Tomato Tuesday for the PNW

Some of you may remember that I planned to purchase some Grafted Tomato Plants along with some standard transplants of the same variety and see if there really was an advantage to the grafted tomatoes.
Grafted tomatoes use the roots of a soil disease resistant tomato or a variety of tomato that can tolerate cooler soil temperature. Then, a scion variety is chosen for flavor or popularity that is less disease resistant. The benefit (as I understand it) is that you get the best of both worlds.

I will have to wait to plant my tomatoes outdoors, but they are hardening off in my semi enclosed porch for now.

On my photos, the graft appears as a slightly slanted scar just above the soil line.

My grafted tomato scions are Brandywine and Japanese Black Trifele. These are both heirlooms.
BRANDYWINE GRAFTED
COMPARE GRAFTED ON LEFT AND STANDARD ON RIGHT BRANDYWINE
JAPANESE BLACK TRIFELE GRAFTED
COMPARE GRAFTED ON LEFT AND STANDARD ON RIGHT JAPANESE BLACK TRIFELE

My goodness FB, your seedlings look great. The TSC people sent me some pretty seedlings, but they are looking a little bit stressed. I went ahead and put my 8 indeterminates into their box today. (Shhhh, there are supposed to be nearly 4 days before the rain comes back.) Some of the determinants are already in permanent pots but most have just been up-potted into gallon pots.

Black Plum Indeterminate Some say 65 days, some say 82
I grew this last year from seed I bought from a Lopez Island company called Greenheart Gardens. They grow their seed on the Island so I thought I might get some fruit from them. The 2010 plants were loaded with green little egg shaped fruit. None came ripe, but it was a bad year for tomatoes. The only reason I started seed this year for Black Plum was because everything deserves a 2nd chance. That and I already had seed from the year before. If these tomatoes are 82 days to ripen than that would explain why they took so long. I was told 65 days. The plants did get impressively tall.


Persimmon Indeterminate, 80 days
Hands down the best tomato I ate last year. Dark yellow or light orange, the color of a persimmon is actually the best way to describe this tomato. The fruit is advertised as getting remarkably large. That did not happen. All of mine were rather small even though tasty. This plant dropped more blossoms than you could shake a stick at. The leaves have a habit of curling backwards down to the ground. I do not like to let tomato leaves touch the soil. It was truly a challenge to keep Persimmon leaves off of the ground. Some of the early fruit came about a week after Siltz but I never took pictures because there were some big green fruit I was waiting for but it never came ripe. I did toss out some nice fruit because the stem end is so big, the weight of the heavy tomatoes would pull away and pill bugs would crawl inside the cracks. Ewwwwww.

New for 2011

Tiffen Mennonite Potato leaf Indeterminate. 85 days.
This poor tomato is the dark horse, the long shot. I must have been seduced by the TSC catalog. I only bought a plant, not a whole package of seeds. It was very pretty the day it came to the house. I HATE PEAT POTS!!!! But that was all I had the day it needed to be up-potted.


Momotaro F1 Indeterminate 70 days
I cannot remember the last time I bought a hybrid but I got one this year. It is growing fast and strong. However the shape of the stem reminds me of the following....

(that is the back leg of an indignant Rudy)

Box 6, 8 indetermint tomato seedlings. The rest of the seedlings are sitting in pots waiting for nice weather.

I forgot about the Chocolate Cherry (I 70 days)

Determinants, waiting for sunshine to be potted in a tub outside....
Siltz 70-75 days
Silvery Fir Tree 58 days (the foliage actually looks like it belongs on a carrot)
Manitoba 66 days
Legend 68 days
Beaverlodge Plum 55 days
Zebra Cherry 80 days
Oregon Cherry 60 days
Gold Nugget Cherry 60 days (I meant to get Sun Gold)

That is too many tomatoes for a place that isn't much on weather to ripen up.

Thanks, Lavender Debs, for the compliments on the babies. Yours look great and sturdier than my home grown seedlings.

My first order from Territorial was supposed to arrive 4/28, they were delivered to my street, but unforunately, to the North end instead of the South end where I live. When the shipper went to the delivery location, the residents there claimed no knowledge of the package

Territorial resent my order to the correct address and I finally got my 6 transplants on 5/6 and up-potted from
2 1/2 inch pots to 4 inch pots on 5/7, so they have been acclimating to their new pots for 11 days.

I currently have 30 tomato plants that I started from seed sitting on the semi enclosed porch . They are a bit spindly but the stems have thickened up quite a bit since being moved from inside the house to the semi enclosed porch. There are another 20 seedlings still inside the house and they are horrible skinny, but I will up-pot anyway and hope they do better when hardened off on the semi enclosed porch.

No I won't grow 56 tomato plants, but will choose the best two from each variety. Still 28 pots is too many plants for an area that is notorious for poor tomato production.

Varieties include
Japanese Black Trifele: grafted/ purchased transplant/ and grown from seed (3 total)
Brandywine: grafted/ purchased transplant/ and grown from seed (3 total)
Gilbertie: a paste tomato (2)
Manitoba: an early tomato (2)
Stupice: an early tomato (2)
Black Plum (2)
Black Prince (2)
Black Krim (2)
Cherokee Purple (2)
A Yellow Heirloom seeds from a fresh tomato I bought at Trader Joes, then saved the seeds (2)
Dixie Sweet seeds from our Dixie (2)
Tomatillos (2) actually two pots of two plants
Aunt Molly's Ground cherry (2) actually two pots of 3 plants

These will all be in 5 gallon buckets with Mel's Mix and placed in my old garden area with trellises and surrounded by deer netting.

No real change here. The nighttime temperatures are still in the mid 40's, much too cool to put these babies out without more protection than I have.

Because it stays so cool here, I am putting black plastic down on the grow area, my old garden bed that is 7 X 27 feet, and there is a 2 ft wide cinderblock walkway down the middle. All of my buckets are in the process of being painted black. Hopefully, this will add warmth to the roots and help these babies preform a little better.

Any progress in the PNW?

Just got home from Sequim. Sorry to keep you waiting FBmom.

This week’s feature Tomato: Silvery Fir Tree 58 days, Determinate

From the TSC catalogue:

An exceptional heirloom that ripens early and produces heavy crops on incomparably beautiful plants. Fire engine red fruit average 2 - 3 inches across with a slightly flattened shape and a very pleasant, tangy taste. The compact, determinate plants have delicate, ferny foliage and make elegant container specimens. Russian origins.

So far the foliage looks like it has a carrot top in the woodshed. This should be my earliest tomato but no blooms yet. Of all the seeds I planted of this variety, I only have one plant and I pinched the top...which may explain why there are no blossoms yet.


For comparison, here is Silvery Fir Tree next to a Beaver Lodge Plum which has "regular" foliage.



All of the determinants are now in their final home. Large black pots, mostly of Mel's Mix.

4 Siltz; all have a purple tinge.

2 Legend; foliage looks a little bit yellowish and the lower leaves are a bit curled.

2 Manitoba; Beautiful green foliage and largish blossoms

4 Beaver Lodge Plum; You would not know by looking at them that they came from the same seed packet. Many blossoms. Nice color too.

1 Gold something Cherry....little green tomatoes, must be stress

1 Zebra Cherry, this one is all purple too.

Oregon Cherry....I totally forget what it looks like just now.



Inside the plastic tent the indeterminates are looking good. All green and pretty.



Debs.....stupid font thing!

My cherry tomatoes have a few blossoms. The heirloom tomato (Brandywine) is doing okay but I suppose I should have waited to put it out in the box. Oh well...

Furbalsmom wrote:...Any progress in the PNW?

Uh...I haven't planted mine for real yet. I keep thinking 'just a couple more days...', but the night time lows keep dropping into the upper thirties. It's not looking like a good tomato year at my house.

I have 2 store bought tomato's....one is a early girl....the second one is a Roma....they both have been in the ground since the first of May.....well...they dont look the greatest....they do have a couple blooms each.....they are a bit yellow...and the leaves are curling in.....and they havent really grown to much....i believe i put them in to early....they have been cold ....i have been spritzing them with some compost tea......they tend to perk up a bit afterwards when they are able to dry out and warm up

now.....i have a few on my back porch up on a table next to the house.....they are my (7) babies that i planted from seed......they are Rutgers (80-85 day harvest)....i have never started seeds in doors before.....and i really didnt know how the tomato's would turn out.....but...they look great!....nice size....dark green....no flowers yet....but im so pleased on how well they are doing.....now that i know i can grow tomato's from seed....im so excited already for next year to start earlier and plant a bigger variety!

i have one other tomato sitting with them....a rainbow tomato start that I bought at a plant sale at my childrens school....i do not know if its an Heirloom or not....the tag only said Rainbow on it....it looks awesome and has grown a ton!....and has several flowers!

Three of my babies on the table top are all together in one pot....im attempting to grow them all three together.....they are not in their finale pot yet....its something i have seen on youtube from another gardener and its always fun to try new things.....i have been planting them into bigger pots as they grow and adding soil and laying them to their sides to develop a heavy root system....they are suppose to grow out like a tomato bush instead of growing taller like a tomato tree......we will see....so far so good....im waiting for them to get a little bit bigger before they get their finale planting pot.....they are the youngest of my tomato babies......

not sure if or when they will leave the nest.....i like them right where they are LOL

i did take some pic's if or when hubby gets them on to the computer...i will attempt to post them

hugs
rose

I have nine planted so far and another four will get planted this weekend with the peppers (these were grown in the house). I have stopped covering them at night and they are doing well.

I have several containers of wintersown tomatoes that probably will not be planted until mid June.

Chosen this year were: Oregon Spring, Roma, Yellow Pear, Large Red Cherry and a striped one (I don't remember the exact variety just now).

One plant has a cluster of 5 future flowers! I don't think I have ever had this happen to a plant so early before.

Some of you may get a chuckle out of this. I have no idea which variety has the fruit cluster. I methodically marked the containers each time they were transplanted to larger pots and the day I planted, I didn't pay attention to what I planted where! A blonde getting older, probably not the best combination! lol

one of my babies from seeding indoors



these are my second batch of babies from seeding in doors, almost ready to go into their finale big boy pots!



i got this one from my childrens school plant sale when it was a tiny seedling.....already has some flowers and growing great!



from the school plant sale, we also got 2 ground cherry tomato's.....i have never tried them before but thought it would be fun to try them.....they are growing slowly....they were tiny though when we got them.....and since i have never seen one before....im not sure what to think about the size......





this is one of my store bought tomato that has been in the ground since the first of may thats having a hard time



ok....hope these pic's turned out ok....first time posting pic's

Nice photos, FamilyGardening

Your ground cherries look good to me, mine were smaller than most others too. Mine are a little scrawney, but have a few flowers now. They look more like tomatillo blossoms than a standard tomato flower.

Those in pots look really good. They have such nice sturdy stems!

What variety are the three in one pot and the two in another?

Happy camper said ...Chosen this year were: Oregon Spring, Roma, Yellow Pear, Large Red Cherry and a striped one (I don't remember the exact variety just now).

One plant has a cluster of 5 future flowers! I don't think I have ever had this happen to a plant so early before.

Some of you may get a chuckle out of this. I have no idea which variety has the fruit cluster. I methodically marked the containers each time they were transplanted to larger pots and the day I planted, I didn't pay attention to what I planted where! A blonde getting older, probably not the best combination! lol

Sounds like you will be able to tell which is which when they start producing. It is so easy to place mutiple plants in the SFG and then , darned if I know what went where.

all my babies i planted from seed are Rutgers....the big one on top, the three together and the two together......the flowering one is a Rainbow from the school plant sale......

hugs
rose

Rose, I did look up Rainbow Tomato and found three different results

One is a yellow tomato with red blotches and stripes up the side and a red blossom end.
GOLDEN HARVEST
One actually has four colors of tomatoes, mostly different blends of the yellow and red pallet
GARDENERS CHOICE
Another happens to be a mix of seeds for various tomatoes.
GURNEYS

Hope I put the right link under the right description .

Be sure to keep us updated on your Rainbow Tomato

wow.....thanks!!!

i will keep you updated.....have i told you guys how much i love this forum!!!

you dont know how happy i am that i have found all these gardeners and ones from the PNW!

I just hope im not posting to much and now that i know how to post picks...well....

hugs
rose

Do not ever think you are posting too much. We love participation, everyone has something different to contribute.

Your posts are interesting and we love hearing about various ways to try things. We especially enjoy info on less know varietes and crops.

I am especially interested in the ground cherries because I am growing them for the first time. We should compare ours as the season progesses, but I am a bit embarassed to post pictures of them yet. Mine have needed bigger pots for a while now, but I got so carried away with varieties, I have run out of bigger containers until my 5 gallon pots are filled with MM. I actually have blossoms and a few husk cherries on them, but I am not sure they will continue to develop under their current growing conditions.

Just wanted to bump this thread for the PNW. Sorry but I'm in the middle of a time sensitive, non gardening project and won't be able to update for a couple of hours.

Please let us know how your tomatoes are doing.

two of my tomato's have purple coloring on the back of the leaves

what do you all think that means?

hugs
rose

So far, I have 20 tomato plants set outside. Some are surrounded by the Wall-O-Water season extenders, but it's too early to tell if they are having an effect. A half dozen of these outside plants have blossoms that I've been shaking in hopes if helping pollination in the absense of bees this spring. The cultivar I'm most excited about is one named for Julia Child, a "pink" tomato, described as extremely tasty and "grows tall." Three Julias are planted outside and two more in 16" square pots inside the greenhouse. All appear to be doing well at this point. Fingers crossed. Nonna

Rose,

If the tomatoes have purple leaves it may still be a bit cool for them to be outside.

What is your soil temperature, what are your nightime lows now, and how warm is it during the day?

Tomatoes really want minimum soil temps of 65 in order to be able to take up phophosporus from your soil. Lack of phosphorus, often caused by cool soil, will turn the leaves on your tomatoes purple.

This weeks feature Tomato: Momotaro F1, 70 days, Indeterminate


From the TSC catalogue:

Momotaro is one of the most popular tomato varieties in Japanese markets and for good reason. Named after a hero in Japanese folklore, it will also be the hero of your garden. An unsurpassable fresh eating tomato. Its flavor is an intricate and harmonious combination of sweet and tangy that has won Momotaro several tomato tasting contests. The radiant dark pink slicers weigh 6-7 ounces. Momotaro is durable, heat tolerant, and crack resistant with good storability.

Heat tolerant? I wonder why the fine folks at TSC thought that was a good selling point for Maritime NW?

I cannot even remember the last time I bought a highbred tomato. Last year was so chilly I was ready to try anything. No sign of tomatoes yet (I don't think that the flowers can be counted until the bracket is clinging to a growing green baby). These are the tomatoes that had stems like a swan neck, all curvy.

The plastic tent over box 6 has been wonderful. The sides are open but it is still warmer in there than out in the open. All eight of the tomato plants in there are about the same color as this Momotaro. Of all the determinant plants out in the open, most of them have a tinge of purple or are green and yellow veined from the chill of raw PNW weather. (BTW, I know one reason for purple is because it is too cold to for the plant to absorb the calcium that makes one of the nutrients usable. No amount of extra calcium or the nutrient (?? brain freeze) seems to help, only heat does the trick) There is one notable exception to the purple crowd, that is Manitoba, a nice shade of green.

well the purple coloring looks a little better today....so i am thinking it has something to do with the weather......my babies are still up next to the house on a table....i was going to move them but i think i will let them stay a bit longer until the weather gets a little warmer

here is one of my baby Rutger from seed....so far no flowers yet....he has suffered from the purple under the leaves and you can see the browning dry spot on the bottom left hand side leaf.......yet he is still really green on top



here are the three brothers together in their finale pot


here is the rainbow tomato that i got from my childrens school plant sale....it has continue to do well and keeps blooming flowers


one of my ground cherry that i got from our school plant sale.....its growing slowly....but i found out they only get one to three feet tall....i thought it was a much bigger plant then that....so....i think its doing pretty good....its a little yellow though....its so hard to tell when you live in the PNW if its all the rain we are getting or if the plant is lacking something....


last.....i have two store bought plants that i didnt bother taken their pictures.....they look awful and im going to pull them up i believe i planted them way to early and they just dont seem to look like they are going to recover.....its so hard to pull them.....they have flowers on them....yet...if they are sick...and they look really sick...then i know the fruit will be bad aslo....its a wasted space that i can put something else in.....*sigh*

ROSE! they are Beautiful!

All of the indoor grown tomatoes are planted and all but one (the abused one) have new growth and seem to be doing well. They have survived cool nights, cloudy days, rain, hail, wind and the weather forecast shows we may have temps above the 50's and 60's, all is good here. Happy growing everyone!