16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Growth inhibitors are commonly used for greenhouse plants. No one wants to buy something that is"leggy ". My mother used it when she taught horticulture and sold poinsettias for fundraisers.
I cannot speak directly about tomatoes, but I would not be surprised.
In central Alabama,winter unpredictable in recent years.This past winter we had some really crazy spells,had 3 nights in a row below 15 degrees,a couple of nights around 9 degrees.Last winter not near as bad,but nowadays the weather is crazy everywhere.Thanks for the tip on Gardens Alive,got a $25 off deal on purchase over $50.
They have a cyclic lifecycle. How many cycles your have depends on where you are located but you can plot them for future reference with good note keeping.
Here I have 2 cycles - moths and eggs show up mid to late-May (20th +/- a day or 2). First hatch is a week later (early June). Those you don't kill will grow and pupate for 6 weeks total so the second round begins six weeks later early August.
Dave
Jdoran, nice looking plant!
How do you like the taste?
I grew BSM one time and I didn't like the taste. Some of my co-workers liked them, the organic/vegetarians. ;)
Then later, after growing black cherry, Cherokee purple, ETC. I found that I don't like any of the dark colored toms.
I only like pink, red, and green! But taste buds are different!
Yes, most but not all determinates do have just one blossom cycle.
And yes, your indeterminates should continue to blossom and set fruits until frost kills them in the Fall.
Just b'c I'm curious, which determinate varieties are you growing, just checking since as I said above there are some det that do continue, and if I know your varieties I can comment, if not, my fingers will be taped shut. LOL
Carolyn
Please tell me what you thought of Russian Queen? I offered it in my annual seed offer elsewhere and also had a plant here at home.
And I thought it was one of THE worst tasting varieties ever, I don;t know if it took first place, but nevertheless.
In the link below I see a picture from Steve at Heritage seeds and also Mike at Ohio Heirloom seeds offers it.
Right now I can't remember who sent it to me without plowing through a couple of data books.
Google search'
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Russian+Queen+tomato
Maybe it was from Clara in Germany as I read some of the links, since Mike at Ohio Seeds gets varieties sent to him by Clara, and I think it was Steve at double Helix who said he got it from me.
All to say, what did you thinnk of the taste, and I ask taste b'c I remember it was insanely prolific. LOL
Carolyn
Here is a link that might be useful: Russian Queen
Carolyn, I thought it was offered by you somewhere.
I have to look at the package Ihave ordered seeds from Heritage and from DoubleHelixfarms. It is very prolific and it taste great. Nice juicy middle ground, not too sweet not too sharp. Am very pleased. Mine looks a bit more elongated that pics for Heritage. It is also handling well in my community fungal bacterial ridden area.
Hi rt,
I am close by in Broomfield. I have grown tomatoes previously, but that was before I moved to CO 20 years ago. In addition, I grew them in the ground. I'm growing them this year for the first year in CO and for the first time in containers, so I may not know what I am talking about!
I am growing one each of Park's Whopper, Early girl and Big Beef. They are pictured below - the light is not good as the sun is just starting to hit them at 8:30AM. I probably won't grow Early girl again as it not any earlier than the other two.
I think that your containers are pretty small - as you can see I am using the big containers from Costco - I think I put about 20 gallons of material in each. A bigger container not only gives the plant more room, but makes watering easier (holds water longer) and reduces the heat problem. I'm using Neptune's Harvest Fish/seaweed fertilizer about every 10 days. Got a late start about June 10, but the plants are near the top of my 4' high cage setup. I water about 1.5 gallons every 2 days by drip irrigation.
I don't know how my crop will go. The 3 plants have about 40 tomatoes of various sizes right now.
Hi, I'm happy to say that my tomato plants in containers are recovering nicely. Thanks for all the helpful suggestions! I mulched with grass clippings, increased the watering to 1-2x/day, and started feeding the plants Miracle Gro 1-2x/week. The new growth coming in looks great, which hasn't been the case for several weeks.
To JerryM down the road in Broomfield (I'm in Boulder), my containers are 14" and 17", and I think you're right, the 14" container is pretty small. The 17" container seems to be doing better.
To edweather, the water was soaking in nicely. I'm starting to think that my biggest problem was a lack of nutrients, since I hadn't ever fed them (other than what they got from the composted manure or the MG fert that came in the bag of potting mix.)
New growth on Bloody Butcher:
Grape tomatoes ripening plus some new growth:
-Mark
This post was edited by rt_peasant on Wed, Jul 23, 14 at 1:09
It isn't being dumb. It's just the old "can't see the forest for the trees" syndrome we all get. I don't multitask nearly as well at my age and get tunnel vision on the one thing I'm working on. Lots of head-slapping Duh! moments. :)
Dave
Ok, here is what my rule book says
I prefer fish fertilizer that is done by cold press- this way there is more amino acids, enzymes etc saved. I like Neptune for this very reason.
Unless you live at the ocean side and have plenty of fish carcasses washed on the beach, it is not a good idea to get fish heads into your garden under the plants.
Foliar feeding is far more effective that traditional soil drench, it works wonders. Few things- it does not substitute great soil. It should be only used if the product specifically designated for foliar feed at much more diluted rate.
Plants, including tomatoes, do need nitrogen, even more so after they are starting to produce fruits. Yes, it is fine to apply throughout the season. Catch is what else you are doing and adding.
I follow and enjoy using system that Smiling gardener does, you can look up on the right side info on the ferts, including liquid fish
Here is a link that might be useful: Organic gardening
Hi your peppers will probably be fine in the containers, just give them more room. I'm growing peppers in containers and most of my tomatoes are in containers with a special growing mix, like Linda said, not soil. You could try growing mint in a large container as it spreads like crazy and will choke out everything.
Sharon
Sorry. I forgot to update. The peppers were put in the oil in a shady area. I also moved a couple of the tomatoes to the soil. The mint would need to stay, I don't have a say in that matter.
I was referencing the tomato plant in the soil, from the original post, that is not growing.
Thank you
I got my first ripe one. These are early girlts. I took the other 2 off because they were almost touching the ground and the green one did have color break on the bottom.
The first ripe one took almost exactly 59 days as stated. Give or take a day, they were planted around May 17th.
no walnut tress nearby. The plants start dying as soon as the fruit is about the size of a golfball! sometimes a tad bigger. I think I have tried every kind of hybrid there is. Is there any way to determine what type of wilt it could be, it that is what it is?
Check out verticillium wilt and fusarium wilt online. I've just been reading about them myself as my eggplants have been wilting. They are really horrid diseases and the fungus that causes them can persist in the soil for many years.
It is possible to solarize the soil using clear plastic, although I'm not sure how long the effects of this will last.
Another solution would be to grow tomatoes in large containers using potting mix and not soil.
Linda