16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

I've been tomato growing for 19 years. If picked after the breaker stage and allowed to ripen indoors without the apple slice ethylene push they taste just as good as vine ripe IMO. Yes I have done taste comparisons. I can't pick exactly at the right hour (You'd have to to be PERFECTLY ripe) or even every day. I usually pick every three days and when I pick - I pick! Anything close gets picked, say three days close. Birds and rodents get very few that way. I must say, once and awhile I'll find a beautiful juicy deep red, gold or pink tomato and while still sun warm it is a nice treat...:)

I've started covering my tomatoes at night to avoid the 45-50
degree nights but days reach 70-75 degrees. Would they ripen as fast if I leave the cover on during the day, too?

Going to top this again for yumtomatoes.

thanks!

I have learned that Blossom End Rot is caused by lack of consistent watering. My solution was rain barrels. I have 2-- 55 gal barrels to collect the rain water from the downspouts. Keep them about 18 in off the ground so you can install a faucet to fill 5 gal pails for hand watering. It works if you get enuf rain to fill the barrels or you could fill the barrels on your watering days. Good Luck!
TomF

Make sure you check the acidity level in your soil. I know Fulton Co. Extension Service offers this for a small fee. I have always heard that BER is caused by a need for lime to be added to the soil. As a side note, my Parks Whopper has been the best, most consistent producer in our garden this year.

I was also wondering about planting past the cotyledons. I have young healthy plants with 2+ sets of healthy true leaves, and it's time to pot up. The problem is that I went out of town for a couple of days and left the plants in a sunny window instead of under their grow lights, and they got just a tiny bit leggy. Therefore, I'd like to cut off or bury the cotyledons with the potting, but I hesitate because they're still quite green and healthy, even though I've got big true leaves.

What I did was bury the plant just up to the cotyledons for most of my seedlings. A few very leggy plants, I buried past the cotyledons but left parts of the cotyledons exposed.

Mine had at least 2 sets of true leaves when I did that so I thought that would be sufficient for photosynthesis.

I have two favorite recipies (if you can call them that).

1. While picking cherry tomatoes off the vine...eat them.

2. Sliced raw tomato with Kosher salt.

Both recipies are simple and easy. And the best way to
eat tomatoes IMHO.

I really enjoy my tomatoes sliced with salt and nothing else or on a BLT. I do like a caprese salad, too, though - sliced tomatoes, sliced fresh mozzarella, chopped fresh basil and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. And of course, salt.

It is true that the smaller what you call runts usually don't have we well developed roots, but that's b'c most of the time, at least the way I start seedlings, they are in nutritional competition with other nearby seedlings.

Which is why thinning out seedlings helps a lot.

Trust me, you'll learn by experience. When I first started growing tomatoes there were no message sites to ask questions at, and that's true for many who post here and elsewhere and I did just fine as did they and you will as well, that I know.

Experience is the very best teacher there is.

Carolyn

I started the seeds in pots in sterile seed starting mix. I think the roots were not developed due to how hot and humid it is here right now. I had 1 seed per cell so I don't think it was competition.

The ones that did the worst were Kellogg's Breakfast, Virginia Sweets, OTV and Cherokee Purple. Sudduth, Landis and Plattfoot Brandywine and Sun Gold did the best. So I am going to stick with the latter 4 and then try again in November with the other 4.

I put my green tomatoes in newspaper lined flats. These are covered with another layer of newspaper. I just lift the paper to check. In my case the newspaper provides some insulation and absorbs fluids from bad spots that I have missed.

Thanks for all the replys. I put them into a box as suggested and covered the entire box with newspapers and checked daily. I am happy to report that most are already various stages of red. Looks like they will all ripen and a lot sooner than I thought. Thanks again...this is a great forum.

I let them on to turn yellow and fall off on their own cause I figure that they're still feeding the plant. Then when I transplant again into cups a couple weeks later, I go deep. I might be right or wrong though.

Just cut one off and bury the other with the stem

alex, i will take pedantic divel for 300$

what is bull?hit
ding ding

What is bull? terrybull, lol!

jesse, I wonder if you're seeing tomato fruitworms? They look similar to cutworms, so if you're seeing fruitworms you might think of cutworms.
tomato fruitworms images (ignore the two attention-seeking hornworms "horning" in)

Fruitworms eat leaves: I find more of them on tomato leaves than I find fruit damage. They also eat through the skin of a fruit, making a neat hollow in the interior where they can gorge themselves on seeds and pulp without being seen. Then they go off to become a moth, leaving you scratching your head when you later find the untenanted hole. They may also bore into stems and leaf midribs.

The tomato fruitworm is also known as the corn earworm.

Carolyn thanks for cluing me in. The plant has already set fruit and the leaves and some fruit has been eaten looks like it could be the fruitworm thanks Missing and Carolyn for the I.D. Well today I placed a plastic gatorade jug around some of the other tom's so I'll see how that works, I'll keep y'all posted. Thanks all I think some of the tom's have fell victim to the fruit worm ugh. I believe there is still time to start some tom's from seed. Thanks again

You can turn yourself orange if you eat too many carrots due to the beta-carotene being fat-soluable and depositing in the skin. It is called carotenoderma. The darker your natural skin color, the less noticeable it is.

There is beta-carotene in tomatoes, too, but you would have to eat a tremendous amount to turn orange from tomatoes!

I know a gardener who isn't supposed to eat tomatoes. He feels lucky if he can eat half a tomato twice a week. (I'm not sure what his problem is; it sounded like either a mild allergy or indigestion.)

===

Apparently there is no recommended level of lycopene. Nor is there any information about what level might cause an overdose.

Some studies show lycopene lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease and prevents or fights certain cancers. It may also help build up the immune system in the elderly. It is also taken for HPV, cataracts, and asthma. However, the NIH says there isn't enough evidence for any of the claims about lycopene.

Besides tomatoes, lycopene is found in watermelons, pink grapefruit, apricots, and pink guavas -- but at much lower levels.

I've certainly learned much from reading posts from Mulio & Carolyn, but what is the point of this?

The point of it is mulio defining the difference between a line, as in breeding line, as opposed to a variety and he said the preferred term was cultivar, not variety.

My only comment was to explain why I think we home growers are more comfortable with the term variety while scientists in the field tend to prefer the word cultivar.

So, a clarification on mulios's part which should help those who do confuse a line, whether a breeding line from selections from an initial hybrid, or breeding lines on the way to an F1 hybrid, that a variety is not the same as the OP's found in breeding lines.

That's what the point of mulio's thread is and I, for one, am glad he initiated it.

Carolyn