16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
the more i watch the spot, the more i think it is a simple lack of sun. i live in a sort of complicated urban sun environment, with part sun/ shade and full sun/shade all mixed together. i think two of my shrubs are starting to shade out the tomatoes after noon, plus the sycamore above seems to have filled out substantially this year, blocking almost all sun before noon. it is kind of hard to tell because i'm at work all day so today (saturday) i'm going to see when they start getting sun.
I see it quite often on my plants. Perhaps because I
prune heavily. I believe the plant thinks it needs more
leaves and so converts a truss to a stem. Not uncommon
in the plant world.
If you bury a tomato vine, or cover it with mulch, it
will develop roots. It adapts to meet the situation.
Ain't Nature wonderful?
I still would appreciate knowing from the original poster where in the US the tomato plants are being grown so perhaps it might make it easier to make a possible ID, knowing that tomato diseases are quite regionalized throughout the country.
Carolyn
We at Harris Seeds would like to let customers know that Primetime tomato has been discontinued by the supplier, and Harris Seeds is now sold out of this seed variety. However we recommend Mountain Fresh Plus as a substitute. Mountain Fresh Plus is a great choice for main season production, has late season quality at 78 days, and has the protection of Nematode resistance.
Here is a link that might be useful: Mountain Fresh Plus Tomato Seeds
A few things about the Barry/Pandy report bug me. Why are the gf designations for "Ailse Craig" and "Philippines no 2" not included in the summary?
How do we know that the specimens used in the genotyping were from reputable sources and not just fruit that the grower alleged to be of that variety?
As far as I have ever been able to find, there is no definitive reason for a tomato plant to form a magabloom or fused blossom. But since it primarily occurs on early blooms, there is a tendency to attribute the formation to cool temperatures during the time that blossoms are developing.
Betsy
Persons interested in growing one of these big tomatoes look for varieties of tomato that grow big and have a tendancy to form fused blossoms. Most of the large blossoms are among the first blossoms on a plant though a few appear later. I have no idea why but I think it does have something at least to do with the variety of tomato.
Marv
"yummy, I agree with 6-8 weeks as noted above, but since I don't know how you grow your transplants nor how fast they'll grow I'll just add that I like to set out ones that are about 6-9 inches tall."
Thanks, that is helpful. I germinate and grow my transplants in little black plastic pots outside filled with soil rather than seed starting mix. It has produced a good germination rate for me so I will stick with it. I only have room for one variety this year anyhow, and will be giving away any extras to friends with large yards.
Then I transplant them to the larger pot and bury the stems up to the last leaves since that is supposed to give you stronger/deeper roots. They seem to grow pretty fast here outside so I will use the 6-9 inches as a guide.
If it does take 6 weeks to transplant, that would put me at the beginning of October. The problem is that it has been staying ungodly hot and humid here through mid-November followed by unseasonably cold Decembers. So what has been happening is that it is too hot and humid to set fruit until mid-November then once the fruit does set, it gets too cold in December for the fruit to ripen. Not good for fall tomatoes.
The spring has been bad, too since the awful heat and humidity started at the end of March instead of the end of April.
Thanks for chiming in, Carolyn. We're always looking for your advice. I got seeds in a trade last winter that were only labeled "Brandywine." I had never grown them before, so decided to try them. The plant is regular leaf and seems to be very healthy and disease resistant. The fruit are red and weigh about 1/2 pound and are very tasty. Do you think I have #2 or #5?
Thanks, John A
I've got one that is just starting to ripen, it was mixed in with my Glaciers by mistake but it's PL so either German Johnson or some sort of Brandywine (I started Pink from seed and my cousin gave me some other kind - probably a red). I'll post pix when it ripens, maybe someone can help me ID it.
Ca,
Your observations are correct in that caged plants are more vertical, and thus more bushy with foliage.
Plus even though I cage all my plants I have sunscald on slow to ripen varietes as well. Dave digdirt has discussed previous that harvesting at the breaker or turning color stage is best and to pick and ripen indoors.
This is better for less cracking too, so when the blush gets going just pick. Potato leaf plants are less prone to sun scald due to the wider leaf so that maybe an option.
I have a neighbor that ran his clothesline nearby to his garden area and his wife hangs their sheets on the line at least once a week. This is similar to a high tunnel, though it saves on not running the dryer as well.
And don�t water the leaves, just the soil around like with a dripline, perforated hose. There should be other things you can do inexpensively. -Randy
I think it's also good to remember that while you may start out with a variety that has dense foliage and may grow your plants in cages, which can help, once you start harvesting fruits that foliage orientation is altered/disturbed and so can expose other fruits on the plant to sunscald as well.
No real good way around that since those fruits must be harvested. Actually most sunscald occurs after harvesting starts, and not before, at least that's been my experience and I think the experience of perhaps others as well.
Carolyn
I am going to hazard a guess of squirrels. That is what my 'maters are looking like, and it is squirrels that are coming in and raiding at the first crack of dawn. They jump from the fence into the middle of the plant, crack off branches and munch the fruits. The little buggers even take fruit with them and line it up on the fence for later consumption.
I tried lots of things to keep them away - coyote piss worked for a day or 2. Then I got one of those ultrasonic noise things, but it must have played dance music because BIG damage occurred the next morning.
The only thing that has worked to keep them away from the bushes is to wrap them in aluminum foil at night. I think the sound of their bodies against the foil frightens them and keeps them away.
that sucks. did your crop get wiped out from diseases or do you still have the majority of plants?
Cry cry cry - the first heirloom that was breaking rotted. Big soft spot on the side, black mold on the top near the stem. And it was nowhere near ripe, though bigger than my hand, must have been 2 lb! Darn rain...