16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Thanks for the info guys! Relieved to hear it. I'll give the upper growth a close look tonight but I'm pretty sure it was fine. I'm thinking uneven watering is the main culprit. I think I started them a little too heavy on the water and then gradually scaled back in recent weeks.
Since this foliage obviously looks unhappy, is there any benefit to pruning it, or just leave well enough alone?
I would leave the remaining ones on until I was sure, and would have removed the first or two if they touched the ground like you did. The plant will take care of the rest on its own. At the first sign of anything besides a gradual loss of color and drying out from the centers of those areas, then I'd do something. But if that is all, my policy is to keep them on and let the plant naturally shed them when nothing much else is happening.
PC
nugrdnnut,... your garden and plants look great and you are rewarded with fruits. That is doubly nice.
We are also getting temps about 20 degrees above normal. We had 92F on Sunday .
Talking about wilty , mine were the same, wilty. I checked the soil, there was enough moisture in there but tomorrow I will give them some water for faster uptake.
I am still waiting to see visible fruits. There are some tiny ones inside the calyx.
With this warm trend I hope the fruits that already are set will grow faster.
So far my dwarf Hahms GT(the smallest plant) is the only one with fruits and it keeps pumping.
My tallest ones are : BrBoy, CP, , Big Rainbow, Rutgers, Black from Tula, and Rio Grande. The smallest one is Kumato. I started it a month late and it has been a slow grow.
Sey
Glad you decided it can be done after telling me that tomatoes HAVE to be thinned. Being flexible makes good gardeningâ¦
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sure. It is good to be flexible, but this is not a departure from my fundamental practice.
I believe in pruning tomato plants and I have always advocated planting them in tighter spacing than conventional method. I usually allow one or two branches in addition to the main stem. So planting two of them in the same hill, fits my philosophy fine. I am not so much for the foliage and HUGE top, as it makes some gardeners happy.
Don't do it. I planted a Bonnie Special tomato that apparently had two plants in it. Since you are not supposed to take it out of the peat pot, I didn't realize it was two plants until one side of it that was about 2.5 ft tall just keeled over and died (with a large tomato growing on it). I cut it out and the other side is fine, but undersized and has no blooms on it.
!8 gallon peat pot ?
If it is peat pot (aany size) , transplanting it easy.
-- dig a hole bigger than the pot.
-- Place the plant ( while in pot) it in the hole.
-- tear apart the pot and take the pieces out, including the bottom.
-- Fill the hole with good soil .
-- Mulch it.
-- Water it real good.>>> flood it !
For support, if using stake , drive it before tearing the top, not to injure the roots. If using cage, install it after transplanting.
Keep watering more often for a few days.
Sey
I have seen larger degradable pots, they are not quite like the small peat pots but are made of some type of paper and they have a rough finish. They are pretty thick and I think tomato roots would have a hard time penetrating (tree roots, maybe...)
But, I have never seen one of these pots that was anywhere near 18 gallons. If it truly is that size, you really shouldn't have any problem growing it in the pot. It's plenty big. If I were to put it in the ground, personally I'd want to remove the pot. But that would be difficult.
Post a pic if you can.
Agree that some sort of automatic watering system is needed. They won't survive 2 weeks with no attention so I'd also line up someone to check on them every few days. Hopefully someone with some working knowledge of tomatoes, their pests, their need to be fed, and their water needs.
As to whether they will set fruit? That all depends on the weather and how consistent the soil moisture level is maintained. Sadly, trips away from home while gardening, even for a few days, seldom work well.
If they are in containers then the problems are even more complex.
Dave
Sey wrote: > Yeah . We know you are Daniel.
I’m sure, you – and a few others – know that, but the ONLY reason I mentioned it, is because I’m afraid that garf_gw is not aware of the importance of mulching and spraying.
And "A picture is worth a thousand words…" I put 2 pictures; 2 types of mulching.
Btw sey, I see you TOO spray and mulch - which I think it's good.
Just about every university ag extension says that excess nitrogen results in fewer fruits and flowers. So you could conclude, I suppose, that these ag extensions are just propagating myths. Seriously, just do an online search for the terms "too much nitrogen" and "extension", and you'll pick up loads of those.
Of course, you can dig out the individual research papers -- "actual studies", or you could trust the ag extensions to inform you truthfully about them.
Copper-Sulfate, i forget my current brand offhand but it's a concentrate that's much heavier on the sulphur and lighter on the copper. A remote concern but i don't want the copper to build-up to toxic levels in my plots. Here's a quick read on copper build-up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bordeaux_mixture
Serenade concentrate. I use this the most, both as a prevention and treatment. I have/had some chronically infected rose bushes, i yanked some but Serenade keeps the rest chugging. I use it right through the month of September.
Daconil. I'll use it one to three times in a season, often right after plant-out during periods of heavy rain. I'm looking to phase this one out eventually but need to research subsitutes first.
Plant trimming and yanking. I automatically trim off leaf tips and whole branches. If a plant looks bad enough then it gets yanked. No need for an uphill battle with a disease vector.
People here asked about aspirin water, I use one 325mg tablet per gallon. But i only use it when i've torn up roots during plant-out or potting up. I know there are some in the pepper-growing community that spray it onto the leaves but i use a couple of oz's per plant to drench the soil. I apply it to one side of the root system only as i don't know if it will harm the myco's.
Steve.
Ripening of tomato and some other fruits AFTER MATURITY is an internal biochemical process in the fruits. Have you left almost green starchy banana on the counter for a while? they will taste sweet. The sugar was produced inside the banana. How about pears ? Hove you left them in the basket when were hard and tasteless and after a while they soften and become sweet and juicy ? Have you left some Jalapeno or Serrano pepper , with tiny bit of color suggestion and after a while find them scarlet red? I have done that many many times,
The bottom line: certain fruits ripen without assistance from the plant.
The key is MATURITY. In tomato it is the start of color break.
Sey
Pat, do not despair !
Often, BER goes away after a while.
In the meantime just try to control the moisture level by watering regularly, before the soil gets too dry.
Sure, big container offers an advantage in more than one way, as it mimics the in ground planting.
BTW: I am growing several dwarfs in 4 gallon pots. But in my location it does not get very hot. Many people grow tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets with relative success. The thing is that they need more attendance.
Sey
Thank you Sey, when I go anyplace away from my house, the first thing that I hit are the farmers markets to see what is in season and taste as much as I can, I ask so many questions to the vendors. One thing that I noticed lately is that they are having the place of the veggies or fruits where they come from, this way the customer can make a choice. I like to shop as much as I can with local produce and you cannot get any closer than having your own garden and then we get spoiled when we get inferior tomatoes at the store.
After trying the Indigo blueberries and the Indigo rose, I like the rose better, bigger fruit and you can tell when is ripe it gets a red color at the bottom.
Keep on gardening!
Silvia
Yeah, I understand , as a gardener what interests you.
PC, that is a nice harvest there. They all look yummy.
I know Juliet. It is prolific and if you are into canning whole tomatoes, juliet is a good choice. I am growing something like it . I named it "mini roma". I got the seeds from store boughts.
Okee dokee. Keep harvesting before the heat comes.
Sey
ON GROWING TOGETHER:
If the variety is fast growing indet, growing two of the together might be fines in terms of soil accommodation, but managing the top will be/can be challenging in close air space. So you have to work harder to support them. For this reason a pruning might be a necessity. Otherwise it can turn into a jungle.
Sey
I left some seedlings in the original container they were sown in due to the abundance of plants. They are still going strong even though i don't care for them. Now i am curious to see if they will fruit in the small container.
^ Cherokee Purple ^
Soapy water spray has worked well for me too. I guess the aphids can be so numerous because they both lay eggs, AND they lay live young! Double whammy!
I assume you get the green aphids on tomatoes, not the black ones?
Yes, I had aphids about 5 years ago. Soapy water and they were gone. Remember to spray a little underneath the leaves