My year is turning toward disappointment...

puzzley · July 22, 2010

Two weeks ago my tomatoes looked as good as they ever have. Now, the continual heavy rains along with high heat and humidity have taken their toll. I can't keep up with spraying enough disease control, and various diseases are becoming evident. No late blight yet, but lots of plants losing lower leaves, spots, etc. Plants are loaded with green tomatoes which seem to go from green to rotten before I can pick them at first blush. Lots of splitters, and tomatoes falling off the vines. I've never seen my tomatoes ripen so slowly, but maybe I'm in a hurry because of the general decline.

My garden still has some standing water in it which never seems to go away. More rain in the forecast tonight. Sorry to be gloomy, but I need some dry, cooler weather.

TomatoDon · July 22, 2010

I'd love to email you a few days of our heat for some of your rainy days. We're seeing extremes in many locations now and all seem to be hurting tomatoes.

I'm watering a lot now and seeing some cracked fruit. What aggravates me the most is that everyday I find more and more really nice fruit ready to pick, but something has nibbled it just enough to ruin it. I have seen one squirrel in over five years out there, and rarely see a rabbit. Must be some kind of tomato gremlin sneaking in at night, testing my snapping point.

Hope your weather moderates.

DS

Timmah! · July 23, 2010

Oh, we're getting the heat & the humidity, in addition to the rain. It's war out here, I tell ya. Sorry to hear of your troubles, Puzzley. =( The spot/speck is being pesky here, too. The last 3 days I've sprayed with Actinovate, it rains within an hour or two. Just popping up out of nothing when I go look at the NOAA radar. They say it was the hottest June round here since they've been keeping records, & I believe them. Glad I planted most of mine in bottomless buckets atop the hole, because there's been standing water here too, even though the soil survey & analysis here says it's a nice deep, well-draining Crider soil. Seems to take about 8 hours to drain away if we get too much rain at once.

WH_Conley · July 23, 2010

I know what you mean Puzzley, I live in Lewis county, we have just been declared a disaster by the governor, for the second time this year. My garden went out late due to the water, this flood it was under 10-12 feet of water. Still so wet I can't even get to it. I give up. I have lost almost all my inventory at my sawmill twice this year.

puzzley · July 23, 2010

Tim, WH, I'm sorry you're having such difficult weather experiences, too. Apparently pretty widespread weather pattern. Misery doesn't love company, in this case.....

veggie babe · July 23, 2010

Sorry you guys are having so much bad weather. It has been very hot and humid with a heat index of 106 for days and it is dry but I do have some tomatoes. I understand about throwing away tomatoes that are rotten before they are ripe, during hurricane Alex we had several days of rain and ruined a lot of veggies. But I have had nothing compared to you.
WH sorry about the loss at your sawmill, that is heart breaking.

take care,

Neva

WVTomatoMan · July 23, 2010

Today is our 9th day in a row above 90 degrees. June was the hottest June on record. We've had less than a half an inch of rain in the last month. I'm watering just enough to keep the plants going because I don't want to run the well dry. I've already run one of the rain barrels dry. Etc. etc.

I don't think I'm going to get any big tomatoes this year.

I have a bunch of decent sized ones. BTW, size according to Randy is 2 lbs or greater = a big tomato, 1 to 1.75 lbs = decent sized tomato. It really bugs me when I don't get any big tomatoes. The last year I didn't get a big tomato was a drought year. Ugh. BER. Ugh. On the upside the peppers are loving life.

We're all in this together and I'm pullin' for ya.

Good luck everyone.

Randy

b54red · July 23, 2010

WV have you tried Neves Azorean Red? It is a big producer of large fruit. I don't know if you'll get any 2 pounders off of them but I got an average of over a pound right to the end. I only had a few that were in the 10 to 16 oz size and they both made a lot of tomatoes.
I also had good luck in the size department with a heart called Donskoi which was one of my top 3 in taste but it doesn't make a lot of toms but what it does make are very large.

WVTomatoMan · July 26, 2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by b54red

WV have you tried Neves Azorean Red? It is a big producer of large fruit. I don't know if you'll get any 2 pounders off of them but I got an average of over a pound right to the end. I only had a few that were in the 10 to 16 oz size and they both made a lot of tomatoes.
I also had good luck in the size department with a heart called Donskoi which was one of my top 3 in taste but it doesn't make a lot of toms but what it does make are very large.

Yes I have tried NAR. It has a couple of characteristics in common with Mortgage Lifter. They both throw out big fruit, but in my garden both are bland tasting. I know a lot of people say NAR is really good and I've been meaning to try it again from a different seed source. The most consistent producer of big ones for me is Aker's WV. I'm always on the lookout for big fruited varieties with good taste so thanks for the tip on Donskoi.

BTW, I've gotten 2+ pound fruit from Brandywine and Brimmer (and others of course).

This year my big fruited varieties were Big Zac (not this year), Giant Belguim, and Omar's Lebanese. Given the right growing conditions Big Zac has given me some big ones and the flavor is quite good. Giant Belguim is a new one for me this year. I thought it had a couple of possibilities. They started out good, but then they stopped growing. Ruh-roh. Sure enough not soon after that they started turning. Ugh. One was 1 lb. and the other was 1 lb. 6 oz. How disappointing is that? Omar's had a couple that I thoght might have turned into big ones, but they're mature green now and the bigger of the two I don't think will make it past 1.75 lbs. and the smaller one will be fortunate to make it to 1.50 lbs. I do have a Trees Bottom Yellow and a couple of Brandywines that might make it, but I don't think so.

The hot weather has caused a lot of blossom drop so I'm reluctant to remove any fruit to try and force things. So, I can't even help.

We continue to set records for high temps. We set the all time record for any day (not just July25th) for the highest recorded low of 81 degrees. As for the highs we're just not used to multiple days of over 100 degrees. The good news is it rained yesterday afternoon. I got .4 inches of rain. Today the temps are more seasonable.

Good luck,

Randy

b54red · July 26, 2010

I find the NAR to be far superior in taste to the Mortgage Lifter and the Akers West Virginia this year. But you know it could just be the spot in the garden.
My Omars Lebanese made one single huge tomato but only a few small follow ups. Some years you get more but if the temps are high you can forget it. Giant Belgium is also a shy bearer for me but good if you like a really sweet tomato.
I actually prefer my large tomatoes in the 12 oz to 20 oz size because anything bigger is just a mess to cut up. I had two Kosovo plants this year that pumped out tomatoes averaging around a pound and they don't split as badly as the other hearts I tried.
We had heavy rain almost every day last year from early July to late August and I threw away far more than I was able to save. The only thing that worked keeping the diseases somewhat under control was the dilute Clorox spray that I had to use every week. When the rains finally let up the tomato plants that survived really pumped out the tomatoes til we got a really hard freeze.

July 22, 2010	#1
puzzley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Lexington, Ky Posts: 93	My year is turning toward disappointment... Two weeks ago my tomatoes looked as good as they ever have. Now, the continual heavy rains along with high heat and humidity have taken their toll. I can't keep up with spraying enough disease control, and various diseases are becoming evident. No late blight yet, but lots of plants losing lower leaves, spots, etc. Plants are loaded with green tomatoes which seem to go from green to rotten before I can pick them at first blush. Lots of splitters, and tomatoes falling off the vines. I've never seen my tomatoes ripen so slowly, but maybe I'm in a hurry because of the general decline. My garden still has some standing water in it which never seems to go away. More rain in the forecast tonight. Sorry to be gloomy, but I need some dry, cooler weather.

July 22, 2010	#2
TomatoDon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MS Posts: 1,521	I'd love to email you a few days of our heat for some of your rainy days. We're seeing extremes in many locations now and all seem to be hurting tomatoes. I'm watering a lot now and seeing some cracked fruit. What aggravates me the most is that everyday I find more and more really nice fruit ready to pick, but something has nibbled it just enough to ruin it. I have seen one squirrel in over five years out there, and rarely see a rabbit. Must be some kind of tomato gremlin sneaking in at night, testing my snapping point. Hope your weather moderates. DS __________________ Zone 7B, N. MS

July 23, 2010	#7
WVTomatoMan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: West Virginia - Zone 6 Posts: 594	Today is our 9th day in a row above 90 degrees. June was the hottest June on record. We've had less than a half an inch of rain in the last month. I'm watering just enough to keep the plants going because I don't want to run the well dry. I've already run one of the rain barrels dry. Etc. etc. I don't think I'm going to get any big tomatoes this year. I have a bunch of decent sized ones. BTW, size according to Randy is 2 lbs or greater = a big tomato, 1 to 1.75 lbs = decent sized tomato. It really bugs me when I don't get any big tomatoes. The last year I didn't get a big tomato was a drought year. Ugh. BER. Ugh. On the upside the peppers are loving life. We're all in this together and I'm pullin' for ya. Good luck everyone. Randy Last edited by WVTomatoMan; July 23, 2010 at 08:09 AM. Reason: Fixed typo.

July 23, 2010	#3
Timmah! Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Elizabethtown, Kentucky 6a Posts: 754	Oh, we're getting the heat & the humidity, in addition to the rain. It's war out here, I tell ya. Sorry to hear of your troubles, Puzzley. =( The spot/speck is being pesky here, too. The last 3 days I've sprayed with Actinovate, it rains within an hour or two. Just popping up out of nothing when I go look at the NOAA radar. They say it was the hottest June round here since they've been keeping records, & I believe them. Glad I planted most of mine in bottomless buckets atop the hole, because there's been standing water here too, even though the soil survey & analysis here says it's a nice deep, well-draining Crider soil. Seems to take about 8 hours to drain away if we get too much rain at once.

July 23, 2010	#4
WH_Conley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Camp Dix, KY Posts: 39	I know what you mean Puzzley, I live in Lewis county, we have just been declared a disaster by the governor, for the second time this year. My garden went out late due to the water, this flood it was under 10-12 feet of water. Still so wet I can't even get to it. I give up. I have lost almost all my inventory at my sawmill twice this year.

July 23, 2010	#6
veggie babe Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: east texas Posts: 686	Sorry you guys are having so much bad weather. It has been very hot and humid with a heat index of 106 for days and it is dry but I do have some tomatoes. I understand about throwing away tomatoes that are rotten before they are ripe, during hurricane Alex we had several days of rain and ruined a lot of veggies. But I have had nothing compared to you. WH sorry about the loss at your sawmill, that is heart breaking. take care, Neva

July 23, 2010	#8
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	WV have you tried Neves Azorean Red? It is a big producer of large fruit. I don't know if you'll get any 2 pounders off of them but I got an average of over a pound right to the end. I only had a few that were in the 10 to 16 oz size and they both made a lot of tomatoes. I also had good luck in the size department with a heart called Donskoi which was one of my top 3 in taste but it doesn't make a lot of toms but what it does make are very large.

July 26, 2010	#10
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I find the NAR to be far superior in taste to the Mortgage Lifter and the Akers West Virginia this year. But you know it could just be the spot in the garden. My Omars Lebanese made one single huge tomato but only a few small follow ups. Some years you get more but if the temps are high you can forget it. Giant Belgium is also a shy bearer for me but good if you like a really sweet tomato. I actually prefer my large tomatoes in the 12 oz to 20 oz size because anything bigger is just a mess to cut up. I had two Kosovo plants this year that pumped out tomatoes averaging around a pound and they don't split as badly as the other hearts I tried. We had heavy rain almost every day last year from early July to late August and I threw away far more than I was able to save. The only thing that worked keeping the diseases somewhat under control was the dilute Clorox spray that I had to use every week. When the rains finally let up the tomato plants that survived really pumped out the tomatoes til we got a really hard freeze.