Anyway, the tomatoes are doing exceptionally well, and we should be covered in them before too much longer. Just look at these Cherokee Purple tomatoes below - man I can't wait to eat some mater sammiches!
Photo below - One of the brandywine tomatoes is a really nice sized fruit, and has a beautiful shape to it, too. My little tomato thief better not steal this one, or the homemade flamethrower (a project for another day) just might take center stage. I'll resort to "shotgun therapy" first, though. Ha!
Photo below - now let me tell you about the jelly bean tomatoes in 4 gallon swps....Both plants have an issue with their top growth becoming all droopy like this one, and it took me a while to figure out what was going on with them. The roots are getting too hot in the containers.....I have always grown cherry tomatoes in these same planters with great results, but only in an area that received about 6 hours of direct sunlight. This particular area gets 8-9. Oh well, it's definitely a lesson learned on my part.
Photos below - sure, I could yank the plants and start over in a different location, but really don't want to lose all of the little tomatoes that have formed already. There must be at least 40 of them, and i'll just leave the plants as is for now....
In other news, it's been a real scorcher around here! The heat index has been at least 100 everyday over the past week, and it's brutal to do anything outside. Still...I tend to the garden for at least 2 hours each evening, because it requires alot of time to make sure everything is going ok. I know gardeners that just plant it and forget it - but they always end up with less than ideal results......
Also, i'll have more than just cucumbers to show for the next Harvest Monday! Yeehaw!
Take care, and happy gardening!
EG
16 comments:
Geez....there's nothing worse then those dang critter thieves! We had a groundhog last year. It ate all of my beans, two plantings of peas and I think it ate the blueberry bushes.
Since I now live in town, I tried to trap it with not success. My mother couldn't understand why I can't shoot here!! If I were you, I'd go for the gun!!
Last June was just so beautiful. This June is unrelenting. I'm hopeful July and August won't be so bad, but I think I'm just kidding myself.
Squirrels are a huge problem here - they ate ALL my tomatoes and even killed the plants! Sadly, I lost both my tomato plants to them :(. I gotta try them again [SIGH]
Nice to see so many varieties, hope you reap many fruits soon and manage to keep the danged rodents away from them. Good luck!
Maybe you can paint the containers white. Or if you have some old white sheets tie them around the container.
I had really nasty chipmunks at my last house. They took bites out of all the almost ripe tomatoes. Both them and squirrels hate bird netting. Their feet get tangled in the netting so they stay away. I usually put a one foot line of netting all around the bottom of my tomatoes and I never get any stolen anymore. Then again yours sounds more like a bigger animal since my little rodents never took the fruit with them.
Oh those pesky marauders, it's so disappointing to have disappearing veggies and fruit. Just make sure you don't damage the tomato plants with that shotgun . . .
I don't envy you that much heat but I wouldn't mind if you shared a little of it, the highs around here have barely hit the mid-70's lately.
The heat is killer for gardens and gardeners. Still I'm out there every evening too and Saturday and Sunday mornings if possible. I hope you catch your tomato thief!
My dogs keep eating my tomatoes. Tomatoes are like gold this year all my swp plants keep getting end rot. If i leave any tomatoes on the plant after it begins to turn green the dogs have a party. Arghh!!!!!!
EG, we have a very well mannered, although very happy, 6 year old lab. He is my constant companion when I am home, and since he has very good garden manners, I take him with me when I garden. He knows not to step in beds, and walks around things very carefully. I caught him recently eating green (like, very green) tomatoes when I had my back turned! The nerve! Now he gets watched a little closer!
~~Lori
Wow, what nice tomatoes! Mine don't have any fruit on them yet, when did you plant yours?
And that nasty tomato stealer! Thankfully nothing has stolen from my garden yet but I'm dreading the day something does! There's a family of rabbits living under my shed so it's bound to happen sometime...
Wow! Your tomatos look awesome! Sorry something stole one. That is frustrating!
Your tomatoes are looking beautiful! Especially that Brandywine!
Do you do special feedings with your tomatoes?
I laughed at the homemade flamethrower idea again :)
Sorry about the tomato thief! I hope he gets wise and moves on before he has to face the wrath of the EG-nator!!
I love looking at all the pictures of your tomatoes. I believe next year I may branch out and plant some of the heirlooms or can you plant them in the fall in Zone 8A? I love looking at the jelly bean tomatoes. They look like bells or windchimes waiting to dance in the wind.
My birthday is this Friday. I considered asking my husband to drive the 4 hours to Russellville so I could visit your OPEN HOUSE on Saturday as part of my birthday present. I would love the full tour!! I am thinking it would be so profitable because I could learn so much!! It could be the gift that keeps on giving!! (smile)
Wow, lots of comments to answer! It's getting late, so i'd like to answer only the comments that had questions - if that's alright with everyone....
Seana - I planted them around April 8th, I think....
Megan - I use an organic fertilizer with low numbers (NPK) until first fruitset, then switch to something in the 10-15% range after that.
debiclegg - you probably still have time to grow some right now, but not anything with long maturity dates like brandywine (90 days). If you make your way up here, i'll give you some plants. I've got plenty of extras!
Ah man your tomatoes look great! I only have two golf-ball sized tomatoes right now. Wish I started them earlier now :-)
I'm curious how you determined the root were getting too hot. My brandywine plants leaves curl up lengthwise during the day - not so much wilting like your jelly bean plants. I'm afraid my beds are too shallow and the roots are far enough down to keep them at a proper temperature.
Big J - the only possibilities are soil too hot or root bound. While emptying one of them the other day, I noticed how warm the soil was inside. Since I've grown them in these containers before with no problems (but with less sun), I really feel it's becuase of the soil temperature.
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