Hey Fellow Floridians - Year 2 - Page 142

Zone9b · November 8, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Larry - Why not root a cutting or two from one of those plants and test with that? I find growing from cutting saves about 4-5 weeks. Seems to get fruit on a shorter plant too.

Also, I need to look up his name, but the guy from Alabama that grafts his plants and plants in the ground, and uses TTF has mentioned when commenting on TTF that at peak the # of tomatoes is large but the tomatoes are smaller. I'm not sure if he was getting at reducing the # of set fruit for larger fruit.

I think you are talking about b54red (Bill), a very knowledgeable gardener. I hope to once again give grafting a shot this winter and I plan to review his posts, especially as it relates to root stock. If you determine where and what he was saying about fruit set and size of fruit, please let me know. Maybe he will read this and post. He has posted in this thread before.
Larry

Fiishergurl · November 8, 2016

Larry,

I did plant a cutting from the F2 Danny (which had golf ball or smaller sized tomatoes) and like Barb mentioned, the cutting did exactly what she said. It had less branches because it started producing fruit right away. The tomatoes were larger, closer to tennis ball size like the original tomato. Not sure if topping or pruning will increase the size of the current tomatoes, but i think it you do it early on it will definitely affect fruit size.

Ginny

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

Zone9b · November 9, 2016

Barb,
Thanks very much for starting this thread. AKMARK, RickyShaw, other MasterBlend, FloraNova users
I read it and it sort of made my head spin but I bookmarked it and plan to return to it. A lot of great information from very knowledgeable tomatovillians.
http://tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=42994
Larry

Zone9b · November 9, 2016

Barb_FL; Larry - Why not root a cutting or two from one of those plants and test with that? I find growing from cutting saves about 4-5 weeks. Seems to get fruit on a shorter plant too.
Also, I need to look up his name, but the guy from Alabama that grafts his plants and plants in the ground, and uses TTF has mentioned when commenting on TTF that at peak the # of tomatoes is large but the tomatoes are smaller. I'm not sure if he was getting at reducing the # of set fruit for larger fruit.[/QUOTE]

Ginny; Larry, - I did plant a cutting from the F2 Danny (which had golf ball or smaller sized tomatoes) and like Barb mentioned, the cutting did exactly what she said. It had less branches because it started producing fruit right away. The tomatoes were larger, closer to tennis ball size like the original tomato. Not sure if topping or pruning will increase the size of the current tomatoes, but i think it you do it early on it will definitely affect fruit size.

I took a cutting of Danny F3 and put it in a 6 gallon pot. I had a bunch of cuttings, which I had taken just before the hurricane and had shoved them in 5" pots. Just in case my plants got blown away, I was going to use these. I took 5 of these and put them in 6 gallons as well. It will be interesting to see how they do.
Thanks much to both of you for the tip.
Larry

Fiishergurl · November 10, 2016

Larry keep us posted on how this goes!

On another note, I had a bad weather day yesterday right when there are hundreds of blossoms on all the plants that are bright yellow and ready to form little tomatoes. It was overcast and drizzly off and on all day. I wonder if that will keep a lot of those blossoms from doing their thing. I dreamt of dropping blossoms last night...

Time will tell I guess.

Ginny

ginger2778 · November 10, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fiishergurl

Larry keep us posted on how this goes!

On another note, I had a bad weather day yesterday right when there are hundreds of blossoms on all the plants that are bright yellow and ready to form little tomatoes. It was overcast and drizzly off and on all day. I wonder if that will keep a lot of those blossoms from doing their thing. I dreamt of dropping blossoms last night...

Time will tell I guess.

Ginny

We do get obsessive about our tomato children, don't We! I have had times when I lost sleep over them too.

maxjohnson · November 10, 2016

Okay, I'm somewhat panicking. Why are all the new tomato leaves thin and curled, they're not developing correctly. They only started doing this 1wk after I transplant and brought them outside. They're not under and over watered. Is it something in the rain water or is the compost I bought contaminated. It looks more like herbicide damage to me more than a virus because there are no yellowing of any kind. And I don't spray anything unless it drifts in somehow from the neighbor. It's only happening to the new leaves, so it might mean that the compost is contaminated and the plant is sucking it up. If this is the case I am never buying anything garden relate from big box stores again.

Also can they be recovered by taking out and transplanting into the garden soil, and should I trim them?

maxjohnson · November 10, 2016

I decided to clip the tips and plant them bareroot. We'll see how it goes.

ginger2778 · November 10, 2016

Max, only 2 things that could be, one is herbicide damage as you suspect, the other is cucumber mosaic virus of tomato. Spread by aphids, and this year I have noticed the black winged aphids. Never saw them before.

ginger2778 · November 10, 2016

Sometimes they can grow out of herbicide damage if not too severe. Viruses can't be outgrown.

Barb_FL · November 11, 2016

Only one of my plants has this funky leaf thing going on; It is in an EB and the other plant is fine.

It has set 2 tomatoes, has a couple of flowers and some buds. Plant is Solar Flare.

The last picture is from 10/31 when it is first startied (Plant on Left) ; I thought it was a reaction to the constant wind we were having. The wind has died down but bottom growth is funky too (Middle Picture).

Here is what it looked like today:

maxjohnson · November 11, 2016

I'm so grumpy today. Got rid of the bad compost (by putting it in containers for the front door landscape plants which I don't care how they taste

).

So looking to find stuff to make my own mix, but I need drainage materials. Drove to 4 different stores and couldn't find any with the Ecoscraps potting mix. This mix to me is perfect to use by itself or as drainage amendment. I simply refuse to use the MirableGro, which to me is basically peat, perlite and fungus gnat eggs, it is way too water retentive, not to mention overpriced.

Begrudgingly ended up getting 4cuft of perlite.

ChefBertMor · November 12, 2016

Fellow Floridian here. I had my first garden two summers ago using containers. Even though I had some challenges, such as hornworms, leaf curl and some other fungus and critters (I never did figure out definitively), I had a pretty good crop of Cherokee Purple, Mexican Midget, and Red Zebra.
I think I am going to grow Neve's Azorean this year. Besides that I am looking for others opinions. I definitely want to grow a really good sauce tomato, And since my wife loves tiny grape tomato's any recommendations? Something that will tolerate the difficult growing conditions down hear in SoFla
thx

Chef Bert

ginger2778 · November 12, 2016

Bert,Leaf curl is usually a virus, sometimes it can be a result of herbicide airborne from a neighboring source, since tomatos are very vulnerable to herbicide spray.
Usually it's a virus. If so, it is given to u our plant by either/ whiteflies , aphids, thrips, or tomato suck bugs. Use yellow sticky traps for whiteflues, thrips, and also leaf miner flies. Spray with pyrethrin or permethrinwith a squeeze of soap for the other 2. Preventive sprays should be done every 7-10 days, and also after a heavy rain.

Barb_FL · November 12, 2016

Marsha - Do you think I have a Virus / herbicide?. On the big picture taken on 10/31 is when I first started noticing it thinking it was wind damage. On that picture the bottom leaves are fine; any recent new growth is damaged.

Welcome Bert - Considerations for your wife: Maglia Rosa
Other Possibilities - a multi-flora red tomato.

The smallest tomatoes I ever grew was Matt's Wild Cherry. Productive, taste was really good and tomato-y but a total beast for a plant.

The only red grape I remember growing was Juliet - Productive but thick skin which I don't like.

November 8, 2016	#2117
Fiishergurl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Oak Hill, Florida Posts: 1,781	Larry, I did plant a cutting from the F2 Danny (which had golf ball or smaller sized tomatoes) and like Barb mentioned, the cutting did exactly what she said. It had less branches because it started producing fruit right away. The tomatoes were larger, closer to tennis ball size like the original tomato. Not sure if topping or pruning will increase the size of the current tomatoes, but i think it you do it early on it will definitely affect fruit size. Ginny Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk Last edited by Fiishergurl; November 8, 2016 at 09:10 PM.

November 9, 2016	#2119
Zone9b Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Central Florida Posts: 620	Barb_FL; Larry - Why not root a cutting or two from one of those plants and test with that? I find growing from cutting saves about 4-5 weeks. Seems to get fruit on a shorter plant too. Also, I need to look up his name, but the guy from Alabama that grafts his plants and plants in the ground, and uses TTF has mentioned when commenting on TTF that at peak the # of tomatoes is large but the tomatoes are smaller. I'm not sure if he was getting at reducing the # of set fruit for larger fruit.[/QUOTE] Ginny; Larry, - I did plant a cutting from the F2 Danny (which had golf ball or smaller sized tomatoes) and like Barb mentioned, the cutting did exactly what she said. It had less branches because it started producing fruit right away. The tomatoes were larger, closer to tennis ball size like the original tomato. Not sure if topping or pruning will increase the size of the current tomatoes, but i think it you do it early on it will definitely affect fruit size. I took a cutting of Danny F3 and put it in a 6 gallon pot. I had a bunch of cuttings, which I had taken just before the hurricane and had shoved them in 5" pots. Just in case my plants got blown away, I was going to use these. I took 5 of these and put them in 6 gallons as well. It will be interesting to see how they do. Thanks much to both of you for the tip. Larry Last edited by Zone9b; November 9, 2016 at 06:41 PM.

November 11, 2016	#2127
maxjohnson Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: OH 6a Posts: 592	I'm so grumpy today. Got rid of the bad compost (by putting it in containers for the front door landscape plants which I don't care how they taste ). So looking to find stuff to make my own mix, but I need drainage materials. Drove to 4 different stores and couldn't find any with the Ecoscraps potting mix. This mix to me is perfect to use by itself or as drainage amendment. I simply refuse to use the MirableGro, which to me is basically peat, perlite and fungus gnat eggs, it is way too water retentive, not to mention overpriced. Begrudgingly ended up getting 4cuft of perlite. Last edited by maxjohnson; November 11, 2016 at 07:14 PM.

November 9, 2016	#2118
Zone9b Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Central Florida Posts: 620	Barb, Thanks very much for starting this thread. AKMARK, RickyShaw, other MasterBlend, FloraNova users I read it and it sort of made my head spin but I bookmarked it and plan to return to it. A lot of great information from very knowledgeable tomatovillians. http://tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=42994 Larry

November 10, 2016	#2120
Fiishergurl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Oak Hill, Florida Posts: 1,781	Larry keep us posted on how this goes! On another note, I had a bad weather day yesterday right when there are hundreds of blossoms on all the plants that are bright yellow and ready to form little tomatoes. It was overcast and drizzly off and on all day. I wonder if that will keep a lot of those blossoms from doing their thing. I dreamt of dropping blossoms last night... Time will tell I guess. Ginny

November 10, 2016	#2123
maxjohnson Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: OH 6a Posts: 592	I decided to clip the tips and plant them bareroot. We'll see how it goes.

November 10, 2016	#2124
ginger2778 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10 Posts: 9,283	Max, only 2 things that could be, one is herbicide damage as you suspect, the other is cucumber mosaic virus of tomato. Spread by aphids, and this year I have noticed the black winged aphids. Never saw them before.

November 10, 2016	#2125
ginger2778 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10 Posts: 9,283	Sometimes they can grow out of herbicide damage if not too severe. Viruses can't be outgrown.

November 12, 2016	#2128
ChefBertMor Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Boca Raton, FL Posts: 36	Fellow Floridian here. I had my first garden two summers ago using containers. Even though I had some challenges, such as hornworms, leaf curl and some other fungus and critters (I never did figure out definitively), I had a pretty good crop of Cherokee Purple, Mexican Midget, and Red Zebra. I think I am going to grow Neve's Azorean this year. Besides that I am looking for others opinions. I definitely want to grow a really good sauce tomato, And since my wife loves tiny grape tomato's any recommendations? Something that will tolerate the difficult growing conditions down hear in SoFla thx Chef Bert

November 12, 2016	#2129
ginger2778 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10 Posts: 9,283	Bert,Leaf curl is usually a virus, sometimes it can be a result of herbicide airborne from a neighboring source, since tomatos are very vulnerable to herbicide spray. Usually it's a virus. If so, it is given to u our plant by either/ whiteflies , aphids, thrips, or tomato suck bugs. Use yellow sticky traps for whiteflues, thrips, and also leaf miner flies. Spray with pyrethrin or permethrinwith a squeeze of soap for the other 2. Preventive sprays should be done every 7-10 days, and also after a heavy rain.

November 12, 2016	#2130
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 2,000	Marsha - Do you think I have a Virus / herbicide?. On the big picture taken on 10/31 is when I first started noticing it thinking it was wind damage. On that picture the bottom leaves are fine; any recent new growth is damaged. Welcome Bert - Considerations for your wife: Maglia Rosa Other Possibilities - a multi-flora red tomato. The smallest tomatoes I ever grew was Matt's Wild Cherry. Productive, taste was really good and tomato-y but a total beast for a plant. The only red grape I remember growing was Juliet - Productive but thick skin which I don't like.