16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Hi and welcome to the friendly forum ;-)
It really depends because one person's idea of a cold snap isn't necessarily the same as another's. If it was below 30 degrees (-1 C), for more than a couple of hours probably they are in bad shape. But depending on how wet the leaves get has a big effect on the damage in those circumstances, as well as how well the sheets kept the wind off and moderated the temperature drop, none of which I can see from Florida ;-). Probably there's not much to see, but the wilting you describe would be worth posting to get others' opinions.
If it was mild, short and protected, the plants may be craving sun and getting the temperature up as high as possible with maximum sunlight is a priority if they were mine. Yes, it does freeze here too, light freezes are what I contend with all winter, jumping between -2 C and +2 C (in breeze anything in the 30's F (somewhere around 5 C and below) can cause frost damage if unprotected, especially if there isn't a nice warming sun ASAP.
One thing I'm going to do this winter is buy one of those cheapo digital thermometers that shows the high and low for the last 24 hours besides the current temp, and put it in the covered area to see whats going on overnights. You can get them for well under $10 US from the popular auction site from the country that ships out billions of them for less that it costs for postage here. But even then, the temperature varies all over the place under so I'm not sure what good it will do, though it's definitely worth a try. Not sure how helpful that would be in a northern climate but like I said, we skirt freezing through the winter probably a dozen times, what's to lose...
What varieties are you growing, ... Best luck growing them and if you can show us a picture please do.
PC
I bet you wanted to say Indiana Red, not Red Indian, and here's Tania's page for it.
http://t.tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Indiana_Red#tab=General_Info
No current seed sources, Gleckler's is out of business,
Sen Say is new so no seed sources yet, I mean commercial sources,
And here's Nicky Crain
http://t.tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Nicky_Crain#tab=General_Info
No seed sources for 2014, but Linda, Glenn's wife at Sandhill Preservation didn't get their listings in in time, so I'd check the current website or catalog
And I'd also check the Sandhill 2014 website or catalog for Nicky Crain b'c it has been listed in the past.
If you haven't dealt with Sandhill before see when they do and don't accept orders for tomato seeds and all ordering is done by mail, for the reasons Glenn mentions. With over 400 varieties listed and no tomato seeds over 2 yo and a low rate of crossed seed and high seed count and low seed and shipping prices, I think it's a great place to get not just tomato seeds but lots of other stuff theyl list.
No, I'm not getting paid to say such nice things about Sandhill, LOL,but I've known Glenn and Linda for many many years, just outstanding folks. Glenn has a full time teaching position as well and finally they are very well known for their heirloom poultry and I get a kick reading about those as well.
Hope the above helps, and I did say where I listed the varieties that I was listing some extras in case no commercial seeds were available, but you post at one place where I do and you know how to make your WANTS known,
Carolyn
I think I will, but just a bit. I started my seeds on March 13 this year, and I think next year I'm going to shoot for March 1st. Probably still won't plant out until Mother's Day weekend, but I'm hoping to have some WOWs for next year to give my plants a bit of a jump start. The beginning of summer can be really slow around here.
Starting early, in my case, it is both easy and require some extra work. It is easy, because we don't have a danger of frost from early April on. But it is difficult because the weather won't warm up till June. So, you plant early but your plants are just sitting there, unless you do something else.
1- pre warm up the soil (Plastic Cover )
2- protect them from night cold, too much rain (Hoop, W.O.W, etc).
In a lot of places temperature shoot up fast after Mothers day or Memorial Day. So you might as well wait a week or too. But not here at the PNW. Our night lows can be in 40s early July.
So there is no one strategy to fit all climates.
Maj, as you noted it is new fo rthis year and when one Googles it, as I did, all I saw were seed vendors that were selling it.
It was bred by Brad Gates at Wild Boar Farms in CA/
I read and often post at several message sites and haven' seen one post about this variety, to date.
As for other so called blue ones, yes I have seen others who have reported back on some of those, especially Indigo Rose and Ithink there's a thread here already about that one. I think it was discussed in the current thread whose title was something like Purple Tomato Juice, discussing the GMO one from England
As for me. I'm not alone in not liking the so called blue ones b'c of the taste, and that started several years ago when I was sent fruits for Dr.Myers P20 which was the foundation development which led, at least in the US to most of the ones one sees at Jung's and Tomato Growers Supply,etc.
Carolyn
Here is a link that might be useful: Indigo Blue Beauty
HOW MUCH to cover, it depend on the nature of the frost.
Plants get injury from blowing cold wind on them, rather than from cooling down. UNLESS it is extended freezing temperature for a long time. So any amount of covering that prevents air flow around/over the plant can help. Obviously, covering the entire top would be ideal.
Hoops of plastic can work, provided they are tall and wide enough. I have couple mini ones, about 45" tall. Not tall enough for any thing right now. I have made them for spring time use.
Use tarps, blankets, boxes, heavier plastic, etc. Anything you can get your hands on. Thin plastic is not enough to prevent frost damage, though it may help if put it over or under another layer of something else. Cover from top to bottom, then anchor with rocks, boards, clothespins, rope, whatever.
There are definitely varieties available to Late Blight: Mt. Magic, Plum Regal, Defiant, Mt. Merit, Jasper and many more on the way. But your efforts to bag the infected plant residue are more to protect your neighbors for this year only since the pathogen cannot overwinter in your area--- YET. If two mating types were in your area we would all be panicking.
Daconil is only preventative for this pathogen and too late for you to use now. Better success next year. Dr Randy Gardner, NC State retiree, may soon release a few new Heritage varieties that fit your niche and have Late Blight resistance. He is credited with breeding most of the LB resistant varieties currently on the market... and a few like Defiant also have Early Blight resistance.
Daconil is not an option. I have a dog , and a 14 year old son in the garden. I am not sure who is more careless, so I just avoid anything toxic that I possibly can. I CAN buy tomatoes...
Yes Bmoser, YET. So I am reporting to local extension, and moving on to other crops. Thanks for the list of resistant varieties. Any advice on which seed vendor Dr Gardeners new work is available through? I found Plum Regal on Johnny's, and may order it now, so I don't forget.
Lindalana: Thanks! I am the only one who likes mustard here so I am going in search of Kodiak.
1. Taste including texture & juiciness
2. Size
3. Productivity (by number of fruits)
4. Hardiness
5. Appearance
6. Smell
To me taste is above everything by far. I want a juicy tomato with a blend of sweet & acid taste that ranges from that classic tomato taste to a taste heavy on acid. Vinegar, lemon juice, and the like are among my favorite flavors so a highly acidic tomato is a good pick for me. This year I am loving Azoychka (very acidic, lemony flavor) and Radiator Charlie's mortgage lifter (classic tomato taste), but not so thrilled with Cherokee purple (too sweet without much acid--a good tomato to give away) for example.
I don't like cherry tomatoes. I prefer something big enough to slice for a sandwich. I don't find that cherry tomatoes taste better, but they are certainly less versatile. I can do anything with a bigger tomato, but it's no fun to slice cherry tomatoes for sandwiches, among other things.
If I can have those two things then I worry about productivity. More fruits is better than fewer. This year it's hard to tell what is or is not productive though. Nothing is producing well! Sigh.
Hardiness includes disease resistance, cracking, and everything else that relates to a plant being harder to kill, easier to grow or producing better or worse fruits. I don't mind babying a good tasting, productive plant with big fruits. But all else being equal, it's nice to not have to worry about killing it accidentally.
All else being equal, nice looking tomatoes with attractive fruit are nicer than ugly ones. And I just absolutely love the smell of tomato plants. Even if there is nothing to harvest, and the plants don't look happy, that taste is a great reward whenever I work on the tomatoes. Habanero peppers are my favorite crop over all, but tomatoes have the best smell. Except for maybe oregano. I can't think of any I have grown that did not have that tomato smell, but I'd be disappointed if I grew a plant and did not get that smell. If I came across one, smell might move up the list. :)
Angie
Taste is everything. My brandywines were more delicious by a long mile than any other tomatoes I grew. I got maybe a dozen but they were the best I have tasted for a long time. If I only got 2 off the plant it was still worth growing just for those two. As you can see I thoroughly enjoyed them!!!
The only reference I could find is a video with the worst looking tomato seedlings I've ever seen where he mentioned the name .
Where did you first see the name?
When googling I found lots of stuff described as mom's big fat......well almost anything,
I didn't check any European sites since the name doesn't convince me it would be found there.
Carolyn
Here is a link that might be useful: Big Fat, etc
I don't know anything about this particular tomato, BUT
Ever since the dark ages, there has been opposition to science and scientific methods. But in the long run science benefits us , the humans to have a better life, live healthier and longer.
Luckily, there are free choices. You are free like some Amish, not to take medication or have surgery, etc.
These are political statements with blurred boundaries of what constitutes "conventional" breeding, just like when I go to Whole Foods and see "Conventional" vs. "Organic". In fact, Indigo Rose was developed by "introgressing" at least three different genes from three respective species:
Solanum lycopersicoides
Solanum chilense
Solanum cheesemanii
&&&&&&
Conventional breeding to most folks, including myself, means not developing a variety by the use of the introduction of genes from another genus/ species.
Which would make it a GMO as is the one from England. All accessions used to initially develop OSU 20, then to P20 are in the family Solanaceae, genus Solanum, and that includes the wild species that were most important to developing Indigo Rose,
The most important link I have I linked to below so it is ASAP clickable. It's from Keith Mueller's website which I've linked to many times here since it a treasure in many ways. Keith got his MS from Dr. Randy Gardner from NCSU, now retired, but is still breeding tomatoes and many of you probably already know of his Mountain series and so many more.
Keth has bred some wonderful varieties such as Purple Haze F1, Liz Birt, Bear Creek, and many more that have become very popular and has been working with many projects such as what he calls Lucky Sun, an initial cross between Lucky Cross, the stable gold/red bicolor and Sungold F1.
Keith, IMO, knows more tomato genetics across the board than many such geneticists in academic positions who usually focus on just one area.
When you click on that second link below the FAQ one that I mentioned above, you'll see that there were many other parental inputs, many accessions from the TGRC at UC Davis in CA. Tomato breeders can request accessions but have to document their accomplishments to date and what they want those accessions for.
Several years ago I asked a former friend who was going to the Galapagos Islands to please bring me back seeds for S cheesmanii, she sent me whole fruits that were not cheesmanii. Since I knew the island they came from I called the TGRC and spoke with Dr. Chatelet who told me that what I had was a stable cross between a currant tomato and now I forgot the other parent.
That variety was named, not by me, Sara's Galapagos and is still one of my fave wee fruited varieties.
The TGRC is THE main source of accessions ( genes) for tomato breeders all over the world
Indigo Rose I have not tasted, but was sent fruits of P20 which I did. And hopefully someone will be able to finally introduce some decent taste into a so called blue variety with the anti-oxidants that was the reason Dr. Myers started this whole project all those many years ago.
Indigo Rose
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Development+of+Indigo+Rose+tomato
For those still interested in Idigo Rose development, in the above link no need to look at where the seeds are sold, rather,look at the OSU link as well as the Wiki link as well, etc.
Hope the above helps,
Carolyn
Here is a link that might be useful: Blue tomatoes
Sun Gold is a true "CHERRY" size. It is sweet and juicy and split if over ripe. I have other cherries too. One is red/pink and 3 times as big as SG. I have no name for it b.c I got the seeds from store bought heirloom. Another PLUS about it is that the plant is COMPACT indet and manageable.
Anyway, I like to grow different colors of tomatoes and it shows.
I think you will be fine, canned tomatoes over time can start to effect the coating on the inside of the can and even when canned in jars can develop a slight tinny taste. But either was should be safe. When making tomato powder it takes a lot of tomatoes, though the powder is very concentrated. Just a couple of tablespoons of powder makes a very concentrated tomato paste.