Tomatoes in SE Michigan?

Hiya!

I'm in Macomb, MI, and have a question about tomatoes. I have a few different kinds growing: Sweet Baby Girl (cherry), Roma, Brandywine, Beefsteak, Black Russian, and Costoluto Genovese. All of the plants have flowers. Only the Sweet Baby Girls are setting fruit right now, all the others, although they have flowers, I see no fruit? Nada. The plants are a good size, about 2-1/2 feet tall, and sturdy. I haven't noticed any buggies/pests.

Any ideas?

Also... I'm new to Michigan, when should I expect tomatoes? In August? I came from zone 6B, and am now in zone 5.

thanks!

Karen

Hi Karen,

I don't grow that many tomatoes but I do know that there are early, mid, and late varities. I have an Early Girl that has small tomatoes on it now, but my Better Boy doesn't. Mine are about the same size as yours. Hopefully you will be getting some on your vines shortly.

Cindy

Karen
It all depends on the variety.
Check the seed packet for days to maturity.
They range from 60-90 days.
I try to plant a variety so that I'll have fruit all season.
Burpees 4th of July is a great early mater, 60 days.
Fruit is about the size of tennis balls and tastes great.
Brandywine= 90-100 days, Beefsteak and Russian Black=80 days

You have one of the foremost tomato experts there at the Macomb extension.
Hannah Stevens is a real nice lady and really knows her stuff.
If you have any questions about tomatoes give her a call.

Paul

This message was edited Jun 20, 2005 11:51 AM

we have many plants with flowers and maters starting,, I think it depends on the kind you have !! I love maters , we make salsa our of some and can the rest, besides the fresh BLT's yummm

My 4th of July plants have green maters the size of golf ball.

Paul

i have one plant with a tomato the size of a hard ball and then some with golf ball size and some with just buds-i have 9 or 10 kinds this yr :)

Thought I'd let you all know that all of my tomato plants are now setting fruit. I have a brandywine about the size of a donut, a bazillion cherries (grin), a nice amount of romas, and the beefsteaks are growing nicely. I have more that seem to be pollinating daily... I guess all the excess heat/humidity lowered the pollination... but since we've had some mild/windy days, things are moving along!

I moved from zone 6b/7a late last year... I'm still getting accustomed to living in Zone 5 :)

Thanks again! Here's a picture of my "big" brandywine

Karen

Fresh Pickins,


Just in for the garden.


Art

so far i have eaten everyone I picked! lol

here is a pic of my tomatillos-i cant wait to see the finished product!

Never tried a tomatillo. Do they taste like a tomato?

this is my first yr ever growing-the package says salsa taste-we shall see!

art your matos look yummy!!!

Here's my tomato (from the picture on this thread from July 8th) all ripe and ready for eating! It got really big! I'm going to try to weigh it tomorrow :)

Karen

Nice tomato Karen!!!

These are the first Black Krims.

Oh WoW this old time flavor ,never grown these before I will from now on.


Art

Art,

Those are interesting looking tomatoes. I'll have to try that variety of seed next year. I love to try new things and if you say they have old fashioned taste that's good enough for me. I like a tomato to taste like a tomato. :)

Brenda

We've only picked one tomato so far ............ :-(

I have to admit to getting them in late (2nd to 3rd week in June). Plants are huge, but fruit is still very green.

I think it's time to do some prunning.

im starting to get all kinds now-yellow,cherry,roma,cherokee purples and the peppers are coming along too!

I'm so jealous ............. not even my Cherry/Grape tomatoes are starting to turn red.

Our tomatoes have not been up to par this year. Not enough rain. City water doesn't seem to help at all. I have picked about a dozen total and most are very small.

Well, I'm a bit nervous about eating our tomatos and other garden veggies. I'm worried that explosion may have tainted the food. They were talking about it on the news tonight. I am 3 or 4 miles from the explosion I think but that cloud traveled all over this area. Do you think if I washed the stuff really good it would be OK to eat or should I forget about it this year?

Boy, I can understand your concern. Maybe peeling the veggies would make a difference.

Well, washing it off [i]should[/i] sufficient. Maybe some baking soda and water???
And think about it, you don't know where the produce in the store comes from, or the conditions that produce is grown under .......

Very true. We're washing and eating them and we haven't keeled over yet. :) I sure wish we could eat vine ripened tomatoes year round. Love fresh produce.