Tomatoes: lessons learned?

Well, I had quite an experience with tomatoes this year, and am not exactly sure what lessons to take home from this season. I'd be interested in your advice.

I used a new 8x2 bed with really good MM, including great homemade compost. I used a narrower bed to promote air circulation and to allow sunlight to get through to all the plants. I planted the plants (store bought, except for 3 squares that I planted directly) spaced 1/square, buried sideways, and used string trellises. I pruned half the plants to single vines, and the other half to two vines (was trying to see if one vs two impacted fruit quality or quantity). I used organic methods. Early on (first 2-3 weeks), I watered the bed directly (overhead) using a hose, but afterwards I mulched the bed with straw and either used the soaker hose or wand directly at the base of the plants.

Initially, the plants all took off like gangbusters. They all reached 4-6 feet in height within a few weeks, and most were covered with blooms and fruit. Very quickly, however, early blight set in (within first 2-3 weeks). Initially I had wonderful fruit. Ultimately, despite my aggressive pruning of infected leaves/branches, the blight overcame all the plants. They stopped producing in early summer, and never recovered. Finally, the tomato hornworms finished them off one week while I was out of town.

Here are some lessons learned/questions raised for me:
--I really liked the string trellis method and will keep that.
--I will not ever water my tomatoes from overhead again.
--Is one plant/square too crowded to permit adequate air movement? If so, what should the spacing be?
--I might try to grow my own plants indoors from seed next year, though I don't look forward to trying that. Any advice?
--How do I identify fungus-resistant tomato varieties?
--Is mulching with straw a good idea (does it hold moisture or does doing so just harbor molds? - the straw definitely harbored mold in my strawberry beds this year)?
--I won't be afraid to use non-organic methods within reason.

Your comments and lessons will be appreciated. After all, why have a garden if you can't have delicious tomatoes all summer?

Here are my notes so far this year, which sound a little similar, minus the blight (knock on wood). This is my first year, and I'm no expert. I love this forum and how easy it is to share experiences.

I spaced mine 1 per square on a string trellis, and they are all side by side. There is only 2 plants out of my 10 indeterminates that I suckered will enough to only have one main vine. Most of my plants have three or four, oopies. With that being said, my garden is pretty crowded right now. It looks like attack of the killer tomato plants out there.

With them that crowded, I do think there is adequate room for air flow. None of the leaves are showing signs of mildew and they aren't matted together, as if they got wet and couldn't dry. All the leaves seem to flutter with a breeze.

I also use dry grass and garden clipping for mulch. If it harbors mold/mildew, it hasn't made it's way to my plants. After a fruiting branch has ripened, I cut it and any branches below it off of the plant. There is probably about 18 inches between the ground and my tomatoes right now. I think this also might help with airflow, and there are no leaves touching the ground, which I've read helps with disease.

We'll see my plants make it through the rest of the growing season down here. My fingers are crossed...

I just plucked two more hornworms off my precious tomato plants and gave them to the chickens. I'd rather do that then spray something on them. =/ by the way, my tomatoes are in the actual ground. I tried keeping them contained in a container and the roots just went through the drainage holes to the ground.

Lessons learned: Chickens love hornworms, and tomato plants don't do as well in containers as some think they do. lol

I'd say my lesson learned is tomatoes love pig manure as a compost. We have a plant that has produced literally hundreds of cherry tomatoes, with no end in sight. It's 12 feet across and has been pruned back hard, and came right back. It's actually probably more like 14 feet across at this point! We call it "the beast". I've had the neighbors pick all they want, and there's still hundreds of them!

I am try to see from your post if you have determinate, or indeterminate plants. From my experience, the answer to the spacing would be no for the determinate tomato plants. I say that because when I grow mine that just is not enough space, and I find the recommended 6" is not deep enough. I put my tomatoes in their own 5 gallon buckets. Now some would even argue with that not being enough space, as tomato roots could grow up to three feet down.

I don't garden organically, so I cannot comment on the blight.

I don't use straw for that very same reason, I would have to buy it, and you never know if there is weed seed in it or not.

Usually when you look on the seed packet they list the variety, if you have looked up that variety before hand you'll know what it is resistant to. Some seed packets list it on the packet. A good seed packet is a wealth of information about how to grow the plant! Now if you order the seed from a catalog, they should say in the catalog what it is resistant to.

Hope it helps!

All of my varieties were indeterminate.
BTW - I did plant 3 directly in the bed from seed. All sprouted. All died from wilt before they were 12" tall.

What I would do is this, call your local extension office. They would have the "word" on what diseases is an issue in your area, and also can tell you how to get your soil tested, just in case there is something in the soil. I gather you are using mel's mix, but it is not unusual to get a bad bag of soil. ( I have one friend that opened a bag and found a rubber glove in it! Freaky, to say the least)

Of course, making sure you are getting wilt resistant varieties when you get your seed would be critical.

If you get no satisfaction that way, I have a friend I can ask, he is master gardener. Do you have pictures?

Thanks, but I just pulled everything up last weekend and tossed it all in the woods, far away from the beds and from the compost piles, so no photos now. Earlier in the season I posted photos, however, showing the blight and showing the beds. The blight photos are here and the garden photos are here. The garden photos were taken very shortly after planting the tomatoes, however.

I had my old MM soil tested last year, and it was good. All nutrient results were "very high," except nitrogen, so I added in fresh compost and blood meal. In my new garden I made new MM, and it contained MUCH better and MUCH more varied composts, and everything I planted in the new beds/MM grew and fruited like crazy, so I'm confident in its quality. It was not so much a nutrient issue as it was a disease and pest issue for me. You can see my comments about that at this post.

1airdoc wrote:
--How do I identify fungus-resistant tomato varieties?

Here are some definitions of the letters on tomato transplants that might help:

When buying fungus-resistant tomato plants, look for nursery tags with the initials “VF” on them. This signifies the plant is resistant to Verticillium wilt and Fusarium wilt, which are two common tomato fungi. If the plant is marked “VFN,” it is also resistant to root-knot nematodes. Other letters to look for on nursery labels include “A,” which means the plant resists Alternaria alternata fungus, and “St,” which indicates the tomato resists Stemphylium solani fungus (or gray leaf spot).

Varieties
According to the Mississippi State University Extension Service, some examples of tomato plants resistant to fungal diseases include Park's Whopper Improved, Better Boy, Enchantment, Lemon Boy, Celebrity, Abraham Lincoln Improved, Sunmaster, Mountain Delight, Mountain Spring, Mountain Pride, and Sunny. These all produce large fruit. For beafsteak type tomatoes, Beefmaster, Big Beef and Burpee Supersteak are appropriate choices. For smaller fruit, consider Small Fry, Cherry Grande, Supersweet, Maya and Suncherry.


V = Verticillium wilt
FF = Fusarium wilt, races 1 & 2
N = Nematodes
T = Tobacco Mosaic virus
A = Alternaria solani (Early blight)
St = Stemphylium solani (Gray leafspot)

Great info, Llama Mama. I'll be sure to look for those letters next season, especially for the "A" varieties. Thanks.

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