16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

missingtheovious!

Thank you! That is one cute caterpillar! They are really reall hairy! :D

Is that a real hair like dogs' ?

Wow. :-D

rhizo!

I see. So I really need to sterilize my garden bed for next season! Thanks!!! :D

I guess I am going to see more worms then I hoped :-(

Thanks for your help!

Sterilize your garden?? Never. Talk about doing more harm than good. Best thing you can do regarding next year is to keep your eyes peeled for those little eggs. Inspect your plants every once in a while. Learn what the hornworm eggs look like and get rid of them before they hatch.

Don't remove ladybug eggs.

Don't worry about it Randy as there is no way we can ID it anyway. We get lots of please ID this plant or this tomato requests here and it simply isn't possible as there are way too many possibilities.

But if you want to post your pic anyway just copy the href code photobucket gives you. It is the one that begins I tried to do it for you but even with trimming your URL above all I get is a 404 error.

Dave

Here's a link to randy41's photo (thanks to Firefox's BBCodeXtra add-on, which does the magic stuff for me):

Gorgeous!

If it tastes good, save the seeds. If it's an open pollinated variety (OP, as opposed to a hybrid), you can have the same tomatoes next year.

Seed-saving instructions (various methods):
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg0516104221142.html
http://wintersown.org/wseo1/YourChoiceTomatoSASE/Learn%20to%20Save%20Tomato%20Seeds%20300.pdf
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/A_Beginner%E2%80%99s_Guide_To_Saving_Tomato_Seeds_Using_Fermentation

Starting tomatoes from seed:
http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/tomato/2005015135020413.html

A tomato farmer told me tomatoes are actually bienniels. They produce fruit the first year (obviously) but if they don't die or freeze, will continue producing another year.

A tomato farmer told me tomatoes are actually bienniels. They produce fruit the first year (obviously) but if they don't die or freeze, will continue producing another year.

Bienniels? Not really. Look up the definition of a biennial plant. ;)

Indeterminate varieties, yes they will live for several years given the right conditions and will develop fruit every year. Determinate varieties, no.

Dave

I bought a sweet 100 and early girl one fall. The two plants had identical, small, cherry type tomatoes.
Speaking of Burgundy Traveler, is this a darker form of Arkansas Traveler? I grew AT this year and really liked it. It seems to tolerate the hot, dry climate in Arizona well.

Hi Nerak -

Unfortunately, some tomatoes have tags switched or, in my case as happened this year, they come mismarked from the supplier.

We here in Orange County have a well known retail nursery of which many of us religiously get our transplants both hybrid and heirlooms. I always get two Lemon Boys in the mix of a dozen or so as they're very reliable, disease resistant, taste good and tangy and prolific, not to mention the color which several of the neighbors find delightful when they get some. This year they both came up as yellow pear(s) which, altho cute, taste both mushy and bland. These came directly off the suppliers truck to the nursery mismarked so, yes, it can happen, even from reliable resources.

The heavier mixes have a great deal of bark in them. THAT'S the secret. They will never compact, as opposed to something that is mostly peat moss. These potting mediums will drain beautifully, support and very vigorous root system, prevent that dreaded overwatering and root rot.

These mixes will look different than something you are used to, especially the Nursery Mix. It's GOOD stuff!

Can I just mix in orchid bark if I can't get a nursery to order the heavier mixes for me?

Re. what edweather said, I think I've read that picking them early (as soon as the color breaks) lessens the irregular-ripening problem.

Since tomatoes grow in Texas where I suspect it gets very hot, the couple of weeks of hot weather here shouldn't have impacted them. Now we have cool nights (48-50F) so I suppose getting them ripe will be almost impossible.

Now I saw it with my own eyes! I had just went around and collected any rotted or half eaten toms from all my plants to put in the garbage. I was sitting on the porch when I saw a chipmunk run out from my rasberry plants, stopped under my hostas, then headed for my potted plants that I have around the shed. It jumped up onto the top of the pot, then jumped into the middle of the tomato plant. I quietly went back there to see it, in the middle of the plant, with its front arms around this tomato. Here is what it did to it in about a minutes time. By the time I went into the house to get the jar of peanut butter to put into the three have-a-hart traps, it did a job on another tomato on the other side of my shed. Chip has declared war!

Williston, do you have possums or raccoons in your area? They are possible suspects. I caught my dog eating ripe grape tomatoes. She didn't bother the bigger ones, but then she's a mini doxie and can't reach that high.

Thanks for the info on "Manapal". I would have ordered it and been disappointed. Thanks also for the photo of dg. Now, more than ever, I would like to try to grow some of the hp/dg or Ip tomatoes. The problem is obtaining seed for a start.
The book Vegetables by Kole is how I learned that dg and hp-2 are alleles on chromosome 1.
I can't connect to the kctomato account because it is twitter and social networking is blocked from the computers at our library.
I'm investigating dark leaf varieties because hp's often have darker foliage.

Tom Wagner might have some hp lines he is selling. The problem there is it may not be from a stable line though since it is recessive once you see hp it should always be in following generations. If it is segregating material with the potential for hp most of the seedlings that will grow wouldn't be hp and you will have a learning curve figuring out which ones are hp. There IS a way to segregate the seedlings using the yellow film technique but that would probably be a hassle for most to find the right material and setting up something to grow them in that kind of light. That info is even online I think via RTGC papers.
To me it was evident the first time when the fruit set. Even in the green stage it is noticeable. One can sort of tell before that if you know the material it is in anyway. Foliage will likely be darker and the plants will generally be shorter.

This is a picture from last year of hp-1 segregating in material that had other traits which might confound what you are seeing (dark green shoulders and heterozygous for green stripes). But when you see these fruit compared to others it is clear they are hp. The picture is taken about 10 days apart as the fruit ripened. Notice some faint stiping in the fruit from "gs" in the less mature stage. Also note the rather twisted PL foliage that seemed to go with it in this instance and this next generation (I did not note nor get a photo of that in the parent line which was RL). Notice the intense red color in the mature fruit. hp fruits have a wonderful color to them that really stands out.

hint - sometimes you can see cached blocked pages via google but that may not work for images.

See if they blocked twitpic from link below

In winter I will also post pictures at The Tomato Garden

Here is a link that might be useful: twitpic link

The varieties developed by UF for growing here in Florida are developed to suit the needs of commercial growers. In other words, the plants will set fruit in hot/humid conditions and grow in worm-filled sand and the fruits are firm so that they have good "shipability." However, they taste like cardboard. Not worth growing IMO. You can buy cardboard tasting tomatoes in Publix for not much money and a heck of a lot less work.

On your other post of this question I gave you some links to U. of Florida Extension services but forgot to mention - chatting up some local growers at the Farmer's Market (if you have one). They are often the best source of how-to-grow-here info and love to talk about it.

Dave

Don't tomatoes taste the best if they are ripened on the vine?

I used to grow Stupice and prefer Matina which is a look alike in all ways except I think the taste is better and it too is early and productive and have tried Kimberly and Bloody Butcher as well.

But what I currently like the best is Moravsky Div, which is very early and for me has great taste.

There were four different Stupicka's developed in Czechoslovakia, two for outdoor growing and two for glass house growing.

At another site there's been a very long thread about Moravsky Div and there appears to be some agreement with research done with Moravoseed and other places in Europe that Moravsky Div may be one of the indoor ones but grows great outside as well.

In my experience the fruits of MD are a bit smaller than conventional Stupice or Matina but the taste is much much better and it has performed well for me in my area all summer.

Below is a link to Tania's T-base for seed sources and I was the source of seed to Glecklers, Jeff Casey, Sandhill and Victory Seeds, where I usually send the best of what I've grown each year. I also send to Linda Sapp at TGS but she's very behind in trialing varieties right now.

Glenn Drowns comment at Sandhill amused me b/c he notes in his catalog/website that he put out 4 inch transplants and had fruits 43 days later.

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Seed sources for Moravsky Div

Blossom end rot, I had it and noticed it very early in the season. Lack of calcium is usually the cause. I called the hot line ortho 1 800 225 2883 described the problem and they said most likely not a blight or fungus.They suggested bone meal, liquid calcium,blossom end rot spray. I used all of the above and saved all my plants. I'm sure if I didn't notice the fruit rotting so early I would have no tomato's now.

This has been my worst tomato yr. ever. Many other problems. Critters,white fly weather. But I am harvesting tomato's just not as many.0719261017260

nerak, Blossom End Rot is a condition that only affects the fruit of young plants. Further, it mostly affects certain types of tomatoes (Romas and other pastes, beefsteaks, other large or medium size fruit), but is rarely if ever seen in cherry, grape, or currant tomatoes.

The spray does nothing to solve the problem -- and neither does adding other calcium supplements. The plant actually has plenty of calcium: it just isn't able to move the calcium fast enough to where it's needed (the developing fruit). BER is "cured" naturally when the plant matures a bit and can move nutrients more quickly to the fruit where they are needed.

Yes, your plants stopped having new cases of BER after you followed the hotline's instructions -- but that would have happened anyway, even without the sprays and calcium supplements. When I noticed my young plants' few cases of BER this spring, I did nothing about it (except to discard the most-damaged fruit), and the BER stopped without any sprays or additives.

By the way, the normally-colored parts of fruit with BER are perfectly edible. They don't look pretty, but if the BER spot is small, you may wish to leave them on the vine.

Why are they dying?

Sometimes a lack of watering is blamed when the real problem is wilts and blights have withered most of the plant. If the whole plant is the same stage of wilt/dryness that might really be a moisture problem. If yellow or brown leaves move from the bottom of the plant towards the top, that is a good indicator that you need to:
-- spray with compost tea
-- keep branches off ground and from touching other plants
-- water the base of the plant, not the whole thing
-- next year space the plants further apart.

those plants do have things that look like spider web around the leaves.

yes, since those things are growing on those leaves, so i tend to watch the whole plants to wash them.

oh, yes, i did want to grow more, so i planted a lot close by. why does that cause the plants to die early?

Agreed. It is an excellent tomato. I do grow mostly OPs with a few hybrids each year, this is one of the best hybrids I've grown.

This is not a cherry, this is a pink globe, average size about seven ounces though there are some which are closer to ten ounces--very pretty, no cracking, no BER, it is also a very good cropper. I just took nearly a dozen ripe fruits off one plant. Ate one fresh, liked it much, and turned the rest into sauce. This is juicy, satiny, it is sweet but there is also some tanginess, really quite good flavor for a hybrid. This is wonderful tomato. The sauce, btw, was one of my best batches.

I have to agree with Trudi_d. Everyone I gave plants to loves it also. Will grow it again. It's not as good as many heirlooms of course, but a great cross for hardiness, productivity, taste. Crops at a good time for me too and I love that it will sit on the shelf for a few weeks without going bad.

red on the bottom with black patches towards the top

Are the black patches like the dark, greenish-brown areas on the shoulders of some "black" tomato varieties? If so, your Park's Whopper may be a different variety. [This year my 17 purchased seedlings include at least one, possibly two mis-labelled varieties.]
http://heirloomtomatoplants.com/The%20Black%20Tomatoes.htm

Or do you mean black patches that might be mold or decay in the cracks?

Or something else?

Here are some photos of problems that affect tomato fruit:
http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/DiagnosticKeys/TomFrt/TomFrtKey.html
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/publications/tomatoproblemsolver/ripe/

Thank you for responding so quickly! Unfortunately I do not have a camera therefore I cannot take a picture of it. But based upon the links my problem is most likely early blight. The black patches on my fruit match the picture in the other link. I sprayed last week with a fungicide and I thought it was working but it didn't. My other tomato varieties remain good though. What should I use to prevent it from spreading farther? What do you recommend?