[feldon30]

Originally Posted by newgardener_tx

The tomatoes are growing under full sun and in rich soil with earl's hole method with blood meal, bone meal and epsom salt.

Sounds like a good setup to me.

Originally Posted by newgardener_tx

I am always puzzled by the description of DAYS of varieties. Tomatoes are ranged from 50-120 days. I am assuming the days starts from transplanting not seeds.

That's correct. Those days to maturity numbers can be all over the map and are just ideas for planning, not a guaranteed number. My Gregori's Altai came in 2 weeks before Suze's for example.

Originally Posted by newgardener_tx

If you transplant a 8 inch tall plant, two weeks of transplant shock, then 1-2 month growing before flowering, need ~40 days from flower to a ripe fruit.

I plant 10-14" tall plants on March 8th.

The plants reach 2 feet by late March and are loaded with flowers by the end of March. Fruitset begins in early April and peaks in mid-to-late April.

I counted the number of fruit on each plant on April 3, April 13, April 17, April 20, and April 26 of 2007. The biggest gains were mid-to-late April.

I counted the number of fruit on each plant on April 9, 11, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 23, 26, May 1, 3, and May 7th 2008. Fruitset started picking up in earnest in mid-April, and the plants were loaded by May 1st. I got very little fruitset after May 3rd.

Meanwhile I start getting the first cherry tomatoes in late April, the first medium sized tomatoes in the first week of May, beefsteaks start coming in in mid-to-late May, and the avalanche begins the last week of May to the first week of June. My season starts to decline by June 20th.

Originally Posted by newgardener_tx

So I need at least three monthes to harvest my first tomatoes. I started havest at the end of the May last year.

I am thinking your plants may be too small and need more compost or a shot of fertilizer right at the beginning. I am seeing heavy flowering by the end of March to 1st week of April. I also go out with an electric toothbrush and touch the back of each flower to ensure pollination.

S.E. Texas is very unforgiving of even 1 or 2 week delay, smaller plants, hotter temps, higher humidity. Some people are amazed we can grow tomatoes here at all once I tell them that our season can sometimes be as short as March 8 - July 15th.

I know I made my fair share of mistakes last year. After getting used to torrential rains every week for months in 06 and 07, I got lazy and did not water enough in 08. The result was tough tomatoes when I could have continued to harvest some beauties.

Originally Posted by newgardener_tx

When do you start to harvest tomatoes in Houston? What nursery has good selections in Houston now? I may drive there to get early planting.

Bloomers in Elgin, TX has some fantastic plant choices right now. Better than Houston in some regards.

For nursery suggestions and locations, check our website:
http://www.settfest.com/2009/01/wher.../#plantsources