gumbo2176 wrote:Well, between steady rains, high humidity and a mild winter that has allowed pests to explode in the garden, I once again am losing way more tomatoes to the compost pile than I'm bringing inside. Over half my tomato plants are suffering some fungal issues and will be pulled to try to stop it from advancing. I said this last year to my wife that I was done with tomato plants when 3 out of 4 ripening tomatoes split open due to heavy rainfall, but I'm just a glutton for frustration I guess and put in over 2 dozen plants late this spring.
I am now convinced that tomatoes are not going to do well in my garden with 3 bad years in a row and not enough space to properly rotate the crop to help alleviate the issues I'm having. Next year it will be more beans and peppers and I'll get my tomatoes on the roadside when they come ripe and ready to sell.
Hate to hear that Gumbo, but I have "been there, pulled many". I finally concluded that my main issue was Southern Bacterial Wilt, that happens mainly in hot humid environments. Plants would be four feet tall one day, loaded with tennis ball size tomatoes, and then wilt away the next day. Boom, gone. I did eat a lot of fried green tomato sandwiches, though.
I am with you in that rotation is too difficult, so I opted for big containers.
I fill the bottom third with oak leaves, and then fresh top soil from some farmland about an hour away. I grow tomatoes one year, then try again the next year. If plant dies then I pull it and plant corn or okra. During winter the bad soil is dumped into another area of the garden for peppers, etc and the Pot is refilled for tomato growing.
