HelpfulGardener.com

I've decided I'm pretty much done with tomato plants directly planted in the garden after suffering ongoing fungal, mold and pest issues, and the onset of root knot nematode infestation in the garden. So, I decided to construct my own planters out of some leftover cypress I have from a home project and make them 24" x 24" x 24 " tall.

I've grown tired of having tomato plants going gangbusters, then to succumb to the above issues that make me sorry I planted them. If the tomato plants don't work out, nothing lost since I have tons of house plants that would love being transplanted in that big an area to spread out . Win/win I think

It has been raining so much here that my tomatoes are pretty much done. I am contemplating starting new ones. It kind of depends on how many more Pacific storms we get before the season ends. I plant mostly in pots anyway. I use 18 gallon muck buckets and they work out pretty well. I rarely get BER or wilting because the pots are too small. Some of the tomatoes will send roots out the drain holes into the ground.

Nematodes are a fact of life here. I use new potting soil in the pots every year after they get bleached. Most of the tomatoes I plant are heat and nematode resistant so they don't get nematode damage. I also plant marigolds and sunhemp in the areas of my yard with known nematodes.

Nematodes are hard to get rid of unless you fumigate with vapam but I think it is regulated. The other things to do would be to solarize. July and August are the best months to do this since you want long days and lots of heat and gardening in August is hard. Solarizing still will only take care of the top 3 inches of soil. After that I plant crackerjack marigolds, sun hemp, or Mustard in the hot spots for at least six months. The nematodes don't all vanish but their numbers are reduced enough that I can plant a resistant crop in its place and usually I can follow with a non resistant crop. It may still be damaged but by then then the nematode numbers are down enough that I still can get something.

I do plant tomatoes in the same place. But the pots are bleached after use. I use new potting soil with each planting. I have an active garden patrol and resistant plants so the main issues I have are mildew and bacterial spot but I can't control the rain or humidity. When that happens, I usually cut my losses and pull the plants to keep the spores from spreading. I have had to get rid of a lot of peppers and pepper seedlings this year because of bacterial spots. The tomatoes were o.k. because they were cherries and those tomatoes are more bullet proof. But, they are at the end of their time now.

My garden is small so I cannot really rotate crops in sections and it would not be far enough to stop whiteflies anyway. That is why a strong garden patrol is the best defense. I have some pest damage but nothing that has been bad enough to do anything more than spot treatment. I rotate in time since I do not have the space. Corn in summer and Asian vegetable and brassicas in the cooler months. I got a late start so I just planted my first corn recently. It is probably why my ladybug count is down and whiteflies are up. I occasionally will rotate the tomatoes with beans or peas. Nematodes don't really bother corn and they don't like brassicas and that keeps their numbers low in the garden. I have had to move my cucumber because they got nematodes and their former location has been allowed to go fallow for a while and I have planted it in marigolds.

I have marked all of my worst nematode spots in the garden. I work them last and make sure I wash the tools and my boots afterwards. I usually keep the worst parts in marigolds or mustard. In the past, I used to dig out and replace the soil where the nematodes were very bad.

https://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Boo ... d-Mustards

https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/PD-32.pdf

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ng045

https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/PD-35.pdf

Gumbo, I hear you on the frustration of growing tomatoes in our Hot, Humid, Soil Infested conditions. Plants take off, look beautiful one day with lots of green tomatoes, and then they are gone. I had several plants ready for a fall planting, so I put them everywhere, knowing some were in questionable soil. All plants took off, but with this heat the soil bourne issues are exaggerated and some plants succumbed early.

So a few years back I began planting tomatoes in large pots, some cattle feed containers that I got from some local farmers. The results are good for a couple of years and then I have to refill the pot with fresh soil. Some of those pots are shown in the picture below. The ones on the left were filled this year with fresh soil, and did great. Pots on the right had tomatoes the last couple of years so I knew there could be issues. Of 8 pots, five had tomato plants to die. When that happens I just plant corn or okra in that pot, and it will be refilled before next season.



Not sure if my method is good or not, but I fill the bottom third of the pots with leaves and then fill with top soil that I get from the farm.

It's great when DW takes an interest in my minor successes. It wasn't all that long ago that she thought that the only good tomatoes were red cherries.

Growing a few right at the foot of the back steps has helped broaden her tomato horizons. Container gardening with tomatoes was new to me but I managed to keep some plants healthy and productive. Things worked best when I used 100% homemade compost. My compost has a fair amount of soil in it as layering takes place so that should be considered when interpreting that "100%."

DW uses store-bought "topsoil" with peat moss and the compost for several containers of petunias and pansies for the front yard, each spring. She decided that this should work fine for "her" tomatoes and just took control of the process. Since there are only 4 in the backyard and over 60 in the open garden, I felt I could risk her taking care of the potted tomatoes.

Wrong. I'm confident now that 100% compost was the correct way to go! A semi-determinant made about half the growth as that variety did under my care. A robust cherry is showing foliage problems that sure look like nutrient deficiency to me. (Since we may have only another month to the growing season, I sneaked some synthetic fertilizer to it, figuring organic would require too long to provide benefits but ... I should never have had to do that ... )

I don't know much about humid, long-season conditions but I do know that tomatoes like a nutrient-rich planting mix. Just compost packed in tight in containers larger than 5 gallons has worked well for me.

Here's wishing you the best of luck!

Steve

There is potting soil and there is junk potting soil. Supersoil and Hyponex have been two brands that have been good for killing plants for me. They have replaced too much of the peat moss with compost. The moisture control miracle grow is also good at killing my plants. The regular Miracle grow potting soil works well for me. Tomatoes are heavy feeders. Even though MG says it has fertilizer, I add 1/2 cup of tomato or citrus food at planting and side dress throughout the life of the plant.

I have tried adding compost to my potting mixes. Vermicast does well, but compost causes problems in my humid and wet conditions. Especially if it is more than 20% compost.

I have some wild tomatoes growing in the ground. They are the current tomatoes. I let them go as long as they don't get in the way.