What's growing in your tomato garden!!!

drthor,

Beautiful veggies! It looks like you are going to have an excellent season. I hope to be right there too.

LikeOhPersicon
thanks so much. This year was so much pre-work ... we had a lot of cooler weather and I was always covering and uncovering the baby tomato plants ... but now it is all worth it. Good luck to you !

Gymgirl, you are so right! I will keep that in mind!

Hugobee,

I'm sorry.

That should've read, "a tomato in the hand is worth two in the mail," LOL!!

Could always try ; a sliced tomato on a sandwich is better than the green ones on the bush .. Until their ripe anyway ...

Speaking of green tomatoes I'm anxious to try aunt rubys German Green. Actually I can't wait to try all my tomatoes, but I love green tomatoes, especially fried. And of course, I'll keep the seeds!

GG remembering the name of the seeds you saved should be on the list! Does your NOIDs have Potato Leaves?

Um,
Potato leaves? Are those the big, stand alone leaves? I'll have to Google "potato leaves"...

Pruden's Purple has potato leaves not regular leaves. Just trying to narrow down what the NOIDs are. You don't start a huge amount of different varieties a season so we should be able to figure this out. Lol

green tomatoes on my Sweet Million

Beautiful. Im growing sweet million for the first time. Got it on impulse from a beekeeper nearby when I was buying honey; impulse buy. Shot up and has flowers, fruit can't be far behind.

I didn't plant as many as I usually do. Didn't do a fund-raiser for anyone. Only planted 30 Sungold. Guess I'm tired. I'm also REtired. No more ER for this RN!!!!!!!

Black Cherry
Super Sweet 100
Sungold (3)
Purple Haze - from Laurel's Heirloom Tomatoes
Sweet Treats
Brandywine, Cowlick's (2)
Mary's Favorite Pink - Got the seeds from someone in France a few years ago. He didn't know the name, just that it was his wife's favorite. Probably Brandywine. Great taste.
Chocolate Stripes (2) One of the best-tasting for the last 2 years
Mr Stripey
Lemon Boy - Someone at a nursery said they loved it and it produced a lot.
4th of July (2) Guaranteed they won't produce by the 4th of July
German Johnson
German Queen
Johnny's 361 (2)
Brown Sugar
Pink Potato Top (3)
Early Detroit
Orange Minsk - If Carolyn likes it, it must be good!
Dr. Dester
Marhio
Heinz VF
Red Barn
Summer Cider - 3rd and last try for this one. I didn't think it tasted as good as Marianna and Laurel said it did, but we'll see.
Linda's Faux - I'm Linda-----so I had to plant MY tomato
Bloody Butcher
Beefmaster
Lurley's Paste (2)
San Marzano (2)
Christopher Columbus (2)
Viva Italia (2)
Maria Amazaletei's Giant Red (2) - I know I didn't spell that right. Can't say it either. Tastes great, though.
Purple Dog Creek
DX 52-12 - Recommended for our climate. Tried it once before and it was not great--so why did I do it again?

Good luck this year everybody!!

And, a HAPPY RETIREMENT to you, too!

Looks like you'll be staying busier than the ER ever had you!

And no more OR for this RN. Isn't it great. Congratulations. We made it.

Well, shoot, looks like a RETIREMENT trend going on!!!

I'll be working until I'm 99.5, LOL!!!

Congrats to all of you! But from the sounds of it, it seems like you are going to be very very busy with all your gardens! I'm actually seeing flowers on my Bloody Butcher, Black from Tula, Brandywine and a couple of others. I must say, Orange Strawberry is surprising me because it actually is looking pretty sturdy now. Anna Russian is growing but looking very delicate. I can't wait to see how that one works out. The rest are growing, that's all I can say.
Linda, I want to know how Purple Haze is, as I don't think we can get it in Canada as a plant.
Oh, and we've had sun for more than 24 hours!
Sharon

Here is my harvest from yesterday without any of the 'cherry' varieties. It is a good year for me.

Keith

Wow! that's great! I can't wait to start picking myself. :)

Mad

I love all the colors and shapes. I planted 2 Summer Cider again this year. It will be the last time if I don't get any tomatoes again. This time there are tomatoes set tho. Every plant has fruit set, which is a first for me. Thanks to a cooler spring, I think. Lol. I still have a couple plants that were after thoughts that are going in the garden tomorrow and then a few dwarfs and I'll be done. The days have been overcast so it hasn't gotten as hot as expected.

You just gotta "hate" all these "Southerners" who come in here showing off their tomatoes, all ready for eating, canning, etc., while us Yankees are still waiting for enough sun and warm weather to get our plants started! Envy is a hideous beast!

There may be some zone envy here right now,
but we will have fresh tomatoes when their's are toast!

Don't be hating! LOL!
Summer is just really starting here, And so are the 100+ degree days.
Soon my envy goes the other way, While I'm baking at 100 - 110 degree heat index, With 80% humidity.
You'll be enjoying 70's and 80's. My plants are searching for shade, And yours will be reaching for more sun.
They all have there pro's and cons.

Mad

drkenai, wow, those are some beautiful tomatoes. Enjoy.

I used to be jeaulous of those folks getting tomatoes when I wasn't. I think one of the best things I have learned from reading the forums is that each area of the country and world has their own set of problems and challenges to deal with. When I read about lack of fruit set due to the heat in much of the country when my plants are setting fruit just fine, I am relieved. When I read about folks dealing with soil borne diseases I have never heard of because I get ground freezes, I am relieved. So I decided to give up on zone envy. So enjoy those tomatoes. (Now if i could only figure out how to grow a bauhinia purpurea in my zone 5 yard, I'd be happy.)

I've got lots of green tomatoes set on and my plants are looking good. I'm doing a final weeding of the rows now, then I'll put down soaker hoses, mulch with green grass clippings, and spend the rest of the season tying up vines and picking home-grown tomatoes.

F4 generation of my Dr. Wyche's Yellow x German Red Strawberry cross - Strain #4, a large orange semi-heart.
F4 generation of the same cross - Strain #2, a large oblate pink.
Super Fantastic
German Red Strawberry
Grandma Mary's Paste
F5 generation of OP supermarket Campari
Arkansas Traveler

Ozark

How true are your Campari's.
Mine are only F2's this year, But no fruit yet.

Mad

Thank you Nancy for putting it in perspective. Lol I lived in a higher zone when I lived in CA BUT never had the gardening issues that I've had here. Many people don't realize how humid it gets in the north, they think it's humid in TX.

"Ozark. How true are your Campari's. Mine are only F2's this year, But no fruit yet. Mad"
-------------------------------

I don't know how true they are yet, but they're small plants setting on little green tomatoes like crazy. They're setting on in clusters of 8 or so, and that seems right. So far, none of the green ones are larger than a quarter but the first ones only appeared a week or so ago. We'll see if they get to a larger size, or if they've reverted to cherry tomatoes. My seeds came from FlyboyFL, and he's done the work on these, not me.

From what I've read, "Campari" is more of a marketing term than a specific tomato variety. It seems various cluster-type, sweet, bright red, larger-than-cherry hybrids are sold under that name.

Now we're getting off the subject, BUT, Ozark, did you decide you liked the hybrid Big Beef or the one you were dehybridizing?

I read in this forum that one could ferment the seeds from the 'Campari' tomato and they would produce. I was very skeptical but tried it anyway from some Costco Campari tomatoes. It was not a strong plant to start with but I have a bunch of tomatoes now getting ripe!! Surprise! See the attached picture - I have not harvested any yet, maybe in a few days.

Keith

It's true each region has its issues, but we can get stifling humid conditions where I live AND we have a much shorter growing season, but hey, we work with what we have!

LL , let me know about Purple Haze. Brings back memories haha!

"Now we're getting off the subject, BUT, Ozark, did you decide you liked the hybrid Big Beef or the one you were dehybridizing?"
---------------------------------

I gave up on the OP version of Big Beef that first season, because all my dehybridized plants produced tomatoes only HALF the size of the hybrids. The flavor was fine but I thought the size difference was too much of a sacrifice. Guess that's why they cross-pollinate that one to produce hybrid seeds.

Keith, those Costco Camparis look real nice - they're bigger than cherry tomatoes, anyway.

Thanks Ozark - they are a little bigger than golf ball size - the same size as the ones I bought from Costco. But I think the ones I bought were a little more oblong in shape - I will let you know how they taste in a few days.

Keith

Spoiler alert!

I trimmed back all my tomato vines, today. Two are cut back completely , and I only left vines that had green tomatoes on the remaining five.

It was interesting when I discovered varieties I thought I was eating were totally NOT, because the vines started growing horizontally across the bed! So, what I picked under one label came from two or three plants down!

No matter, because I was pleased with all the varieties I ghe this season.

I've harvested 35 lbs. of tomatoes from 6 out of 7 plants. This is a record for me. And, with temps creeping higher, and the Stinkbugs moving in, I'm ready to call my season.

Besides, it's almost time to start the fall/winter seedlings, and I'll need to beef up that bed for the brassicas.

Linda

Finally got the last two tomatoes into the bales this evening. It has been a crazy spring so after planting 35 varieties last week I had to wait until the other bales had gotten soft enough to make holes for planting. Then we had all the rain which really helped. The original 35 have had to go through a lot with near freezing temps at night, a couple of cold windy days, then 3 day of heat wave. I planted a number during the heat wave and covered them with cloth to block the hot sun. So far everything looks great. Here's my list - I planted one of each variety with the exception of 2 Jaune Flamme. Starred ones are first time growing.

Amazon Chocolate
Anna Maria’s Heart
Anna Russian Mutant - Name I gave to an Anna Russian that turned out to have small but very solid tomatoes with great flavor. Have grown ever since for drying.
Anna Russian
*Aurega (Auriga)
Black Cherry
Black Sea Man
Brad’s Black Heart
*Carbon
Cherokee Chocolate
Cherokee Green
*Chianti Rose PL
Cowlick’s Brandywine
Cuor di Bui
Dagma’s Perfection
*Dawson's Russian Oxheart AKA Orange Russian 117
Dr. Wyche’s Yellow
Earl’s Faux
Ernie’s Plump
Gary Ibsen’s Gold
*German Queen
*Golden Cherokee
Grappoli d’Inverno
Jaune Flamme
KBX
*Lee’s Sweet
*Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom
Little Lucky
*Livingston Beauty
Momotaro (only large hybrid)
Orange Minsk
*Orange Strawberry
Porkchop
Prudens Purple
Red Penna
*Riesentraube
*Siberian Pink Honey
*Sleeping Lady (Dwarf)
*Soldacki
*Sugar Drop Cherry
*Summertime Gold (Dwarf)
Sun Sugar (other hybrid I always grow)
*Tsar-Kolokol
Wes
*Yellow Amish (name given to a tomato by a local grower who gets the seed from an Amish family - this will be my first attempt at growing the seeds I saved)

Hugo - I'm surprised Purple Haze bring back memories lol.

My tomato season is just kicking in ive never had descent sized tomatoes on every plant, before this season. I don't start my cool season crops until Sept. but I like warm season plants so much more. I'm getting tons of beans haven't even sown the long beans yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Lisa are you surprised because I even remember? LOL! I tried beans last year and wasn't too successful so I'm skipping it this year. Trying arugula again, and hopefully it won't get eaten by ants. We aren't supposed to have hot weather until next weekend, which means we will go from mild temps to scorching hot and probably humid weather in a heartbeat. Not sure how the tomatoes are going to react. I've started spraying. I'm trying to find a product called Messenger or one that has the ingredient in it. Any tips anyone? Might not be available in Canada.

hugobee

They don't make messenger any more. The closest I know of is Axiom Harpin Protein by Rx Green Solutions.
You can pick it up on Amazon, But I haven't seen it anywhere else.

Mad

drkenai
I am very interested to learn from you.
Your harvest is amazing and I did noticed that they are very large tomatoes.
Could you tell me how much is your temperature day/night?
It is very hard in my climate to grow so many larger tomatoes. I do very well with cherry, plums and some medium size tomatoes ...
Any tips you could share with me I will appreciate.

In the scale is my largest tomato so far: Chocolate Stripes

My latest harvests. i can really tell that the tomato plants have decide to slow down. Now we are having day temperature around 90-95F and night mid 70s F

drthor, I love your sense of humor with everything.
Drkenai, regarding the comparis, which I think are patented to one grower, I am not certain if you will get compari tomatoes. Our favorite from Costco, too.

We have planted a few varieties of tomatoes, but we decided to try grafted tomatoes. I think they were $18 per plant (bought 2), and now it will be interesting to see the output. After they were planted, the weather became very cool (enough to kill coleus and basil) and then TONS of rain. The tomatoes are all holding their own, but I don't believe we'll get much of a harvest without some warmer weather.
Marcia

Gymgirl, drthor - The difference between our tomato seasons is amazing to me. I'm not THAT far north, but my season is just beginning with some, but not all, my plants having set on their first tiny green tomatoes. Some of my late varieties haven't even bloomed yet - it doesn't seem right that your Spring season is winding down and about over already.

I really couldn't get my plants in the ground earlier, as we had snow coming down (but not sticking) five weeks ago when I transplanted them into the garden. The idea now is for the temps to cooperate so I can get lots and lots of little tomatoes set on in June before it gets too hot. Then around July there will be some weeks that are too hot to set on tomatoes, but the ones that start now will be growing and ripening. By August tomatoes will start setting on again and that will continue until nights get too cold and finally freeze in October.

Yes, we get cold here in the winter - but when it comes to growing tomatoes I think I prefer my seasons to yours.