Re: Tomato Questions

brianj555 10/14/2017, 12:29 pm

Does it matter when you put the stockings over the tomatoes? Can you put them over before they have broken red or while they are still growing ? If it will work, I'm willing to make my bed look like the bottom drawer of a ladies dresser. Shocked

**sanderson** 10/14/2017, 2:39 pm

I wouldn't increase the ratio of the mix. I'm guessing that the manufacturer titrated to the minimum amount of organisms necessary to work. Are you getting the underside of the leaves sprayed?

Someone mentioned Dollar Store for cheap nylons.

brianj555 10/14/2017, 3:08 pm

Yes. I am doing my best to get underneath as well. I def plan on hitting up the $ store for nylons and twist ties. I have to do something. See below
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Should I throw this out or can I let it ripen and cut out the bad parts?
The more I check and the harder I look, the more of these I find

**Turan** 10/14/2017, 8:22 pm

I would let it ripen and then cut off the bad parts. I do that all the time with tomatoes tasted by slugs, my nemesis. I did a little research on army worms and it looks like they are susciptble to spinosad as well as Bt. So if Bt is not working well enough try out spinosad, still organic. ANd look into beneficial nemotodes and other beneficials.
Here is a hopefully useful article.https://www.planetnatural.com/pest-problem-solver/garden-pests/armyworm-control/

Ps, I vastly prefer ripened on the vine tomatoes, they are worth fighting for. THe sugar and acid balance is off on counter ripened tomatoes. I am glad that they they will ripen there, but it is a last resort.

**Scorpio Rising** 10/14/2017, 9:06 pm

Yeah, I think it doesn’t matter if they are still growing because the stocking expands with them. I haven’t done it personally but many here have had luck with it. Experiment, pull some to ripen, stocking some...see what happens!

**sanderson** 10/21/2017, 3:04 am

Brian, I sent you a Private Message (PM) to let you know I found another idea for protecting tomatoes. Here it is. I was digging through my gardening supply cabinet in the garage when I came across a bag of these. They are nylon mesh produce bags that I bought off eBay. I bought them without the closures, the cheaper price. This is an example of a listing for them. I never used them for whatever reason I bought them. thinking

I think I will now use them over cantaloupes as I never know when a rude critter will nibble one. They stretch real wide (which does shorten them) so they should be gentle on your tomatoes. They won't keep out the teeny stage of horn worm, but should keep out the later stages. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Green-Mesh-Produce-Bags-Toys-Fruits-Vegetables-Reusable-Nylon-Storage-Net-50Pack-/263259775081?hash=item3d4b816069:g:QSUAAOSw9-FZ35TS Tomato Questions - Page 2 Net_ba10

brianj555 10/21/2017, 10:57 am

I think they also have a similar bag out there that has a much smaller mesh as well.

QUESTION: if I’m covering a cluster of tomatoes with a stocking and a bloom gets inside there, will the blossom still have an opportunity to turn to fruit? Ie if the blossom is covered with a stocking can it still make a tomato??

DorothyG 10/22/2017, 8:16 pm

As long as the pollinator "bug" can get to the flower to pollinate it, or you hand pollinate it, the bloom should produce a fruit.

I personally leave tomatoes on the vine to ripen. Sometimes I end up with a tomato and sometimes the critters end up with the tomato. I think the taste of vine ripened is so much better that I take the chance.

brianj555 10/22/2017, 8:41 pm

DorothyG wrote:As long as the pollinator "bug" can get to the flower to pollinate it, or you hand pollinate it, the bloom should produce a fruit.

I personally leave tomatoes on the vine to ripen. Sometimes I end up with a tomato and sometimes the critters end up with the tomato. I think the taste of vine ripened is so much better that I take the chance.

I finally got my first vine ripened damage free tomato today. cheers

It was covered by a stocking since it was still entirely green. The stocking makes it tough to see how it’s progressing, but once it got to this point, it was easy to see it was almost ripe.
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DorothyG 10/22/2017, 9:00 pm

**sanderson** 10/23/2017, 3:32 am

Hi Dorothy happy hi

brianj555 10/23/2017, 6:17 pm

Ok. I have this tomato that I think is far to extreme to call a “cat face “. It’s so ugly, even the critters won’t touch it. Seriously. I’ve never covered it just to see what would happen. Just about anything else that isn’t protected is getting damaged .
So here’s my quandary:
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The little part is breaking red and the big part is showing no signs of doing so. What do you guy’s think I should do?

**Scorpio Rising** 10/23/2017, 6:44 pm

Hmmmm. Looks like a fused flower that was pollinated, and half has blossom end rot, and the other doesn’t!

I am tempted to snip off the BER side and see what happens. What say others?

brianj555 10/25/2017, 8:31 am

The temperatures are in the 40's today here. Is there anything I should do for the tomatoes when it is getting this cool? I'm not talking about protecting them from frost. I mainly wondering if there are any do's and don'ts when the weather gets cool. Like should I provide any additional nutrients? water less? water more? pick those tomatoes that are starting to turn? Those types of things.

Thanks for your previous response scorpio. thanks

I don't have a scale, but I'm thinking your weight guestimate is about right. I wondered because I do have a few that are probably twice that size. I guess some are just bigger than others.

CapeCoddess 10/25/2017, 5:07 pm

I top off my plants when the weather starts going in the other direction from hotter...as in beheading.

**sanderson** 10/25/2017, 9:02 pm

I'm starting to "behead" some of the BTE indeterminate tomatoes as there isn't enough time to grow and blush. The bushy ones still have a chance to blush so they will be the last to walk those final steps.

brianj555 10/25/2017, 9:54 pm

sanderson wrote:I'm starting to "behead" some of the BTE indeterminate tomatoes as there isn't enough time to grow and blush. The bushy ones still have a chance to blush so they will be the last to walk those final steps.

BTE? Back to Eden?

**sanderson** 10/25/2017, 11:25 pm

I have a 1' x 50' of useless dirt that I amended over two years, topped with wood chips. I should say my "amended dirt" strip. All of the tomatoes in the beds and buckets have been removed to make room for the new winter starts.

brianj555 11/9/2017, 6:38 pm

These two were up potted about 2 weeks ago. They both look pretty darn healthy to me. They shouldn’t be rootbound at this size yet should they? Are they too big to tease apart? Should I try or clip one at the base? If I should clip, which one should I keep?
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**Scorpio Rising** 11/9/2017, 8:56 pm

I think if you try to tease them apart, you will set them back big time. I would pick one and clip the other. They both look nice, I like the form of the one on the left better but they are both nice!

countrynaturals 11/9/2017, 9:58 pm

I would transplant them into a much bigger pot where they could both spread out and see what happens, but I am not exactly the resident expert on growing tomatoes. Embarassed

I would also separate the stems by gently inserting a wood chip or something between them to encourage more separation.

BeetlesPerSqFt 11/9/2017, 10:03 pm

If you immediately pop the clipped one into water, or very wet soil, you may be able to get it to root. It will be behind the others, but sometimes it's nice to have a backup.

brianj555 11/9/2017, 11:40 pm

All good ideas. Thanks !

countrynaturals 11/10/2017, 12:09 pm

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:If you immediately pop the clipped one into water, or very wet soil, you may be able to get it to root. It will be behind the others, but sometimes it's nice to have a backup.

Good idea! I hate to see a healthy plant destroyed. Sad

**sanderson** 11/11/2017, 4:43 pm

Ditto on snipping one and putting in a glass of water. If it roots, you can pot in some MM.

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Tomato Questions