16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

Sorry! I'm thinking of my experiences with houseplants.

Thanks for your comments, everyone. It stopped raining around 11am (instead of the projected 9 pm) so I was able to get them outside for the afternoon, and they even saw quite a bit of sunlight. Of course moving a 8-9' plant inside by myself was difficult and the top of the main stem got got bent back... Hopefully it won't die.

Not sure how you and your family eat tomatos...but those two piles are just about enough tomato for me alone...for a day and half.

I agree, you can never eat too many tomatoes ;-) And they do freeze well!

I have 51 plants, all bearing well. Between eating tomatoe sammy's, salsa, brushetta and sauce I can never have enough toms! Of course I do share my bounty with friends.

I bought the Pro potting mix, which has these ingredients:

Fafard Professional Potting Mix: This lightweight formula has been pH adjusted and combines Canadian sphagnum peat moss, processed pine bark, vermiculite, and perlite for excellent drainage and great results.

I don't know the percentage of peat. I will return the vermiculite and get more bark.

While the professional potting mixes work well for many right out of the bag, I believe what you are asking about has been covered in detail over in the container forum.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tapla's 5-1-1 Container Mix in More Detail

Carolyn,
I actually got the seeds for my Mexico Midget and German Queen at Tomatopalooza 2008, I believe from Craig himself. I made several attempts at crossing MM and GQ and saved seed from the fruits I crossed. The plant is lanky like MM and the stigma is quite exerted, it is also RL and WAY more productive than the GQ the seeds came from. I suppose it could be crossed with something else but given that I emasculated the flowers and placed MM pollen on the stigma over the course of a few days, I can't think of anything more likely.
The fruits so far are good. Skin is a little on the thick side but I wonder if the rainy hot summer could be a factor. Taste is about halfway between the parents. That nice "pink" taste of GQ with a touch of the bolder MM. I haven't really thought about what I want to select for in F2. I have a small garden and a whole lot of exotic varieties from GRIN to grow out next year so I will probably plant at most 3 of the F2 and see what variations come up. If you like, I would be happy to send a few F1 seeds your way or some "LeHoullier" MM seeds.

Thanks for the seed offer but Craig L and I have been best friends for over 20 years and are in constant communication and what seeds I have he can have and vice versa.

Actually I'm growing Wild Sweetie this year which is akin to Mexico Midget in being an S. pimp as well.

I think German Queen is one of the most beautiful plants I've grown with those perfect pink beefsteaks, but to tell the truth, I never thought much of the taste.

Ah well, if we all liked the same varieties it wouldn't be that much fun. LOL

Carolyn

I did that for quite a few years. I would bring the coffee
grounds home from work on a daily basis.

Can't do that any more since I'm retired. My wife won't
let me do our home coffee grounds. She firmly believes
that putting them down the sink will keep the drain from
clogging.

I sure do have a lot of earthworms now. They love coffee
grounds.

Hmmm, there is quite a bit of Nitrogen. I would go easy with it, especially after the plants start to flower. I have finally learned to resist feeding my tomatoes excess nitrogen just because I have access to it for free.

Oh! Missingtheovious Thanks! :) Zippering. Hum it seems to be perfect name for that formation! haha

terrybull,thanks for making me laugh :D

Actually, that(plumbers crack) is what exactly my husband said when my HB saw that fruit! ;-)

Actually a moon (of the plumbers crack variety) was my first reaction too.. I was going to say what ungrateful tomatoes. All that love and care and they moon you!

Do a search of your name, anything that you have posted to will show up!

I put in your name and this came up:

Here is a link that might be useful: Gumby

That was the link... Thanks

Marglobe is a determinate tomato which has some indeterminate 'blood' in its past.

There are lots of attributes to this heirloom. It's been fun to grow. I just wish it tasted better! To my palate, it tastes like the grocery store tomato it was bred to be. It's the truck farmers' delight.

I'm sure that I will get 100 tomatoes from the one I grew this year. Big, bushy 4-5 foot plant, zero disease or pest problems. I mean...I don't think I've ever grown a tomato without seeing at least one caterpillar, one aphid, one spider mite, or one whitefly. Sheesh.

Speaking of Marglobe, I had better get out there and do some more picking!

Try this link it might clear things up in regards to the heirloom tomatoes.

Thanks for the put down digirt!!!

Thank you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wikipedia

I'd consider bark fines as being about the size of one's finger nails...pinky to thumb. What are typically sold as "mini pine bark nuggets' are too big.

And don't forget that we're talking about conifer bark...pine or other conifers. Not plain wood chips.

Thanks. This particular brand is fir bark, which I think is a conifer, but not a pine. The chunks looked to be about the size of my fingernails, maybe a bit larger, but I will check again.