What kind of tomatoes do you like?

[mom45]

We plant Brandywine every year. They have great flavor! For cherry tomatoes, I plant Sweet 100's.

Those are the two I must have in my garden every year. I also plant some Better Boy or Beefsteak.

 

[bwframe]

Parks Woppers, JetStar.

 

[Fawkes]

Sounds like there is a fair assembly of knowledgeable tomato growers on here. 5 or 6 years ago I planted several plants which grew to be six feet tall and I had tomatoes running out my ears. Each year thereafter I've continued to plant the same varieties in the same place and each year I've gotten fewer and fewer ripened fruit and the leaves starting falling off the plants about mid summer.

Someone suggested I should move the plants to a different area but that was not an option. So I built some raised beds, put in 5 gallon buckets with holes drilled in the bottom to facilitate drainage, and put in dirt from another site along with potting soil, then put one plant in each five gallon bucket. Watered and fertilized the heck out of them. Just like the years before, the plants started out okay and grew well, but mid summer the leaves started turning yellow and falling off.

A friend of mine keeps telling me the walnut tree in my back yard, which is reasonably close, is the cause of the problem - says it makes the soil to acidic. I can't move the tree or the garden location so I have to find another solution. I've not tried to do a soil test but I figured starting out with brand new dirt would fix any issues re: any fugus in the soil which has also been suggested as a possible problem.

I'm kind of at a loss. I love tomatoes and eat them like candy in the summer which is why I could go broke if I have to buy them at road side stands. Any suggestions ?

Thanks in advance.

Walnut trees are a known problem for tomatoes but from what I understand it is a substance the walnut exudes in the soil that is toxic to tomatoes. There is also a bacterium or micro organisim that can appear in the soil that loves to feed on tomato roots, can't remember the name of it but it will attack year after year if steps aren't taken to eliminate it. From what I understand the tomato can grow well through mid summer then the pest gets in the vascular system of the plant and kills it slowly by preventing water and nutrients to the extremities first then to the rest of the plant. I had several years of heartbreak when I thought I had done everything right and had very healthy looking plants then right as they were going to produce they wilted, turned yellow and died slowly. I thought initially it was just a matter of more water and fertilizer but that didn't help. The simplest way to address it is to move the plants but I don't have that luxury. I suppose container gardening might be a good alternative.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Green and fried.

 

[jgressley2003]

A friend gave me some early girl and better boy tomatoes from his garden last summer and they tasted mightily delicious on cheeseburgers and lunch meat sandwiches.

 

[churchmouse]

Haven't heard of sonics before. I'll have to check em out. I never had much luck with the big boy/girls we have purchased from the store in the past. The store part could be the problem though.

The last few years we have gotten away from the beefsteaks in favor of the sonics. They are just delicious.
Never had issue with the big boys.

Now that the wife has warmed up to canning some for the winter we might look into other variety's. We only put ot 3 to 4 plants depending but the yield is amazing.
We have good dirt...

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Sounds like there is a fair assembly of knowledgeable tomato growers on here. 5 or 6 years ago I planted several plants which grew to be six feet tall and I had tomatoes running out my ears. Each year thereafter I've continued to plant the same varieties in the same place and each year I've gotten fewer and fewer ripened fruit and the leaves starting falling off the plants about mid summer.

Someone suggested I should move the plants to a different area but that was not an option. So I built some raised beds, put in 5 gallon buckets with holes drilled in the bottom to facilitate drainage, and put in dirt from another site along with potting soil, then put one plant in each five gallon bucket. Watered and fertilized the heck out of them. Just like the years before, the plants started out okay and grew well, but mid summer the leaves started turning yellow and falling off.

A friend of mine keeps telling me the walnut tree in my back yard, which is reasonably close, is the cause of the problem - says it makes the soil to acidic. I can't move the tree or the garden location so I have to find another solution. I've not tried to do a soil test but I figured starting out with brand new dirt would fix any issues re: any fugus in the soil which has also been suggested as a possible problem.

I'm kind of at a loss. I love tomatoes and eat them like candy in the summer which is why I could go broke if I have to buy them at road side stands. Any suggestions ?

Thanks in advance.

My tomatoes did something similar this year. We still got a lot, but the plants, which started out looking great, got very sickly looking in mid to late summer. They continued to produce but the plants looked like hell. I think my problem was acidic soil too, but it's because we dump our coffee grounds and fruit peels in the garden all winter. Normally I also dump the ashes from our fireplace out there too (alkaline) but we didn't have any fires last year, so I think without the alkaline ash to counterbalance the coffee grounds and fruit peels, the soil just got too acidic. I need to get to burning this year too, but when we have 60 degree days in January, it's hard to get in the mood for a fire in the fireplace.

 

[farmerdan]

Sounds like there is a fair assembly of knowledgeable tomato growers on here. 5 or 6 years ago I planted several plants which grew to be six feet tall and I had tomatoes running out my ears. Each year thereafter I've continued to plant the same varieties in the same place and each year I've gotten fewer and fewer ripened fruit and the leaves starting falling off the plants about mid summer.

Someone suggested I should move the plants to a different area but that was not an option. So I built some raised beds, put in 5 gallon buckets with holes drilled in the bottom to facilitate drainage, and put in dirt from another site along with potting soil, then put one plant in each five gallon bucket. Watered and fertilized the heck out of them. Just like the years before, the plants started out okay and grew well, but mid summer the leaves started turning yellow and falling off.

A friend of mine keeps telling me the walnut tree in my back yard, which is reasonably close, is the cause of the problem - says it makes the soil to acidic. I can't move the tree or the garden location so I have to find another solution. I've not tried to do a soil test but I figured starting out with brand new dirt would fix any issues re: any fugus in the soil which has also been suggested as a possible problem.

I'm kind of at a loss. I love tomatoes and eat them like candy in the summer which is why I could go broke if I have to buy them at road side stands. Any suggestions ?

Thanks in advance.

We struggled for a couple years with a walnut tree and and after a lot of reading we went with raised beds. I put a heavy layer of straw down then I use garden soil delivered by the yard and so far the last few years its been working great.

 

[bwframe]

Sounds like there is a fair assembly of knowledgeable tomato growers on here. 5 or 6 years ago I planted several plants which grew to be six feet tall and I had tomatoes running out my ears. Each year thereafter I've continued to plant the same varieties in the same place and each year I've gotten fewer and fewer ripened fruit and the leaves starting falling off the plants about mid summer.

Someone suggested I should move the plants to a different area but that was not an option. So I built some raised beds, put in 5 gallon buckets with holes drilled in the bottom to facilitate drainage, and put in dirt from another site along with potting soil, then put one plant in each five gallon bucket. Watered and fertilized the heck out of them. Just like the years before, the plants started out okay and grew well, but mid summer the leaves started turning yellow and falling off.

A friend of mine keeps telling me the walnut tree in my back yard, which is reasonably close, is the cause of the problem - says it makes the soil to acidic. I can't move the tree or the garden location so I have to find another solution. I've not tried to do a soil test but I figured starting out with brand new dirt would fix any issues re: any fugus in the soil which has also been suggested as a possible problem.

I'm kind of at a loss. I love tomatoes and eat them like candy in the summer which is why I could go broke if I have to buy them at road side stands. Any suggestions ?

Thanks in advance.

Is that possibly a blight as a lot of us get every year? Might be worth giving the plants a Daconil spray weekly?

 

[churchmouse]

Walnut trees are a known problem for tomatoes but from what I understand it is a substance the walnut exudes in the soil that is toxic to tomatoes. There is also a bacterium or micro organisim that can appear in the soil that loves to feed on tomato roots, can't remember the name of it but it will attack year after year if steps aren't taken to eliminate it. From what I understand the tomato can grow well through mid summer then the pest gets in the vascular system of the plant and kills it slowly by preventing water and nutrients to the extremities first then to the rest of the plant. I had several years of heartbreak when I thought I had done everything right and had very healthy looking plants then right as they were going to produce they wilted, turned yellow and died slowly. I thought initially it was just a matter of more water and fertilizer but that didn't help. The simplest way to address it is to move the plants but I don't have that luxury. I suppose container gardening might be a good alternative.

As we had this last year what steps can be taken. How do we know if it is a pest or the soil.

 

[Snipercop]

Big Boys! Anything homegrown... love tomatoes red, yellow, orange or green and fried

 

[Old Dog]

Old Dogs tips for tomatoes:
Put down Preen fabric to hold the heat and allow water to get to roots. Also stops rainfall splash-up of soil borne diseases.
Bury plants on their sides up to first leaves- they will root from the stem and will grow upright.
Stake or cage the plants, mulch if desired after they have some growth (I do not mulch).
pH needs to be 6.2-6.8 (neutral), if lower (acidic) then apply Dolomitic lime to raise, if higher(alkaline) then apply sulfur to lower. You will need a soil test to determine appropriate rates.
Fertilize before planting with something near a 6-24-24 analysis fertilizer. Too much Nitrogen (N) causes leaf growth. Tomatoes need phosphorus (P) and potassium (K).
Give plants plenty of room for air circulation to reduce fungus problems and provide sunlight penetration.
Use Safer Soap or Sevin for insect control.
Use a fungicide like Daconil to treat fungal infestations- these are usually the cause of brown leaf spots and yellowing of leaves, starting at lower leaves.
Blossom end rot is caused by poor calcium uptake due to inconsistent rainfall. It can be addressed by placing 1 eggshell in the planting hole, applying a high calcium lime product (Dolomitic lime), or using Stop-Rot, and watering about 1 inch per week.

And of course, Google can be your friend.

 

[bwframe]

Old Dogs tips for tomatoes:
Put down Preen fabric to hold the heat and allow water to get to roots. Also stops rainfall splash-up of soil borne diseases.
Bury plants on their sides up to first leaves- they will root from the stem and will grow upright.
Stake or cage the plants, mulch if desired after they have some growth (I do not mulch).
pH needs to be 6.2-6.8 (neutral), if lower (acidic) then apply Dolomitic lime to raise, if higher(alkaline) then apply sulfur to lower. You will need a soil test to determine appropriate rates.
Fertilize before planting with something near a 6-24-24 analysis fertilizer. Too much Nitrogen (N) causes leaf growth. Tomatoes need phosphorus (P) and potassium (K).
Give plants plenty of room for air circulation to reduce fungus problems and provide sunlight penetration.
Use Safer Soap or Sevin for insect control.
Use a fungicide like Daconil to treat fungal infestations- these are usually the cause of brown leaf spots and yellowing of leaves, starting at lower leaves.
Blossom end rot is caused by poor calcium uptake due to inconsistent rainfall. It can be addressed by placing 1 eggshell in the planting hole, applying a high calcium lime product (Dolomitic lime), or using Stop-Rot, and watering about 1 inch per week.

And of course, Google can be your friend.

Now that is quite a guide!

 

[Old Dog]

thank you, I love 'maters

 

[churchmouse]

thank you, I love 'maters

And all of my questions have been answered.

 

[eric001]

A few years ago, mom got some german queen tomato plants... They looked like any other plants she'd ever gotten so I wasn't impressed. Until she gave me some of the ripe maters that is. Less acid than the normal reds and way more tomato, less juice than most of the ones I'd tried before...and much, much better tasting than any other red tomato I'd ever tried.

If/when I ever decide to grow any on my own, it will most definitely be the german queen I plant.