful that I only had to cover my plants once this December. And the warm temperatures meant I had fruit to harvest by New Years. So nice compared to the last couple of years.
It's not perfection here many years, but this year was close except for needing to water so often.
Here is a link to Craig's Dense Seeding video.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Dense Seeding Video
Depends on your night temps during the summer here. If you get down below 73F consistently you can grow most if the cherries through the summer, that's about it. If not then the only tomatoes that will set fruit through the summer are the currants, small but prolific and mighty tasty. I've grown the UF heat tolerant tomatoes as late as June in Zone 10 but they really didn't have much taste.
Tom
I live in south west florida and we can't grow tomatoes in the summer except for currants. Not even the cherries do well down here in the summer due to the nighttime temps being too high. Our nighttime temperatures average 75 in July and August, which is too hot for fruit set even for cherry tomatoes.
The humidity and rain that time of year increase the chances of bacterial and fungal leaf infections and root rot, too. Those can be ameliorated somewhat by spraying and using fast draining mixes in raised beds or containers, but it is a lot of work for currant tomatoes IMO!
The other problem we have down here in the summer is that the daytime temperatures are too hot to allow for even ripening. I believe what happens is that the hot temperatures heat the soil to the point that it is too hot for the plant's roots to take up potassium and this impairs the ability of the fruit to produce lycopene and carotene. The end result is blotchy ripening. So even if you can get some fruit set, you won't get nicely ripened fruit here in the summer at least for the regular sized tomatoes. I have found if the daytime temps are consistently above 85, as is true in May down here, this problem occurs in the regular sized tomatoes.
Like Tom said, if your nighttime temps where you live are consistently 73 or below, you should be able to grow cherry tomatoes in the summer. The only cherry that I have grown is Sun Gold and I grew it this fall. I liked this one if I kept it underwatered and let the fruit ripen on the plant. If I watered regularly, the fruit tasted watery and sour. If I underwatered - let them get to the point they just started to wilt a bit - they were sweet and fruity but they cracked. They are awesome producers, though!
What you can do to figure out the best planting times is find out the average highs and lows in your area by month. Then use the days to maturity (which is days to maturity FROM TRANSPLANT) to calculate when you need to get your seedlings into the ground.
As an example, the average daytime temps in my area in May are 89 so I need all of my fruit ripened by May 1st. If I want to grow a late season variety like Brandywine with a days to maturity of 85 days, I must transplant it no later than February 1st to get the first fruits ripened before it gets too hot. However, since it is an indeterminate and I want to be able to harvest more fruit than just the first fruit to set, I would go back at least a month and get them in the ground/containers by January 1st. However, our nighttime temps in January average 54, which is too cold for fruit set, so I would go back to December 1st for that reason.
I allow 2 months for germination and potting up to get them ready for transplant, so to get them in the ground/containers by December 1st, that means starting my seeds October 1st.
For my fall crop, nighttime temps here in September average 74, which is too hot for fruit set. So I aim for a transplant date of no earlier than October 1st.
Of course I don't have to factor in freeze dates, which you will have to do.
Below is a link to a UF table listing planting dates. I have found this to be a bit too optimistic in stating how long our growing season is at least for the regular sized tomatoes. Cherries and currant varieties you will have better luck with, but even the cherries won't set fruit when the nighttime temps get consistently above 75 in July and August here.
Here is a link that might be useful: Florida Planting Dates
New at tomato planting, have planted three tomato plants in containters in my patio. have great fruit. but now some of the tomatoes have small round holes, don't know if they are birds eating them. or some other pests. The leaves are healthy, no spots or anything on them. Please advise as to how would I know that it is.
After birds started eating my beautiful tomatoes, I constructed a frame with home depot bird netting stapled to it. That stopped the birds, but lizards got trapped/died. That is teriible, cutting rotting lizards from the net. I won't do that again!!!
Amanda - I am in Southern California inland between LA and San Diego and I plant out about April 1 or later since we have a long season. Where are you located? Linda
Hi Amanda,
If it ever happens again, stretching is tomatoes is pretty easy to fix. Tomatoes will sprout roots all along stem that touches soil. Therefore it you replant legging seedlings in a deeper container and bury them so that just the upper leaves are showing, all that step underground becomes part of the root system and you have stretch no more.
One of the ways to help fight stretching is to get them in natural light as soon as possible. I start mine inside under lights because I need inside temps to get them started, but as soon as they get their first real leaves, they are transplanted deep and moved outside into a coldframe. Sometimes I have to bring them in at night if temps get to cold but it is worth it for stocky, hardened off seedlings.
Stacy