16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
I assume you live somewhere where tomatoes can be growing this time of year? Indication of your growing zone or location is a big help when answering questions.
These plants are in containers, correct? How big are the containers? Why did you not use soil-less potting mix as is recommended for containers? Potting soil and top soil, when used in containers, compacts and causes drainage problems and root rot so that is likely the cause of your problem. Over-watering is another cause especially when a poorly draining mix is used.
But "I water twice a week" tells me you are on a fixed schedule of watering - whether the plants need it or not? Container plants don't tolerate fixed schedules since their water needs vary greatly from day to day depending on the weather, container size, and type of mix used. Some days they require multiple waterings and other days you will need to skip it all together. So you will want to re-evaluate that approach to watering only when the plants need it, when the soil is dry 4-6" down in the pot.
Also feeding is vitally important to container plants. Since the nutrients leach out every time you water they must be replaced regularly to keep the plants healthy. So what and how often are you feeding your plants.
Lastly, what variety are we talking about? Indeterminate varieties will require different care from determinate plants.
As you can see there are a number of variables that can contribute to your problems so can you provide us with more details please.=?
Dave
SimonJ, you didn't indicate what part of the country you live in. I have been growing tomatoes in an open garden, in containers on my porch, and in a greenhouse environment for years in Upstate NY. For the last two years both my open garden and porch container tomatoes have experienced the 'late blight' symptoms very similar to what you describe, while my greenhouse tomatoes have been unaffected.
After two consecutive years, local universities etc. have determined that this is a variation of the famous 'potato blight' of 150 years ago ... which has now becoming a more or less regional problem in the Northeast. And it doesn't appear to be confined to tomatoes either, having wreaked havoc on my squash, pumpkins etc. at right around the time that the fruit are really starting to develop nicely.
As Digdirt indicated, one of the best things you can do to minimize the effects is to invest in a soil moisture meter and water based on actual need not a time schedule. The 'late blight' is apparently encouraged by excess watering. Next, you can try using an organic fungicide like Serenade ... but you have to use it before the 'late blight' symptoms start appearing. Mulching the soil at the base of your tomato plants, both the containers and in the open garden, appeared to slow down the 'late blight' for me last year to the point of getting a good initial tomato harvest ... but beyond the middle of august only my greenhouse tomatoes were still healthy and still producing.
Also, with two years of experience, a new variety of tomato has been developed and tested that is supposedly very resistant to 'late blight'. It's called 'Legend' ... and I'll be trying it for the first time this year in my open garden and porch containers.
Linda,
Even if the dunks are organic & guaranteed safe, I have a problem with putting them in the water my tomatoes would be sucking up from an EB. Those I'll have on my patio will probably be in single 20g containers & I'll just have to water a lot. :)
KC - I grow in EBs and containers, largely because I dont have enough EBs to grow all the toms I want! Many EB growers in mosquito country on a forum for EB so they must find a way. Some use mesh screen or weed fabric at openings unstead of the BT dunks. Hate to see a good Earth Box go to waste! Linda
Tomatoes are heavy potassium (K) feeders and by giving excess Magnesium (Mg) you also upset the Calcium (Ca) + Mg to K ratio in the soil which will likely haunt you in the fruiting experience.
Because of the salt buildup as well as that you have plants in pots the best thing you could do is to repot if at all convenient.
I grew Aunt Ruby's German Green this year. It is an absolutely delicious tomato, but was not a particularly productive plant. The ones I picked were probably 8 oz or more. I am going to try Green Zebra next year. My friend grew it and said they were very productive. It's delicious, very green, and what I would call a medium to small size.
It does depend on how many plants you plan on having. I ironically don't like most tomatoes but I grow a LOT for friends & sales out at a farm I have access to.
In my own tiny backyard I'll have just 4 tomato plants this year. Black Cherry, Sungold Select and one other cherry TBD will be 3 of them as *I* DO prefer sweet cherry sized tomatoes.
At the farm this year I'll have around 100 plants, only *maybe* 5-10 will be cherry tomatoes. When you sell to restaurants & at farmers markets they prefer larger tomatoes I've found. And ironically they're still adjusting to different colored heirloom tomatoes. Those here in KC just don't buy the "weird colored" tomatoes so this year I'm going to stick more with red/pink/orange/yellow heirlooms that I find tasty. It's sad because if they could just get past the color, most black/purple/brown tomatoes are just amazing.
I haven't bought seed from Burpee's for a few years, but never had a problem with the seeds being other than advertised. In fact, that's where I first bought Sun Gold seeds many years ago.
I order from TGS every year and have run into problems with seed not being as advertised. No company is infallible.
I grew Sweet Tangerine on and off for several years now. It is not going to taste nearly as sweet as sungold but it is a good tasting mid size tomato when fruits are ripened completely. I don't think I've tasted anything as sweet as sungold.
Sweet Tangerine is determinant but the fruits won't actually ripen at the same time, so the harvest period is about 2 months for me. It has always been healthy and vigorous in my garden with very good yield. The size is perfect for sandwiches or salads. I really like it even though I mostly grow heirloom varieties.
It's Bear Claw and I grew it many years ago, my seeds directly from Fax Stinnett whose name you'll recognize when you read the link below. Fax was very active in SSE and listed many varieties and passed away quite a few years ago, I don't remember the actual date.
Carolyn
Here is a link that might be useful: Bear Claw
I gre it as well several yrs ago when my garden was partly shaded......my neighbor had a peck basket full on his truck with the red ones and they were large and mostly uniform .....round if a little oblate....maybe 5 inches or more across. Reminded me a lot of my MLs and about the same size, def more than a pound each.
They tend to do best flavorwise when the night time temps are higher. Also, being up north, growing them in the summer (when the light quality and duration is different).
I prefer Sakata's precursor variety 'Sweet Quartz" but 'Sweet Hearts' has added firmness to reduce bursting (they burst which is technically different than cracking). This made it more attractive to a larger seed market.
I have some staple varieties that I know I will be growing but always try a couple new ones...Bought some tom seeds from Diane's Seeds this year for the first time. So no clue as to their viability and true-to-type parameters (I would think that C Male could provide sound insight in those regards). Anyhow, Diane has a good selection and seeds as well as seeds of some unusual tom cults. Also, the blurbs applied to the tomatoes' descriptions mercifully do not exude a hyperbolic measure of each varieties' virtues, as the cats of some do.
Reggie
Here is a link that might be useful: Diane Lindsey
Here's the tomatoes that I've not grown before but are have piqued my interest. If anyone is familiar with any of these varieties and would recommend I try, I'd appreciate. These varieties are listed in the Tomato Growers Supply Company 2012 catalog:
Early Season varieties- Fireworks, Gregori's altai, Kimberly, Matina
Middle Season varieties- Big Raspberry, Brandywine Red,Costoluto Genovese, Holland, Kewalo, Pink Ping Pong, Wisconsin 55
Late Season varieties- German Giant, Arkansas Traveler, Aunt Ginny's Purple, Sudduth's Strain, Italian Sweet, Mortgage lifter, Pink Ponderosa
In terms of Cherry's here's some varieties that I found interesting:
Supersweet 100, Sungold, Sweet Million, Isis Candy, Black Cherry
Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Growers Supply Company
I personally like the black prince tomatoes. might run a little smaller then what your asking for (2-3oz-ish). Very pretty and unique tasting tomatoes. Not very pretty in salsa though, my mother remarked that it looked like baby vomit after i blended a few.
Ohfem, I too am i SWOhio, and have always had luck with the Cherokee Purple here. Last year, a new winner emerged for me - Arkansas Traveler. Even with the crazy, wet spring it was a prolific producer and all fruits were picture perfect. The taste wasn't as good as the Cherokee Purple, but it was pretty good! I will definitely be giving the AT another try this year, to see if it was a fluke. Now if I could just find a paste tomato like that.....
If toy like Black tomato, try Chocolate Stripes from Tomato Fest. It ranked No. 1 at Tomato Fest and most popular black tomato in 2010 and had great demand in 2011. I grew them and they have very distinctive sweet/acid taste with wonderful color. Most of my tomatoes were robbed by Squirrels last season, this season I got a poison pill plan for them.