Calling Tomato growers

[VacationForever]

I am now thinking of keeping my plants inside the house next to our front french balcony window. We get triple digit temperature for about 3 months in summer which will kill the tomato plants.

 

[lockewong]

We place our's in a southern facing area or western facing where we get full sun. Being in the Bay Area, the fog is unpredicatable. We like Early Girls and Sweet 100's. They taste great on salads or just picking and eating. We have had okay luck with Better Boy, If you have an indoor spot that get sun but can be protected from direct sun to as not wilt the plants in the summer, that might work. They do need a lot of water. Good luck.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

My biggest obstacle to growing tomatoes are the gophers.

I have tried (1) Macabee traps, (2) smoke bombs and road flares (3) poison (4) bleach and ammonia (5) sonic noise maker, (6) garden hose and (7) a propane flame thrower. The occasionally work (except the noise maker), but nothing is quick and reliable.

The only safe area to grow things is my small greenhouse. But in the heat of the summer, I often shut it down because of the solar heat gain.

Does anyone have any secrets to getting rid of gophers that they would be willing to share?

 

[Brett]

My biggest obstacle to growing tomatoes are the gophers.

I have tried (1) Macabee traps, (2) smoke bombs and road flares (3) poison (4) bleach and ammonia (5) sonic noise maker, (6) garden hose and (7) a propane flame thrower. The occasionally work (except the noise maker), but nothing is quick and reliable.

The only safe area to grow things is my small greenhouse. But in the heat of the summer, I often shut it down because of the solar heat gain.

Does anyone have any secrets to getting rid of gophers that they would be willing to share?

wow .... flame thrower

.... have you tried a raised bed (with side boards)

 

[ausman]

The variety you picked that will be delivered first looks to be a cherry type and is an indeterminate type according to the blurb. Means it will keep growing bigger until stopped, usually by cold weather.

The wire cages will not sufficient to support these. They will reach the top of the cage and flop over and compress the vines. In your situation with an enclosed porch I would use twine tied to the cage and tied to ceiling hooks and twirl the growing vines of the tomato plants around the strings as they grow for support. This will allow the plant to produce maximum fruit. The strings could be arranged in a compressed fan shape to maximize air flow or just straight up and down. The disadvantage of doing this is that the container will have to stay in one place and it may not be possible to do.

 

[VacationForever]

We place our's in a southern facing area or western facing where we get full sun. Being in the Bay Area, the fog is unpredicatable. We like Early Girls and Sweet 100's. They taste great on salads or just picking and eating. We have had okay luck with Better Boy, If you have an indoor spot that get sun but can be protected from direct sun to as not wilt the plants in the summer, that might work. They do need a lot of water. Good luck.

Thank you. Our front french balcony faces East and is likely the best location during our hot summers. Our home covers the entire facing from North-East-South. North and South balconies are outdoors and very large but in Summer the evenings do not cool off much so we are likely to keep the plants indoors right at the East facing french balcony. My thoughts are when summer heat cools off in late September, early October the plants can go outdoor to the North balcony. When it gets cold in late December, we may just let the plants die but we are also wondering if we can keep the plants growing indoors through the cold season.

 

[VacationForever]

The variety you picked that will be delivered first looks to be a cherry type and is an indeterminate type according to the blurb. Means it will keep growing bigger until stopped, usually by cold weather.

The wire cages will not sufficient to support these. They will reach the top of the cage and flop over and compress the vines. In your situation with an enclosed porch I would use twine tied to the cage and tied to ceiling hooks and twirl the growing vines of the tomato plants around the strings as they grow for support. This will allow the plant to produce maximum fruit. The strings could be arranged in a compressed fan shape to maximize air flow or just straight up and down. The disadvantage of doing this is that the container will have to stay in one place and it may not be possible to do.

I have bought twist tie wire for bonsai training through Amazon and plan to use to hold the vines to the cage.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

wow .... flame thrower

.... have you tried a raised bed (with side boards)

I think that my next step for growing tomatoes is either a raised bed or dig out a bed and install some stout but narrow mesh screen. A raised bed would also work IF it had some sort of wire at the bottom to keep the gophers from tunneling up from underneath. Last year I put a 1/2" galvanized mesh cage in the ground. But it only lasts a season.

At present, I am checking for fresh activity signs every day. Checking traps (7), and using the underground poison applicator. Maybe tomorrow I'll change things around and go back to the garden hose method. Ha ha.

 

["Roger"]

Fortunately gardeners are gentle people or tomato growing would have to be banned under the TUG rules as a socially contentious topic. With regard to which tomatoes, there is no right answer. Tastes and uses will result in different recommendations (which is why there are so many tomato varieties available). With that in mind, some general comments below:

I do a lot of canning of tomatoes for winter use, canning of sauces for spaghetti, dehydrating of tomatoes to give me a year round supply of sun dried tomatoes. So what follows in this paragraph will not apply for the OP who is just looking for a few seasonal, fresh tomatoes. Given what I want tomatoes for, Italian plum tomatoes are the clear choice. They are far more meaty, less juicy. A jar of canned, plum tomatoes does not come out half juice. Basically there are three varieties to choose from: San Marzano (the original plums), Roma, and Health Kick. I pretty much grow Health Kick (the newest variety) exclusively. They are meatier and larger. Less work canning, easier to cook down into a thicker sauce. The down side is that they are a determinate tomato that comes in fairly early and the season ends early. (I actually like that in that I can get my canning over with early, but if you want some tomatoes into the fall, you need something else in the garden.)

Cherry and grape tomatoes are wonderful for popping into the mouth and adding to salads. (My wife and I refer to them as tomato candy.) Not good for sandwiches or as a stand alone side dish. I was surprised when someone said the plants are smaller. Mine have always been six feet or taller. Hard to stake. Of the two, I prefer the grape. Sweeter. Also, I have had trouble with cherry tomatoes splitting on the vine.

Heritage tomatoes: There is a reason that they are heritage. They tend to be much more susceptible to diseases. Probably the most tasty of all the heritage tomatoes is (was) the Jersey. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most susceptible to disease. There is a new variety that just came out about three years ago, Rutgers 250. It is suppose to still have much of the flavor of Jersey's, but be much more disease resistant.

The rest: Early Girls are great for getting a jump on the season, but not as tasty as some of the others. As far as the others, some people like the really large tomatoes, others would like a smaller tomato. I am in the latter category, in that with the really large tomatoes, one slice and that is it for a sandwich and you have two thirds a tomato left over. What to do with it. On the other hand, some of the really large tomatoes are very tasty.

As this point, I am ducking out. As mentioned, this is a socially contentious topic and I fear the backlash.

 

[AnnieBets]

I just got a couple of Box Car Willie tomato plants. Anyone ever tried those?

 

[VacationForever]

Fortunately gardeners are gentle people or tomato growing would have to be banned under the TUG rules as a socially contentious topic. With regard to which tomatoes, there is no right answer. Tastes and uses will result in different recommendations (which is why there are so many tomato varieties available). With that in mind, some general comments below:

I do a lot of canning of tomatoes for winter use, canning of sauces for spaghetti, dehydrating of tomatoes to give me a year round supply of sun dried tomatoes. So what follows in this paragraph will not apply for the OP who is just looking for a few seasonal, fresh tomatoes. Given what I want tomatoes for, Italian plum tomatoes are the clear choice. They are far more meaty, less juicy. A jar of canned, plum tomatoes does not come out half juice. Basically there are three varieties to choose from: San Marzano (the original plums), Roma, and Health Kick. I pretty much grow Health Kick (the newest variety) exclusively. They are meatier and larger. Less work canning, easier to cook down into a thicker sauce. The down side is that they are a determinate tomato that comes in fairly early and the season ends early. (I actually like that in that I can get my canning over with early, but if you want some tomatoes into the fall, you need something else in the garden.)

Cherry and grape tomatoes are wonderful for popping into the mouth and adding to salads. (My wife and I refer to them as tomato candy.) Not good for sandwiches or as a stand alone side dish. I was surprised when someone said the plants are smaller. Mine have always been six feet or taller. Hard to stake. Of the two, I prefer the grape. Sweeter. Also, I have had trouble with cherry tomatoes splitting on the vine.

Heritage tomatoes: There is a reason that they are heritage. They tend to be much more susceptible to diseases. Probably the most tasty of all the heritage tomatoes is (was) the Jersey. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most susceptible to disease. There is a new variety that just came out about three years ago, Rutgers 250. It is suppose to still have much of the flavor of Jersey's, but be much more disease resistant.

The rest: Early Girls are great for getting a jump on the season, but not as tasty as some of the others. As far as the others, some people like the really large tomatoes, others would like a smaller tomato. I am in the latter category, in that with the really large tomatoes, one slice and that is it for a sandwich and you have two thirds a tomato left over. What to do with it. On the other hand, some of the really large tomatoes are very tasty.

As this point, I am ducking out. As mentioned, this is a socially contentious topic and I fear the backlash.

Nice post. Thanks. We like more meaty larger tomatoes as they work well for caprese. When we will ever feel safe to eat salad again we like small cherry/grape tomatoes. I also use a tomato or two in soups which I made to give it a little sweetness as well as sourness/bite. I am anxiously waiting for supplies. I know we decided to do this too late as I should have started growing from seeds as early as February or March and ready to plant in April. Next year we will start early.

 

[RonB]

Good post @"Roger" . Have you considered successive planting? That way you don't have to do all the canning at once - you can divide into halves or thirds - whatever. And since you can predict when you will have ripe tomatoes, you can have them ripen when you want.

We have been gardening in our current location since '83, and I love tomatoes. The first few years were great and I rotated crops as recommended because there are soil borne diseases that affect tomatoes. But what I succeeded in doing was to spread those diseases throughout the garden. I now find it impossible to keep plants healthy through the season. Successive planting doesn't work either because once the blight takes hold, it spreads quickly to new plants. I have researched and done everything I could find to alleviate the problem, but it persists. This year may be my last - I am trying straw bale gardening, and it this doesn't work, I may pack it in...

 

["Roger"]

... The first few years were great and I rotated crops as recommended because there are soil borne diseases that affect tomatoes. But what I succeeded in doing was to spread those diseases throughout the garden. I now find it impossible to keep plants healthy through the season. Successive planting doesn't work either because once the blight takes hold, it spreads quickly to new plants. I have researched and done everything I could find to alleviate the problem, but it persists. ...

Fairly similar to my experience. The wilt resistant varieties still would get one form or another of wilt. While I have tried to resist using chemicals, it has gotten to the point that I just have to use a fungicide. Spraying when you first start to see any brown leaves is too late. I start when the plants are still only about a foot high and apply the fungicide until about ten days before I harvest any tomatoes. Still not perfect, but pretty good.

 

[cerralee]

My favorite is a Goldie ground cherry. They are a husk tomatoe and are snack size. I got a little basket of this tiny tomatoes when I signed up for a CSA about six years ago. I had never seen any and the only way I usually eat tomatoes are in sauce or salsa. They are delicious with a pineapple taste to them. You pop them out of their husk straight into your mouth. I had to plant my own as I couldn’t get enough of them and to buy them outright is very expensive IF you can find them. I use Earth boxes to plant the first plant in and throw in six or seven more plants in the vegetable garden. I’ve given plants to my neighbors and they all have them in their gardens now. Since we are pretty far north I can’t put any in the ground until the end of May. I have my first batch of seeds planted and waiting to germinate in my basement now. They will self sow but I want them sooner rather than later.

 

[RonB]

Fairly similar to my experience. The wilt resistant varieties still would get one form or another of wilt. While I have tried to resist using chemicals, it has gotten to the point that I just have to use a fungicide. Spraying when you first start to see any brown leaves is too late. I start when the plants are still only about a foot high and apply the fungicide until about ten days before I harvest any tomatoes. Still not perfect, but pretty good.

The trouble is that shield bugs, (called stink bugs in this area), spread the blights, and the only way to control them is to spray each bug. That might be possible with one or two plants, but not a dozen full size plants...

 

[VacationForever]

My favorite is a Goldie ground cherry. They are a husk tomatoe and are snack size. I got a little basket of this tiny tomatoes when I signed up for a CSA about six years ago. I had never seen any and the only way I usually eat tomatoes are in sauce or salsa. They are delicious with a pineapple taste to them. You pop them out of their husk straight into your mouth. I had to plant my own as I couldn’t get enough of them and to buy them outright is very expensive IF you can find them. I use Earth boxes to plant the first plant in and throw in six or seven more plants in the vegetable garden. I’ve given plants to my neighbors and they all have them in their gardens now. Since we are pretty far north I can’t put any in the ground until the end of May. I have my first batch of seeds planted and waiting to germinate in my basement now. They will self sow but I want them sooner rather than later.

How tall do they grow?

 

[VacationForever]

OK... I have been busy these two days... I cancelled my tomato plants orders, container mix, fertilizer etc. Guess what... we decided to go with hydroponics. I ordered 2 Aerogarden Bounty 9-pod system which allow plants to grow up until 24 inches before they reach the LED lights, and 1 Aerogarden Harvest Elite 6-pod system for herbs and stuff, which supports plants up to 12 inch tall. I got nervous reading about potential soil disease (Legionnaires') when growing plants indoors with humid soil as well as bugs that can come with soil and plants. The Aerogarden systems have vacation mode etc and I don't know how they work until we get them in our hands, which is slated for May 1st. I have also orderd pods for 3 types of tomatoes, Red bell pepper, jalapeno, Thai chili, all sorts of lettuces, bak choy, napa cabbage, swiss chard, mustard green and herbs. I think if we get all 3 systems running, we will reduce our produce needs from the stores to items like root vegetables, brussel sprouts, brocolli, celery, fruits.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

OK... I have been busy these two days... I cancelled my tomato plants orders, container mix, fertilizer etc. Guess what... we decided to go with hydroponics. I ordered 2 Aerogarden Bounty 9-pod system which allow plants to grow up until 24 inches before they reach the LED lights, and 1 Aerogarden Harvest Elite 6-pod system for herbs and stuff, which supports plants up to 12 inch tall. I got nervous reading about potential soil disease (Legionnaires') when growing plants indoors with humid soil as well as bugs that can come with soil and plants. The Aerogarden systems have vacation mode etc and I don't know how they work until we get them in our hands, which is slated for May 1st. I have also orderd pods for 3 types of tomatoes, Red bell pepper, jalapeno, Thai chili, all sorts of lettuces, bak choy, napa cabbage, swiss chard, mustard green and herbs. I think if we get all 3 systems running, we will reduce our produce needs from the stores to items like root vegetables, brussel sprouts, brocolli, celery, fruits.

You'll have to tell me how it works.

I see that they use "seed pods". When I am growing hydroponically, I too grow without soil. I start my own seeds in rock wool cubes. The rock wool (I use Grodan) provides a support frame work for the seeds and the roots easily penetrate the rock wool when the seedlings get big enough. I find that growing seeds in a soil-less mixture that I don't have problems with soil-borne diseases like "damp-off". Also, I can pretty easily control the pH and nutrient levels. The only problem that I haven't bothered to address is algae. The only effect of the algae that I've noticed is that it can throw my pH a bit out of wack.

I'm looking forward to learning about your results.

 

[VacationForever]

@BJRSanDiego Did you set up your own hydroponic system or do you have something like what we are going with where it is a complete system? From what I read, the water/nutrient container has to be changed out periodically to keep the water fresh and plants healthy, using rinse and refill siphoning. I am hoping maintenance will be minimal. We are certainly going all in. We have actually 3 units of the Aerogarden Bounty 9 pod systems coming but we are planning on returning one of them as I found out after ordering that it is a 2016 system and without vacation mode/wifi control. The Aerogarden Harvest Elite has 6 pods. With plants like tomatoes, I read that we can put in at most 3 plants in a Bounty 9 pod systems because they spread out. I figure one of the Aerogarden Bounty systems will be dedicated to grow the full size tomato and bell pepper and the other to have a mix of mainly vegetables/salads and 1 or 2 cherry tomato plants. We are looking forward to the arrival of the systems and learn about how to make them work and grow our food!

PS. Say hi to Becky!

 

[SmithOp]

An old tip from my dad to increase production.

1 tbsp of Epsom Salts in 4 cups warm water, spray on every 10 days. A magnesium boost.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[cerralee]

How tall do they grow?

They are a bush type plant. They grow fuller than up. The plants are about three feet tall.

 

[VacationForever]

They are a bush type plant. They grow fuller than up. The plants are about three feet tall.

Thank you! It looks very interesting.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

@BJRSanDiego Did you set up your own hydroponic system or do you have something like what we are going with where it is a complete system? From what I read, the water/nutrient container has to be changed out periodically to keep the water fresh and plants healthy, using rinse and refill siphoning. I am hoping maintenance will be minimal. We are certainly going all in. We have actually 3 units of the Aerogarden Bounty 9 pod systems coming but we are planning on returning one of them as I found out after ordering that it is a 2016 system and without vacation mode/wifi control. The Aerogarden Harvest Elite has 6 pods. With plants like tomatoes, I read that we can put in at most 3 plants in a Bounty 9 pod systems because they spread out. I figure one of the Aerogarden Bounty systems will be dedicated to grow the full size tomato and bell pepper and the other to have a mix of mainly vegetables/salads and 1 or 2 cherry tomato plants. We are looking forward to the arrival of the systems and learn about how to make them work and grow our food!

PS. Say hi to Becky!

I set up my own hydroponic system based on some internet information. The whole system probably cost around $75. Right now I have three poly tubs on a shelf. Under them is a 35 gallon poly trash/reservoir can filled with pH adjusted nutrient water. In the bottom of the can is a small fountain pump that is attached to a smart timer. During the day, the pump turns on for about 5 minutes, every 3 hours. At night, I don't run the pump. The pump fills the poly tubs from the bottom of the tubs and I have an overflow towards the top that keeps the tubs from overflowing. It drains the nutrient water back down to the reservoir. When the pump turns off, the water drains back through the pump in the reservoir.

The plants are in 5 x 5 plastic containers. I start them in a 1-1/2" rockwool cube that is supported by 1/2" dia clay pellets. The cubes and the clay pellets hold water to keep the roots wet or damp even when the pump isn't running. One time I had a timer problem and the mature plants survived over a day without watering.

 

[VacationForever]

@BJRSanDiego It looks like quite an operation! Thanks for sharing the pictures. When I get the Aerogarden delivered, setup and plants growing I will post some pictures here.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

My hydroponic set up may look complicated but it is actually quite simple. Everything is automated and I can leave for a week or two and everything runs on "auto-pilot".