Ask Carolyn

I told ya'll NOT to mess with the tennis matches!

Getting closer.

(o_O)

What green when ripe tomato would you recommend for someone who is new to them. I had trouble knowing when Ananas Noir was ripe. Are there green when ripe tomatoes that tell you when they are ripe by visual clues? I don't understand the spicy description. Spicy like what other food if it is possible to describe the taste. I have read that green zebra is zingy and other places that it is sweet.

There are those who like the taste of Green Zebra and those who don't and I'm in the lattter group and don't even consider it a typical GW ripe variety.LOL

I don't think I'm very good at explaining taste but almost all of the GWRipe varieties that I've grown do have more of a sweet taste than an aggresive taste and yes, for me most of them are somewhat spicy but I have no comparison spice to compare it with.

Most GWRipes do form an amber blush at the blossom end and even higher than that and when you see that and the fruits are starting to get a bit soft to the touch, then I think it's time to pick them.

For someone new at growing GWripes and not being sure when they are ripe I suggest growing a GWRipe cherry variety b'c on one truss you have fruits at all stages of maturation and you can directly see and sample the ones that are ripe.

I used to grow Green Grape, but haven't ever since the variety Green Doctors came on the scene and I highly suggest GD as the cherry to grow. If you want to grow another, somewhat larger fruited variety I think a good one to start with is Cherokee Green based on the many GWRipes I've grown and I could easily suggest lots more but CG is usually at the top of lots of lists that folks grow and I'd put it there as well.

Hope that helps,

Carolyn

Thanks.That is a good idea to start with a cherry. I just read your snow rant elsewhere and so I am not feeling sorry for myself with 4 dogs in the house last night and 3 below zero this morning. There is one track down the middle of the highway with a foot of snow in the high center. I am going to my mailbox after I get my coveralls on to see if the mail came today; there could be tomato seeds.

Dr. C,
I just read on another thread that one of our DGers encountered a lady at a compost teaching class. They got into a discussion, and she commented that her tomato crop the year before was not good. But this year she had a bumper crop.

She grew them in:
A large bag of dog food
A large bag of kitty litter
A large bag of alfalfa

Would you comment on why this would or would not work, please.

Thanks!

But this year she had a bumper crop.

She grew them in:
A large bag of dog food
A large bag of kitty litter
A large bag of alfalfa

Would you comment on why this would or would not work, please

******

If the woman teaching the class had a bumper crop using the above. well, I dunno, I wouldn't use any of them. And did she tell others what amendments she used or whether the above were grown strictly in just the above or mixed with something else.

Dog food? I have no idea what the NPK is but it shouldn't be too far off but the stuff would have to be pulverized first. Tomato roots don't chomp down food and digest it as would a doggie, and I havve no idea if she was talkiong about wet or solid dog food.

Kitty Litter? There are all kinds with different compositions but I can't think any of them have any NPK worthwhile, usually none of them do except what one might find in clay.

Alfalfa? Almost pure N, many folks use the pellets to fertilize with but I've never heard of anyone growing anything in pure alfalfa and it too would have to be pulverized.

Nope, not for me, not any of them in any form whatsoever. ( smile)

Carolyn

Thanks for the feedback. Dr. C!

My Dollar Tree sells bags of kitty litter that is 100% DE, and I use it a lot to mix in with all sorts of soil- it helps aeration and drainage.

Joe,
What's the brand name on your Dollar Tree kitty litter?

A bit off topic, but since the thread turned to NPK fertilizers, I've been meaning to mention one I've started using.

I ordered a liter of "Algoflash" liquid fertilizer from Shumway along with some seeds, and I've been using it on our potted plants for about a month. A capful of the fertilizer goes in every gallon of water, and it's used every time the plants are watered - one bottle doses 128 gallons. So far, I've been real happy with it.

I got the "tomato" formulation because it's 4-6-8, a little higher in phosphorus. The fertilizer also contains many trace minerals in small amounts. Our indoor-in-the winter plants are going nuts - I've never seen them look this good.

In particular, my pot of Maui Purple Pepper plants has thrived. The plants are by a window looking out at the snow, they're a foot taller than they've ever been, and they're blooming and setting on peppers like crazy.

I'm not saying that this fertilizer brand is better than anyone else's, you understand - just that it's sure working for me. Once I get tomatoes in the garden, in addition to my regular fertilizer and compost practices, I think I'll go around with a watering can every couple of weeks and give them some "Algoflash". Can't hurt.

Gymgirl, here ya go- 3 photos that tell the story- I checked last year if DE is harmful to earthworms and was told no- I use many bags of it during the summer- it's great to add to container soil, too.

The actual stuff-

And the ingredient label- all this for $1 a 5lb bag!

Since this is a Q&A thread I hope that you don't mind if I ask a question. I planted 4 tomato plants and out of the 4 there is one that's loosing the bottom leaves. They turn yellow and fall of. It's a Heirloom Beefsteak. Don't know if it's normal since the other 3 are all green and with fruit. This one is just starting to bloom even though it's one of the tallest plants and I'm just a bit concerned. If photos are needed just let me know.

A question and answer thread? Here's what Carolyn said when Flyboy decided on the title of this thread, and said it back in Novermber:

(Carolyn, who doesn't really need or want a sticky devoted to her just answering questions. LOL)

Flyboy has done the majority of the posts here following the matruation of plants, but I think everyone should be able to contribute, I really do.

That being said, what are the variety names of the four that you planted and did you buy them as plants or raise them from seed and are they inground or in containers?

it's normal to have lower leaves drop off but not for just one variety out of four. IS there anything at all that you can think of that makes that one plant different from the others in terms of where it's being grown and whether you've grown tomatoes in the past in that specific area?

On that one plant do you see any spots on the lower leaves before they fall off and if so can you please describe what they look like as to size and shape and color and if there are any yellow halos around those spots?

Carolyn

Well, they are round like Camparis.

And healthy, so far.

(o_O)

Carolyn...as a fairly recent convert to the tomato cult and already a Carolyn fan, I was just curious if you ever attended
the Tomatofest in Monterrey, CA (Gary Ibsen). Regrettably, it ceased to exist before my tomato interest began to
exist, but I think I would loved to have attended. My question.....are you aware of any similar tomato fairs in Calif.,
Nev. or Ariz.? Before venturing much further, I would have to see just how nutso I get over tomatoes.

While I've known Gary since about 1990, he used to subscribe to an International newsletter on heirlooms that Craig LeHoullier and I published back then, I've had no interest in attending his former Tomatofest event.

That NORCAL thread gets more active as the time when the event is held gets closer, which is true for all the regional events.

Hope that helps.

Carolyn, who welcomes you to the tomato obsessed club. LOL

Thanks for the info Carolyn, I didn't know there was a listing of tasting events around the country.
I'll have to get ours listed, it will be our 3rd year.

Paul

Thanks for the info Carolyn, I didn't know there was a listing of tasting events around the country.
I'll have to get ours listed, it will be our 3rd year.


******

Paul, I don't know that there is a listing of tasting events around the country.

Some of the events have seed and plant trades as well as for sure tasting events later in the season.

There are maybe 7-8 of these around the country such as the Buffalo area as well as Cincinatti, Raleigh/Durham, Mid-Atalantic as well as the NORCAL one and right now I can't remember the rest of them.

Carolyn

Carolyn,
My seedlings seem to be "drooping". The leaves are curling downward. All of the larger more established ones growing in two different rooms.

Also, they seem to be getting a little pale. I don't think they need water 'cause the soil is moist. It's also very cold. Could they need some heat?

Thanks.

Linda

If you propagate a hybrid tomato from a stem cutting will it be true to what you started with? Will it revert back to one of the parent plants?
Thanks

Paul

It'll be the same as the hybrid, Paul. I do it all the time (cus I'm too cheap to buy extra seeds). :>)

Shoe (overheating in this wonderful 77* weather we are having in February!)

Thanks Shoe

Your welcome. It's a great way to make plants for a second crop, especially if you are dealing with determinates that will poop out on you at some point. Root some suckers and you'll have plants for setting out, getting that last little bit of season out of the year.

Shoe

So i was at Sam's and was checking up on the tomatoes. The Camparis are $5.37 for a two pound box -- so I am thrilled.

One more week to go.

Not that I plan to sell them, but my neighbors will appreciate them even more.

Maybe I'll patent this setup. It's great for planting where you have no ground space.

Be well

(o_O)

Camparis and the beanstalks.

How tall will they grow?

(o_O)

So, with all the talk about Mountain Magics, I ordered some seeds from TG.

I'll start them when these plants finally bolt.

But -- I think I've one week to go before the test. And I believe that I am supposed to let them get really red.

Be well

(o_O)

This message was edited Mar 6, 2011 5:02 PM

Deeeee -- licious.

My grandson pronounced them so -- and took a couple back to New York for my great-grandson and great-granddaughter.

And here they are $4.09 a pound at Publix.

And, look at the size of one of the clusters.

(That shiny thing on top is a dime.)

Be well.

(o_O)

I have Campari F4 seeds.

Today.

The one in the ground.

Those in the pots.

I have already gotten my money back in fruit.

Is anyone interested in F3 seeds?

Be well

(o_O)

What an OUTSTANDING forum and bunch of folks here! I just joined and have loads of questions. I got interested in Camparis because I assumed that since I purchased them in the winter and they were from Canada, they must be good greenhouse candidates. I bought a little 6X6 portable greenhouse and ordered 6 Mountain Magic plants from Burpee. I live in Powhatan, VA, which some zone maps say is 7a, but another map shows a little area in the middle of the state that includes Richmond and Powhatan (30 mi west) as zone 6b. Burpee wouldn't ship the plants earlier than their 6b time, so I'm having them sent to a friend in the Outer Banks of NC where we have a little cottage (Duck) with a small herb and salad garden. That seems to be 8a. They should arrive in NC the first week in April and I'll bring them back home to the greenhouse, wait till mid April to plant in Duck, May 1 in Powhatan. I also fermented and cleaned the seeds from one grocery store Campari, and have 100% germination, skinny teeny little things. Now for a bunch of questions:
1. Are the plants from Burpee F1? I did pass my botany class, but that was somewhere around 1966, so I don't remember anything about genetics. Could somebody give me a quick explanation of F1, F2, F3 WRT to these camparis?
2. Do the grocery store tomato seeds have any chance of producing tomatoes like their parent?
3. If I save seed from the Burpee tomatoes, will they be F2, and what does that mean for trying to grow plants from those seeds?
4. My main goal is to get some winter tomatoes. In Duck, we can often go well into December without a frost. Would August be a good time to plant a new plant there, or should I start in July? Would it just be a lot safer to buy the seeds from TGS and start them myself, or could I try starting from cuttings from the Burpee plants? Or would the whole project not be worthwhile because the days will be short and so much cooler than summer? This is zone 8a
5. I've never had a greenhouse before. I'm thinking maybe I could plant a campari late (again, don't know what date) in a huge pot, let it grow outside through, say, mid September, and then put it in the greenhouse (zone 6b). I have a cheap heater in there and a pretty good greenhouse thermostat that has been able to keep the temp around 50 degrees when the outdoor temp was in the low 20s.

Thanks,
Linda

That's a handful. Allow me to try.

1. F! are the original seeds. Then it is progressive. F2 are seeds from F1, et cetera I would assume that Burpees are F1.

2. This thread is about Campari tomatoes in a two pound box (from Mexico) purchased at Sam's Club.

3. They'll be F2's.

4. If you follow the thread you can see how long it took from seed to fruit. But, I am in Zone 9b. As far as cuttings go, I haven't tried them for tomatoes. Good luck.

5. Huge pot is correct. I have to water the five pots every day.

Welcome aboard. Be well (o_O)