16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

Well, I used Copper (Bonide) and IâÂÂm happy, no problems whatsoever â¦. I agree that Copper is not strong enough to fight LATE Blight, but for EARLY Blight, I think itâÂÂs ok. [btw, I'm NOT connected in any way with Bonide, just a VERY happy customer.]

Regarding the Daconil, I still prefer to listen to:

- EPA when it says: âÂÂOn September 4, 1987, the Agency classified chlorothalonil [Daconil] as a Group B2 or probable human carcinogenâ or,

- Pesticide Action Network who says: âÂÂ[Daconil (Chlorothalonil)]⦠Toxicity: Link to information on toxicity to humans, including carcinogenicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, and acute toxicityâ or,

- Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) when it says: âÂÂIn laboratory tests, chlorothalonil causes kidney damage, mild anemia, liver damage, embryo loss during pregnancy, oxidative DNA damage (damage to the cellâÂÂs genetic material), and cancers of the kidney and forestomach. Most of these effects have been observed in several test species.âÂÂ

The above statements are enough reasons for me NOT to use Daconil.

When I will read - on RELIABLE sources - that Copper is bad for health, I might rethink what fungicide I'll use. Actinovate is next on my organic fungicides list.

Obviously, people use whatever products they desire - organic or chemical fungicide - but it's always good to take INFORMED decisions.

Sherry_Bell, this year I used 2 types of mulch: Dewitt Weed Barrier Fabric and .

Both are good. Straw might be difficult to find. Fabric mulch allows easier water control from rain.

Here is a link that might be useful: Best mulch for tomatoes?

This post was edited by Daniel_NY on Fri, Aug 15, 14 at 14:19

Personally, Sun Sugar is my preference over sun gold. Rarely cracks and very sweet. I'm growing Neves Azorean Red and Indian stripe this year, which I haven't tasted but are starting to blush. Indian stripe is very productive and short for an I determinant, about 5'.
Depending on tomato size and meatiness, it's hard to say how many tomatoes you need to make sauce. I prefer the red and pinks, especially the hearts for sauce. I love to oven roast cherry tomatoes and smaller varieties. Next year, try growing Orange Strawberry for an incredible sauce. It has a sweet/tart taste which really came out when cooked and they are large tomatoes.
I am not a fan of black tomatoes cooked. Just a personal thing. To me they are best eaten fresh or oven roasted, especially black cherry.
Juliet is a Roma type cherry that made great sauce and was fantastic oven roasted, but bland to eat. So it all depends.
Sharon

IMO you have to try:
Ramapo F1
Polish (Ellis)
Wes
Goose Creek
Tami G
Cuostralee

To grow list are:
Neves Azorean Red (NAR)
Kellogg's Breakfast
Mariana's Peace
Brandy Boy

Returning are:
Opalka - productive (both plant and fruit) and good taste
Cuostralee - "
1884 - not quite as productive, but good taste
Paul Robeson... My wife's favorite black tomato of 2014.
Sun gold
SS100 (not my choice, but my wife's)

I also want to try Brandy Boy. Burpee sure wants a lot of money for their seed, any of their seeds.

Sunshine...I feel your pain...hate is an OK word to use....it's emotional when you try so hard and your efforts are thwarted.

I've never used a fungicide but will research it also. My problem is that it is very labor intensive to apply (especially with 76 plants) and every time I attempt to spray we get a downpour. Perhaps less plants and a concerted effort to find a good organic fungicide and apply it from the get-go will delay the inevitable...there's always next year.

Hang in there, you're not alone.

This post was edited by LKZZ on Wed, Aug 13, 14 at 21:49

Septoria is airborne but yes, it could overwinter in debris, not the soil itself so cleaning up will work.
If you are interested in using less fungicides, you might want to look into aerated compost teas... idea is simple- replace bad microbes with good and let them duke it out...

Here is a link that might be useful: Compost tea

Thank you Carolyn. I guess I'll have to attribute all of my aches and pains to something else.

Speak soon......elliot

If you're serious about having aches and pains that you associate with tomato consumption you should be checked for nightshade allergies. Inflammation and joint pain are common symptoms. Talk to a dr.

If neither you nor a neighbor use herbicide, herbicide-carryover in the manure is a possible source.

See the link, then do the suggested bio-assay to verify, or not.

Here is a link that might be useful: clopyralid in compost

I had the same problem a few weeks ago with some tomatoes few feet away from my neiborâÂÂs land. I didnâÂÂt spray chemicals on my lawn, but a few days later I saw my neibor doing it - again, I suspect.

Strange enough only 2 or 3 out of about 15 plants were affected. Other plants located in other areas, 10-12 ft. away were NOT affected.

I pruned the wilted branches and the lower branches that were too close to the ground. Then I sprayed Copper (Bonide) fungicide, and about 10 days later, the poor tomatoes were ok.

In your case, even if you manage to "fix" the tomato, I don't think you will be happy with the yield.

This post was edited by Daniel_NY on Wed, Aug 13, 14 at 14:47

Probably they've got Downy Mildew.

Here is the plant. I used coast of Maine potting mix and quodyy compost. Also earth worm castings. But I haven't fertilized in a few weeks.

Elisabeth, I think it's best to use the whole name, which would be Orange Russian #117, bred by Jeff Dawson in CA and which I've grown.

I've grown Blush, bred by Fred Hempel in CA and it doesn't have wispy foliage. The only other one he bred that comes close is Lucinda, which few know, but it has Silvery Tree type foliage. I've also grown Speckled Roman, aka Striped Roman, bred by John Swenson, and a couple of folks have found that it's not stable, yet, and throws some yellow fruited plants and that's been named Roman Candle.

Coyote is a curious one. Initial seeds given to my best tomato friend of over 20 years, Craig Lehoullier, best known for Cherokee Purple, and it's bounced back and forth in SSE listings but has pretty much settled in the Other Species section as a currant variety, S. pimpinellifolium.

I love your pictures since just greenies here, too cold and too rainly, but as is oft said, hope springs eternal. ( smile)

Hope the above helps,

Carolyn

THANKS for ALL the great advise and comments guys... I'm chalking this year up to over-watering and my poor decision to prune some of the oxhearts (rookie mistake i know). Reggie & Elisabeth, great pics! Jealous!!
-KingJames

Deeby, what time does you farmers markets close? LOL

LOL.

The control plants are all the other growers around him that have the usual blight that shows this time of the year.
Neither he nor I are saying for sure that the aspirin is what is keeping the blight away, but we both have many years experience and either the blight just "skipped" his farm this year or the aspirin is having an effect.

Aspirin is an acid (acetylsalicylic acid ). It is also a thinner. Some people put a tablet in cut flowers water. I think it might prevent bacterial growth, as most bacteria cannot thrive in acidic environment. So that might the reason why the blight bacterium cannot live in that environment.

But, without a controlled study , I would not depend on it. OTOH, since it has no side effects on the plant you can use it.

Short answer- there is nothing wrong with those tomatoes. They look perfect. Some splitting is inevitable.

The spot on that part of tomatoes is normal in some large varieties.

It doesn't look like walnut or hickory which are the only plants I know of that create problems for tomatoes.

Okay, thanks guys. Looks like it's gonna be raining all night and through tomorrow. I suppose then I'll have an answer.

Fused blossom on a Rose tomato.

Thanks, Carolyn for a good reply. I remember the Fused blossom on the plants but I did not know about it. Still I have some tomatoes (fused blossom) on the plants. They are Brandywine Black the stem are not tangle and they are huge. A couple of them have small cracking lines. The plant have enough water and nutrient but the container are small it is about 3 US gallon. I water at least twice a day. Soon they are going to be ripe.

Linda you are cleaver. I only knew after I cut off the stem. Next time I will do just like you did. The two tomatoes with roots I put them on a small pot, just for experiment.

Daniel you got a very nice tomato.

That's the spirit, Lionheart. I grew potatoes this year too, but harvested before the blight showed up.

I took one bed out yesterday, and will finish this week. I'm checking the maters I rescued every day. Some are hanging tough.

Next year, I'm using fungicide. Gotta study up on its proper use.

I usually use fungicide, but got lazy this year and lulled into a false sense of security because it wasn't too humid and the weather had been pretty great. That'll teach me. :-)

So, Cucumbers, we'll get it sorted out eventually.