Growing Tomatoes, Season 2012

Outside, I know I will...and my Dad has requested when I come to Alabama for Thanksgiving I bring a sample of everything so I'll enjoy being able to gift him with it. He's a country boy at heart and my late mother wasn't..in any sense of the word. My SM is a much better cook so I know she'll enjoy having pickles, tomatoes, salsa, corn, beans, okra and spaghetti sauce to play with.

Yum!! I know they will enjoy what you bring at Thanksgiving! I can just taste it! I love having all the creamed corn, beans, and other sides that have been 'put up' when Thanksgiving rolls around.

Mary - your bug looks like a "Boxer Elder" or one of the ones similar. Do you have Maple trees? They LOVE maple tree seeds.

Nix on the maple trees.....but the milkweed bug has lots of hosts around here - like sunflowers and butterfly bush. I don't have either at the moment but the bug first presented on a sunflower plant that was beginning to bloom in my garden. It's gone but the bugs may have remained. I dunno for sure what's poking the hole in a tom fruit but it's hitting just about every bed. Two large containers, one Black Sea Man and one Stupice, have been untouched but they are around the side of the house in the east garden, which is mostly barren at the moment.

Just picked today, Marianna's Peace – been watching this baby grow for about a month. Picked it today, needs a little more ripening on the counter but if I wait too long after blush, the lose the fruit to environmental or pest issues.

The scale tops out at 1#, we think this baby is probably about 2#'er. No taste test yet, this is the first fruit from this plant.

And an unusual zucchini I'm trying for the first time, don't remember the name right now.

Very nice Mary! Love MP. One of my favorites. Why I didn't start any this spring is beyond me. But I will soon.

Sweet Carneros Pink are the first ripe for me this spring. A few are starting to show color....it's a productive plant. Probably will taste one tomorrow.

VERY nice looking tom RDP. It's art ain't it?? Happy to hear you like the MP, I'm anxious to try it for taste. So far, Black Sea Man and (very surprisingly) Silver Fir Tree tomato are favorites around here. Hungarian Heart is a close 3rd.

Lots of BER on the roma's. I'm picking up some sulphur tomorrow. A friend says it will lower the pH, which is pinging around 7 now, and the lower pH will allow the plant to take up certain nutrients, which it cannot do with the pH at 7. so I hear. Any comments?

They sure look cool in the sunlight, was hoping the pic would do it justice. Oh MP is a wonderful tasting tomato, curious to hear how you like it when you try it.

I stopped growing pastes because they do get BER too often, even when you do everything right. Viva Italia is a hybrid that does well without very much BER. I've started growing hearts instead of pastes. They're all meaty and much better tasting imo.

Thanks for that news on the hearts. I'll try some more this fall.

Anna Russian
Bull's Heart
Danko
Kosovo
Russian 117
Wes

Are the ones I have grown. Not many, but I like them all. Especially compared to pastes.

If you like black and hearts try Brad's Black Heart. It runs neck and neck with Black Sea Man here for taste! Actually I think BBH won out last year! Like RDP I, too, have switched from pastes to hearts for sauces. Amish "Paste" is the only "paste" I will grow and it isn't even a real paste, it's an oxheart! I've grown all on your list Ray, except Russian 117 and Wes failed last year. This year I am growing Anna Russian, Danko, and Wes from your list. In addition I am also growing Anna Maria's Heart, and Brad's Black Heart. I must say that I think Kosovo is one of the best of the red. I didn't grow it this year because I didn't have enough space with so many varieties but I think I should have made room for it somewhere!

Out of the ones I've grown, I like Anna Russian for flavor. Danko for production. Wes for best overall. You are growing 3 good ones.

Ray - I've been growing "Viva Italia" for the past five summers. Each year I get less and less BER with this tomato. I think this might be due to the compost and crab shell I add each year.

Last summer the first round of fruit got no BER and I thought: YAY! But then the second round had a few with BER and I threw them at the squirrels in disgust!

This summer, along with VA - I'm growing one called "Monica" from Johnny's

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-8494-monica-f1-og.aspx

The seeds got off to a slow start, but now the plants are loaded with fruit and flowers.

Bee - It's funny, you and I have really been the only ones singing the praises of Viva Italia. I'm really surprised it's not more popular. I'm not growing any so far, but I'm sure I'll sneak a few in here or there. I'll keep an eye out for your report on Monica.

My plants are growing like crazy, blooming and setting fruit. I picked my first ripe tomato a few days ago it was a Money Maker (I grow these every year, they are extremely dependable) This plant was started from seeds that Bee saved. It was not the first tomato to set but it was the first tomato to ripen. Thank you, Bee!

Is Money Maker, Mortgage Lifter?

Congrats everybody! Looks like a good year ahead if we can all keep the disease at bay! I have been noticing a lot of cat facing on some of mine. Just 1-2 per plant here and there. Guess it was from the cool weather we had earlier after I set out the plants. Isn't that what causes cat facing? I can't think of anything else it could be as I usually don't have that problem. I also noticed BER on a couple of little ones and I just went ahead and picked those off and trashed them. Makes me mad to have to do that. At any rate, DH asked me if I'd make some fried green tomatoes for him and I think I have a couple I can spare tonight, lol! I usually make him wait until I get at least ONE red one.

Lillians Yellow (heirloom) has been slow to set fruit but she's finally coming around. She's a slow one anyway but the plant looks great. Some of the leaves are the size of my hand. Cherokee Purple and Better Boys look wonderful and the Costuluto does too. All the little ones (Sweet Million, Sungold, etc) doing good too.

Well a while till my first, here's some little geen ones

Congratulations on yalls harvests! This might be a bumper crop year!




H

Congratulations on yalls harvests! This might be a bumper crop year!

OK,...OK,....humor.....humor........lol.......lol.....

araness - "Money Maker" and "Mortgage Lifter" are different varieties.

If you would like seeds of Money Maker let me know later this year and I'll send you some for next year.

Lisa - you're welcome ^_^

Ray- the "Monica" tomato plants have far more flowers than "Viva Italia" - I'm hoping they all set BER-free fruit! Will keep y'all updated...

This message was edited Jun 4, 2012 11:50 AM

Have you tried adding sulphur to control BER? Suggested by a friend. It will lower the pH which helps the plant take up whatever it needs to avoid the BER issue.

Mary - no I've never tried adding sulphur. Lime and sulpher at two things I stay away from because I know they can upset the ph of the soil to a degree that is hard to compensate for.

BER was not too bad last year, and I'm hoping it will be even less of a problem this year.

The photo is of some "Monica" blossoms - all the plants are covered with flowers. I saw bumble bees working the blooms this morning, which is very unusual.

Thanks bee....my mason bees have shown up!! Yippee Skippee. My first year with a mason bee house and it's been up since about Jan. Just notice the mud daubed holes and saw a bee enter an [apparantly] empty tunnel. yayyy.

Yep. Just like a bee with no stinger...

I know.....we all love pics. I'll see if I can get her entering The Tunnel tomorrow.

Here's the beginnings of the mud daubing, the bee did not show up while I was out there so no pic of the bee in action. DH attached the bee house under an eve that faces east, which is the recommendation [I think].

Very interesting. So where did you you get that contraption? Did your Hubby make it?

We thought about making one but I ordered on-line, a couple of friends ordered too and we shared shipping. Google mason bee houses (or boxes) and you'll find lots of info.

Mason bees are very interesting. I bought and read a book about them. The mason bee's sole purpose in life is to pollinate. No honey, no swarming, no aggressive behavior.

What're the cells made of? I'm thinking 3/4" - 1/2" pvc tubing might work. Is it mounted as shown, with the tubes facing up, or facing out?

tubes facing out. 1/2" will be too big. I've read that some folks use plastic drinking straws - so that gives you an idea of the size of the tubes. The tubes in this one are made of cardboard I think. There's instructions on-line for building your own. You could just drill out a block of wood.

KEWL!!!

Thanks, Mary!

Linda find something called a Bubble T straw or Tapioca straw those would be perfect.

Tapioca straws from the Tea House! Thanks!

Gymgirl- if you can get to YouTube there are mason bee house cleaning shows that can show you why tubes ought to be of paper, it has to do with needing to keep bugs that hurt your bees out of the bees nests, and paper is simplest to clean.

Thanks, Kitt!

I see another project in the offing...LOL...

No more projects until i complete ones already in motion!