So much for cutting back

PaulF · September 16, 2014

A couple of weeks ago someone indicated they were going to grow fewer varieties next year. I either added to the thread or thought about it agreeing that I would do the same. My garden is not very big, 50'X50', and the past several years there have been 32-35 tomato varieties growing along with ten or more pepper plants.

I want to decrease the number to 24 tomato plants and six peppers next year. The last three years I have reduced inventory down from a couple hundred to about fifty varieties, getting rid of old seeds and seeds I will probably never grow.

So what did I just do? Went through all the vendor's lists where I purchase seeds and wrote down all I want to try. That list is 95 tomatoes and 25 peppers. At least they have not been ordered......yet. Maybe the addiction can be brought under control before January.

Hi, my name is Paul and I am a tomatoholic.

happydog · September 16, 2014

"Maybe the addiction can be brought under control before January."

hahahahahaha, you are so naive. January will make it worse. By the end of February your list will be doubled. Tripled if you keep reading this forum. Heed my words!

Tomato Beth · September 16, 2014

Last spring, I told myself that I would grow only 10 plants. 28 plants later, including 3 in large pots and 1 volunteer cherry that I couldn't bear to pull out from the bed of beets, I decided I had tomato insanity. I hope my kids get it, too.

kath · September 16, 2014

I sympathize, Paul- I always have the best intentions but I agree that if you start looking at catalogs, it's all over- and winter is really long. I'm so bad that I can't even acquire the seeds with the intention only to plant some of them because I just find a place for them all.

AlittleSalt · September 16, 2014

Paul, I am in the same boat. I have a list I made in MS Word that has 40 varieties with three pictures of each variety and detailed information ...etc. And that is from one online catalog site. Then the seed catalogs started coming in the mail. I also look up all the varieties you guys post about.

Tracydr · September 16, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulF

A couple of weeks ago someone indicated they were going to grow fewer varieties next year. I either added to the thread or thought about it agreeing that I would do the same. My garden is not very big, 50'X50', and the past several years there have been 32-35 tomato varieties growing along with ten or more pepper plants.

I want to decrease the number to 24 tomato plants and six peppers next year. The last three years I have reduced inventory down from a couple hundred to about fifty varieties, getting rid of old seeds and seeds I will probably never grow.

So what did I just do? Went through all the vendor's lists where I purchase seeds and wrote down all I want to try. That list is 95 tomatoes and 25 peppers. At least they have not been ordered......yet. Maybe the addiction can be brought under control before January.

Hi, my name is Paul and I am a tomatoholic.

I'm a seed aholic. I go to seed stores online and put one of everything in my cart.
Now, I haven't been completing the purchase. I walk away and do it again until I've narrowed down my order.

KarenO · September 16, 2014

Of all the problems I may have, a seed addiction is the best one

Your case is contagious. Especially since you shared seed to spread the addiction to others.
K

b54red · September 17, 2014

You have to hit bottom before you can recover and lead a somewhat normal life with tomatoes. It is so easy to fall for the wonderful descriptions and pretty pictures but there is a darker side to it all. Once planted all those little plants eventually become big unwieldy things needing constant care and attention and they don't give you any respite once they really take off. I found myself by mid July standing in a virtual jungle of untamed foliage with rampant diseases and pests with at least 3 more months of the season left.

A few years ago with a garden about the same size as yours I ended up planting over 100 different varieties of tomatoes and around 30 peppers in a single season along with the usual squash, cucumbers and okra. That overdose was responsible for clearing my head and causing me to wean myself down to a manageable level. I have been planting fewer varieties and fewer overall plants each year since and further reducing the numbers each year. I have forced myself to give the individual plants more space each year and to be brutal with my pruning and removing sickly plants. It is now so much more fun and so much easier; but the constant pull of the obsession is a daily fight so I take it just one day at a time.

Bill

peppero · September 17, 2014

I too suffer from the descriptions many of you have shared. In an attempt to get some control I did finally realize that I had to stop adding to the problem. Finally I began to downsize the number of plants and also to take better care of what I have planted. Happily this has resulted in a better garden as well as increased peace of mind. I hope to do even better this next year. Tough decisions are looming on the horizon.

jon

Father'sDaughter · September 17, 2014

I too have learned a lesson. I grow in a raised bed so I'm locked in as far as how much space I have. I looked back at my notes for 2012 and compared them to 2013 & 14. I discovered I harvested twice as many tomatoes (by weight) as I did each of the last two seasons, and that was with six fewer plants. I also had minimal disease problems in 2012 and I was picking tomatoes well into September.

So next year I'm going back to 2012 numbers, no matter what, and I've pretty much already decided what I'll be growing.

Then again, there's a lot of winter to get through between now and spring...

Worth1 · September 17, 2014

I'm dedicating my place to peppers this year.
They will fit my lifestyle so much better.
So so long folks I'm off to join a pepper forum see ya later. NOT.

Worth

PaulF · September 17, 2014

Hey!! We've got a pretty darn good pepper forum right here.

happydog · September 17, 2014

Unfortunately it's not just tomatoes. They're just the gateway vegetable. 2 years ago I got the bright idea to lay down landscape fabric between the tomato rows. Down the middle of the fabric I cut a hole every 2' and planted all different varieties of winter squashes. I ended up with 87 squash plants. At the end of the season, as I was trundling the 3rd wheelbarrow load of squash up the hill to the root cellar, it occurred to me - I don't even like squash.

Worth1 · September 17, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by happydog

Unfortunately it's not just tomatoes. They're just the gateway vegetable. 2 years ago I got the bright idea to lay down landscape fabric between the tomato rows. Down the middle of the fabric I cut a hole every 2' and planted all different varieties of winter squashes. I ended up with 87 squash plants. At the end of the season, as I was trundling the 3rd wheelbarrow load of squash up the hill to the root cellar, it occurred to me - I don't even like squash.

Very few things make me laugh out loud.
You just did.
I dont like squash that well either.

Worth

ramapojoe · September 17, 2014

summer sqaush is great. one of my favorits.
if they didn't take soooo much space i'd grow them every year.
as it is i can bearly fit 16 tomatoe and around 8 pepper plants.
was thinking about putting less plants like i do every year when the garden looks like a jungle like it does now but i'm sure i'll try to put more in next spring
i am a tomatoe holic

September 16, 2014	#1
PaulF Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brownville, Ne Posts: 3,285	So much for cutting back A couple of weeks ago someone indicated they were going to grow fewer varieties next year. I either added to the thread or thought about it agreeing that I would do the same. My garden is not very big, 50'X50', and the past several years there have been 32-35 tomato varieties growing along with ten or more pepper plants. I want to decrease the number to 24 tomato plants and six peppers next year. The last three years I have reduced inventory down from a couple hundred to about fifty varieties, getting rid of old seeds and seeds I will probably never grow. So what did I just do? Went through all the vendor's lists where I purchase seeds and wrote down all I want to try. That list is 95 tomatoes and 25 peppers. At least they have not been ordered......yet. Maybe the addiction can be brought under control before January. Hi, my name is Paul and I am a tomatoholic. __________________ there's two things money can't buy; true love and home grown tomatoes.

September 16, 2014	#3
Tomato Beth Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: PA 6b Posts: 277	Last spring, I told myself that I would grow only 10 plants. 28 plants later, including 3 in large pots and 1 volunteer cherry that I couldn't bear to pull out from the bed of beets, I decided I had tomato insanity. I hope my kids get it, too. __________________ I'm a geek and a mom, and I write about it at Confessions of a Geeky Mom: http://confessionsofageekymom.com/

September 17, 2014	#12
PaulF Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brownville, Ne Posts: 3,285	Hey!! We've got a pretty darn good pepper forum right here. __________________ there's two things money can't buy; true love and home grown tomatoes.

September 16, 2014	#2
happydog Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Appalachian Mountains NC Posts: 151	"Maybe the addiction can be brought under control before January." hahahahahaha, you are so naive. January will make it worse. By the end of February your list will be doubled. Tripled if you keep reading this forum. Heed my words!

September 16, 2014	#4
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	I sympathize, Paul- I always have the best intentions but I agree that if you start looking at catalogs, it's all over- and winter is really long. I'm so bad that I can't even acquire the seeds with the intention only to plant some of them because I just find a place for them all.

September 16, 2014	#5
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	Paul, I am in the same boat. I have a list I made in MS Word that has 40 varieties with three pictures of each variety and detailed information ...etc. And that is from one online catalog site. Then the seed catalogs started coming in the mail. I also look up all the varieties you guys post about.

September 16, 2014	#7
KarenO Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 5,927	Of all the problems I may have, a seed addiction is the best one Your case is contagious. Especially since you shared seed to spread the addiction to others. K

September 17, 2014	#8
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	You have to hit bottom before you can recover and lead a somewhat normal life with tomatoes. It is so easy to fall for the wonderful descriptions and pretty pictures but there is a darker side to it all. Once planted all those little plants eventually become big unwieldy things needing constant care and attention and they don't give you any respite once they really take off. I found myself by mid July standing in a virtual jungle of untamed foliage with rampant diseases and pests with at least 3 more months of the season left. A few years ago with a garden about the same size as yours I ended up planting over 100 different varieties of tomatoes and around 30 peppers in a single season along with the usual squash, cucumbers and okra. That overdose was responsible for clearing my head and causing me to wean myself down to a manageable level. I have been planting fewer varieties and fewer overall plants each year since and further reducing the numbers each year. I have forced myself to give the individual plants more space each year and to be brutal with my pruning and removing sickly plants. It is now so much more fun and so much easier; but the constant pull of the obsession is a daily fight so I take it just one day at a time. Bill

September 17, 2014	#9
peppero Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: selmer, tn Posts: 2,944	I too suffer from the descriptions many of you have shared. In an attempt to get some control I did finally realize that I had to stop adding to the problem. Finally I began to downsize the number of plants and also to take better care of what I have planted. Happily this has resulted in a better garden as well as increased peace of mind. I hope to do even better this next year. Tough decisions are looming on the horizon. jon

September 17, 2014	#10
Father'sDaughter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: MA/NH Border Posts: 4,917	I too have learned a lesson. I grow in a raised bed so I'm locked in as far as how much space I have. I looked back at my notes for 2012 and compared them to 2013 & 14. I discovered I harvested twice as many tomatoes (by weight) as I did each of the last two seasons, and that was with six fewer plants. I also had minimal disease problems in 2012 and I was picking tomatoes well into September. So next year I'm going back to 2012 numbers, no matter what, and I've pretty much already decided what I'll be growing. Then again, there's a lot of winter to get through between now and spring...

September 17, 2014	#11
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	I'm dedicating my place to peppers this year. They will fit my lifestyle so much better. So so long folks I'm off to join a pepper forum see ya later. NOT. Worth

September 17, 2014	#15
ramapojoe Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: new jersey Posts: 96	summer sqaush is great. one of my favorits. if they didn't take soooo much space i'd grow them every year. as it is i can bearly fit 16 tomatoe and around 8 pepper plants. was thinking about putting less plants like i do every year when the garden looks like a jungle like it does now but i'm sure i'll try to put more in next spring i am a tomatoe holic