Done with tomatoes

[gumbo2176]

Well, once again it's tomato pulling time in my garden. I got them in almost 4 months ago and they have faded so much that they are getting pulled today. With such limited success with these plants the past few years, I'm leaning to not planting them in the spring and concentrating on putting some in the ground in late summer for an early fall crop. Our weather is usually nice enough for a fall crop of tomatoes with much less pest and bacterial/fungal problems.

I had a bumper crop coming in when the daily torrential rains hit that split 8 out of 10 tomatoes while they were trying to ripen. This brought on insects and other problems, mostly fungal/bacterial, that pretty much did the rest of the damage. Add to that our heat and humidity on a daily basis and it is a recipe for failure.

I know a few of the roadside produce sellers and they are all saying the same thing about our Creole Tomato crop this year. It wasn't very good with all the rain causing tons of problems. Hopefully, I'll have better luck in the fall.

[Allyn]

I'm right next door to you on the Mississippi Gulf coast, and I gotta say, we've gotten so much rain in the last three months. Not just rain but torrential downpours, one after the other (which doubly creates a problem since we're on satellite Internet). I just came in from the garden with a handful of tomatoes that I hope will ripen on the sill, but I've just about given up trying to save the plants I have left.

I've been studying on a tunnel house that tomf posted and reading more on the state extension service website. I'm hoping it will stop the top-watering so I can have a better crop next season.

[catgrass]

Me, too. Lake Charles area here. Tomatoes are done. I am taking cuttings for my fall tomatoes. Stink bugs were not as bad this year as last, but still pretty bad. Fungal disease started early because of the rain. Still, I managed to put up about 4 pints of tomatoes for winter soup, but I had to stay on top of them. I picked them when the blush just started and let them ripen in the house. Also, the growers in our area stated that the earliest watermelons and canteloupe had no flavor because of too much rain. We've been dry for almost 2 weeks now, with scattered showers, so, its better.

[rainbowgardener]

Yes, for all you people in zone 9 & 10 (and maybe zone 8, not sure) tomatoes are not a summer crop. Plant in summer for a fall crop and plant in winter for a spring crop.

[catgrass]

Uh, we know that. Haven't lived here for 62 years and not know that! LOL!~Just making an observation.

[gumbo2176]

I've had a few things in excess this year, to the point I was giving a lot away after using and canning what I wanted. Cukes were/are going nuts with me putting up about 8 qts. of pickles in the dill and bread and butter style plus eating all I can stand and giving some away.

My okra is producing like it always does this time of year and I'm picking between 30-50 pods a day, so much of it gets cooked down for later use and frozen, lots in brine for snacking on and putting in my Bloody Mary's and a good bit of it hits the grill for part of the evening meal.

Yard Long beans are lengthening as you watch them. I'm still amazed how fast they mature once they appear on the plants.

I'm still picking figs off my lone tree and a rough estimate has to be in the 1,200+ range on what I've picked the past 2 weeks. Again, lots of pints canned for preserves, plenty of them eaten raw, quite a few given away and last night I made a peach/fig cobbler that came out great to be shared with company that came by for dinner.

And last, but not least, my pepper plants are giving me all I can use and then some. I won't be caught short of my very hot peppers for pepper jelly and hot sauces again this year.

Some failures and disappointments, but they are to be expected. Besides not much luck with my tomatoes, I'm once again being frustrated with SVB's. I planted Acorn squash hoping they would do better than zucchini and yellow crook neck, but it is not to be. The plants are infested with the borers and I've already had to pull several as they were fading badly. I also have 2 varieties of eggplant that are producing, but not like they have in the past.

Like Marlingardener said, "There's always next year." That, I believe, is every gardener's attitude about failures in the garden.

[imafan26]

With all the rain, some of you have been having it is a wonder you got as far as you did. Here on the other side of El Nino
we have had brief rain. Enough to cause high humidity and fungal issues but not the torrential downpours. In fact, it still looks like the drought is on in my yard.

I am still getting tomatoes. The red cherry is just about dead but the yellow cherry and beefsteak are still going and producing. I have the replacement for the red cherry, Livingston Grape, almost ready to go in.

I have to use disease resistant cultivars/ The sungold F? generation, red cherry, and the Beefsteak tomatoes I am growing are fairly resilient. I have only had to remove the lower leaves, but I do have to use the copper sulfate in the high humidity especially if it rains at night. They are heat tolerant, but we haven't peaked on temps yet. I may still need to replace them soon since the terminal leaves are getting smaller despite the regular monthly side dressings and they are over 8 ft tall now.

The rain and humidity is hitting us today from the tropical depression that is passing by the state. There is a thick gray cloud blanketing the sky and I can barely make out the outline of the Koolau's. It reminds me of Seattle, only it was a lot colder there.

[Allyn]

Yes, for all you people in zone 9 & 10 (and maybe zone 8, not sure) tomatoes are not a summer crop. Plant in summer for a fall crop and plant in winter for a spring crop.

Well....yeah. I'm not sure what was said that made it sound like we didn't know that. It's just that all the rain combined with what is normally high humidy has brought a dismal end to most of my tomato plants. I don't tell them to stop producing just because summer arrives. I'm still getting tomatoes on a couple of plants, but when they're done, that's it. I've started seeds for fall.

[lexusnexus]

I can feel your pain. If April showers bring May flowers just what the heck are June and July downpours supposed to bring? Mine are definitely showing signs of stress. So far no signs of fugal infestations, nor any major insect or worm issues. The tomatillo plant at the demo garden has a major infestation of tomato fruit worm.