Where's the sun?????

[SharonRossy]

Hi everyone. Just wanted to know if everyone in the northeast is having the same miserable weather or is it spread out equally for coast to coast???? I'm afraid to check my plants. I'm just glad most of my plants are in the grow bags and aren't retaining excess moisture. Whatever happened to that hot streak we had in early May????

[edweather]

YES! Hi Sharon. Have been biting my tongue about complaining about the weather, with all the severe weather in the plains this year. So many people have it worse than us. So I'm not complaining now either, and ironically I can see the positive side of it because I've hardly had to water my nicely draining containers this year which gets me an extra free hour every day. Poor Eddie's biggest problem this year is keeping the pool from overflowing :-)

[SharonRossy]

You're right it could be much much worse. Although if this keeps up there could be flooding. Oh, we'll, like you said, at least we don't have to water. After much deliberation and a few mistakes, the 5-1-1 mixture ended up being Pro Mix BX with hemlock mulch, extra perlite and lime and a slow release fertilizer. So far so good. And I'm really liking those Hydrofarm Dirt Bags.

[edweather]

Sounds like a good mix! Our (new) sump pump cycles about 1000 times per day. You're right, anything short of serious flooding is fine with me.

[housemouse]

It has been cloudy and cool so far, and I wonder how such weather affects tomatoes.

Does it retard their growth, blossoming, and eventual taste? Everyone here is saying that so far, we are experiencing a very strange, lingering weather pattern of clouds, rain, and cooler than normal temps.

Expert advice seriously appreciated.

[barkeater]

I planted my all my onion and 6 tomato plants on May 18 at the end of our 2 week "drought". Ever since I don't think we have had more than 2 days straight without rain. The news tonight said Vermont has already exceeded the average rainfall for June with 2 more inches the past 24 hours - with 2/3 of the month to go.

The pictures below were taken on May 25th, one week, 7.5 inches of rain, and 2 inches of snow, after transplanting my onions and early tomatoes.

At the end of the garden is garlic. The rain, snow and 3 nights near 30 degrees luckily had no effect on my protected tomatoes. They were as snug as a bug in a rug. I probably should have covered them back up 10 days ago though!

[RayR]

Originally Posted by housemouse

It has been cloudy and cool so far, and I wonder how such weather affects tomatoes.

Does it retard their growth, blossoming, and eventual taste? Everyone here is saying that so far, we are experiencing a very strange, lingering weather pattern of clouds, rain, and cooler than normal temps.

Expert advice seriously appreciated.

I wouldn't worry about anything affecting taste, it's too early in the season for us. Most of my plants are still growing and blooming though the cool, wet weather.
I hope there's no more heavy rain coming, any more of that and that could retard growth for the in-ground plants.

[JamesL]

Rain, rain go away....
Crazy weather year for everyone.
We picked up another 2 inches from the the tropical storm that came through. Supposed to get pounded again tomorrow.
Cie la vie. At least we all have toms growing.
Barkeater,
Nice tent. That Tom looks happy.

[SharonRossy]

C'est la vie is right, especially in good old Montreal. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that temps don't drop below 45-50. And the later ripening heirlooms I'm starting to worry about them being able to set fruit in these conditions. Most of my toms are in containers. Keeping them well nourished will be a challenge if the rain doesn't let up. My other concern is of course, disease and pests, which will be hard to control when everything is so wet. And of course, when it warms up, it'll be hot an humid. Lets just say gardening requires a scene of humor. Hopefully, taste won't be affected. At least the cucumbers are growing!

[JamesL]

Sharon,
Cie-C'est- apologies for the awful typo. Especially to a French speaker...

Knock on wood, haven't seen any signs of disease and very few pests. Been following my weekly spray routine and only really varying due to the forecast. I am sure it is coming though.

Weathermen should not be allowed to make weather jokes.
Glorious morning here with not a cloud in the sky.
Weatherman while laughing - don't get used to it... Grrrr.

[SharonRossy]

James, no apologies necessary. Actually I'm American, so French isn't my first language. I sprayed today with Serenade for disease control. I can't seem to find the products here that are available in the U. S. it's cool now, we actually had some sun today, but I think we're headed for more rain. I'm just going to do what I can to keep insects and disease at bay. It's going to be an interesting growing season.

[JamesL]

Sharon,
All my toms are in sub irrigated planters. I use Serenade as well. Alternating weeks with Actinovate/Exel LG/Molasses. Had excellent results with the same spray rotation last year.

[SharonRossy]

Alternating weeks with Actinovate/Exel LG/Molasses. Had excellent results with the same spray rotation last year.
James, I don't think I can get actinovate in Montreal. And I'm not familiar with Exel LG. can you tell me what it is and any other recommendations?
Thanks,
Sharon

[JamesL]

You can get both Actinovate and Exel on Amazon, but I don't know what the rules are on shipping to Canada.
I am not smart enough to come up with this stuff, only smart enough to pay attention to the big brains on T'ville that do...
Read some of these threads-
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=1442
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=17203
http://67.23.252.182/~tomatovl/showthread.php?t=24368

Exel is a systemic fungicide. Turns out is was recently renamed Organocide but I still see it for sale as Exel.
http://www.organiclabs.com/Retail.html

A similar product that others have used here is agri-fos.

I use 1 tbs each of A, E, M.

[dice]

Cold spring overall in the US:
http://www.wunderground.com/news/noa...tates-20130613