This is a disappointing year for tomatoes

Overall, I am really disappointed with my tomatoes- the Big Beef that was a perfect one last year has been very seedy and had some white walls- The Martino's Roma that several raved about has been very bad about uneven ripening- the blossom end turns red but the upper half is still yellowish. When picked, by the time the whole tomato had ripened the upper skin was wrinkled. This happens with two plants in different gardens, so I know it is not a location thing. I found Legend very consistent in size, but not tasty at all. My New Big Dwarfs that were 3ft last year are nearly 6ft -one hasn't even set any fruit- 2 are starting but hardly resemble what I grew last year. Same area, same conditions. I really don't know what to try next year. I have a beautiful Pruden's Purple- 7ft tall and top is loaded with blossoms, but nary one tomato.

i have been getting several ripe tomatoes, and many many green balls on my plants, my problem seems to be all the fungal diseases running rampant from all this rain rain rain rain that we have had so far this summer. Lost 2 tomato plants entirely to fungal infection (out of 9 planted)

I don't have any disease problem- the plants are all very robust- just the fruit is not up to what I expect from past experience.

Some years the weather, and conditions, just are not good for growing tomatoes.
Mine seem slow this year, but I have been busy with other gardening tasks.

This year has been one of the bast years I've had. Some seasons have been dismal, I don't know what the difference is. It is strange how each year is so different makes me feel like I'm in Vegas.

It's a gamble that's for sure. I agree, this is not the best year. Very very slow to set blossoms and then to set fruit. Now a couple of plants which barely have a fruit on them, are dropping the blossoms. Plus I had BER issues with a couple. Not a fun year. The weather has been very inconsistent. Too much rain followed by cold, then intense heat and humidity, and the cycle continues.

This has been my BEST tomato season ever!

I believe it's because I planted out so early for our area (mid-February), and protected the plants. It didn't take much doing, since we only had about 4 nights that got down to 30 degrees.

By the time the other area growers were just setting out plants, mine were already full of almost full-sized fruits. By the end of May I had harvested almost 30 lbs. from 7 plants, and by mid-July, that was up to 45 lbs.

And, I didn't get bugs until almost the end of the harvest!

Linda

From a little gardener ,with a little garden, it 's not been a bad year is all I know..
A few going still today, nothing unusual for here ..

My tomatoes haven't been doing too bad. Turkey Chomp did well again this year but several of the others I have grown the depend on didn't do as well this year. But others I had only grown for the taste, like Golden Bison, did really, really well. I guess that is why we grow various varieties. No matter the weather, at some point one of the varieties will catch on ☺.

We'll see how this fall's tomatoes turn out.....

Just to even it out it has ben my worst year ever. Plants started out just great, healthy and lush, then the rainy humidity set in. It wasn't longer than a week the "black plague" set in (can't tell if it's early or late blight or septoria.) But the black plague started at the bottom rotting leaves all the way up to the last few leaves, leaving the fruit unprotected from sun scald and then the bugs set in. I ripped everything out by the 1st of August, Only got a few tomatoes when I usually am picking them by the buckets at this time. And it didn't matter what variety. Riesentraube which is supposed to be a prolific producer produced maybe a hand ful and they weren't in a bunch either.
Sorry if I sound to be a downer but I have never had such a bad season. I'm hoping it won't be nxt yuear.

Bad year for me as well :(
Been raining here about every day.
knocks the blooms off before they get pollinated.
That's the way it goes sometimes.
But at least it has kept it cooler :)

mad

`Well, I am about ready to say adios to my 2013 growing, and get ready for next year. I have pulled all my Pole Beans which were a huge disappointment-they made a lot of pods shaped like the letter "C"- and several tomatoes have been yanked because of substandard taste or low production. Cucumbers never really got going-and on and on. But after reading raves about certain tomatoes I have already received some seeds in the mail- I have O.P. Goliath from Reimer seeds,and Abraham Lincoln & Joe's Pink Oxheart from Lazy Ox Farm. I am also starting my redesigning of my garden areas in hopes of a better garden next year. I haven't grown any cherry tomatoes for a few years, but plan to do some next year. I am open for varieties- They need to be crack resistant and no tough skins- red, no black or dark or yellow. Must taste sweet and tangy. Who has a winner? I do like the old Sweet 100, but they crack badly. I didn't like Sweet million or Sugary.

My Gardener's Delight are okay here to that Jo , But I believe you want a hybrid and low production heirlooms just don't "make it" with you ? (read that I thought)
Still it is a good, but long season cherry type red .(here anyway)

Since the above are heirlooms though I guess I must be remembering or reading backwards though , oh well it is late ..

This message was edited Aug 27, 2013 1:31 AM

juhur, no, I don't care whether it is heirloom or hybrid- Aren't Gardener's Delight larger than a cherry? I'm looking for about *nickel* size, not *salad* or *patio*. Oh, well, I have all winter to research!

Here's an idea of there size , Sounds about like what your talking about , Only of course I can't say about anyone's tastebuds
The red one's of course (Gardener's Delight AKA Sugar Lump) , shown with Lemon Burgess and Broad ripple currant

Being the jokester ? I am , how about this '

The first pic it is sitting on the nickel , lol

It did seem to me that the smaller tomatoes did better this year than the big honkin' ones. I have a mix of OP's and hybrids. I don't save seeds (saving that adventure for when I semi-retire). This year was just bellow average, I'd give it a C-. If it weren't for the cherries and the salad-type smaller guys it would have been an F for sure. This has been a strange year weather-wise. Yo-yo temps. Rain when we weren't supposed to get any. And no rain when we should have. Made it really hard for me (the queen of my drip-land) to judge when to turn on the drip irrigation so I think I might have overwatered a few of my tomato subjects. My blueberry bushed died and I have no idea why. Ah well, as we say in Chicago Cubs land...wait 'till next year!

JoParrott, Pink Ping Pong did well again for me this year. Most of my cherries were various colors, but PPP was reddish. I know I grew another red, but can't remember the name. I just ripped a bunch out. I'll try to remember.

PS. My eggplants did do well this year! Whoohoo!

CBS News This Morning reported that the Farmer's Almanac has predicted freezing cold in the north, and mild but wet in the South....

This message was edited Aug 27, 2013 10:42 AM

I wonder what that means for northern CA....???

Was that for the near future Gymgirl? When is it suppose to get cold in the north?

Well, so far I have had a lousy year. First, they didn't get any blossoms. Then the ones that finally came, didn't set fruit. I got exasperated and gave them some Bloom fertilizer and cut back unproductive shoots, tops etc. They finally got fruit on them, and now I finally have big beautiful green balls. No red at all, and here it is Labor Day!!

We almost always get a good freeze shortly after Labor Day and then it turns nice until almost November. Will I get a ripe tomato? Going to put one in a sack with a banana peel. Problem is, it will get ripe, but probably no flavor.

BTW, this is the first year I have tried Earthbuckets. BUT, also, have them on my deck because of surgery on a bad ankle that has taken 5 months so far. Not as much sun.

My entire garden was pretty much a failure this year. The tomatoes are finally putting some fruit on, but the plants are starting to die off.
No cucumber on our cucumber plants. Okra is only three feet tall where it is usually ten feet. It's just now starting to produce. Zucchini rotted when it became about 4 inches.
Butternut has been wonderful--probably 20 fruits so far and still going strong. Bell peppers are absolutely huge- five inches (or more) in diameter and very tasty. Marchoni's are 10-12 inches long. We grew one Anaheim pepper this year and the heat, for us, is just right. I am able to use the ribs and the seeds. It makes for easier prep.
Flowers have done well. We've had quite a bit of rain and cool weather. However, not this week: temps mid 90's with heat index of 100+.

Well Birder, I would say about half and half for you. Not bad. We grew pole beans, Blue Lake, and the vines got about 8 feet tall with not a bean on them. The tomatoes, which are the only thing we grew other than flowers, are solid green. Not a ripe one yet. And we are pretty far north. So, may not get any ripe ones. Oh well, another year in the toilet.

It seems strange that some had great gardens and some nada. I have talked with other gardeners in the area. Although most had poor success, there's a few that had good garden production.

Yes, well, I don't know what the answer is. My granddad used to say we weren't holding our mouths right. LOL, don't know. Maybe he is right.

The variables I have considered:
1. Too cool
2. Too wet
3. Not enough wind for pollination
4. Too much humidity making the pollen gummy preventing pollination.
Maybe it's all of them-who knows. And yet, I know of one local gardener that had a good tomato year. My brother, who lives 60 miles south, put his garden in late and has good production on all the veggies he planted.
You wouldn't think tomatoes would be that hard to grow.

I've been so disappointed with my garden, especially my tomatoes, that I haven't been reading or posting online!

Actually, it isn't the garden's fault. I got the tomatoes in late, then the first week of July I broke a bone in my foot. I had to have surgery, bone graft, and a plate with six screws attached. I was finally allowed to start putting some weight on the foot (in a protective boot) just this week. I haven't seen my garden (except out the window) in two months. Everything was dropped in place, and nothing touched other than my mother-in-law coming over to pick the few tomatoes that we did have. Needed more water and weeding...

All the summer items: okra, beans, black-eyed peas, squash, and cucumbers all wilted on the vine. Sweet corn went unharvested-- the only thing that progressed to a normal finish were the 'sugar baby' pumpkins. They were well enough along that they choked out the weeds and had just enough water to grow to maturity. My wife says that I have probably 20 or so pumpkins, so at least we will have pie.

David

Better luck next year, David. Hope your foot heals well and you enjoy the pies!

Good grief Dreaves, the last time I saw your name, you were telling us all how to grow tomatoes from seed. And now you have that problem. Well, sorry, I can one up you. I had my ankle joint replaced, you know, like a hip replacement, and was off my foot for 6 weeks, and after 2 days that I could put weight on it, I broke my leg right above the replacement. So, he had to set that and been in a cast ever since. At least 2 more weeks, and possibly longer with no weight on the foot. That is hard. Not bad in a walking cast, but no weight is a bummer. Can't do anything.

What I figured I would be over with by June, here it is September and still dragging out.

The day before I had the initial surgery we planted all the tomato seedlings in 5 gallon buckets. They all have beautiful big green tomatoes, and 2 getting red. The weather report looks like frost in about 2 1/2 weeks. So, what do you think my chances are of getting very many ripe ones?

Guess both of us might as well forget about this year and look forward to a new year in 2014, Good luck to you, and keep us posted on your recovery.

Jeanette

Dave & Jnette, I'm sad to hear about your misfortunes- I too had an accident- fell in March and fractured my tailbone & Injured my left foot & ankle badly. I have no clue how I landed or how my foot got twisted, but 7 months later it is still painful. There were no broken bones, but I guess ligaments got all messed up- We are quite a bunch of sad cases, aren't we? My garden was a flop overall this year but not because I didn't take care of it- I'm blaming the weather-

Jnette, you win! :p

I'm hoping for no more bone problems any time soon. I go for a bone density scan today, though. It appears that my kidney disease and dialysis is causing bone weakness...

Back to tomatoes, I was at least happy that I was able to eat some of the new OP orange tomato cross that Ozark(Sam) is stabilizing. I grew some of the F3 and F4 generation seeds. It was a delicious, meaty, deep orange tomato. Before the heat set in they were nice beefsteak size and a single (thick) slice was enough for a full BLT sandwich. I saved seeds and I will be growing the F5 seeds next year. It is by far the most productive yellow/orange tomato that I have tried growing. I had rotten luck with all the normal reds & pinks that I grew. No roasted tomato sauce this year.

The Juanne Flamme gave the best production , but once again , every one here went for the Romanesco , the gardener's delight , or the black krim first .
I think the Flamme was better than the ester hess , and a good tasting tomato .
Every one else likes the sweet red or the little yellow currants with the "green bite" old taste . Doesn't do much good to "grow em" , if nobody is going to "eat em" ..

My goodness, you guys! All those broken bones! But I do feel your pain--literally. Two years ago I broke bones in my left hand fingers. Had to have a couple of surgeries or face loosing at least one of the fingers (duh...tuff choice there). Anyway, that was a good year for the garden but not my garden as I just couldn't get out there and see to things. What a mess! I hope you both are doing much better and wish you extra good luck with your gardens next year (or with your fall/winter gardens if that is in the mix for you).

dreaves, I look forward to hearing about the F5 tomato adventure. I was following along with your reports on that particular tomato so please keep informed on how that goes next year.

Juanne Flamme always seems to appear on folks' to grow lists here on this forum. Guess I should look at adding that one to my list.

I've spoken to a number of my customers these past few weeks regarding their gardens. Seems like only a few folks in the upper Midwest are having good gardening years. Everyone else is reporting failures of one form or another. Mostly everyone has mentioned to me that their peaches turned out well. Seems to have been a bad year overall for tomatoes.

It has indeed been a challenging year for tomatoes and other veggies. My tomato plants started out strong, then we had a short heat wave while I was away that set them behind a bit. After that all the rain and humidity did a job on some of the varieties. Those plants produced a lot of tomatoes but the leaves started wilting or dying before the tomatoes could properly ripen. The first ripe ones were good but tomatoes hanging on basically dead stalks do not ripen the same. I have pulled at least 4 varieties and yet others have not even started turning yet! Most bizarre. Most tomatoes are quite watery but at least have retained some flavor. They cook down to a good sauce. The blacks have been the toughest. Most produced well but the tomatoes seemed to rot before fully ripening or just don't taste as good as they should - my favorite is Brad's Black Heart, but disappointing flavor - has been pulled. I grow in straw bales so suspect they simply remained too wet this summer.
I will add Jaunne Flamme to the list with the above - constant, steady producer of small, tasty tomatoes - good for small slices and especially oven drying. I had them two years ago but they really shone this year. A definite annual keeper. Two great red ones for flavor this year turned out to be Red Penna and Cowlick's Brandywine. Orange - KBX and Orange Minsk produced well with great flavor. My favorite yellow, Dagma's Perfection, has produced and been pulled - not as prolific as usual and succumbed to wilt but always a great taster. Most cherries suffered from severe cracking. Cherokee Green really produced a bumper crop that tasted great but is now ready to be pulled. I will have to chuck the few still hanging on dead stems!
Pole beans have done extremely well after a slow start. No cucumbers until about a week ago and now the vines are dying - probably disease from cucumber beetles.
I always plant way more varieties than I could really handle if they all did well in anticipation of some not producing well in the given weather conditions. Since these seem to differ so dramatically from year to year I am guaranteed to have something and hope that the losers do better next season! Always interesting to see which do well and which don't each year.

So sorry, to hear of all the broken bones. It is very frustrating knowing your garden needs tending to in order to survive and produce, and you can't get out there and do it.
For the bones, mainly bone density, please try Vitamin D. My bone density tests showed improvement after I started taking it. My husband went to a Continuing Education class and came home with that tidbit.

My tomatoes have Finally started producing. Who can tell me why? Usually we start having tomatoes around the Fourth of July. Last year, we didn't have tomatoes until the first week in August--it was a very hot dry year. And, this year, we didn't start getting tomatoes until the first week in September--pretty good rain and a few hot dry weeks. However, we are about 2 1/2 inches below average rainfall. We have more than we can eat right now.

We have had two cucumbers and there's one long cucumber still out there we are eying. Flowers are doing fine--but we water the flowers and vegt. all of the time. We have lots of butternut squash--I think 22 last count.

Our two favorite gold tomatoes were Gold Medal and Kellog's Breakfast. I guess Kellog's B. is a tri-color. Very tasty. And we still like Cherokee Purple for a red tomato.

JU, where did you get the seed for Juanne Flamme I will try it, and Dreaves I had no idea you were in dialysis, so sorry. No contest. Bones repair. I think this is one bad year for health issues besides tomatoes. hmmmm, wonder if there is any connection. :0) But anyway Dreaves, yes keep us up to date on the F5. Very interesting.

Weren't you working on a farm repairing buildings, your son's, or something like that a couple years ago? My memory is really getting bad, but it seems to me that is the first time I ever had been on a thread with you. Loved the pictures so we could really see what you were doing. If that is correct, how did that project go?

However, I know things like that are put on hold when health issues stop them. So, I would sure understand that too. Good luck with the health mending.

Jo, I thought you had a bad collar bone or shoulder or something. And then you fell? What was it ice or something? Good grief, another one. Bad things this year. Maybe we can all do some kind of dance (if only, LOL) to get rid of all this crap. Some day we will all be able to laugh at this year and have a reunion of, Remember the Year that Was.

Get well everyone. Thunderstorm going on. Jeanette

Jen If their anything to do with me , their from my garden and me now Originally from trade is where I got a few .
Here's a plant that needs water this evening , only one I have kept growing all season , this is the fifth or sixth set of tomatoes from this plant , the pic is one plant all different Tomatoes.

Jaunne Flamme

Well those are beautiful tomatoes. Were they all taken the same day? Yes, I did mean you. They all seem to be the same stage of ripeness. So, are you saying that this plant ripens about this many in stages? Cripe, you wouldn't need any other plants if that's the case. Maybe a small one. LOL

I found a small one in Harris seed catalog yesterday I think I will try. Bob didn't want me to plant SunSugars and I it was too late to hunt around for one he described that he would like to have. He said the SS were too sweet. He wanted a cherry tomato that was more of a flavor for salads. Well, I went thru their catalog I got in the mail yesterday and there was one in there, Baby Cakes I think it is, that they described as a "natural salty flavor", so that sounds more like what he is talking about. I will try those and see how we like them. Let me know if you would like some seeds. I get 10 seeds in a pack and I will only use 3 I would imagine.

Jen

Jenette, a couple years ago I posted pictures of a greenhouse based on a storage shed. Both my daughters and their husbands helped on various phases. It worked pretty well, but the plastic started breaking down this summer (after two winters). I'm thinking of covering with clear roofing, just have to watch for a sale. With a small electric heater is was enough to keep plants from being damaged.

Ok Dave, yes, that was it. How big is it? Would it cost too much to get the sheets of clear plastic or whatever it is? With the framing it had it should be solid enough to take those.

Thought I would chime in. Jnette I have ordered Jaune Flamme if you want seeds. Got them from Tomatofest. I find my tomatoes are ripening in a weird way. After taking forever they started to ripen all at once. They seem too soft too fast, some have yellow shoulders, the blacks have been so so except for black from Tula and black cherry. Aunt Gerties Gold has been really good, and to my surprise brandywine Sudduth has been good. I'm also liking Anna Russian. Jen, I love SunSugar!
Weather has gotten cooler just to keep it interesting. I've been dealing with a sick brother the last week and basically had to ignore the garden. Doesn't take long before things get out of control. I've been roasting tomatoes like crazy and made an amazing pasta yesterday. Don't know if I'll be making any sauce.