2011 tomatoes started

[b54red]

A further update on the tomato progress and a few of the dogs.

1st pic shows the beds with some obvious gaps from both TSWV and fusarium.
2nd pic shows bed planted around April 12.
3rd pic shows bed planted between April 21 and 28.
The rest are the dogs. I have a lot of help in the garden.

[b54red]

Pics taken on the 25th. The first two pics show the first beds planted some of the plants are reaching the 7 ft top bar of the trellis while others are already dead and gone from diseases.

The next two beds show the plants set out in April.

The final picture is of the latest bed which was planted on May 17 and hasn't been mulched yet.

[remy]

They look great! I can't imagine that some are gone from disease.
Remy

[b54red]

Remy I just posted some pics of a few of the plants dying of fusarium in the 'garden diseases and pests' section. I have already removed over a half dozen from the first two beds and over the next week will probably remove another half dozen.

The rate at which fusarium takes my plants down once hot weather gets here is frustrating. That is why I plant so many and keep replacement plants ready all season. From now through August I will be removing sick and dying plants every week and hopefully replacing many of them. The replacements have it even rougher because they are going into the ground when it is warmer and the fusarium is even more destructive of the young plants. In some spots I will replant nearly a half dozen times by the end of the season. I have some spots where I have replanted twice already and the fusarium has only been affecting the plants for a few weeks and it will get worse over the next few months.

[remy]

I never saw that post. I can't imagine having to keep putting in new plants because of disease! I feel so lucky now.
BTW, though they came named from the SPCA, my dogs names are Sammie and Charlie.
Remy

[b54red]

Here are some updated photos. The older beds #4 and #5 were planted in mid March and fusarium and gray mold have really taken their toll. Many of the plants are missing and a few have been replaced.

Beds #2 and #3 were planted mainly in April with a few plants put out in May. I have only gotten a couple of ripe fruits so far. The fusarium is beginning to hit some of the plants and a few had to be removed. I also had some gray mold damage to about a dozen of them but only a couple were totally ruined by it.

Bed #1 was planted in mid May and I still haven't gotten around to mulching it but I did space my plants a little further apart.

Bed #6 was planted on June 7 and I really spaced these plants after the mess I have had with gray mold.

This is one of our flower beds that got converted to tomatoes and was replanted on April 28 after losing almost every plant to some kind of herbicide drift.

The last pic shows some of the tomatoes that I picked from the end of May til June 10. Guess I better start making sauce soon.

I've given away a bunch and we eat them every day. This kind of production will wind down really fast as I keep pulling out one or two plants a day now due to the fusarium wilt problem. I will be planting more new plants in some of the spaces opened up in the older beds; but I was really hoping for some rain before planting any more. Maybe I will be able to keep a few plants alive during the whole summer and fall. The heat is making working the garden almost impossible. I know some have had a problem with too much rain but my plants have been living off city water for well over 2 months now with no rain.

[b54red]

Sorry to be so slow posting these pics of fruit picked this month. The first pic shows tomatoes picked from the 11th thru the 14th. The second picture shows tomatoes picked from the 15th thru the 19th. Almost all of the plants that these tomatoes came from are now dead and gone. The plants that are in bed 2 and 3 and the flower bed are starting to produce ripe fruit but they are generally much smaller plants with mostly smaller fruit. They are also dying at a very rapid rate. The intense heat we have experienced has made the wilting from fusarium happen faster than usual so once a plant shows the first signs of fusarium it is not long before it totally wilts.

[Dewayne mater]

That is an impressive haul! Well done.

[tommytonk]

Fantastic and super work!!!!!!!!!


tommy

[tam91]

*jealous* *very jealous*

Looks great!

[DanishGardener]

Looks great Bill!
Did the Brandywine OTV and Lucky Cross I sent you, survive long enough to harvest anything from them?

[b54red]

Originally Posted by DanishGardener

Looks great Bill!
Did the Brandywine OTV and Lucky Cross I sent you, survive long enough to harvest anything from them?

Soren, I didn't have great luck with OTV. I set out 3 plants and only one lived long enough to make any tomatoes before it too fell to fusarium. OTV seems to be very susceptible to the disease. I did get 7 tomatoes off of the one plant and the largest was 19 ounces.

Lucky Cross was another story altogether. I had bad luck with my seed starting because of damping off but I did save one which made it into the garden. That plant made 14 tomatoes the largest of them was 23 ounces. I really liked the flavor and over half the tomatoes off that plant were more than a pound each.

Thanks for the seed. Did you have any luck with IS pl, Donskoi or Kosovo?

[b54red]

Here is a picture of the tomatoes picked from the 20th thru the 30th. The numbers are really falling off now and hopefully some of my late plantings will come through for mid summer tomatoes.

[kpatrick925]

Originally Posted by b54red

Here is a picture of the tomatoes picked from the 20th thru the 30th. The numbers are really falling off now and hopefully some of my late plantings will come through for mid summer tomatoes.

Everything looks great. I have a question, I have read where several pick before the tomatoes ripen on the vine and let them ripen inside. Is there a reason for that? Is it better for the tomatoes or the plants? Or just preference. This is the first year I have planted from seed and of course planted way too many so I am planning to can as much as I can so looking for ways to ensure good tasting tomatoes for eating and canning.

[b54red]

Mine aren't exactly ripening inside. They are on a screened in porch. The reason I am having to pick mine when they are at the blush stage or half ripe is because of squirrels and birds damaging so many if I leave them longer.