PNW Tomato Tuesday 2013

GWN wrote:LG  I prune my tomatoes pretty heavily, cut off all the lower branches and suckers and maintain one main stalk.
I have done this for a few years and have always had TONS of tomatoes, so don't worry.

Thanks! for the encouraging advice GWN next questions:
1. what other plants can we treat likewise?
2. How many pruned-parts can we re-root? - Asking, as I'm now trying it with a tomato
3. For scallions, does it need more than an inch of growth to plant it again? Also,
would someone please answer (1 of 3 questions) I asked in my own thread yesterday: "how many of these could my 3x5 foot box accommodate: another lemon-boy cherry tomato, 3 Pole beans, 4 sweet Bell peppers, 3 loong cukes, & 2 Butternut squashes." ? Yes, I've read Mel's ANSFG-book.

Wait just a sec, I have yet more questions Thanks so much for sharing your experience...

I can answer the first question as I have done some researching this year about peppers and eggplant, and you can take the lower leaves/branches off of them, I think it provides more air to the bottom of the plant, and focuses the energy of the growth where it is needed, rather than leaves that are covered anyways..
I have never tried to re root tomato branches, but successfully have rerooted ginger, lemongrass and basil bits....

My thoughts on your 4th question is that I think all of those things take at least one square to grow and the squash needs to be on a corner so it can WANDER....
Don't know the answer to 3, have never grown scallions.
janet

GWN wrote:I can answer the first question as I have done some researching this year about peppers and  eggplant, and you can take the lower leaves/branches off of them, I think it focuses the energy of the growth where it is needed, rather than leaves that are covered anyways..

Thanks so much Janet, & my apologies for going off-topic, but see I NEED the answer to my box-question because my patient plants are still imprisoned in their tiny pots waiting for their home...
Goody!
so how many days must one wait ? after their transplanting shock, before my 4 one-foot tall Sweet-bells are going for a big hair-cut below their blossoms...

GWN wrote:
I have never tried to re root tomato branches, but successfully have rerooted ginger, lemongrass and basil bits... Don't know the answer to 3, have never grown scallions.

Hm, not got any of your 3. But could I re-root garlic?

GWN wrote:
My thoughts on your 4th question is that I think all of those things take at least one square to grow and the squash needs to be on a corner so it can WANDER....
janet

Let me see if I get this right: "another lemon-boy cherry tomato, 3 Pole beans, 4 sweet Bell peppers, 2 loong cukes, & 3 Butternut squashes." = So each Tomato is now in a corner in front of a south-facing window. How about planting the beans in between these 2, plus on the East-side? of the bed. Then the 4 Bells on the South? & the West? - They can all share the space for roots in the middle, right?
Next,
the 2 loong cukes, & 3 Butternut squashes I can make another shallow bed for, in between these 2 3x5 foot beds, right?
Um, since the north by the street is only for pretty ornamentals, &
the West-side I need to leave for a mini-orchard later, currently I'm starting new veggie sprouts, &  they will take over the entire 20x30 ft. SE space, before they take over the entire 20x30 ft. East-space.
The PLANT-invasion has in earnest begun. I can see it now

LittleGardener wrote:Also, would someone please answer (1 of 3 questions) I asked in my own thread yesterday: "how many of these could my 3x5 foot box accommodate: another lemon-boy cherry tomato, 3 Pole beans, 4 sweet Bell peppers, 3 loong cukes, & 2 Butternut squashes." ? Yes, I've read Mel's ANSFG-book.

LG, just a friendly reminder that we're all just here on our free time, and no one is obligated to answer anyone's questions. If you've read the book, you can easily figure out this information for yourself. I'll help you get started in case you don't own a copy for referencing:

A 3'x5' box is 15 squares.

Tomatoes - indeterminates 1 per square, determinates 1 per 9 squares
Pole beans - 8 per square
bell peppers - 1 per square
cucumbers - 2 per square
squash - 1 per 2 squares if vine type, 1 per 9 squares for bush types

Hope that helps.

Just thought I would post a picture of my tomatoes. I do NOT buy tomatoes from the store, and as such I REALLY try to extend the tomato season as much as I can since the last tomatoes we had were the last of those in my cold room in December
SO I take the first few that appear to be starting to ripen and put them in a box so that they can help each other ripen. In a box, the gas that is given off with ripening seems to be more concentrated.
SO here are my first few tomatoes, though it may seem cheating, it gets me fresh tomatoes a few weeks earlier.

Hey GWN - I'm glad that works for you! Three weeks is a big difference!

Oh and in comparing this year to last year, my tomatoes are definately earlier than last year..... .Similar to the year before.
Dont know why, it has rained so much, but I guess it has been a little warmer?

GWN wrote:Just thought I would post a picture of my tomatoes. I do NOT buy tomatoes from the store, and as such I REALLY try to extend the tomato season as much as I can since the last tomatoes we had were the last of those in my cold room in December SO I take the first few that appear to be starting to ripen and put them in a box so that they can help each other ripen. In a box, the gas that is given off with ripening seems to be more concentrated.
SO  here are my first few tomatoes, though it may seem cheating, it gets me fresh tomatoes a few weeks earlier.

A few years ago I had about 50 lbs of unripened toms that I had to strip off the plants before the killing frost. I put some apples throughout the pile of tomatoes to hasten the ripening and covered the whole pile with a blanket. Worked great! Every few days I would take out the ripened ones from right around the apples and cover them up again. Hubby was not thrilled with having the entire dining room table mounded with tomatoes, but he sure didn't mind eating all the sauce!

GG

Great tip. Thanks.

A few years ago I had about 50 lbs of unripened toms that I had to strip off the plants before the killing frost. I put some apples throughout the pile of tomatoes to hasten the ripening and covered the whole pile with a blanket. Worked great! Every few days I would take out the ripened ones from right around the apples and cover them up again. Hubby was not thrilled with having the entire dining room table mounded with tomatoes, but he sure didn't mind eating all the sauce!

GG.... I do this every year, our first frost is october 1st, and I take all the tomatoes down to the basement and let them ripen at their own speed and they last until december.... at least a few do. I find that without a "RIPENATOR" like apples, they will ripen each at their own speed.
I do try to check frequently for rotting ones to get them out..
Not sure what I am going to do when my apple trees start to produce apples though.

 GWN those are some pretty tomatoes!!!!!

we picked our second tomato yesterday and gave it a taste.... as you know who was trying to get it thru the little fence we have around it ....it was a gold nugget....nice size for a cherry...yellow in color and tasted ok...just ok...better then store bought but not something yummy to hide and eat....

picked our third ripe tomato today and going to split it with hubby  will let you know the name and how it taste after we give it a sample....im thinking its going to be yummy as you know who was sniffing it today........

happy gardening
rose

UPdate for today I did not keep track of which bushes I picked from, but I am pretty sure that the large almost red ones are alicante. (an heirloom I saved the seeds from last summer) The yellow one, I think is, Dagmas perfection which I got from Nonna. The dark green one in the bottom is black Krim (I think)..
And thats all I know.
Gee Rose, I am guessing your dog, but my dog likes everything but tomatoes... the occasional time I am traveling and buy him a subway sandwich, he picks all the tomatoes out, however a girl I work with does not have a garden, but grows a cherry tomato plant on her deck, JUST for the entertainment of watching her dog pick off the tomatoes...how fun.

I only got ONE cherry tomato to grow this year (well 2 and I gave one away) It was a chocolate cherrry tomatoes which I got from a seed exchange and it is in the hoophouse and I missed watering and it looks almost dead...   I am doing cpr thought

What is your "you know who" called

Speaking of dogs eating tomatoes....

My cat Sterling--the one pictured in my current avatar--has been caught twice eating store-bought tomatoes. I'd better watch out once my tomato plants start producing!

this is you know who.....ACE



I thought I had posted about her stealing the first ripe tomato in this thread but it was in our June PNW thread....LOL....

she also eats strawberries and sugar snap peas off of the vine  

happy gardening
rose

LOL Donna ...who would ever think a cat would like tomatoes  

GWN.....your tomatoes are looking good....bet you cant wait to eat them!...hope the CPR works on your cherry tomato....tomatoes seem to be forgiving  

happy gardening
rose

my dog eats the peas as well, but he tends to grab the pea and walk away with it tearing down the whole plant. STILL love him though.
Donna....maybe she just likes store bought, which are a TOTALLY different animal....

Sterling is a [i]he.[i]. One can only hope. However, that was an organic store-bought beefsteak the last time. So far, his only interest in the veggie garden is to traipse across the vacant squares.

July 9

 
Gold Nugget: First ripe for 2013, June 15

This has been a crazy year in Everett. Gold Nugget is usually the first of my tomatoes to come ripe, but this year the first taste came five weeks early. I usually count on ripe Gold Nuggets the 3rd week of July. Along with Stupice, I have been putting tomatoes into everything I can think of (mostly because of school, I do not have any broccoli and my beans are still a week to 10 days out).

Stupice

After listening (reading?) everyone loving this tomato, I decided to buy a packet. Stupice gave us our first red, vine-ripe tomato on June 30th....JUNE 30th. So far they are all about the size of golf balls (the first in a cluster is usually bigger but not as big as a tennis ball). I thought they might be mealy but so far they have been smooth as silk. I'm planning to do a score-card on Stupice as soon as I can get one into the house without biting into it before I get to the back door.

Candidates for 3rd ripe...

Black Plum Paste

It is not unusual for a single Black Plum to ripen early in the season, then make me wait for her sisters to color up. That habit puts her in the running for 3rd ripe this year.

Siltz

In the same family as Stupice, except that Siltz is determinant and the fruit is closer to the size of a tennis ball. Siltz is one of those tomatoes that I have loved since moving to Everett. Late season tomatoes beat Siltz out for better taste, but I love getting ripe tomatoes the first week of August in Everett. So far this year has been exceptional.

Beverlodge Plum

This poor plant. It was stuck in the green house and ignored once the cucumbers got ripe and the full season tomatoes started going crazy in that artificial atmosphere. I moved a gorgeous pot of tomatoes to the deck just in time for the Everett weather to chill down with days of unending rain. The once beautiful pot of tomatoes is now really looking sad. I know from past experience with beaverlodge that the faithful little plant will still produce abundant tomatoes. Ray built a pretty new SFG in the front yard where a single beverlodge was planted. That one plant is bigger then all four of these potted specimens. With all this stress, beverlodge is still in the race for 3rd ripe. BTW, this is the tomato that did not impress me when eaten fresh. I tossed nearly all that I harvested into zipper bags and dropped them into the freezer. In January they made sauce that tasted like summer. Who know?

Coming along but probably not serious contenders for 3rd....

Silvery Fir Tree

I saw this flash of red while watering. Like Beaverlodge, this tomato is stressed from the weather AND has a much larger, healthier sister in the pretty front garden.

Ceylon

This pretty little thang is just starting to get color, she probably has a long way to go before she is deep red.

And just because it is so pretty even in green...

Stripped Roma

FamilyGardening wrote:this is you know who.....ACE



I thought I had posted about her stealing the first ripe tomato in this thread but it was in our June PNW thread....LOL....

she also eats strawberries and sugar snap peas off of the vine  

happy gardening
rose

 She clearly has a discerning palate!  

GG

Lavender Debs, I love how you are growing so many different kinds of tomatoes! Nothing beats variety ... at least to the curious mind and palate. Plus tomatoes of many different sizes and colors and shapes all on a plate together look so wonderful. You are going to have a riot on a plate soon!

 Debs..... lots of ripe maters already!! ....I look forward to your score cards  and would love to see pictures of your new front growing area....we did the same thing this year and soooo happy that we did!....love the extra space for growing food and its the perfect area...it has sun almost all day  

GG.....*You know who* has her own volunteer tomato plant growing in her kennel out of their compost pile  the dogs have a compost pile made up of spent tomato plants and grass clippings from mowing their area....I think we shall let them eat the fruits from this tom  



 I think the only tom (besides doggies tomato) that hasn't started to fruit yet is our Jubilee...plant is nice and healthy



Super Italian paste



Been enjoying a few ripe Maskota cherry



Thai Pink egg...it has a few little cute fruits on it



Oregon spring out in the SFG



Red Robin cherry....its had this fruit for awhile now...still no ripe ones yet...hoping for a good taste because we would love to grow these again next year and give away as gifts...



Super Bush sitting between 2 squash plants in our new front yard 4 tier SFG box...these plants are so green, thick and healthy...im really hoping they have good tasting tomato's because we would love to grow more next year



WA cherry.....taste is ok....the plant is kind of iffy



hugs
rose who is loving the warm weather!

Wow! you have 8  kinds of tomatoes, do you?, & all doing so good.  well,
4 kinds here, & they're doing pretty good too. Two plants are over 3 feet now, crawling up the twine set-up I made 10days ago. And today I noticed one mater turning from orange to red, getting ready  
Now if only I could figger out why the 4 plants only getting Morning-sun have oodles of blossoms & fruit, while the current 2 getting also the afternoon sun, have hardly  any thus far. Does that make sense?

FamilyGardening wrote:

hugs
rose who is loving the warm weather!

Hi Rose,
Six of these hanging containers we have now. Aside tomatoes, could each of these house 2 ? of each: cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, & watermelon plants?
also
have 16 of these scalloped stone sections 1 foot long: - How many inches deep is this tomato planted? Thank you.

I've got ... hmm ... early girl, big beef, brandywine, talent, sweet 100 (I think), sungold, yellow pear, juliette, and blond kopfchen tomatoes growing, along with a single Better Bush. We had a late spring and summer here, so many have barely put fruit out, and many others have lots of fruit, but it's all green. Hornworms decimated all my early girl tomatoes but left the leaves alone, so at least I can get some regrowth. But they will be late girls. Morning, noon, and night, I haven't been able to spot a single hornworm.

This is the third time I've grown sungolds, and I've never been disappointed. They were prolific and easy to grow for me in Southern California and they same goes for 1500 feet elevation in Southern Oregon.

I'm most excited about Blond Kopfchen, though. I learned about them very late and planted them late, the first crop failing to germinate at all in peat pellets, the second crop germinating only 2 of 8. Boy are my hopes riding on those two! It's a cherry tomato that seedsavers and articles I've read claim is a prodigious producer right up until the first frost. If I only get a few, though, I'm still counting it as a victory since I started my seeds so late ... and then even later. I'd love a cherry tomato that could produce great amounts over a long growing season in what is essentially a short growing-season area. Plus I have yet to have much success with yellow tomatoes.

I do wish I had found some black cherry this year. They were my tastiest last year.

FamilyGardening wrote: Red Robin cherry....its had this fruit for awhile now...still no ripe ones yet...hoping for a good taste because we would love to grow these again next year and give away as gifts...

 

What an adorable little plant. I love this idea so I'm looking forward to reading your report card on these tomatoes!