What's growing in your tomato garden!!!

So here in Zone 8 I have green tomatoes on Park's Whopper and flowers on Mr. Stripey and Sweet Million. Today I work up early and worked for four hours, weeded flower border and veggie garden. Then hauled a wheelbarrow load of finished compost from the bin in back of yard, which is on a steep hill. That was a workout! Hand spread compost on the base of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, basil and on the deck container plants which are mostly herbs. Nice hot day today, supposed to get rain several times this week. That will do a good job watering in the fresh compost....those red tomatoes will be right around the corner. After several years of drought here in SC I am happy to have the rain; all that water combined with the heat is making things really take off.
In regards to the difference in zones, I've lived from zone 5 to 8 and my motto is: bloom where you're planted.

Ozark my growing season is more like yours but Im in the Hill Country. I couldn't have gotten my plants in much earlier either and, like I posted above, the ones that did go out earlier aren't that much further a long anyway. My schedule is more like yours too, the tomatoes that set now, ripen when the temps get high and start setting more when the temps cool off. I never have them completely stop producing, just slow down.

I have a map that has the different growing regions in TX , Dallas and Houston are in the same region or close to, and I'm 1-2 regions lower. Houston is near the coast so that could contribute to the warmer temps too. The last 2 years have been really hot and dry, but in 2010 I was picking 1 lb Mortgage Lifters in July and August.

Thanks for the info on messenger, GaMad. Regarding all your growing seasons, I can safely say we can grow from end of June till September if we're lucky! Not looking like we will have to worry about too much heat this year!

Drthor - the temps here are mid 50's at night to high 80's and low 90's in the day although a week ago Saturday it was 107! Yikes! I started all my tomatoes from seed the first and second week of January under T5 grow lights inside. I transplanted to my raised beds the last week of February and first week of March. I put 'hoop houses' over all the beds until the first week of April and watched them like a hawk for frost. Inside the hoops I place a small fan and a little heater and turn on according to forecast. (see attached picture). I could go on but that is how I do it. I plant so early because I take 60 pounds or so on my trip to Alaska (11th of July) so I need to plant early and need a lot of plants to harvest that much at one time. As you can read from my prior posts in this 'thread' I have 72 plants.
Oh, it will soon get very hot here - mid 90's to 105 so I sometimes put shade cloth over the plants especially if they have a chance of sunscald due to not over abundant foliage.

good luck

Keith

thanks Ozark for the nice comments.
drkenai,
thanks also for the explanation.We did start from seeds and transplant out about at the same time.
We also had a much cooler spring than usual. i am predicting to lose 2 weeks of harvests this year.
Do you think it could be your much lower temperature at night that you have so many large tomatoes?
How many plants do you have?

I think it was definitely the cooler weather and earlier planting. I only had 7 tomato plants, but the earlier fruitset during the cooler weather allowed them to grow to full size in very temperate conditions, I.e., before the scorching Texas "Fires of Hell" starts cooking them on the vines.

I am exceedingly happy with my harvest.

P.S. Ozark,
I could start seedlings inside now, and plant them out in 6-8 weeks, mid-August. If our weather holds, I could put fresh tomatoes on the Thanksgiving table.

I've not pushed that envelope cause I need the space for my fall/wtr more crop -- which I enjoy far more!!

This message was edited Jun 16, 2013 10:34 PM

Drthor - yes it might be the cooler night time temps - next week it is going to be 65-95. I have 72 plants and am just now getting the larger tomatoes - I just saw a Neves Azorian Red that was at least 2.5 pounds - starting to color up. I attached the harvest for today and didn't even hit all my beds - this many tomatoes has become a nightmare to pick. I spend at least 90 minutes 4 times a week or more. But it is a good problem to have.

Keith

Keith, when it gets really hot do your plants keep producing or do you pull them? When I lived in SoCal it got very hot but my tomatoes still kept going. It actually got hotter in CA but it cooled down more at night.

1lisac - I have never pulled my tomatoes - they seem to slow down in July but I put shade cloth over some of them and they continue to produce although at a much slower pace than now. About the shade cloth - I went on the 'Farm and Garden' section on Craigslist and found some former 'farmer' that had a gob for sale at a cheap price so I bought enough to cover all my beds for less than $100. They had a distinct odor however! Ha
For those that are not familiar with the temps in Chico, we have many days over 100 in late June, July and August, almost always at least in the mid 90s.

Keith

This message was edited Jun 16, 2013 9:58 PM

drkenai
I love to see your harvests and to learn from your experience.
I have maybe 40 plants in the ground. Every year I plant my "safe" varieties and I try new ones. This year the HERO is JEUNNE FLAMME.
Good luck in Alaska ! I will be coming there next September.

Drthor - Jeunne Flamme is also one of my favorites, I have 5 plants this year. Another new favorite is Strawberry Tiger, it is a very large cherry type, a heavy producer and great flavor. Another is Kazachka, a purple variety that is one to two inches in diameter and somewhat flat, very meaty and great flavor for salads.
Thanks for the 'luck' - maybe I should post a 'harvest' photo from Alaska when I return.

Keith

Thanks for your suggestions. I will put them in my order for next season 2014.
Another favorite of this year : Amy's Sugar Gem Tomato . It is a red large cherry. The taste is soooo sweet.
Also CHOCOLATE CHERRY ... OMG next year I will plant a lot of these !

Where do you like to order your seeds from?

I order seeds from many different sources although the Juanne Flamme came from my own fermented seeds from the year before and are doing great. The only place to get Strawberry Tiger and Kazachka are from J L Seeds. I highly suggest you try the Strawberry Tiger - I will plant many next year. I am not sure if it is a hybrid or not I will email J L and find out - if it is OP I will save some seeds. I will give Amy's Sugar Gem a try next year. I am growing some Black Cherry Tomatoes but I planted them late so I will see about them but I have heard excellent reports.

Keith

drkenai - according to Tatiana, Strawberry Tiger is open-pollinated. You can save seeds.

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Strawberry_Tiger#tab=General_Info

Thanks Patti - yes it is J & L Gardens - and thanks Ozark I will save some seeds and grow some plants for my friends!!

Keith

Try Chocolate Cherry. It grew a much bigger plant and more prolific than Black Cherry. Similar taste.
I will order and try these seeds.

drkenai,
How do store your tomatoes to take to Alaska?

Drthor - I put them in plastic boxes with foam on the bottom of the boxes and a little on top of the tomatoes and put 6 boxes in each cooler. I will definitely try Chocolate Cherry next year. My Black Cherry are just starting to ripen and have a nice taste and are fairly large.

Keith

drthor,
I Googled Chocolate Cherry tomatoes, and none of them look like the striped tomato you posted as Chocolate Cherry...and, the Chocolate Cherry tomatoes posted on the web are much smaller than in your pic...more like cherry tomatoes...

"Whas' up with dat?"

Gymgirl,

I think it was a picture of Chocolate Stripes not Chocolate Cherry.

I think so, too. I Googled Chocolate Stripes, and that's what it looks like to me, LOL!

Thanks, Pattie1957!

drkenai
you is amazing ! great job and thanks for sharing such amazing harvest. I definitely want to learn everything from you.

drkenia-your tomatoes are amazing. I'm jealous, I've been to Alaska twice and it's beautiful, wish I was going...: (. Lol

I'm wondering how you manage your plants during the heat of the summer? I'm originally from SoCal, where it gets into the low 100s on a regular basis, during the summer. Never had an issue growing tomatoes but many in Tx consider the season over when the heat sets in. To me it's no different then SoCal. I'm wondering if you could give your 2 cents? I also realize TX covers a lot of different climates but Im curious to hear your take. Thanks.

1lisac - My production slows down in the summer mid July to end of August but I have never 'pulled' my plants because of the heat. I have some large sheets of shade cloth and cover my beds during these hot times, not only to cool the beds but also to prevent sunscald.

Drthor - not to make you jealous but attached is the biggest tomato I have to date although there is a really large Neves Azorian Red starting to turn color on the vine. The Pepsi can is for size comparison.

Keith

Keith I have found the same thing here and in SoCal production slows but never stops and both my gardens have shade thru out the day, and some I grow in containers. My location here is much like the Cental Valley in Ca.

Don't get me wrong it gets hot here but the San Fernando Valley gets to be 105* or higher on a regular basis during the summer and I always had tomatoes. It rarely gets that hot here. The one difference is it doesn't cool down as much at night here. But when it says it's going to be 70* in Austin overnight, I know it will be in the 60s here, which can make a huge difference, since pollination slows below 55* and and above 70*, as a generalization. I picked my one and only Brandywine at the beginning of August last summer, so I know it's possible to grow large tomatoes even during the summer. But I think location can really make a difference.

What pest issues do you deal with? When it gets hot and dry here the Spider Mites are terrible. Just today I found evidence of spider mites on my plants on the my covered deck. Guess they aren't getting rained on. Lol

What type of tomato is next to the pepsi can?

This message was edited Jun 19, 2013 10:06 PM

drkenai
aaahhh now I am envious !!
Your tomato is as big as a watermelon ... now I have to move to Chico too !!!

Lisa - I believe the tomato is a Hungarian, I will go out and check the plant I picked it from to verify this evening. As far as pests go I usually don't have many save for tomato worms on occasion. The spider mites hit my squash and cukes but for the most part leave the tomatoes alone. I think maybe the temperature that cools in the evening is the saving grace for the plants during the 100 degree days in the summer.
This morning it is 58 and will be 90 later.

Drthor - Chico would welcome you!!

Keith

My latest tomato harvest. We did have a full night and half a day of fantastic rain ... so the largest tomatoes went crack crack

Please speak on the issue of humidity, and the "stickiness" we have here in parts of (coastal?) Texas vs. in CA...

If you pull your big tomatoes before the rain, they won't go crack, crack, and, they will continue ripening on your counter...

That's one of the other reasons you see so many blushies in my pics:..
►Tomato worms
►Stinkbugs
►Swelling Rain

Preserve the food!

Actually only a few varieties do crack after a lot of rain. Momotaro is the worst as you can see in the picture (red in the middle).

I found out that the larger tomatoes need to be colored at least half way before I harvest them and I let them ripe indoor. If I harvest before, they don't taste as good. The green tomatoes on the left side of the picture are GREEN ZEBRA and supposed to be green.

I am glad I don't have all of those problems you have in your garden. If i am home, I am trying to monitor everything and I think I am doing a pretty good job. I found a few of those leaffotted bugs, and used my hands as pest control. I don't spray anything in any of my veggies. I am a true organic/green gardener. Good and bad bugs live in my garden and they take care of themselves (95% of the time).

Also, you might know if you live in my area ... we have the worst weather man ever !!! He will forecast 100% sunshine and all of sudden we have all day rain ... sight !

Compared to when I first started, the problems I deal with now are very small, LOL!

I, too, grab the Leaffooted Stinkbugs and squish them, and the nymphs. To date, I've not seen one tomato hornworm on my tomatoes, but I have found one or two in another area. Mostly, those big ugly black diamond cutworms chewing holes in my tomatoes before I knew they were there at all...

But, two applications of Bt later, and no more worms for a good long time. I still catch an occasional one that wanders in.

Having planted out so early, the tomatoes were maturing just before the bugs moved in, so they did manage to get a share of my larger tomatoes. But, once I caught on, I got a good bit harvested by pulling the blushies.

Next season, I will have my trellis/greenhouse frames in place over all the raised beds, and will be able to cover them all with the perfed plastic against the frost, and then mosquito/tulle netting against the moths, and finally, shade cloth for extending them through the summer and into next fall.

I'm beginning to understand more and more that, if I can keep the moths from even landing on the plants, there will BE no worms on the plants! That's the beauty of a trellis/greenhouse frame!

Let the construction begin!

Gymgirl, do you have plans/sketches/specifications for your frames?
Or somewhere I can find them? I want to make something so I can put up shade cloth next year.
So long as I don't lose an entire crop, I figure insects have to eat, too!
I know that's a heretical and debatable position, but it's just my personal approach.

JB,

Here's the link to his construction tutorial.
[HYPERLINK@www.youtube.com]

Go to YouTube/ldsprepper or ldsprepper channel and watch his tutorial videos. Check out his garden updates from this month, too, and you can see how the fruits and veggies are growing on his T-Frame, and how he converts it to a greenhouse for the winter.

This guy is growing all this in Houston, in sawdust and sand!

It's called the Mittleider Gardening Method. Be sure to research the ins and outs of this system. I'm borrowing bits and pieces of the method, and starting with my existing raised beds, as they are. I have several more RBs to be built, and may set up at least 2 with the sawdust and sand, to conduct a comparison experiment.

There has been much discussion on the use of these non-organic soil mixes and the need to use the chemical fertilizers, but, it makes sense to me that the plants don't care where the minerals come from, as long as they get what they need!

I have the ("cheap") option of using double grind pine bark fines/perlite as my principal soil structure, instead of the sawdust. I can mix that with the sand, and be just fine, LOL! And, as long as the mineral nutrients are in plentiful supply, I figure I'm in good shape for the long haul.

Linda

The atomic structure is the same for man made vs natural amendments. Nitrogen is always the same, otherwise it wouldn't be Nitrogen. All fertilizers are chemicals some are synthetic and some aren't, but nature makes chemicals too. I have also found that the longer I garden in an area the worse the pest problems are. The pests weren't there when the veggie plants weren't. Simple case of supply and demand. That's why it's recommended that crops be rotated. There was no chance of rain but it rained 2" yesterday morning, still don't know where that came from. Lol

I'm always hesitant to be overly optimistic, I know now that my time will come. I found a couple tiny worms drilling into a couple of tomatoes I smashed them, I've never had those before. At least I got them before they did a lot of damage. Some gardeners have more time, then others, to spend in their garden. I'm a single mom with 2 teenage sons so picking bugs off 70+ tomato plants just isn't an option,not to mention everything else I'm growing. I do believe that the lower night time temps in my area are more of an advantage then I realized.

I am finding that Stinging Nettle Thisle Honeyvine Milkweed have some use when it comes to bugs.
Yes indeed Atomic weights and measures from the natural substance chart ..

Some of my tomato plants seem to be reacting well to a goldenrod mulch also .. just having fun ...finding how to's

This message was edited Jun 20, 2013 12:39 AM

Periodic table? My kids think I'm a nerd, not! I'm afraid of the Stinging nettle. I'm notorious for sticking my hand right where I just told myself not to.

LOL!!!

yes , only back when it required the chart with all three numbers for each , I have difficulty now , although it was when younger most interesting .
I cannot read the updated versions of the table chart . I require one of the older ones that I have not been able to find in some time ..
Only trial and error guessing from observation these days , a lot slower and really risky as to wasting time , only eh , it is still fun ...

I forgot ,,, I have been stung by the Nettle a few times .. not good , if you tend to be that way , Last week I picked up a spider the size of the palm of my hand ,, not good either ...!!!

This message was edited Jun 20, 2013 12:50 AM

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