16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Hi Sharon,
Out of about 30 plants I had 4 in pots. But those were the ones I planted out not so early. They have done pretty well and are going at this moment.
I used my 5-1-1 potting mix, fortified with slow release fertilizer with Calcium and continued supplementing by water soluble fert at about 1/3 strength once a week.
About Bubble wrap:
I make cages ( about 10" dia) from rabbit fence wire ( 24" tall) and wrap it with bubble rap. THE BIGGER TH BUBBLES, THE BETTER.
It works similar to WOW , in the way that it work like a green house (solar heat trap ), protects from wind chill effect (air bubbles work as insulator), reduce cooling rate at night. (especially if you cover the top). It is easy to make and inexpensive and versatile.
WOW is claimed to store heat in the water, in the pockets and supposedly release it at night. But as a mechanical engineer, specialized in heat/mass transfer I do not think that is significant. To me it is the greenhouse effect, heating the soil. insulating and wind protection features that are useful. If any heat was stored in the water, most of it will be lost from the outer exposure in a very short time. In a way, the water pockets prevent most of solar heat reaching the soil.!! I rather heat the soil than water. I am not saying that it is useless but I believe its benefits have been over blown. JMO.
Hi seysonn, my concern with using WOW's was filling it with water and not collapsing in on the plant. I'm thinking that the bubble wrap could work with the grow bags. I'm thinking of starting more mid-May because anything earlier here could be way too risky. It seems like an easy and viable option to get a bit of a head start, assuming my transplants are hardened off and sturdy. Something to think about.
Hi Seysonn!
You only need 10 varieties of 50 seeds each. But if you can only send 5 varieties of 2 packs each, that is fine, and I will send you 10 packs back. I know you only wanted 5 back, but I want to be fair to you. :)
Most of us are "backyard" gardeners, but we have an obsession with collecting varieties to try out. I usually have about 6 varieties that I love to grow each year, then add in about 20 more untried. Then there are usually one or two that I really liked for my growing area, and I add them to the must-grow list, and so on each year, with some dropping out along the way for better replacements. I'm only telling you this because I don't want you thinking we are big farmers swapping lol. I have about 1500 or so varieties, and I grow anywhere from 27 to 100 plants each year, depending on where I can garden (I don't have enough sun in my yard, darn trees lol.)
In any case, I am thrilled to have you join us!
Andrea
The parents of Big Zac have not passed away. Big Zac F1 can be purchased at Totally Tomatoes. Check their online catalog. I believe the crosses are being made in Japan though I am not certain. Growers have been growing seeds from the original cross, F1 Big Zac, and are now out to F8 and F9. The new world record, 8.41 pounds was set by Dan MacCoy in Minnesota using some of these seeds. Minnie Zaccaria now has a new seed named ZacZilla which is a triple cross that has been given to the giant tomato growing community to see how they do with it this next year. Marv
seysonn, I have to agree that given a choice between Cherokee Purple and Big Zac with standard growing methods, CP will be more fun, more flavorful and more productive than my BZ experience with whatever I do here.
I'm not abandoning the BZ variety though since there is something cool about knowing what people have done with it. Just, not every season.
As for the "hybrid" situation I've previously expressed my opinion about the fine line between a cross and hybrid in the commercial seed business, and at this point it really doesn't seem to matter since the OPs are racking up the records. Though not a BZ groupie, the excitement can be fun and contagious of some of the other members who have had fun with it.
That said, I think Cherokee Purple has potential for giant tomatoes and maybe someone can send one to Marv (Thanks for reminding us that the missing "parent" who I call lovingly "Elvis" was allegedly resurrected from the beyond) who no doubt would show the world its first 5 pounder if he didn't want to grow them to eat. Both CP plants I started from seed in early August produced a very large "terminal" fused blossom as a premier into flowering. Terminal is in quotes because these are thick stems that sort of both grew up in a triple thick stem, so I don't know what the scientific word is for having a three lane hot wheels track going up in the main stem from the get go, with a remarkable fused blossom pit stop in the middle lane ;-) Twice for twice.
PC
After looking at my roots some more and thinking about it a bit longer I now realize that the plants that had only fibrous root were those made from cuttings from plants whose original stalks were eaten by wireworms, about 6 plants in all. Also I believe the number of lateral roots is related to the length of the taproot and how much damage was done during potting up. (Carolyn alluded to this.) Because of this, I plan on starting my plants in bigger containers next year so that I may not even have to pot up at all.
Here are my conclusions about root structure:
The taproot is the primary root of the tomato plant. All other roots are secondary roots except for the adventitious roots which form directly from the stem. The taproot may reach a depth of 23 inches in the first three weeks of plant growth in the garden and can go even deeper depending on soil conditions. Taproots immediately begin to branch and can give off as many as 10 lateral branches per inch. Repotting and transplanting a tomato plant damages the taproot and this results in the overall root beginning to take on a fibrous appearance due to the many small fine roots arising from the remaining tap root. Collectively these are referred to as the fibrous root system. The larger roots growing out laterally from the tap root, the lateral branches, are often referred to as feeder roots when growing laterally while those growing downward are sometimes referred to as water roots though they carry dissolved nutrients as well as water back to the plant.. These laterals grow out horizontally and then down and can reach 2 feet or more in length. The adventitious root system refers to those roots originating from buried stem. All roots are covered with root hairs which are microscopic extensions of the root and through which water and dissolved accompanying nutrients are absorbed.
Thoughts? Marv
"The job of the farmer is to take care of the roots as much as possible. The part above ground will then take care of itself."
he often said "there is a lot you can do for the roots but you can do very little for what is above ground."
quote from an old organic farmer who grew the biggest tomatoes I ever saw.
If this farmer ever met lubadub he would have said "You are the best"
Now that this thread is dusted off and brought up , I like to make few comment.
I have been enthusiastically in the game of planting EARLY varieties in 2014. I grew all three, MATINA, STUPICE, BLOODY BUTCHER among few other. Now that the season has come and gone , I can voice an opinion on them:
MATINA has been the winner of the 3 in my garden. (a) taste , (b)productivity and (c) size. A WINNER
STUPICE did very poorly. Not a consistent fruiting habit. Most fruits were like cherry tomatoes. Even those small tomatoes took relatively long to ripen. A LOOSER.
BLOODY BUTCHER was the first to produce ripe tomato but it fruited so sparingly. Although not as bad as Stupice, but not as good as Matina. So I wont grow it again.
So my next year's earlies will be: Matina and Siletz. YMMV
BTW: I also grew Early Treat, Silvery Fir Tree. I will NOT grow them again.
Hey seysonn, I am surprised about BB. I had recommended to you as an early variety. I didn't grow it this year but last year it was a work horse. I had tons of tomatoes from it. Oh well that's gardening. I was debating about Stupice for 2015 but I think I'm scratching off my list. Lots of varying reports about it and there's so many others out there.
I'm in zone 6/5 and still going. but I'm more interested in my winter crops. Always grow something all year.
I can keep my lettuce going till December.
I have been enjoying the sauce I made earlier in the year. Came out great.
Raspberries are producing like mad too. Still getting about 30 a day.It peaks at 80 a day, so it is down.
Check this out for growing all year
Here is a link that might be useful: Fruitnut's greenhouse
I admit that right now I don't miss my ragged, yellowed tomato plants. Everything looks good, feels good and boy have I ever learned not to plant different tomatoes in one giant deep tub-they crossed or whatever and some reliable favorites came out bitter and inedible. Others came out sweet and that's a huge no-no in my world !
I saved seeds earlier in the year, so not saving anymore except a few late peppers. I use both oxiclean and fermenting. I usually use oxiclean when time is limited. Both methods work fine for me.
I still have many tomatoes to process. It's been a great year!
In zone 8 GA, there is no chance. I know this, I have lived in ATL area for a number of years.Even your FFD delay till the end of November, You will have less than 50 days.
here is your data:
Last Frost Date (2014): 3/23
First Frost Date (2014): 10/30
Average Growing Season: >232 days
Well it's been about a week since I harvested all my tomatoes. I went through all of them today and almost all of them have turned a lighter green if not yellow or even red. Hopefully this means most of them will ripen eventually. I am now starting to collect seeds for next year. I was wondering if the seeds from green tomatoes that ripen indoors will produce good plants or should I try to only get seeds from vine ripened tomatoes?
You can save seeds, but it depends how green, usually a 70%+ mature tomato works and less doesn't. Just ripen like you are doing and then cut through the tomato you want to use for seed with a sharp knife. If the seeds get cut rather than slip out of the way, probably not good. But if the seeds are brown and have gel around them, most will be good.
I did this with one tomato and got a good plant from the seed, but next time I will put about 4 in each starter plug and take the best of the group, instead of just one which I normally do. You might want to pre-germinate them in a plastic bag on a paper towel and then the instant some good looking ones show germination, transfer the seed to the plug or whatever you use.
Lindalana (pre-soak) and especially Daniel (pre-germinate)both do similar methods as they have posted. I personally don't because the first time I experimented with it, I let the roots grow 2-3 days and many of them did worse upon transfer. Just a suggestion.
PC
socalgal, if you live in a dry climate it ios probably much harder, but here in Florida it is certainly possible to do especially in times of high humidity ... if you can be creative to support it and protect it from the Sun.
Not something that will all take, but there are usually failures even in recovery 'chambers'. That has more to do IMO with matching the correct stem size. A side graft technique, for example on a low side shoot would be much more successful for this sort of thing, which removes the scion's roots in two stages. I would use the same procedure like when my stem broke earlier this year and only about 20% was left connected. I connected it as best I could and wire wrapped a split tube around the break and it mended just fine, although adventitious roots also grew out of the wound.
Maybe I'll try it now just to see since I have some seedlings I need to toss that were extras for my fall season. But finally we have a lower humidity week so I wait for the rain to come back and do it then.
PC
Bart, if you bought the seeds for GZ they should be small in the 2-3 oz range.
But as noted below seeds were sold by Tomato Growers Supply for what they called Big Zebra, as noted in the link below, with pictures.
From the link you can see that both TGS and Diane's Flowers are offering seeds for 2014 when you click on seed availability.
Carolyn
Here is a link that might be useful: Big Zebra
This post was edited by carolyn137 on Wed, Oct 8, 14 at 13:48
Thanks all.
From looking at some of the google images, I see most shots are the round, "ping pong ball" shaped ones that I got this year, but there were a few shots of the more squat shaped ones too.
I hope it was because of the weather this year!!!!
Tom,
I am also growing one JBT, I purchase the plant from nursery.
I like the fruit color and consistency. It is a tasty brown tomato (NOT black ! ). However, it produced sparingly. Maybe about a dozen all season. Probably would've produced more had I planted in in ground instead of in the pot. But I did not have the space for it. It has 4 more fruits right now about the full size. I will have to pick and bring those in.
So, anyway, I will grow it again.
Set sonny this is my second year with JBT and it didn't produce well. It did give me a lot the first year. Both times I grew it in a twenty gallon container but different locations. I had some disease issues this year. But it's also not on my list for next year.