Stickie? Tomato growing 101?

[Burner]

I'd like to recommend to the mods that there be a sticky for tomato growing newbies like myself.

A few questions / topics might be:

Growing in a container vs growing in the ground.
Types of tomatoes.
Best fertilizers.
Different strategies for different regions, zones, seasons, etc.

EVERYBODY grows tomatoes. Might as well have a sticky.



Anybody else think so?

[alisios]

Hey Burner!

Nice to see you here!

I'd like to know also about tomatoes and since I only tried them once in my life, it'd be nice to know more...

The batch I tried to grow once was about 12 years ago and they were doing fine until they got wiped out in one day by a huge, green, plump caterpillar I never new what that was....

sticky...yes sticky!

[Gnome]

alisios,

The batch I tried to grow once was about 12 years ago and they were doing fine until they got wiped out in one day by a huge, green, plump caterpillar I never new what that was....

Did the culprit look like this?
[img]https://www.life.uiuc.edu/ib/109/Insect%20rearing/photos/tobacco%20hornworm%20larvae.jpg[/img]
Say hello to the Tobacco/Tomato Hornworm.

If you shoud find one that looks like this:
[img]https://entomology.unl.edu/images/beneficials/beeswasps/braconids3.jpg[/img]
Do not destroy it. The white growths are the eggs of a parasitic wasp and help to control the hornworm population.

Norm

[alisios]

Yes Norm! That was the exact one! I think this is the same worm that cleaned off the leaves of my Aspen too this summer...

what do you do about those rascals?

(besides introducing them to wasps!)

[Gnome]

alisios,

I've never had a real infestation of them so I just handpick the occasional individual. Most worms/larvae have a specific biological control known as Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) that does not effect other species. This is a naturally occurring bacteria that attacks only the target species.

It is important that you get the proper variety. In this case the proper one is B.t. var. kurstaki. By the way there are other varieties that attack specific moth larvae and mosquito larvae.

This link has a chart that indicates that the one that got your aspens might be the "Modest sphinx" I can't say that I ever heard of that one before.

[url]https://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05517.html[/url]


Norm

[Burner]

Last summer I had the BEST container tomatoes I've ever had (5 or 6 given to me by a friend).

She lives in my town, so I called her and got some info:

The container is huge, the size of the bottom half of a 55 lb barrel. In fact, it is half a wooden slated barrel.

The barrel has lot's of drainage.

She puts an inch layer of gravel on the bottom, and then potting soil, earth from her garden, and some mulch.

She buys CELEBRITY from the local nursery, and plants it in the dirt up to the bottom of the main leaves.

She pinches 1/2 an inch off the top to promote root growth.

She uses miracle grow for every two weeks for the first month, and then only once a month after that.
I forgot to ask her watering schedule.

She plants them only once the mesquites have begun to get leaves (the last tree to bud out in the spring here in AZ).

I did some reading, and Celebrity seems like a very solid pick for this area: good flavor, good production, heat tolerant...

I'm growing tomatoes for slicing and eating with a little salt and pepper. Not for cooking, or pasting...but for eating, right off the vine.

I'm going to plant 3 varieties, all in HUGE pots or boxes:

1) Supposedly the "Burpee's Early Pick" is a good one to get started a little earlier than the others. It can withstand a little more cold than the others, and produces good fruit within 60 days. So it''ll get started first, when things start to bloom around here.

2) From what I've read, the "Big Beef" is a strong choice. Flavorful, hardy, and a decent producer.

3) When the Big Beef goes in, so will the "Celebrity". I have high hopes for the Celeb. My friend's tomatoes were really. REALLY yummy.

I've also heard that a little more acidic soil is desired for toms.
I've heard also that pine needles are very acidic, and a layer of pine needle mulch will supply the needed acid. Any thoughts on this?

[Burner]

The horn worm. I HATE the horn worm.
I guess their eggs are in the store bought soils?
Would it help to sterilize it first somehow?

[Burner]

Early Pick
[img]https://www.reimerseeds.com/images/products/Tomato/Early_Pick_Tomato_Seeds.jpg[/img]

Big Beef
[img]https://www.katiesflowers.net/images/Greenhouse/TomatoBigBeef.jpg[/img]

Celebrity
[img]https://media.2theadvocate.com/images/tomatoes_072307.JPG[/img]

I'm making myself hungry.

[opabinia51]

Those tomatoes look really yummy. I've posted a preliminary Sticky Burner. Hope it helps. Have fun with your tomatoes

[Burner]

Thanks opabina51!!!

[img]https://www.weirdomatic.com/wp-content/pictures/annualfestival/annual_tomato_fight_in_Colombia.jpg[/img]

[Grey]

Good idea for a sticky, Burner!

One helpful trick I like to pass along is that tomatoes root from cuttings super easily. You just take the top off in midseason, trim the bottom leaves off and plant it. It'll be sending out roots and growing fruit in no time.

Another thing that helps with drought tolerance is to take your seedling when it's about a foot tall, and put all but 4" of it in the ground. The part you stuck in the ground will again put out great roots, and you have one heckuva root system on your plant for drier times!

Suckering: if your goal is a few, really awesomely huge fruits that make your neighbor's eyes pop (and green with envy) yes, sucker them. If you goal is more fruit, like in Roma tomatoes, then leave those suckers.

Dreaming of tomato plants...

[Gnome]

Grey,

Another thing that helps with drought tolerance is to take your seedling when it's about a foot tall, and put all but 4" of it in the ground. The part you stuck in the ground will again put out great roots, and you have one heckuva root system on your plant for drier times!

That's a good tip. One more thing, which I'm sure you know, it is not necessary to dig a hole deep enough to accommodate the whole stem. A horizontal trench works well too. Just leave the top of the plant exposed even if it is at an angle, it will straighten itself out soon enough.

Norm

[opabinia51]

Grey, I'd have to disagree with you on your suckering statement. My organic gardenign mentor has been growing tomatoes for decades and has dozens of tomatoes (Roma and a myriad of others) on each of her plants and she is extremely anal about suckering. I sucker as well and have experimented with suckering some plants and not suckering others and recive more tomatoes from the suckered plants.

What experience have others had with suckering?

[Grey]

I guess I will experiment with that again this year, Opa. The last 2 years, I suckered religiously. My yields have not been great but I have chalked that up to me still building better soil more than the fault of suckering.

One of my gardening books suggested the above - suckering for bigger fruits and not suckering for bigger yields. I thought I would experiment this year and see what happened - sucker half my romas and not the other half.

[Gnome]

Opa & Grey,

I seem to remember reading a long time ago that it is not advisable to sucker determinate types as that limits an already finite number of possible fruits. Perhaps variety should be factored into the equation as well.

Norm

[opabinia51]

Hmmmm, interesting. Much more investigation needed for suckering. I forsee a small gardening crusade in our midst.

FYI:

I have suckered both Determinate, Semideterminate and Indeterminate tomatoes and had great results regarding numbers of tomatoes. I'll ask my friend and colleague what her results are like though I think I already know the answer....

As always, ask ten different gardeners the same question and......

Yes, and please anyone with any other comments, insights or information please feel free to post it here. I'll put it into the sticky once we come to a conclusion.