Tomato Tuesday 2015

sanderson wrote:

+1 

I feel pretty good about getting a total of 14 tomato transplants in yesterday so I've made my start.  Today I was going to put in the rest, but after putting in just 2 Cubanelle peppers and one Black Cherry tomato I was overly warm.  Yesterday had less humidity and felt much nicer. 
So I had to come indoors and do some spring cleaning instead.
I'm pretty sure I'll get all my tomatoes in this week in between showers expected.  And then its the peppers and starting the cucumbers.

Getting closer to harvest time.

yolos wrote:Getting closer to harvest time.

Those look fantastic, yolos!  What are they, Mortgage Lifters?

Yolos, those are things of beauty!  My 'maters are still in 2" pots, flopped over and trying to crawl across the deck because I have been too lazy and inattentive to pot them up.  Now it is already time to get them in the ground, which I hope to do tonight after work.  

I sort of gave up on them after I dumped the tray and completely mixed up the varieties.  I have 5 heirloom varieties but cannot tell them apart - will have to be extra careful about bagging some blossoms to prevent cross-pollination if I want to get some true seeds!

Y'all inspire me

I took the WoW off this weekend and tied all the plants to the greenhouse roof.  Some are starting to flower now.  The Purple Cherokee are the shortest and stockiest form, the Black Icecles are the tallest wispy looking ones.
I put a few full WoW between plants and near vents to help moderate the temperature in the greenhouse.

CitizenKate wrote:

yolos wrote:Getting closer to harvest time.

Those look fantastic, yolos!  What are they, Mortgage Lifters?

Brandy Boy hybrid - trying for the first time this year.  They are a cross between a brandywine and a better boy.  I love the taste of a brandywine but they are terribly unproductive for me.  So I hope the Brandy boy has a similar taste.  My brandywine currently has no tomatoes setting on and the brandy boy planted at the same time right next to the brandywine now has 15 tomatoes.  Quite a difference in productivity.  We shall soon see on the taste.

I'll pick my first ripe tomato this weekend!   Tami G (?) grape tomato.

YEAH!

I've got most of my tomatoes in.  I have 4 mini ones I'm putting in pots which I can do tomorrow.  I have a dozen leftovers that are going to the community garden, also tomorrow.   I've tucked a tomato plant every place I had room and enough sunshine.  I needed to keep some space for the sweet peppers going in next week after the last of the 40* nites next week. 
TinySpock.....How nice you have your first tomatoes.  Lookin' good!

Has anyone a comment about or experience with Tami G grape tomatoes?   I purchased them at Home Depot but I hadn't heard of them before.

I grew a Tami G (a Bonnie plant from Home Depot) last year and used them in salads.  They were pretty good but then I was hit with blight.  In fact, most of our area was hit hard with blight and lost most of our tomato plants quite early in the season.

yolos wrote:

CitizenKate wrote:

yolos wrote:Getting closer to harvest time.

Those look fantastic, yolos!  What are they, Mortgage Lifters?

Brandy Boy hybrid - trying for the first time this year.  They are a cross between a brandywine and a better boy.  I love the taste of a brandywine but they are terribly unproductive for me.  So I hope the Brandy boy has a similar taste.  My brandywine currently has no tomatoes setting on and the brandy boy planted at the same time right next to the brandywine now has 15 tomatoes.  Quite a difference in productivity.  We shall soon see on the taste.

I've read that it's not just you -- it's the plant. That's why I planted four of them this season -- I love the taste, but one or two plants won't do it. I planted them last year and they weren't super-productive, but they were attacked by so many critters that I don't feel comfortable blaming them. This year I have one in good soil and 3 in buckets. If the one in good soil in a nice bed still doesn't produce many, it will give me my ruling on brandywine productivity. Anyway, apparently you are not alone in finding brandywines unproductive.

One last note: some tomatoes set better in different temperatures. Could it be the case that your more productive tomato is simply better adapted for your garden?

I cried bitter tears at all the tomato flowers that dropped off my plants in last year's hot days(too hot and they won't set into fruit) and cold nights(too cold and ... sigh). I still got a good crop once fall approached and the temperatures evened out a bit. But those endless hundreds of lost flowers felt like saying goodbye to my babies.

First ripe tomato of the season.  Juliet grape tomato.  Seed started 2/9/15.  Uppoted 3/21. Transplanted to garden 4/9/15.

Yolos.....Beautiful.  Congratulations!

Very nice! I grew those last year. Huge amount of flower drop in our heat, but the Juliet is a really productive plant.

yolos wrote:First ripe tomato of the season.  Juliet grape tomato.  Seed started 2/9/15.  Uppoted 3/21. Transplanted to garden 4/9/15.

yolos wrote:Here is the row of tomatoes in my non-SFG plot with Marigolds planted on the right side just getting ready to bloom.

[...photo snipped...]

And since this is a SFG forum, here is one of my six varieties planted in the SFG.  A BrandyBoy about 5+ feet tall.

[...photo snipped...]

Oop, I see a branch sticking out on the upper right side of the picture.  I must go stuff it back inside the cage.

Beautiful healthy plants, yolos, and you make everything so tidy and attractive.  Love it!

CitizenKate wrote:...Beautiful healthy plants, yolos, and you make everything so tidy and attractive.  Love it!

+1

I have a theory that an established garden provides an insight to the gardener.  Given the tidiness and apparent precision of her garden's layout, is it any wonder that yolos does what she does for a living?!  

Turan wrote:Yumm, love Celebrities, CK.  How do you preserve your harvest, with that many plants?  

They do really well here, and are just great, all-purpose tomatoes.  I make a lot of home-canned salsa, chili, and beef stew with the tomatoes I get from the garden.  I make enough salsa to send a few jars around to family members.

sanderson wrote:Now I'm curious.  What does Yolos do?

I have been waiting for someone to ask that.  Thanks Boffer for the compliment I think.  I assume he is talking about my profession.  I am a CPA that works as a CFO for a company that manufactures wooden pallets. 

But my garden is the only thing that is neat and precise. For instance, my house looks like a tornado ran thru the inside and I don't care.  At work, I have stacks of paper all along the walls of my office that have been there for eons.  I am retiring in August so those stacks are going to have to go.  We moved into this house 7 years ago and my unpacked boxes are still sitting in the garage and my car is outside in the heat and cold.  I haven't filed my 2014 income taxes yet. 

So yes, my garden is nice and tidy because it gives me pleasure.  I could care less what my house and office look like.  But my actual accounting work is precise so that's probably what Boffer is referring to.

Your garden gives us all pleasure.
I am glad you share it with us.
Congrats on that first delisious looking tomato