Tomato Tuesday 2016

yolos wrote:A couple tomato pictures.

Just put my extensions on top of the tomato cages.  The tomatoes are now 5 feet tall and still growing.


This is my attempt to string tomatoes.  I was trying to keep two leaders.  I messed up again.  This one now has 4 leaders.


Gilbertie setting a nice truss of fruit.


Big Beef with a few getting close to ripening.


The bottom leaves were all cut off because of diseases.

Boy, tomatoes sure do love Georgia! AND you! Lovely, Yolos.
CC

Absolutely GORGEOUS! Love it, Gilberties, tell me more?

Scorpio Rising wrote:Absolutely GORGEOUS!  Love it, Gilberties, tell me more?

I was introduced to Gilberties by the folks in the New England thread my first year on SFG.  Quiltbea sent me some seeds and I tried them.  They are a paste tomato, very meaty, fewer seeds, and they also taste good and we use them as slicers also.  Most paste tomatoes do not have a great taste, but these Gilberties are great tasting.

They do have a few problems though.  1). they tend to fall off the plant if you are not careful and knock them.  2). Like many paste tomatoes, they are susceptible to Blossom End Rot.  3). they have green shoulders so the top portion is not nice and red.  

I grow one every year.  This year they are very prolific so far.  It may be because I am using the battery operated toothbrush method to help with pollination.  I was out pollinating today, touched the brush to a flower and saw a poof of pollen fall out of the flower.  I have never seen that before and it was very uplifting to know that flower was going to become a tomato.

Yolos,  How are they for canning?  Or are they better for sauce and paste? My canned tomataoes from last year were a mix so the flavor was outstanding.

sanderson wrote:Yolos,  How are they for canning?  Or are they better for sauce and paste?  My canned tomataoes from last year were a mix so the flavor was outstanding.

Don't know because I have never canned them.  When I make sauce to freeze, I combine all my different varieties (whatever is ripe at the same time) and mix them all together.  I know Camprn grows a lot of Gilberties and hopefully she will come along and answer your question.

sanderson wrote:  My canned tomataoes from last year were a mix so the flavor was outstanding.

Agree! Best canned I ever put in my mouth were mixed!

I'm growing Gilberties from quiltbea also this year, for the first time. They don't seem to be a very strong plant. I noticed that from the beginning so I can understand how the fruit would fall off if you knocked it.

CC

Took this on Tuesday, but I've been too busy to post until now. Green Zebra peeking out the top of its WOW. Time to let 'em loose!

 

yolos wrote:

Scorpio Rising wrote:Absolutely GORGEOUS!  Love it, Gilberties, tell me more?

I was introduced to Gilberties by the folks in the New England thread my first year on SFG.  Quiltbea sent me some seeds and I tried them.  They are a paste tomato, very meaty, fewer seeds, and they also taste good and we use them as slicers also.  Most paste tomatoes do not have a great taste, but these Gilberties are great tasting.

They do have a few problems though.  1). they tend to fall off the plant if you are not careful and knock them.  2). Like many paste tomatoes, they are susceptible to Blossom End Rot.  3). they have green shoulders so the top portion is not nice and red.  

I grow one every year.  This year they are very prolific so far.  It may be because I am using the battery operated toothbrush method to help with pollination.  I was out pollinating today, touched the brush to a flower and saw a poof of pollen fall out of the flower.  I have never seen that before and it was very uplifting to know that flower was going to become a tomato.

OK, I have never grown a paste type. I am not a canner or freezer but did so,evpole beans ...not impressed with my beans. Very woody. I like fresh tomatoes. And everything! Guess I am willing to give up off season stuff for fresh.

Finally got my tomatoes in; 'Sweet Million' red cherry, 'Sunsugar' organge cherry, 'Cherokee Purple', 'Lemon Boy' and 'Chef's Choice Orange' slicers.

Tried to post this on Tuesday, but got side-tracked...

The tomatoes are really starting to happen here in Kansas, and all my tomato plants are setting fruit like crazy.  Got out this evening to shoot some photos, and got several, but decided to post just my top two.

First, remember this guy?  This was my (miserably failed) experiment to grow tomatoes indoors during the winter.  It almost died completely, but the weather turned warm enough just in time to set it outside in sunlight to revive it.


Here's what it looks like now.  It's just full of fruit - wow!  I think it's safe to say, it likes the grow bag and the growing mix I gave it (Mel's Mix with some ingredients to help it absorb more water from the tub below).


And here's a nice cluster of grape tomatoes from my "Mighty Sweet" plant.

Wow, Kate -- lookin' good! Mine are coming along nicely, but none of my pics turned out well enough to post, so I'll just wait until next week. I didn't find any grape tomato seeds this year. Will you have any to swap later on?

countrynaturals wrote:Wow, Kate -- lookin' good! Mine are coming along nicely, but none of my pics turned out well enough to post, so I'll just wait until next week. I didn't find any grape tomato seeds this year. Will you have any to swap later on?

Sure, I have a few left that I would be happy to swap.

CitizenKate wrote:

countrynaturals wrote:Wow, Kate -- lookin' good! Mine are coming along nicely, but none of my pics turned out well enough to post, so I'll just wait until next week. I didn't find any grape tomato seeds this year. Will you have any to swap later on?

Sure, I have a few left that I would be happy to swap.

Wonderful. Do you have a wish list to swap for?

countrynaturals wrote:
Wonderful. Do you have a wish list to swap for?

What have you got to choose from?

CitizenKate wrote:

countrynaturals wrote:
Wonderful. Do you have a wish list to swap for?

What have you got to choose from?

I'll post my list on the seed swap thread tonight or tomorrow morning.

Kate, I love the Walmart bag idea!

I tried them after seeing a YouTube video by "Larry from Brainerd, Minnesota".  What he pointed out about them is that they are porous and allow oxygen into the growing mix, which (he says) "air prunes" the roots and prevents the plant from becoming root-bound in the container.  He makes a pretty good case for it in the video:



So I decided to try a few this year with some extra plants I had leftover after my regular planting.  I'm getting the same results with them as he describes in the video.

I'm afraid my Mix would dry out in our heat. ??

It does tend to, even with sub-irrigation. I tried Mel's Mix in my sub-irrigating 5-gallon bucket containers last year, and even in solid plastic, it had problems with it being too dry most of the time. By itself, it doesn't work that well with sub-irrigation.

So this year, I went back to my old mix for the buckets. And in the grow bags, I'm trying a modified version of Mel's Mix that is a bit heavier and more water absorbent, to improve its wicking properties. So far, it's doing very well. The plants love it (except the basil - not sure what's up with that, yet), and the mix is wicking up water from the tubs much better than straight MM.

CitizenKate wrote:And in the grow bags, I'm trying a modified version of Mel's Mix that is a bit heavier and more water absorbent, to improve its wicking properties.  So far, it's doing very well.  The plants love it...

I tried MM in my Earthboxes once and ended up having to water from the top down. Can you tell us how your MM is modified please?
CC

CapeCoddess wrote:

CitizenKate wrote:And in the grow bags, I'm trying a modified version of Mel's Mix that is a bit heavier and more water absorbent, to improve its wicking properties.  So far, it's doing very well.  The plants love it...

I tried MM in my Earthboxes once and ended up having to water from the top down. Can you tell us how your MM is modified please?  
CC

I mixed it with roughly equal parts premium top soil.  Different brands will work differently.  One brand I tried had too much clay in it.  It's doing okay, but the best ones are more loose and crumbly.

I also tried mixing in some of that diaper material, and that seems to help, too, but what I'm trying to achieve is an organic mix that works for sub-irrigation.  My old mix contains artificial fertilizers, and I'm trying to get away from that.

CapeCoddess wrote:

CitizenKate wrote:And in the grow bags, I'm trying a modified version of Mel's Mix that is a bit heavier and more water absorbent, to improve its wicking properties.  So far, it's doing very well.  The plants love it...

I tried MM in my Earthboxes once and ended up having to water from the top down. Can you tell us how your MM is modified please?  
CC

CC, I have also experienced issues with MM that dries out very quickly in my EarthBoxes.  This year I modified my MM with pretty good results so far.  My formula was 1 part vermiculite, 2 parts peat moss and 1 1/2 parts of five compost mix.  I planted the tomatoes right next to the wicks (per EB instructions).  I'm having the best results I've ever had.

For Tomato Tuesday, I'm gonna feature two varieties:

Lizzano (patio tomato).  I gave away all the ones I planted last year because I didn't want to mess with small plants.  However, everyone I gave them to raved about how much they produced.  These puppies are producing fruit like crazy.  I've got two planted in an EarthBox:


Next, Sungold.  I don't know how or why, but this guy is the biggest so far of all I've raised this season.  In excess of six feet  :


Not very many of my tomatoes have ripened yet, but they are well on their way.

It's Tomato Tuesday you guys!  How are your babies doing? 

Here's my very first Gilbertie.  Quiltbea's seeds have gone all over the country!


And here are some Ace 55 tomatoes.  I've never grown a really large tomato before.


Yolos, I just picked up on the electric toothbrush method of pollinating.  I want to try that!

I planted these "4th of July" variety this year. So far they have grown great. They are getting close to 4ft tall and have clusters of fairly small tomatoes.  Some of the first ones have not been much bigger than a golf ball. The package says 4 oz tomatoes, but I am fine with that.  What does it mean when it says 49 days to maturity? First blooms? I think I put them outside the first week of May, but started them from seed inside.



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VJ72584 wrote: What does it mean when it says 49 days to maturity? First blooms? I think I put them outside the first week of May, but started them from seed inside.

It means that you should have ripe fruit 49 days after transplanting, I think.  That's on average.  If you had colder weather it may slow it down some.