I want the most successful crop this summer
Hi, I live in an apartment but have the opportunity to grow vegetables in a garden on premises. Last year I Planted 6 tomato plants and I believe I over fertilized. I ended up with 5-12 foot tall/long plants that overwhelmed me to the point that I neglected the garden. This year I will attempt to grow only 4 plants and want to find the best solution for growing healthy tomatoes that don't overgrow the whole garden. I'll get about 6 hours of sunshine in the area I will plant them and I've had some great help amending the soil. I would love to know what kind of tomato plant is easy to grow and is good in salsa and/or in salads. Tips on how and when to prune how to maximize production and keep the plant fruit healthy.
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dustyrivergardens
- Green Thumb
- Posts: 617
- Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2011 8:32 am
- Location: Holbrook Az. zone 5b
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
I do think lots of people over fertilize tomatoes. I don't give mine anything but compost and they do great. I also like the hybrids for healthy trouble free plants. Big Beef, Better Boy, etc are great, sandwich sized all around tomatoes, use them for anything. If you want sauce tomatoes the Roma type paste tomatoes are best, but not as easy to grow or as productive.
Manny, you don't say, so I will ask. Didja grow them on a trellis?
In my old NH garden I got my best and cleanest tomato from trellis grown plants.
The smallest cage I would use is one made out of five foot wide concrete reinforsing fence, and it is in my opinion too small.
reason for editing: still can't spell.
In my old NH garden I got my best and cleanest tomato from trellis grown plants.
The smallest cage I would use is one made out of five foot wide concrete reinforsing fence, and it is in my opinion too small.
reason for editing: still can't spell.
I'm curious what variety/ies of tomato you grew last year? Just because the plant grew very tall, does not mean that it wasn't meant to or that you did something wrong. If it grows to a huge plant and no tomatoes, THAT is a problem. Did you get a crop of tomatoes? As you probably figured, some varieties are generous and some are stingy with their fruits.
As to height, determinate varieties will grow to a few feet tall and stop. They usually put out most of their tomatoes at once and sometimes a few more. Indeterminate tomatoes will keep growing and setting fruit as long as the conditions (mostly temperature) stays favorable. So they can get quite tall. I grow mostly indeterminate and my plants are quite tall by the end of the summer. I don't see that as a bad thing, so long as I get tomatoes!
Are you going to grow your own seedlings? Or are you limited to what you can get at the garden center?
I have found that most cherry tomatoes tend to be good producers. I like sungold (indeterminate), grape(indeterminate), and sprite (determinate). Paste tomatoes also put out a lot of tomatoes, Roma being one of them, but most people don't like them for fresh eating. I like to grow them for sauce.
If I were growing only 4 plants, I'd grow 4 different kinds, because I like variety. Maybe 1 cherry type, 1 slightly bigger like Stupice, then a medium like Rutgers or one of the "boys", and then 1 big one because I like big tomatoes, like Armenian or Cherokee Green.
Jen
As to height, determinate varieties will grow to a few feet tall and stop. They usually put out most of their tomatoes at once and sometimes a few more. Indeterminate tomatoes will keep growing and setting fruit as long as the conditions (mostly temperature) stays favorable. So they can get quite tall. I grow mostly indeterminate and my plants are quite tall by the end of the summer. I don't see that as a bad thing, so long as I get tomatoes!
Are you going to grow your own seedlings? Or are you limited to what you can get at the garden center?
I have found that most cherry tomatoes tend to be good producers. I like sungold (indeterminate), grape(indeterminate), and sprite (determinate). Paste tomatoes also put out a lot of tomatoes, Roma being one of them, but most people don't like them for fresh eating. I like to grow them for sauce.
If I were growing only 4 plants, I'd grow 4 different kinds, because I like variety. Maybe 1 cherry type, 1 slightly bigger like Stupice, then a medium like Rutgers or one of the "boys", and then 1 big one because I like big tomatoes, like Armenian or Cherokee Green.
Jen
@dustyrivergardens Cool, I will see if I can get those here in town as I am probably too late to grow em from seed.
@rainbowgardener. My most successful plant was better boy thanks for the suggestion. I will work some more compost in this spring.
@tomc I was not ready to invest on a trellis. It was my first year and I wanted to make sure I could keep the plants green. I plan on trellises this year.
@jenhp I don't recall the varieties anymore I did get plenty of fruit but a couple of the plants ended up producing fruit that had starrish looking scaring at the top. I'm not sure if it was a disease or not. I will be buying the plants at a local nursery. I will keep an eye out for those varieties.
@rainbowgardener. My most successful plant was better boy thanks for the suggestion. I will work some more compost in this spring.
@tomc I was not ready to invest on a trellis. It was my first year and I wanted to make sure I could keep the plants green. I plan on trellises this year.
@jenhp I don't recall the varieties anymore I did get plenty of fruit but a couple of the plants ended up producing fruit that had starrish looking scaring at the top. I'm not sure if it was a disease or not. I will be buying the plants at a local nursery. I will keep an eye out for those varieties.
That sounds like radial cracking to me! Not a disease just a natural occurrence. Can be too much rain/watering, but some varieties are just more susceptible to it. The remedy as I see it is to cut around it. Just slice the top off and you don't have to eat or see it. The rest of the tomato is just fine to eat. Here's some info on cracking:
[url]https://agrisupportonline.com/Articles/cracking_in_tomatoes.htm[/url]
Here are some good pictures and descriptions of tomato plant disease:
[url]https://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/PhotoPages/PhotoGallery.htm[/url]
[url]https://agrisupportonline.com/Articles/cracking_in_tomatoes.htm[/url]
Here are some good pictures and descriptions of tomato plant disease:
[url]https://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/PhotoPages/PhotoGallery.htm[/url]