Hey fellow Floridians... - Page 12

kurt · November 19, 2014

It happened to me once and that was because of the plants location whereas they were placed and the wind was "funneld"or to say a constant breeze.I did see some dry "burnt"looking edges on leaves,some non correcting droopiness of leaves.The larger the leaf the more effect it seems.Plants did not die,I just trimmed off failing non corrected(by new next day sun)and everything was good.More than likely two or three days of unprotected plants here in Fla will succomb to low temps.If a fast frost comes in and the actual maters freeze(water)then I hear you are in trouble.

Barb_FL · November 19, 2014

Kay - What heirlooms are you growing in the 5 Gallon SWC? How do you stake them? Also what dwarfs do you recommend? That must have been hard moving everything - Was anything on wheels?

I moved a bunch of my plants (the ones on wheels) under my porch so they wouldn't take the brunt of the rain / wind.

The quick change in weather made me rethink leaving all the plants out in the elements when we leave Saturday for a week. When the sun comes out, I can see the best places on the porch for sun.

I did leave a lot of the younger ones in EB out anyway and all the ones in containers. They all looked OK. My cold weather stuff is thriving.

I finally have a couple of tomatoes (size of a nickel) on my Kellogg plant.

Fiishergurl · November 19, 2014

Ok my tomatoes are starting to all taste a little watery and mushy. You think its a combination of the 50 hours of rain last week, the rain this week, the shorter days and cooler weather? The jaune flamme and stupice that were tasting great before are watery and somewhat mushy now. Below is the ripened Girl Girls Werid Thing with an Indian Stripe next to it. GGWT is the best tasting so far with Indian Stripe in second of what we have tasted so far. I can only imagine how good they will be grown in the spring. We are having whats left of the GGWT tonight on Grilled Bacon Tomato and Cheese samiches!

Barb_FL · November 19, 2014

Probably the 50 hours of rain; But, don't you have plastic on the SWC? You would think that would keep most of the water out.

To keep everything in perspective you really have a lot of large tomatoes so early in the season. I'm just getting a lot of cherries now with very few large ones on the vine; nothing close to ready. Some have not even set fruit yet.

Fred Hempel · November 19, 2014

They look good, considering the rain and cold...

Fiishergurl · November 19, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Probably the 50 hours of rain; But, don't you have plastic on the SWC? You would think that would keep most of the water out.

To keep everything in perspective you really have a lot of large tomatoes so early in the season. I'm just getting a lot of cherries now with very few large ones on the vine; nothing close to ready. Some have not even set fruit yet.

Yeah we have plastic on them but somebody told me the tomatoes and leaves will absorb water directly too, especially if they are wet for long periods. Not sure how much they absorb that way. These still have better flavor than grocery store tomatoes. Just not as quite as good as they were a few weeks ago.

I'm not complaining... :-) Mostly just wondering if they would taste this way from cold weather and shorter days even if it didn't rain so much? Is this how winter tomatoes are? Or was it more from the rain?

Ginny

kayrobbins · November 19, 2014

[QUOTE=Barb_FL;437546]Kay - What heirlooms are you growing in the 5 Gallon SWC? How do you stake them? Also what dwarfs do you recommend? That must have been hard moving everything - Was anything on wheels?

For indeterminates I am growing 2 Arkansas Travelers, Black Cherry, 2 Black From Tulaa, Coyote, Dr Carolyn. I put a tall stake in the bucket to tie the plant to. My cages are made out of concrete reinforcement wire that slips over the bucket. Instead of being one piece it is two pieces that are L shaped. I fasted them together with tie wraps. That way if you are storing them they stack nicely.

Of the released dwarfs my favorites are Artic Rose, Tasmanian Chocolate and Wild Fred. The Wherokowhai that I am growing for the first time is loaded with large tomatoes and I love the leaves because they potato leaf and are about 6 inches long. I have not had a ripe one yet so I can't say if it is good. When Sweet Scarlet is released I can't say enough about it. I grew it last year and it handled Florida heat and humidity like a champ.

These are not on wheels and I am not suppose to lift anything over 20 lbs. I had to "walk" them in and adjusted the cage as I went. It was a lot of work but if I can save my tomatoes it will have been worth it.

Fiishergurl · November 19, 2014

Marsha,

This isnt the greatest picture but Daniel Burson is coming along nicely and has at least 30 tomatoes on it with probably about that many or more blossoms. I'm sure some will drop due to the wet cold weather but more should set when it warms back up... :-)

The big one is kind of flat I think because of the amout of blossom end scarring and marks but most of the rest are more normal shaped.

Thank you for the seeds! Oh and it looks bare because I lifted some of the leaves to get a better view of the toms... :-)
Ginny

Barb_FL · November 20, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayrobbins

For indeterminates I am growing 2 Arkansas Travelers, Black Cherry, 2 Black From Tulaa, Coyote, Dr Carolyn. I put a tall stake in the bucket to tie the plant to. My cages are made out of concrete reinforcement wire that slips over the bucket. Instead of being one piece it is two pieces that are L shaped. I fasted them together with tie wraps. That way if you are storing them they stack nicely.

Of the released dwarfs my favorites are Artic Rose, Tasmanian Chocolate and Wild Fred. The Wherokowhai that I am growing for the first time is loaded with large tomatoes and I love the leaves because they potato leaf and are about 6 inches long. I have not had a ripe one yet so I can't say if it is good. When Sweet Scarlet is released I can't say enough about it. I grew it last year and it handled Florida heat and humidity like a champ.

These are not on wheels and I am not suppose to lift anything over 20 lbs. I had to "walk" them in and adjusted the cage as I went. It was a lot of work but if I can save my tomatoes it will have been worth it.

Thanks for the info; Your cages sound interesting; if you have a pic, please post it.

I ordered those 3 varieties; they were out of stock on the Wherokowhai. Will look for Sweet Scarlet when available.

ginger2778 · November 20, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fiishergurl

Marsha,

This isnt the greatest picture but Daniel Burson is coming along nicely and has at least 30 tomatoes on it with probably about that many or more blossoms. I'm sure some will drop due to the wet cold weather but more should set when it warms back up... :-)

The big one is kind of flat I think because of the amout of blossom end scarring and marks but most of the rest are more normal shaped.

Thank you for the seeds! Oh and it looks bare because I lifted some of the leaves to get a better view of the toms... :-)
Ginny

Great job Ginny, mine had some blossom end scars too. Someone posted somewhere that the blossoms that stay stuck on the developing fruit can cause some types of scarring, so even if it really isnt true, I remove the spent petals and style.
I just love the flavor of that tomato. Never had a watery one no matter the conditions.
What do you fertilize with?

Fiishergurl · November 21, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Great job Ginny, mine had some blossom end scars too. Someone posted somewhere that the blossoms that stay stuck on the developing fruit can cause some types of scarring, so even if it really isnt true, I remove the spent petals and style.
I just love the flavor of that tomato. Never had a watery one no matter the conditions.
What do you fertilize with?

Funny you should say that about the blossoms that got stuck because I just noticed that the other day and started removing the dried blossoms. I had not removed them before because my husband said I was fussing with them too much... lol.

I used Garderner & Bloome organic tomato food as the fert strip this time and supplement about every week or two with a tblsp of Texas Tomato Food for every gallon of water the reservoir holds.

Cant wait to try those Daniel Bursons.. :-) Girl Girls Weird Thing was so yummy, but then again I havent tasted very many varieties yet so only have the basics to compare to. I'm curious to see what you think of it... :-)

Ginny

kayrobbins · November 21, 2014

[QUOTE=Barb_FL;437624]Thanks for the info; Your cages sound interesting; if you have a pic, please post it.

I am going t try to post pictures. I find Tomatoville's picture posting harder than other sites and never bother to figure it out. Because the cages are in two sections you can make a square tomato cage or when you don't need them for that you can make a great trellis for things like peas and cucumbers. I usually paint mine but did ot get all of them done because of the rain. You do have to buy a roll but it works out to about $5 per cage.

nancyruhl · November 21, 2014

Ginny and Marsha, it sounds like you are experiencing some blossom end rot, since your tomatoes are container grown. Might need to add some lime to your containers.

ginger2778 · November 21, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by nancyruhl

Ginny and Marsha, it sounds like you are experiencing some blossom end rot, since your tomatoes are container grown. Might need to add some lime to your containers.

Thank you for the suggestion Nancy. As it turns out, all my containers are earthboxes and are filled according to earthbox instructions, which have me adding dolomite lime to every box. The scarring I am referring to is stuff like the blossom end "seam" for lack of a better way to describe it, is not smooth, like there are puckers in it . There really isn't any black or leathery bottom, I don't suspect BER, it's one affliction I am very familiar with. Mostly, I am talking about catfacing, and just puckering.

Wow, I don't know why, but my mind just wandered to the incredible maple walnut pie I made today.

Barb_FL · November 21, 2014

Sounds Delish!!!

Kay - thanks for the pics; Did you make them? I'm using supports from Park Seed; they are pretty good; but on the EB I end up needing to bungie cord it.

Last spring I did side by side supports in the eb; I feel like my plants get injured from my supports. I've also stacked them; This year, I went with one per box and bamboo poles for the other. Too Early to tell.

Ginny - in your SWC, when your plants are young, did you add Texas Tomato Food or their veggie fertilizer? There would definitely be enough food from the strip. I never heard of that fertilizer or brand. I've experimented with several but probably do best just using the kit from EB. I don't give my plants that much TTF - even the ones that I know the fert strip is used up; I just do the 1 TBS in a gallon and don't fill the rest of the reservoir.

Marsha - you've been doing the EB for a long time, what do you use?

The one thing great about gardening and living in Florida is that we have 2 chances to make it right.

My plants are looking pretty good; the only ones with some grey mold/powdery mildew are the black cherry. But I am leaving them tomorrow for a week. I spent a lot of this week reworking my drip system. I have 3 zones; and only use zone 3 (the EBs) when I go out of town. I can only hope for the best.

November 19, 2014	#166
kurt Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Homestead,Everglades City Fl. Posts: 2,493	It happened to me once and that was because of the plants location whereas they were placed and the wind was "funneld"or to say a constant breeze.I did see some dry "burnt"looking edges on leaves,some non correcting droopiness of leaves.The larger the leaf the more effect it seems.Plants did not die,I just trimmed off failing non corrected(by new next day sun)and everything was good.More than likely two or three days of unprotected plants here in Fla will succomb to low temps.If a fast frost comes in and the actual maters freeze(water)then I hear you are in trouble. __________________ KURT

November 19, 2014	#168
Fiishergurl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Oak Hill, Florida Posts: 1,781	Ok my tomatoes are starting to all taste a little watery and mushy. You think its a combination of the 50 hours of rain last week, the rain this week, the shorter days and cooler weather? The jaune flamme and stupice that were tasting great before are watery and somewhat mushy now. Below is the ripened Girl Girls Werid Thing with an Indian Stripe next to it. GGWT is the best tasting so far with Indian Stripe in second of what we have tasted so far. I can only imagine how good they will be grown in the spring. We are having whats left of the GGWT tonight on Grilled Bacon Tomato and Cheese samiches! Last edited by Fiishergurl; November 19, 2014 at 02:54 PM.

November 19, 2014	#167
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 2,000	Kay - What heirlooms are you growing in the 5 Gallon SWC? How do you stake them? Also what dwarfs do you recommend? That must have been hard moving everything - Was anything on wheels? I moved a bunch of my plants (the ones on wheels) under my porch so they wouldn't take the brunt of the rain / wind. The quick change in weather made me rethink leaving all the plants out in the elements when we leave Saturday for a week. When the sun comes out, I can see the best places on the porch for sun. I did leave a lot of the younger ones in EB out anyway and all the ones in containers. They all looked OK. My cold weather stuff is thriving. I finally have a couple of tomatoes (size of a nickel) on my Kellogg plant.

November 19, 2014	#169
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 2,000	Probably the 50 hours of rain; But, don't you have plastic on the SWC? You would think that would keep most of the water out. To keep everything in perspective you really have a lot of large tomatoes so early in the season. I'm just getting a lot of cherries now with very few large ones on the vine; nothing close to ready. Some have not even set fruit yet.

November 19, 2014	#170
Fred Hempel Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Sunol, CA Posts: 2,723	They look good, considering the rain and cold...

November 19, 2014	#172
kayrobbins Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Jacksonville, Fl Posts: 820	[QUOTE=Barb_FL;437546]Kay - What heirlooms are you growing in the 5 Gallon SWC? How do you stake them? Also what dwarfs do you recommend? That must have been hard moving everything - Was anything on wheels? For indeterminates I am growing 2 Arkansas Travelers, Black Cherry, 2 Black From Tulaa, Coyote, Dr Carolyn. I put a tall stake in the bucket to tie the plant to. My cages are made out of concrete reinforcement wire that slips over the bucket. Instead of being one piece it is two pieces that are L shaped. I fasted them together with tie wraps. That way if you are storing them they stack nicely. Of the released dwarfs my favorites are Artic Rose, Tasmanian Chocolate and Wild Fred. The Wherokowhai that I am growing for the first time is loaded with large tomatoes and I love the leaves because they potato leaf and are about 6 inches long. I have not had a ripe one yet so I can't say if it is good. When Sweet Scarlet is released I can't say enough about it. I grew it last year and it handled Florida heat and humidity like a champ. These are not on wheels and I am not suppose to lift anything over 20 lbs. I had to "walk" them in and adjusted the cage as I went. It was a lot of work but if I can save my tomatoes it will have been worth it.

November 19, 2014	#173
Fiishergurl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Oak Hill, Florida Posts: 1,781	Marsha, This isnt the greatest picture but Daniel Burson is coming along nicely and has at least 30 tomatoes on it with probably about that many or more blossoms. I'm sure some will drop due to the wet cold weather but more should set when it warms back up... :-) The big one is kind of flat I think because of the amout of blossom end scarring and marks but most of the rest are more normal shaped. Thank you for the seeds! Oh and it looks bare because I lifted some of the leaves to get a better view of the toms... :-) Ginny

November 21, 2014	#178
nancyruhl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Metro Detroit, Michigan Posts: 1,051	Ginny and Marsha, it sounds like you are experiencing some blossom end rot, since your tomatoes are container grown. Might need to add some lime to your containers.

November 21, 2014	#180
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 2,000	Sounds Delish!!! Kay - thanks for the pics; Did you make them? I'm using supports from Park Seed; they are pretty good; but on the EB I end up needing to bungie cord it. Last spring I did side by side supports in the eb; I feel like my plants get injured from my supports. I've also stacked them; This year, I went with one per box and bamboo poles for the other. Too Early to tell. Ginny - in your SWC, when your plants are young, did you add Texas Tomato Food or their veggie fertilizer? There would definitely be enough food from the strip. I never heard of that fertilizer or brand. I've experimented with several but probably do best just using the kit from EB. I don't give my plants that much TTF - even the ones that I know the fert strip is used up; I just do the 1 TBS in a gallon and don't fill the rest of the reservoir. Marsha - you've been doing the EB for a long time, what do you use? The one thing great about gardening and living in Florida is that we have 2 chances to make it right. My plants are looking pretty good; the only ones with some grey mold/powdery mildew are the black cherry. But I am leaving them tomorrow for a week. I spent a lot of this week reworking my drip system. I have 3 zones; and only use zone 3 (the EBs) when I go out of town. I can only hope for the best.