Growing Tomatoes
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16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Everything I have used has worked. I am just looking for that one "fix" that is crazy good. I also do not want to spend tons of money or spend a lot of time building and taring down at the end of the season. I used 5' hog panels for years...and it worked well. Then last year I saw a video of the Florida weave on Youtube and tried that. It worked...but could have been better if I didn't have my fence posts so far apart. This year I only have 2-plants between posts.
These cages above are awesome...and I know they were expensive...
I had a roll of CRW around the property for years so I made these cages...
And yes, good idea at the time was to plant beans up the north side as a trellis... note to self... unless a little shading is beneficial under the summer sun, not as good idea as I thought lol. The beans, although planted after, easily outgrew the maters.
So that they can be separated, if need be for storage, 3 panels, each 3 'squares' wide, tied together with tying wire (very easy to take apart and put back together.) The bottom horizontal is removed to create 'built-on' stakes.
keeps the bed tidy and fairly well contained (important when low on space.)
Peppers get half-height cages.
Today's High forecast = 88F. This is the 4 th day in JUNE , so far, that highs reached and/or exceeded 84F. So practically our HEAT ZONE is pushed to 2 from 1, just by June record so far.
But starting tomorrow the highs will be in 77F - 80F range. Even that is more like July weather , maybe even better. Last Jun was was very cold.
Anyway: I love it and take it . Give me more of it. hehe
Sey
Jenn, the weather is just perfect. Today in my area we hit 90F. But it cools off at night considerably ( down to mid 50s).
But no ripe tomato in sight yet in my garden but they are setting. My CPs have surprised me so far while earlies like Siletz and Legend have NO fruits. My tiny Hahms Gelbe Topftomate is the winner. With under 14 inches in height keeps pumping.
Jenn- thanks for the wormgirl explanation - makes sense. Sweet 100's still produce but visiting out-of-town Gkids over the summer wipe them clean. We need back up support during the summer - haha. Staggering them gives them plenty to eat later in the summer and local Gkids barely keep up with Sweet 100's earlier. They all look forward to picking cherry tomatoes in the GH !!
I always think the first tomatoes to ripen aren't as good. Very unscientific theory, but I find the ones that set fruit in cooler weather aren't up to full potential yet. That sungold had me wanting a ripe tomato! I have four on the counter that need a couple of days.....so it will be soon.
Jennie
Yeah they are awful. I had one groundhog take down 10 broccoli plants just as they were heading, in one sitting. Dug under a 6 foot high fence. They are major pests where I live, between them and the deer you really need a fort knox fence to grow anything.
Here's some more pictures.
Sweet Tangerine determinates (less than ideal sun)
Jet Star (less than ideal sun)
Bush Delicata on the right, Honey Bear Acorn (bush) on the left (the acorns definitely taste better out of the garden... wonderful nutty taste.)
Beets.. several are very ready to be picked.
Sugar Snap Peas not minding the heat one bit.. 7 feet tall.
Onions in the front, leeks in the back. The Walla Walla are bulbing up, not so sure about the Red Zepplin.. the Ringmaster whites I don't see, there were few in the Dixondale seedling pack and they were small.
I keep saying I will finish mulching next weekend... just can't seem to find the time. Soon those squashes and tomatoes are going to be very large and almost impossible to mulch and I am going to regret it when there are huge weeds.
I'm sure others will add opinions, but my take on it is that I notice my different varieties have slightly different leaf color. Certainly the Indigo Rose has an unusual coloration, quite "blue green," so I wouldn't look to compare that to the others. So, it could just be that.
Or, it could be the soil, for sure. Some people find they have better success in the ground, and some better success in containers, depending on their garden soil.
On watering, I am no expert at in-ground watering, but it sounds to me like you are watering shallowly. I hear it is better to water more deeply and less often. You could, for instance, use a soaker hose, and run it for 30-60 minutes to get water a foot or more down in the soil. This will promote much better root growth and plant health.
It's also better to water based on the actual state of the soil that day, rather than an arbitrary schedule. Feel the ground with your finger (or a bamboo skewer or wooden chopstick, which can go deeper) and water when the soil is getting dry. Doing this will teach you how much water it takes to moisten the bed deeply, and also, how long your soil stays moist after a good watering.
Jenn
PS: Pictures would help! They are easy to post here.
Yeah, different varieties have different shades of green.
---Indigo Rose has almost purple foliage. It matches the color of its fruits.
-- Black from Tula, Black Cherry, Red Cherry ... have dark green color, so does Ananas Noire.
-- CP, Big Rainbow, KB, 4th O July , Polish Dwarf .. are pale green.
Just to name a few .
You can see them growing in the same bed, side by side.
Sey
Congratulations on having a garden again. I know how it is.
I misspoke before - Green Zebra is NOT a full size tomato at all (sorry, I have not grown it and was confusing it with others). It's salad size, 2-3 oz.
I looked in Carolyn's book "100 Heirlook Tomatoes for the American Garden" and she says: "indeterminate but compact habit." Perhaps this explains the confusion.
Anyway, it looks like you have plenty of time to ripen them. The top turns gold/orange when ripe.
I wouldn't even try to separate them. I'd just slice out a size of that mix appropriate for the container you are going to use... transplant... then, with scissors, snip away at the base until you have one per container. During the transplant, allow some of that mix fall away, and as others have said, use a medium that fits your circumstance.
Yes, Azores is amazing place with amazing climate and unbelievably beautiful views that I never get tired of, especially good climate to north Europeans. I miss the Centigrade 30s though as I used to love 32C or 90F very much, but not at night. This is excellent sleeping climate here. I am amazed here I don't use neither heating nor air conditioning, just put a sweater on in "winter" on some nights and take it off during summer.
You're all helped me tremendously and I just made 6 small pots with one cherry tomato plant in it for growing. Now I suppose I should have some tomatoes in 3 months from now.
Separating the tiny seedlings was very easy. They are still too small to be entagled. I am used to grow palm tree seedlings and now I grow them here, but germinating palm tree seeds is not easy here as it is not hot enough, but I came up with ideas and waiting for the results, with some easy-to-germinate palms (Washingtonia filiferas) already germinated.
Thanks for suggesting Neves Azorean Red, I will try to find them, unless I already bought them, unmarked.
Once the tomatoes outgrow the half gallon pots they are in, I will probably skip the 10 gallon pots and just plant them into the ground, to avoid hunting for huge amount of potting soil bags. But I will try making one 10G pot, I think. In fact, most of my pots contain mostly stoney ground soil with some potting soil from bags topped on top. Even that potting soil is not perfect, with some mulch-like woods etc. that are not exactly aged.
Welcome to visit the Azores, you won't be disappointed. It has a very good aura (spirit) and people are pure. Any time of the year is fine, but summer is somehow warmer (65F to 78F but an occasional 80F in July and August). They call it European Hawaii for a good reason. There are direct flights from Boston, which takes 4 hours. Lisbon to Azores is a 2 hour flight.
Nice that you have a watering gauge. If Gardener & Bloome brand is sold in your area, it will be at independent nurseries but not big box. Maybe try another nursery if one's convienient. I know your results have been so disappointing so far - here's hoping for the recovery of your plants!
I third : Pick them at color break.
as Dave said : the fruit gains nothing from the plant beyond that point anyway.
Ripening ( after certain stage) is an internal process in the fruit. it happens in a lot of fruits including tomatoes. At that stage the stem becomes woody and almost dry and you would need a sharp pruner/knife to cut it.
Sey
An alternate thought is, if you have a wildlife camera or know someone who hunts and can borrow one, you can see what critter you're dealing with. I bought one last year for $55 from Amazon when I lost my cat and wanted to put a camera on my cat trap. It's pretty cool - takes pictures in the dark and everything.
Jenn
rgreen48(6b)
Having enough water is important for those 'maters. This year I have been experimenting with a few different low tech or home made, watering delivery systems and someone gave me an olla which is an interesting garden watering item. Some are working out better then others. I'm always entertained by garden experiments, as long as they don't all fail...
I don't have historical pictures and all of my seedlings died this year, but 1884 has been my hands-down favorite heirloom, ever. Huge beefsteak, old fashioned tart tomato flavor. Prolific. If I could grow only one tomato, this would be it. That said, I am growing 15 tomatoes this year - 13 different OP varieties, 1 hybrid and no 1884. :-( But I am excited about the German Queen and German Johnson varieties that I am growing this year for the first time.
My wife's favorite is a tie between Cherokee Purple and Paul Robeson.
These are the varieties that I am growing for 2015:
- German Johnson
- German Queen
- Hillbilly
- Arkansas Traveler
- Ugly Ripe (2)
- Mule Team
- Boxcar Willie
- Cherokee Purple
- Cherokee Chocolate
- Jersey Devil
- San Marzano Redorta
- Mortgage Lifter
- Best Boy (hybrid)
- Pineapple
Next year, look for Tiny Tim seeds. It can be grown in a styrofoam coffee cup and placed on a windowsill when producing. Tiny Tim has a good taste. Other dwarf cherry tomatoes taste terrible (Tumbling Tom, Red Robin, etc.). If you put Tiny Tim in a gallon pot, it gets to be about 18 inches tall, and produces quite a lot. In a coffee cup, it is only 6 inchrs tall and does not have that many tomatoes, but the little plant is covered. Unfortunately, it is determinant, so it stops producing after it gives you a windfall. It is also fussy about care. Wants daily watering and regular fertilizer. Does not tolerate full sun outside. Start the seeds yourself. Then send them to your "suburban place" when transplanted into their pots. When they start producing, put them on your windowsill, and you will have tomatoes to eat. I did that for years when I lived in an apartment.
Dawn, I feel for you.
In my first year of growing tomatoes, I didn't mulch, I didn't fungicide the plants after transplanting.
I lost EVERYTHING !
Nice plants wilting.
In less than a week everything was gone !
Even today I don't know what happened.
I lost a bunch of peppers this year because of bacterial wilt. The recipe for that was a very heavy rain on a bed that was very heavily mulched. So the bed just didn't dry out. I turned the soil over two weeks later (after two weeks of sun and heat) and found big wet clumps. Gaack.
I'm not convinced that these beds are damaged in the long term. I understand that the bacteria involved can be killed by aeration, sunlight, and some drying. So I recommend turning the soil well several times during the next few months and then trying again in the fall. I had a couple of pepper plants die in the same way last year, at which time I didn't recognize the cause of death to be BW. After good cultivation of the bed I planted tomatoes in exactly the same place this year. They are doing fantastic.