DFW, TX area people, how's everything growing?

[Fiishergurl]

Hornstrider, that's amazing! How many plants do you have that you harvested those from? That's a lot of tomato goodness... :-) Do you have a favorite for taste and production?

Ginny

[hornstrider]

Ginny.....Thank you!!......I have 50 plants. I have 5 grown children who love tomato's. I also own my own business, and I give tomato's to my customers instead of pens, or hat's ect. I have given away at least that many tomato's already, and my wife has canned quite a few. My fav. for sandwich tomato is Cherokee Purple, and for salads Earl's Faux, and Amish Paste. All of the black maters are very productive, Earls Faux not so much.

[Dewayne mater]

Excellent looking tomatoes! Still, I'm super impressed that you don't have a disease problem. With the May we had in DFW, disease has just been a battle I haven't won. Rained 24 out of 31 days and maybe 2 or 3 of the remaining days had any sunshine at all...mostly still overcast and cool. Not sure if it was as wet in Central Texas, but, how did you fight disease this year?

I've noticed that I do have many large tomatoes this year, so all the rain was clearly something the enjoyed.

Dewayne Mater

[Mallori]

I finally got my first hint of a blush on one of my tomatoes! Much excite!!

[OzoneNY]

Me too. I have 2 san marzano with bottom half red(ish). Funny though, the skin on the tomatos feels kinds sticky like they were sprayed with glue. Could it be the copper antifungal spray I used? My cherry tomatos that did not get sprayed seem fine.

[hornstrider]

Dewayne....Thank you. I sprayed w/ daconil three times...last time after one of the larger rain storms.......but to be honest I assume the daconil treatment did the trick. I did have a spider mite issue early on, and the plants along one section looked sickly. I sprayed them, and the affected plants came back beautifully. Last night I discovered I have spider mites again...so I sprayed the entire crop this time. I hope it works....to be honest I am very surprised I have not had a fungal problem w/ all of the rain.....This is the best crop of tomato's I have ever had.....go figure!!

[Dewayne mater]

Hornstrider - Awesome! Congratulations!

Ozone - I think the skins are thicker than normal for this time of year for me too. I think that is their reaction to being wet all the time, but, who knows for sure?

Meanwhile, I'm starting to have a good harvest, though it looks like a lot is going to come in at once over the next week or 10 days and then a big drop off. So far, the tomatoes are good, but, not as great tasting as some years. I'm pretty sure the lack of sunshine and heat until the last few days has a lot to do with that and the ones I've eaten so far were picked before any sunshine and heat.

Dewayne Mater

[hornstrider]

Dewayne....awesome......I'm curious how is the taste, and texture? I know my maters really look good, but at first they were sort of mealy ...did not have the pop...but now that the sun has been out for over a week, and the temps have normalized they really are starting to taste normal..............I think part of the problem was picking at first blush...I mean first time the bottom of the mater turned a light shade of pink I picked it fearful of splitting because of the heavy rains.........everything seems normal now though.......now if only I can get my spider mite issue under control I can finish out this season with a smile..

[Dewayne mater]

The ones I've eaten so far suffer the exact fate you describe...a bit mealy (not awful) and good, not fabulous taste. I think I'm about to get to some that were picked after some sunshine and warmth started earlier this week and I can't wait.

How do you plan to get spider mites under control? They are evil and once established, pretty rough to ever eliminate in my experience so far.

[AlittleSalt]

hornstrider and Dewayne, same here, but the ones picked this morning are tasting better.

[hornstrider]

I am afraid I use Kelthane. Kelthane was banned around 5 years ago. You could not buy it for re-sale, but if you had in stock you could sell it. I called around to different feed stores around central Texas,and found 10 bottles in a Schulenburg, Tx feed store. I ordered all of his stock, and am set for years I hope. Kelthane is the only thing I have found that works on spider mites...........It is amazing how fast a plant comes back after spraying. I will have to go back in a day or so, and re-spray to get the new born eggs. Kelthane, and daconil are the only chems I use. ................but they work!!!..If I have a choice between losing 50 good tomato plants, and using Kelthane..............sorry but I am using Kelthane.

[hornstrider]

AlittleSalt ........Keep the faith. They will get better I promise!!!

[OzoneNY]

So I lost all the blossoms, sprayed copper fungicide and the Montery insecticide, and since the sun came out it seems most of my plants will survive! The costoluto Genovese wont make it however the San Marzanos and the Texas cherry are showing a lot of new foliage and even some new fruit! I lose 4 plants but 6 will live

The birds are eating my semi ripe fruit so I have been taking them inside as soon as they start to turn.



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[Worth1]

The stink bugs have moved in.
I hate stink bugs they ruin tomatoes and peppers.

Worth

[Fiishergurl]

That's how my fall tomatoes tasted last fall. Not enough sun, not enough heat, and oodles of rain. So the tomatoes were not good for fresh eating but made the most incredible sauce we ever tasted. We couldnt get enough of it and every batch was different due to the random mix of tomatoes in it.

Ginny