Black Krim Heirlooms in Thailand

[worldtraveler]

I planted Black Krim from seeds in November here in Southern Thailand. Currently the plants are nearly 6 feet tall, but have not set fruit. All previous flowers that have been forming the last month have died and turned brown right behind the flower stem and dropped off. From what I can gather these were un-pollinated flowers. I am living a stones throw from th Gulf of Thailand and the humidity is high. I am guessing this has been the problem.

I am hoping manual pollination will do the trick. Yesterday I took my power toothbrush to the flowers and was quite pleasantly surprised to see pollen falling out of the flowers. I am not sure of the growing parameters of the Black Krim, but the temps are high 80's to 90 degrees daily, but cooling down in the evenings to the low 70's. I would imagine I will know in a week if this is going to work.

What is length of viability of a flower from the first day opened until it dries out due to being un-pollinated?

Any recommended heirlooms for Thailand?

[worldtraveler]

Manual polination is working and I an getting 20-30% set and three weeks later and I am getting ripe fruit, but I have some type of boring worm and gets inside and ruins the tomatoes. They are white, skinny short, maybe 1cm or a bit less and very active. Wow. So for the first 4 to ripen had had these things. I also discovered a lot of mealy bugs on the stems and some leaves. I manually cleaned them off, but would like an organic solution to the mealy bug problem and what ever is boring into the fruit.

I heard that mealy bugs do not like coffee grounds, so I spread some of them on the surface of the soil, it may help with further re infestation, not sure.

Thanks for any ideas on these two pest issues!

[Gardeneer]

Glad that you are getting some fruits set.
Although manual pollination ( eTooth brush, shaking, ..) may help but with some gentle breeze
tomato flowere should self pollinate.
Sometimes blossom drop can be due to some other causes like fertilizer (type, amount), rain AND most importantly high temperatures combined with high humidity.
What your temperatures and RH have been ?

[worldtraveler]

The temperature has been around 86-88 degrees daytime highs, with humidity 70-75%, plus windy as right across the street from the beach.

I have an issue with blossomm drop still ,but not as much since tooth brushing daily.

My concern now is all the green fruit I have and whether I will be able to eat any of it

[ginger2778]

If you can get a hold of some BT (bacillus thuringiensis) that is excellent for worms and caterpillars. It is a bacteria harmless to us , pets , bees, but gives worms a deadly infection.They die in a day, but they quit eating almost as soon as they eat a bacterium. It doesn't get more organic than that. Also, if you can get a hold of a pyrethrin spray or concentrate, that gets mealy bugs, aphids, many hard bodied insects, ants. It is an extract from chrysanthemums, very organic too.

I would look for insects such as Tomato Russet Mites and whiteflies and thrips, all love hot humid environments and prey on the blossoms. To see the mites you are going you need at least 14X magnification. Google tomato russet mites photos first, so you can recognize them under your own scope or lens. Pyrethrin, or the synthetic of it permethrin, will kill all these also.

If it is just whiteflies or aphids, plain soapy water will do. Don't spray in the heat of the day.

[Keiththibodeaux]

The humidity is not a problem, but the temps are. Have you tried some of the heat-set tomato varieties?

[sjamesNorway]

I read somewhere that Black Krim is particularly susceptible to heat. Here's a list from b54red of varieties that do well in the heat:

Pruden's Purple **
Big Beef **
Limbaugh's Legacy *
Sioux **
Frank's Big Red
Indian Stripe reg & pl **
JD's Special C Tex **
Zogola
Arkansas Traveler
Couilles de Taureau *
Red Brandywine
Druzba
Carbon
Spudakee **
Berkely Tie Dye Pink **
Red Barn *

"All of these have done well for me [b54red] in the hottest times of the year and into the dry fall months when the temps are still very hot. The most prolific are marked with ** and the ones that still produce relatively large fruit despite the heat are marked with *. Different years one will do better than the others but for me the most consistent producers during the hot months are Pruden's Purple, IS, and Big Beef."


Steve

[Gardeneer]

The temperature has been around 86-88 degrees daytime highs, with humidity 70-75%, plus windy as right across the street from the beach.

I bet that the heat and humidity are not the causes. Those are near perfect tomato weather.
I would follow Marsha's recommendations.

[b54red]

Back before I started growing only single stem tomatoes I found that a free growing plant that isn't pruned will produce too many stems and too many blossoms and set a far lower percentage of fruit than a moderately pruned plant. Try taking out most of the suckers and opening up the plant some and don't allow more than 4 or 5 stems. Made sure to give the plant plenty of water during the heavy blooming stage. It sounds to me like you could just have plain old blossom drop which can be caused by too little moisture, too much moisture, and too many growth tips competing with the flowers. It can also be caused by disease or pests but since you didn't mention them I assume the plants are healthy.

The temperatures you describe sound great for most varieties and your humidity sounds lower than what I have to deal with usually so those two things shouldn't be hurting blossom set.

Bill

[worldtraveler]

I have planted tomatoes in the ground and in containers. So far I have only gotten one worm free tomato, and it is from the plants in the ground, in a shadier location.

The worms are small, perhaps 1/4 inch and white. The same worms are taking every one of my peppers as well. I would like to insert an image, but can not figure how to do so.

Pyrethums are available here, but not sure if that would do the trick.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by worldtraveler

I have planted tomatoes in the ground and in containers. So far I have only gotten one worm free tomato, and it is from the plants in the ground, in a shadier location.

The worms are small, perhaps 1/4 inch and white. The same worms are taking every one of my peppers as well. I would like to insert an image, but can not figure how to do so.

Pyrethums are available here, but not sure if that would do the trick.

See if Sevin is available or a pesticide with Carbaryl as the active ingredient. It will take care of almost any worms very quickly. I use Sevin on any worm problem that bacillus thuringiensis will not get rid of. Diatomaceous earth in a find food grade will help with most worms also but not as quickly as Seven.

Bill

[The Future]

In my experience, daytime highs are not the issue, but night time lows. When it doesn't drop below 73, I rarely see fruit set. For worms, get some organza bags for either big tomatoes or cherry clusters.

Where in south Thailand are you? It is a place I will travel to for tropical fruit indulgence.

[worldtraveler]

We are in the South near Chumphon, yes great tropical fruit!

So, interesting observation. I have three tomato plants in the ground and two in pots. The ones in the ground, mostly sandy dirt with some cow manure mixed in 7 months before planting, and the ones in pots in a mix of bagged potting soil and sandy dirt. I am getting worms in the potted tomatoes, but not in the ones in the ground.

Whats up with that??

[worldtraveler]

For what it's worth, I have found out that if I pick when the first bluch occurs on the tomaotes and let them finish ripening indoors, I have no fruit fly maggots. Worth noting in areas where they are a problem.

Going back to the US soon, and will come with seeds more suited to hot humid climates.

Thanks for the input on tomatoes that should pollinate better here!