Tomato Failure - THIS IS MY YEAR!

[pinksand]

So I’ve got to admit I’m a veggie growing failure… it’s horribly embarrassing! The only thing that has done well for me is cucumbers and squash. I think my biggest issue is not putting in the time, and the second issue is water. I don’t have a good source of water nearby so I walk back and forth with a big watering can from our rainbarrel, which is kind of a pain. The first year I tried tomatoes, I can’t remember what type I tried to grow put I had it in a very large pot with poor drainage and after massive rainfall the poor thing drowned. The next year I planted early girl in the garden instead of a pot and I got a lot of fruit, but it all had bacterial speck. The next year I decided to plant brandywine in a large pot with excellent drainage since I was worried about the bacteria in the soil. The plant did great until I went away on vacation and it never fully recovered so fruit was minimal.

This year I planted black krim in the same pot as last year and so far it has been very happy! I’m not a big tomato fan, but I’m trying to be and am eating them more than in the past so this year I’m determined to have success! I’m also considering planting another variety in the ground to just see how it goes. I really just feel so overwhelmed when picking the variety though so I’d love some help determining which to plant. I mostly like tomatoes on sandwiches and prefer a richer warm flavor… not really sure how else to describe it! I know it really comes down to personal preference, I just really walk through aisles of the plants and feel lost, having so little experience with either eating or growing them at this point, so I’d appreciate some guidance as to what has done well for you and what your favorites have been over the years.

Also, I've been mulching my veggie beds with dried grass clippings, but our new lawn mower does such a good job of mulching it in that I'm not sure if that will be available this year. I have a lot of poke weeds I was considering pulling and laying down as mulch... not sure if it's a good idea so open to suggestions!

[rainbowgardener]

Re variety: I think it is an unpopular opinion around here, but if you have had tomato disease issues, I would go with one of the modern hybrids that has a lot of disease resistance engineered in. Here's something from Bonnie Plants about their disease resistant varieties: https://bonnieplants.com/product-catego ... -tomatoes/
Here's one from ChilePlants: https://www.chileplants.com/disease-res ... atoes.aspx

Be sure you are not over-watering and not watering the leaves of your plant, both of which contribute to tomato diseases.

Re mulch: I really like using a mixed "brown" - "green" mulch, just as you balance browns and greens in your compost pile. The different textures helps keep things from packing down and when it breaks down it is a more complete soil food. So sure use your pokeweed leaves (I would pull them off the tough stem), but add something carbon heavy like fall leaves, shredded paper, straw etc. I always stockpile fall leaves when they are available. When I run out of fall leaves, I often buy a bale of straw to use in the compost pile and for mulch. You can just layer the materials. If you are really into it, you can mix them in a wheelbarrow or something to keep it fluffy.

[imafan26]

Disease resistance is a plus, but it is hard to find a tomato with good disease resistance and good flavor. Since your tomatoes did well in the pots, it might be good to test the soil. It might need tweaking. If the tomato roots were swollen and had nodules then you may have nematoes so look for a variety that is at least a VFN. Bacterial diseases are usually from rainy weather. Good sanitation is a must. I grow tomatoes in pots and potting soil since I do have nematodes and it is the only way I can get something like Brandywine to grow.

I did have tomato yellow leaf curl virus this year, so I pulled my two tomatoes and I am going to plant zucchini, cucumbers and maybe beets instead. I have to wait until this generation of whiteflies that carry the virus to disappear.
I have tried champion which is resistant to tomato yellow leaf curl virus and it was not the best tasting either.

[pinksand]

I've seen a lot of the varieties mentioned on the lists you provided RBG at our local nursery. The interesting thing is Early Girl is the one I had the most problems with disease wise... although it's not like the other plants had much of a chance to even get diseased.

As far as watering goes, I think underwatering seems to be my issue. I water in the morning and really just try to drench the soil since I'm using a watering can (no overhead watering). I'd planted nasturtiums around the tomato plant last year and they crisped up and died when I went on vacation in July (though my mom was supposedly coming over to water). In the past, my veggie garden had a hedge of rose of sharon behind them and there were some perennials innermixed. Last fall I finally bit the bullet and took out all the RoS and this spring decided to fully commit to a veggie bed and transplanted the perennials out of there and added a bunch of fresh compost. I'm hoping these changes will help with soil composition and air circulation. Having the RoS out of there will most definitely help and give me much more space to work with sunlight wise! The RoS weren't IN the veggie bed, just behind it and dropping babies all over as well as shading the cucumber bed for part of the day. I don't think nematodes were an issue, just the bacterial spec from my observations of the plants... and lack of water leading to blossoms dying off and leaves crisping up.

Oh and Re: mulch! I don't get many leaves from the trees in our yard so I collect them from co-workers and family in the fall. I've used it all in my gardens and didn't think to save any for my veggie bed! I'll have to save a bag next year. Maybe I'll have to buy straw this year then. Do most nurseries carry it? I feel silly asking but I've never looked for it before to know if it's something they'd normally carry

[Shanghaisky]

Re straw: Feed stores should have them!

[lakngulf]

Down our way the Cherokee Purple offers some fantastic flavor to a tomato sandwich. It was the favorite of tomatoes I gave to folks last year. So I have tons of them planted this year. The brandywine is a good sandwich tomato (big) and the Gary O'Sena is a cross of the two, but you probably will not find it in the Bonnie Plant stands. For hybrids I like Better Boy and Fantastic. Good luck. Keep trying with those tomatoes and you will get it. Change soil in the pot every few years.

[pepperhead212]

Big Beef is a variety that has decent disease resistance, and great flavor. Every season I do blind (well, almost - I'm the only one that knows the varieties) tastings of all of the varieties that year, and Big Beef has beaten out many heirlooms, and has come in second or third overall, when not first. Another good thing - it is available as plants in many areas.

I spray Actinovate in the first half or so of the season, and later switch over to spraying KHCO3 solution, adding oil when it's not getting to 90° out there.

[imafan26]

I like Big Beef, it is a good size and while it is not Brandywine, it is more productive and a more maneageable plant. I actually have better luck with cherries like sungold, suncherry, and sweet 100. I did grow black cherry and the flavor was good, it just was not very productive. I grew Cherokee Purple, but mine were bland, I will try different seeds and see if it happens again. It was very productive so that was not the problem. I want to try Pruden's Purple. It says that it has a good flavor and produces better than Brandywine.

[applestar]

Ha. I looked st imsfan;s post and thought -- wait! Wasn't I going to grow Prudens Purple this year? I had to cast my mind back to my list -- I think I have them all memorized now -- and it's not there. Bah! I'll have to put it on my next year's grow list.

I don't grow hybrids (yeah yeah I really should just so I know what I'm talking about -- maybe squeeze ONE in each year... ) but this year, my middle Row of tomatoes in the SFH bed is meant to be the supposedly "productive" heirloom varieties. I will report on their performance later.

I think pepperhead212 is on the right track -- spray them with something that helps to increase their immunity. I think my milk and AACT and Willow leaf/bark regimen serve similar purpose. In fact I should start right away since many of my seedlings are off to a wimpy start.

[pinksand]

I know that Big Beef and Better Boy are available from our local nursery. I'd wanted to try Cherokee Purple but they only had a 4 pack and I'd just wanted to start with 1 at that point so I went with Black Krim. Has anyone every grown Black Krim? I'll keep an eye out for Prudens Purple too.

I'll try to get over to the nursery this week and see which of the varieties you all have mentioned looks the healthiest and go with that one

Also, the sprays that you're all mentioning... you're speaking a different language I'm afraid lol. What is AACT? I've heard of milk being used to prevent powdery mildew... I'll talk to the nursery and mention Actinovate because that's the easiest to remember.

[rainbowgardener]

AACT is activated, aerated compost tea. There's a big long thread on it near the top of the Compost Forum.

I resisted it for years because it sounded difficult and messy, but when I finally made some, I was amazed at how easy it is and how effective!

[pinksand]

Thanks RBG! It's funny, of course right after I typed my response I came across another thread where it was mentioned and defined

I had the same thought... difficult and messy... but maybe I'll give it a try though if you say it's worth it! I'll go read the thread in the compost section. So I would have thought it was poured into the soil, but it sounds like it gets sprayed on the leaves? Applestar, did you mean you mix milk, AACT, and leaves from a willow tree and spray it or are those all separate treatments? lol sorry if I sound like an idiot

[applestar]

I use them in rotation -- you could probably spray every week with a different mix, but I'm not so dedicated or regimented, so I just remember to spray with the next one next time. Willow leaf/bark could probably be used in combo with milk or AACT and I do that sometimes, too.

Now I don't remember exactly and may have this wrong but vaguely remembered reasoning is -- Willow bark strips off branches easily and is kind of like aspirin. There was some scientific study that said it helps support plant immune function. Willow branch-tip leaves encourage growth -- some kind of plant growth hormones.

I admit I can't remember which is which most of the time, so I just use both thinking they can't hurt.

AACT as spray need to be finely strained and then diluted to as weakly as 10%.

When using foliage spray, fine/micro mist is supposed to be easier for the plants to take up as nutrient, but my purpose is mostly to cover the outer surface so I sometimes just use the hose-end mix-n-spray for trees and shrubs using the fan spray nozzle. I think my single-function sprayer dilutes to 1:8.

[Dandre]

Regarding the question as to which varieties of tomatoes might be preferred, I've been growing tomatoes for about 50 years, 25 of those years on the same back yard 40 by 40 ft square plot which is the only space available to me for vegetable gardening. I have enhanced the soil with composted manure and organic matter to the point where there are numerous earthworms and the soil quality is excellent. Sadly, I have never had any success with any variety of heirloom tomato. I've tried numerous times and pay particular attention to maintain adequate moisture (at least one inch per week during the entire growing season) and have used various commercial sprays that claim to help prevent diseases that attack tomato plants. I've done everything the various agricultural research services recommend for tomato disease prevention and none of them have worked for me. Ultimately I've chosen to plant only highly disease-resistant hybrid varieties. Celebrity and Big Beef varieties have proven to be the most successful tomatoes in my garden. Celebrity is a bush-type semi-vine determinate tomato that can be grown in a tomato cage and Big Beef is an Indeterminate or climbing/vine type and must be staked or trellised. Celebrity produces mid-sized 8 oz fruits over a period of about 6 weeks and the Big Beef produces large 12 oz or larger fruit over a longer yield season. Admittedly the flavor of these hybrid tomatoes is not as striking as many of the heirloom plants but they do live and produce for the entire season which is a big plus. All of my efforts at growing heirlooms has ended with the plant withering and dying before reaching full production. Wishing you all the best of success with your tomatoes this year.

[pinksand]

Dandre, you make me feel so much less incompetent.

I think what frustrates me the most is that I've watched a lot of my friends with absolutely no gardening experience have their tomatoes absolutely take off like crazy, while mine wither away for this reason or that. I've asked them what varieties they've had success with and they didn't even know what they'd bought

I probably have the space for another indeterminate but also have a large square tomato cage my mom gave me so maybe I'll give Celebrity a try.

I appreciate your stories and feedback!