German Pink Tomatoes

Chanhassen, MN

Hola, I planted German Pink tomatoes down at my house between La Paz and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I know it is a cooler weather variety, but, my problem looks more like blossom end rot, or some variation of it. I have been trying to water every day in the morning in addition to the in ground watering system we have, but I don't think it is getting too much water considering it is 88 every day and sunny. Also tomatoes ripen here weird, as you can see in the photo! I finally did put a screen to shade the tomato plants a little more. We get patches of green along with red. Does anyone have any suggestions of what we can do to prevent this end rot, or suggestions to ripen them more evenly? I have used local compost and 17-17-17 fertilizer to prepare the beds. unfortunately there are not a lot of options for fertilizer here. Gracias for any suggestions you have!

Thumbnail by BonsaiNick Thumbnail by BonsaiNick Thumbnail by BonsaiNick
Cleveland,GA/Atlanta, GA(Zone 7b)

Are these early fruit? Daily irrigation is not ideal. BER is commonly seen on early fruit, in wet spring weather, and is usually self correcting. Heavy watering may be responsible for a calcium uptake problem causing BER. There's advice out there to throw calcium at the problem but it's usually an uptake issue not a soil deficiency issue. Besides, soil additives do not instantly resolve calcium deficiencies. Try mulching plants heavily so they get slow but steady moisture. Water less.

I am growing German Pink, Pink Brandywine, German Queen and German Johnson. I have good years and bad years. You're right; they don't love the hot humid garden. The original seed was gifted years ago and I renew my stash every few years. It's a sentimental thing. The ripening is in part the variety but exacerbated by BER.

Chanhassen, MN

Quote from MaypopLaurel :
Are these early fruit? Daily irrigation is not ideal. BER is commonly seen on early fruit, in wet spring weather, and is usually self correcting. Heavy watering may be responsible for a calcium uptake problem causing BER. There's advice out there to throw calcium at the problem but it's usually an uptake issue not a soil deficiency issue. Besides, soil additives do not instantly resolve calcium deficiencies. Try mulching plants heavily so they get slow but steady moisture. Water less.

I am growing German Pink, Pink Brandywine, German Queen and German Johnson. I have good years and bad years. You're right; they don't love the hot humid garden. The original seed was gifted years ago and I renew my stash every few years. It's a sentimental thing. The ripening is in part the variety but exacerbated by BER.


Yes, these are the first few tomatoes off that plant. I do not think I am over watering...The sun is just so strong here and the ground gets so dry, I am worried about them getting too dry. Some of my tomatoes are even curling under the strong sun. Its has been 88-95F for at least 3 weeks now, and not a cloud in the sky. Now that they are more shaded, hopefully this resolves itself. I will dig into the soil and check before watering from now on though and reassess the mulch I have, thank you for the suggestion. Also, it is worth mentioning, the garden is about 100 feet from the ocean. Although it is shielded from salt spray, growing things here is a challenge and most plants need a wash off daily to get the salt and sand off the leaves, especially when it is windy.



This message was edited May 15, 2020 2:34 PM

This message was edited May 15, 2020 2:44 PM

This message was edited May 15, 2020 2:45 PM

Cleveland,GA/Atlanta, GA(Zone 7b)

Lo siento. The soil surrounding indeterminate plants large enough to fruit should be given deep mulch, light but thick, such as pine straw or leaf litter (not chips), and extend beyond the perimeter of the leaf line. Are you hilling? Hilling is a must in hot climates, especially with sandy soil, so stems can put down extra roots.

I grew up gardening in the tropics and, like you, close to the ocean. The sandy soil dries out fast. You may want to experiment with smaller fruited varieties that have genetic roots closer to the real deal like black cherry, yellow pear, or one of the "sweets" like Sugar Sweetie or Sweet Million. Everglades comes closest to a native tropical and, as I recently mentioned on another post, grew that one from childhood.

Why are you more shaded now? Are you using shade cloth? Most tomato varieties will not pollinate in high temperatures so whatever you can do to lower the temp is good. You are probably at the end of your season.

My tropical gardening experience was limited to growing in containers under trees, growing under shade cloth or in slat houses. Fall works if there isn't a hurricane and winter is a challenge because there is little rain. Maybe the best place to grow tomatoes is somewhere between Mexico and Minnesota? That's where I went.

My best advice is as soon as you see any sign of BER grab a couple of limes, a (preferably) home pickled jalapeno, an avocado (or two), a white onion, cilantro, garlic and salt and make pico de gallo. If you catch BER early you can toss the rot and use both green and red parts. It (BER) effectively kills the ability for the fruit to ripen beyond what was initiated. Trust me here. Make some tortillas, fillings and enjoy your space. Move on to chilies.

Thumbnail by MaypopLaurel Thumbnail by MaypopLaurel
Chanhassen, MN

Quote from MaypopLaurel :
Lo siento. The soil surrounding indeterminate plants large enough to fruit should be given deep mulch, light but thick, such as pine straw or leaf litter (not chips), and extend beyond the perimeter of the leaf line. Are you hilling? Hilling is a must in hot climates, especially with sandy soil, so stems can put down extra roots.

I grew up gardening in the tropics and, like you, close to the ocean. The sandy soil dries out fast. You may want to experiment with smaller fruited varieties that have genetic roots closer to the real deal like black cherry, yellow pear, or one of the "sweets" like Sugar Sweetie or Sweet Million. Everglades comes closest to a native tropical and, as I recently mentioned on another post, grew that one from childhood.

Why are you more shaded now? Are you using shade cloth? Most tomato varieties will not pollinate in high temperatures so whatever you can do to lower the temp is good. You are probably at the end of your season.

My tropical gardening experience was limited to growing in containers under trees, growing under shade cloth or in slat houses. Fall works if there isn't a hurricane and winter is a challenge because there is little rain. Maybe the best place to grow tomatoes is somewhere between Mexico and Minnesota? That's where I went.

My best advice is as soon as you see any sign of BER grab a couple of limes, a (preferably) home pickled jalapeno, an avocado (or two), a white onion, cilantro, garlic and salt and make pico de gallo. If you catch BER early you can toss the rot and use both green and red parts. It (BER) effectively kills the ability for the fruit to ripen beyond what was initiated. Trust me here. Make some tortillas, fillings and enjoy your space. Move on to chilies.


Thanks again for the advice. Next year I will plant tomatoes on hills and heavily mulch. For shade, I am just using some screen from the hardware store, mostly to keep the dang woodpeckers from pecking holes in the fruit. This is our first season gardening here, when the COVID thing blew up and we stayed here instead of heading north, we planted a garden for something to do. Soon the heat will be too intense and everything will die anyway. Next year I will plant the garden in October. it seems like Tomatoes either do nothing (winter is 70s during the day)....or die from the extreme sun. I will take your suggestions for types of tomatoes too. Thanks for all the info!

Nick

This message was edited May 17, 2020 12:17 PM

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