16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
'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!!!
I grew large cherry variety that I planed in Apr 2011, to this day it keeps producing with no fertilizer, I am amazed on how long life these things have. And with current weather that is sort of spring like already, its blooming very hard again along with my 10 other heirloom tomato plants that I never pulled out. My thought was to use the tomato plants to support pea vines but both are thriving now.
Go with large cherry, I also heard that black cherry is the same way. Oh, I am in Corona area so that should work for you too.
It sounds like you might be interested in the new releases from the Dwarf Tomato Project. The link below gives a brief description of the project, and the new varieties that have been released so far. I think the tallest of the new dwarfs is 4 or 4.5 feet.
Here is a link that might be useful: Dwarf Tomato Project
Tatiana's TOMATObase seed catalog can be searched by "dwarf" in the Description field. Not everything that comes up is a dwarf -- some are basket types -- but she usually gives plant height or at least enough information to know if it's the size you're interested in.
You can also download a .pdf version of the catalog, and IIRC there's a dwarf section there also. She's in Canada but you can order in dollars.
http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/seed-catalog/html/
[If you're not familiar with it, take a look at the TOMATObase itself to find information on more than 3,000 tomato varieties (usually OP).
There's a section listing dwarf tomatoes here:
http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Category:Tomatoes
and she also indicates which vendors sell each variety (though obviously the information can't include every vendor).]
I'm already putting out squash transplants. Melons and cucumbers will follow in a few days. The tomatoes will be transplanted to larger containers tomorrow. I plan on transplanting the tomatoes into the garden February 15th. Our long range forecast shows nothing but mid 70's and low 80's for the next few weeks. If the weather man is wrong I have plenty of burlap to cover everything if I have to.
Thanks, all. This is food for thought. I believe I will start just two or three plants a couple of weeks earlier than normal this year (which is week after next) and then start the rest at the normal time. That way, I can take advantage of whatever comes without major losses.
Wow, natal. I am really fascinated with your results. Makes me wonder how my Sungolds would have done under row covers this winter. We have have had a zone 9 winter this year. They continued to bear even after our first few light frosts out in the open.
I'm not really sure.
I have slowly ripened green tomatoes indoors (temps 40s to 60s) during the winter, but it has always been my understanding (and experience) that tomatoes after a hard freeze turn to mush on thawing, rather than ripening in any pleasant fashion.
But as long as you could avoid a freeze, have you ever looked into the "storage" tomatoes?
They have names like "golden treasure" and "ruby treasure" and are available from Peters Seed and Research. I got my seeds a few years back and haven't grown enough of them to really decide whether I like them or not.
I first got interested in them years ago after reading an article in one of my organic gardening magazines. One grower posted a discussion of them:
Here is a link that might be useful: Golden Treasure Storage Tomatoes
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.