16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Here ya go, I got out the windex and cleaned up the screen!
Giant Belgium has always been one of my fav tomatoes, and usually one of the largest and most productive.
But Alas, Laurel was sposed to grow one and send me the plant this year, but I got an email from them that the plant did not survive.
The "Kicker" is , I saw a Giant Belgium plant at Orchard Supply but I passed on it as I thought Laurel was sending one~~~so none this year.
I like the taste, but I have a "very diversified palate" when it comes to tomatoes.
I like the Giant Green, which I think most folks would say has a lot of acid, but at the same time I like Cuostralee and Kellogg's Breakfast, ~~~which to me, has little acid.
Probably, except for the Green Giant, I got the most tomatoes, as well as the largest, from my Giant Belgium tomato plant.
Gary
I would leave them on. You can lightly tie them to the cage if you want. Otherwise the bent branching will be fine. UNLESS they are broken badly. Then , of course, if the number and volume of the branches are overwhelming, you can cut some of them,. This happened to my ML about a week ago too. I did exactly what I just told you. And the plant is doing just fine.
I leave the water for the very few smaller pots that have saucers outdoors, most don't have them. They evaporate or the water gets drawn back up in a few hours. Since it's so hot they have to be watered every day and the water is never there for very long. If you had a cool rainy period, where the water remained standing for days, it would be different.
I no longer see the point of even having the saucers.
Because in extremely dry hot weather that water in the saucer will be quickly reabsorbed by the plant.
There is no one method fits all times. Wet cooler weather with lots of rain, yes you may need to empty the saucers. Hot and dry weather, no as the plant will use it within a short period of time.
Think of saucers as a poor-man's form of self-watering containers. We leave water in self-watering containers for short periods of time, right? So for much of the summer heat the water can remain in the saucers just note how long it takes it to disappear. If it is still there 24 hours later, dump it.
Dave
Besides the green shoulders, it's lacking the concentric cracking normally seen around the stem on BK.
What was the source of the plant?
The small black spots are minor damage of some sort; you may need to cut a bit out on the inside.
Some varieties are worse than others but I even have episodes of cracking in my high tunnels where plants are esentially covered and the critical factors are more controlable. I find that running circulation fans for an hour each morning to dry plants (and fruits) goes a long way to minimize cracking. However if the weather turns from dry to foggy dampness every morning your only recourse is those crack resistant varieties. I've never seen a Rebelski tomato crack.
I was thinking that too. Those supermarket stickers don't even break down in the compost!
I find that the masking tape works for me, but then I'm only a small-scale grower. Another idea that works is to have small containers with the name on (which I keep on my kitchen counter), and I just add varieties to the bowls as I pick them. The fruit flies are going to have a ball this year!!!!
Linda
To me the subject becomes an issue when I want to process and save seeds. Otherwise I know every single variety (19 varieties). I even know the exact location they are planted and are growing. Though everyone of them is tagged. Most of them have distinct fruits (in terms of color, shape, size). I find only 2 of them very similar : So I do not need to label the fruits. But for seeds, I just use stick on type labeling paper used to stick on envelopes etc. That is if I store the seeds in plastic bags. But if I use a paper envelope, I just mark them with Sharpi.
So we all have ways to do it. That is fine as long as it works for you.
I love my Sun Golds. The whole reason I started gardening was to grow these, because I used to buy about 4 pints a week at the farmers market - I figured it would be far more cost effective to grow them myself :)
I also grew Tess's Land Race currant tomatoes - huge flavor and a nice crunch from the tiniest little tomato. My only complaint is that they're a pain to pick - so many little ones!
This thread was supposed to orovide feedback from the 2013 growing season and what you're interested in trying out of the 2014 season.
I'll make a Part III thread for conclusion of the 2014 season and what you'd plant in 2015.
(Part III link below).
smithmal
Here is a link that might be useful: Tomatoes You'll Never Plant Again - Part III
This post was edited by smithmal on Wed, Jul 30, 14 at 11:59
When plants are growin in too rich soil or are getting too much fertilizer added to inground or container grown plants, it keeps them in the vegetative cycle and prevents them from going into the sexual cycle of blossom formation and fruit set.
Initially I grew all my plants inground and fertilized them only twice, once about two weeks after the plants were set out and then again when they first started setting fruits.
Later in the summer if they looked like they needed it I gave them some low NPK foliages prays b'c by that time I couldn't get near the plants to add to the soil since my rows were 250 ft long and 5 ft between rows /
Summary? Use as little fertilizer as you can since too much, or growing in too rich soil,keeps plants in the vegetative cycle of stem and foliage growth and does not allow the plants to go into the sexual cycle of blossom formation and fruit set.
Carolyn
As Carolyn mentioned, bi-colors are a temperamental lot. One year they are a creamy flavorful delight with impressive size, the next year that are mushy bland flavor with low to no production.
Of all the bi-colors that I've tried, Pineapple was the most productive for me.
Tried:
Virginia Sweets (low production; great flavor)
Hillbilly (no production; not sure why)
Berkeley Tie-Dye (moderate production; 12oz fruits)
Lucky Cross (low production; great flavor)
Marvel Stripe (low production; excellent flavor)
I would love to find a "slicer" size bi-color that ripens in 60-80 days with good/great production.
I love bi-colors and will continue to allot space for them in my garden, but they take forever to ripen, need a lot of sun, are generally pretty huge plants and spoil fairly quickly after being removed from the vine.
Carolyn, I'd be interested to hear what some of your favorite bi-colors are.
smithmal
This post was edited by smithmal on Wed, Jul 30, 14 at 11:56
Close up
You might have black spec...which is a fungal disease. These bacterial/fungal problems are common with humid/damp weather. Spray with fungicide and remove bad growth. You should be fine.