16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
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.)
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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.
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
Hi remy; Thanks for the post so quickly. I looked it over twice and didn't see Mark (Korny) anywhere. Have you heard from him? Looks like all had fun. I hope next year will be better for me and the misses to come again we enjoyed the one we were at. Kind of miss it the past couple of years.
larry
Carolyn, I haven't grown Dr. Lyle ... yet.
I certainly read the blossom color info in your book, but have likely seen it mentioned elsewhere also; the lighter colored flowers intrigue me. I have a large Word document (compulsive retired-librarian behavior) of interesting tomato varieties and other tomato info: Dr. Lyle and Lutescent came up in a search of the doc.
Jay, yes I was wondering about that too. It has green and red stripes, sort of elongated shape and they are bigger than a cherry. I got a lot of tomatoes out of only 1 plant, this season I planted few, 2 for me and others for friends. I am sure that it will be a big seller at the market, they do look good in salads.
I will be waiting on your review of the other tomatoes to see if they are worth growing them.
Silvia
I am glad to hear the size is bigger than a cherry. I am hoping these will be a nice addition to our late fall/early winter salads. If they are really good and staying productive, we planned to move a few (Maybe 10-20) baskets into a south facing room with all windows and keep them going all winter long. We did that several years ago with one basket.
Jay
Yea, I figured that out about two minutes after my post; I'm sure that they rotted due to neglect; I traveled a lot more than anticipated and stayed away from home and garden too long. After my post I cleaned out all the rotten ones. No travel next year! Thanks for the reply.
I bought 2 plants and several different 'varieties' of the OSU seed this Spring. So far all I can say is WOW. The Plants are big with thick fat stems and very fast growing. They are out growing all my other tomatoes. They flower early and set well. The 2 plants have numerous golf ball sized fruits on them that are turning deep blue/purple right now. Looks like they will be ripe soon.
The seed grown ones are blooming right now from a May sowing and look to be more variable, though they too have excellent vigor. They will be plenty of time for these to set fruit too.
Besides the fast growth the lateral stems are very vigorous and have had to do a lot of staking. the only negative is that they have been prone to wind damage from being so big.
They are in the same soil as my other tomatoes which is good but not overly rich. The vigor on these is exceptional.
Yup, I had the same thing happen to mine as well.
I had it in a fairly mediocre wire cage because I honestly didn't expect this much growth out of them. Couple weeks ago we had a windstorm and it was so big and bushy the wind picked the entire damned thing up and knocked it over (note that it was in a 25 gallon pot, full to the top).
Had some damage from that, then more damage after I had to cut the metal cage out to put better stakes in. Didn't feel like just tossing half the plant on the compost pile (especially since they had small tomatoes on them), so I dug out the rest of my potting soil and tossed them in a big pot. Figured they'd live or die, would see what happened.
Not only did the impromptu cuttings live, they kept the tomatoes that are now ripening. These are hearty little buggers!
Picture of one of the clumps:
Had a small one ripen early (was down in the leaves away from most of the sun, so it was only half black, half red), too small for seeds so I ate it. Don't know why people put these things down, was a very tasty little 'mater in my book (although, again, the strain isn't entirely stable, maybe I just lucked out and got a yummy one).
does that fertilizer manufacture formulate their product assuming the gardener's soil will be ideal (perfect) for their plants of choice?
Basically yes, not perfect but within the acceptable range of 'normal' soil pH.
s it safe to assume that no matter what fertilizer you choose and use it according to their directions, that it won't help much if your actual soil is unbalanced in nutrients and/or the pH is way off.
Yes, with provisions mentioned by Terry. It isn't a static environment. It is affected by the plants themselves, the weather, the pH of your water or the rain, the tilth of the soil, it's ability to drain or retain water, etc. But still basically, the answer is yes it won't help much if the soil pH is out of kilter.
Can any fertilizer help balance poor soil?
Simple answer is no, not if you mean balance the pH. Improve the nutrient availability, sure but would they be more usable by the plants just because they are there, not necessarily.
It's for these reasons that compost rather than manufactured fertilizers is so strongly recommended. It can balance the pH, improve the soil tilth and water balance, and feed the plants. How well it does all those things depends on the quality of the compost used.
Most have had aphids since day one.
Often a good indicator of excessive nitrogen use.
Dave
I don't know - my 1st year growing determinates. They're *supposed* to ripen all at once over a couple of weeks and then die, but I've been harvesting Glaciers all month, it's been an awful year (hot dry July and WET August), they're still ripening - and have new blossoms (at the tops)!
We'll see what Irene did to them - just staked them back up yesterday.
Hello,
You will get some variation in all tomatoes due to weather and such. Experienced growers tend not to rule out a variety based on a single years experience. What is a fantastic tomato in an optimal year may be just so-so in a year that is wetter, drier, hotter or cooler than the previous year. Disease and insect loads certainly do affect the flavor also. Many on the forum are mentioning that tomatoes they have had great production and flavor with in the past are rather poor producers with lackluster flavor this year. Give them another chance if you have the room. If you hate it three (or more) years in a row, then strike it from your "to grow" list and give any remaining seeds away or flush them the way you would expired medicine!
Betsy
I have grown Sheboygan tomatoes for the past 5 years. I usually grow about 20 varieties each year. Sheboygan has been and will remain my favorite tomato. That said this years crop is really bad. About half of the varieties I have grown this year are in the same boat.
I urge you not to give up on this tomato, everybody who has tried it sings it praise. 2 years ago I counted 250 fruits on one plant. I plant my father in laws garden with 8 tomatoes each year, last year and this year he requested all Sheboygans.
alex, i will take pedantic divel for 300$
what is bull?hit
ding ding
What is bull? terrybull, lol!