Re:Tomatoes not ripening

[Glenna Rose]

>Right. > >I had ripe tomatoes Memorial Day - in one of the colder >areas of Zone 5. > >Sounds impressive, doesn't it? Especially if I give no >details. > >In actuality, they were growing on Red Robin miniature >tomatoes indoors.

LOL, Pat. Yes I know, but to be completely honest with our fellow gardeners, we must refer to those raised in the garden, at least from plants. I am so pleased because I found some almost ripe tomatoes this morning . . . love those Stupice tomatoes! This morning's tour uncovered a small cucumber and the baby cantaloupe that has grown to a 3-inch diameter (well, maybe only 2-1/2 inches), and several small peppers. Looks like summer is on its way. :-)

I am disappointed, however, at how slow my Sun Golds are advancing, but maybe my memory is not as accurate as I'd like. Lots of green tomatoes but none with color yet.

Glenna

[Pat Meadows]

Aw. Picky, picky!

I'm definitely going to try Stupice next year. I have Early Girls this year: lots of little green tomatoes, but nowhere near 'almost ripe'. I'm also growing Better Boy and Sweet Million this year.

We have a small pepper, and a small yellow summer squash.

Our cukes are still languishing in their 6-packs (I hurt my back several weeks ago, and haven't been able to even walk out to the garden since then). DH is keeping it going as best he can...but it's not the same, plus he has his hands double-full doing what I usually do in the house, etc.

My morning glory plant on the front porch has its first blossom! Day lilies are blooming, also the petunias (in flower boxes on the porch) are thriving.

On the edible side, so far, we've harvested lots of lettuce, Swiss chard, various herbs (notably basil). I had various Chinese greens (bok choy, choy sum, komatsuna) earlier in the year (and will have them again in fall).

We just harvested a head of fluffy-top Chinese cabbage and some Vitaminna (another Asian green) and some mizuna. Beets are almost ready to pull and enjoy.

Basically, our garden is shot to h*ll, because of a double-whammy: first we had monsoons all spring, then I hurt my back. Nevertheless, we're still having some good stuff and my back is slowly improving, so I think I'll be able to plant and tend a fall garden. Sure hope so.

Pat

[Colin Malsingh]

Hi Glenna, I'm writing from over the pond in Bristol, England.

I'm glad to find another grower of Sun Gold. I first tried these a few years back and they were the tastiest tomatoes I have ever grown. Since then, I have had problems with blight and lost my entire crop for each of the last 3 years.

I'm trying them again this year, outdoors again, but this time may resort to some sort of spray. I prefer not to use anything that isn't organic (for either fertilizer or pest control), especially for something I'm going to eat.

How does your crop usually get on? What zone are you in?

I am trying Okra and Aubergines in my greenhouse this year, which is probably a bit ambitious, but we have had temperatures that have hit the high 80's several times this year (plus some severe wetness in between).

Colin

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[Noydb]

Strawberries are about done. I've been getting 2-4# daily (actual weight on a scale) from about 100 sq ft of bed. That worked out to about 40 pints of jam. I'm pretty pleased with that.

Tried three varieties of peas this year. Sugar Ann, Early Perfection and Alaska. Sugar Ann won't be back ... not enough yield. Early Perfection will get another chance and Alaska is a definite 'plant again'. I have yields from it that look like the seed catalogs!

Mezclun is still standing, although some has begun to bolt. The Indian Summer spinach is about done. The dill is looking mighty good and I just gave away about 100 Greek Oregano plants that were shading my pickling cukes. The pickling cukes are about 2' up the trellis now (big difference in growth rate once I got the oregano off 'em) and the bush beans are ready for their first picking.

I have my tomatoes and peppers growing in the bed nearest the neighbors (south facing) cinderblock garage wall that I painted white last year. They like the heat. Last year, Ky. Wonder pole beans were just outstanding in that location. We still have 30 qts of beans left from only 16 ft of trellis.

I got a late start with Mortgage Lifter so I only have flowers at this point. I have already bought the things I will need next year to get them off to a proper start. The seeds didn't get planted until the 2nd week of April so I can't complain to have such nice, stocky tomatoe plants out there setting a LOT of blooms. Are ML's REALLY that prolific?

I have edible jalapenos now but I clearly got sold mis-labeled Anaheims ... the pepper on those plants is held blossom end up and is very nearly a sphere.

I'm not certain how my garlic is doing ... the tops seem inclined to recline. Are they ready to pull? They were planted in straight compost, well above any actual dirt, as an experiment.

I have 'second cropped' black seeded Simpson and Grand Rapids lettuces among the onions and garlic. I figure that the peas, garlic and onions will be out of those beds pretty soon. My only concern is that this means I will lose my shade for the lettuces. Oh well ... can't all be gems, I guess.

Nearly all of my onions split. I'm letting them form bulbs just to see what they come up with.

All of the herbs are doing well. I have 4 kinds of mint, 4 kinds of basil, greek oregano, fennel, tarragon, chamomile, sage and a couple others whose names elude me at the moment. I talked the missus into using volunteer opal basil plants as a border in the front flower beds.

There's more going on out there but this is what comes to mind at the moment.

Bill

[Jim Carter]

On Wed, 02 Jul 2003 15:41:00 -0400, Pat Meadows wrote in rec.gardens.edible:

I have both Stupice and Early Girl. Stupice is way ahead of Early Girl, probably due to the cruddy weather we had. Actually, Lemon Boy is also ahead of Early Girl this year.

-- Gardening Zones Canada Zone 5a United States Zone 3a Near Ottawa, Ontario

[Dave Allyn]

My Early Girls Tom's are about golf ball size. My sweet 100's all have green stars on the tops of them, so they will be popping any day now... My broccoli has heads about the size of a softball. I have one Cucumber about 8 inches long, but the rest onthe plants are only 2 inches or so. My zuccini is loaded with flowers, and a couple zuccinis are about 4 inches long (not quite time to pick them yet, but getting close!)

Beans were planted late, so are just starting to take off. Peppers are doing great. just loaded with chili's about 3 inches long, and the bells are about 1.5 inches long. the yellow bannana's are about 2 inches long.

The mulberries are about done, as are the black raspberries..was picking a pint a day of raspberries off of two smaller plants... can't complain about that...

email: daveallyn at bwsys dot net please respond in this NG so others can share your wisdom as well!

[Andy Petro]

I wish that everyone writing to Rec.gardens would either specify the climate zone or city they live in. I am in Toronto , Ontario, zone 5 and just starting to see the odd minute tomato on the plants . It will be a long time before i see any ripe ones. , but if i knew where you lived it would be easier to accept .

[Jim Carter]

On Fri, 04 Jul 2003 15:47:18 GMT, "Dave Allyn" (Dave Allyn) wrote in rec.gardens.edible:

How long ago did you plant them outdoors? I planted out the last weekend of May/first weekend of June. My Early Girls are about #3, probably due to the rain and cold. Stupice was the first to set fruit and, surprisingly, Lemon Boy was second. Lemon Boy has since passed Stupice in size. Lemon Boy's largest tomato is about 3cm across, but Stupice is setting fruit like there is no tomorrow! Ultra Sweet now has large fruits, as well. Dufresne has set fruit. All Cherry and Grape tomatoes have set fruit.

Brandywine (both red and pink) and Cherokee Purple have flowers, but have not yet set fruit (have not checked this morning, however), probably because they were started slightly later than the others.

-- Gardening Zones Canada Zone 5a United States Zone 3a Near Ottawa, Ontario

[Pat Meadows]

We have a red tomato on an Early Girl! Not quite ripe enough to pick today, but it will be tomorrow. It's about tennis-ball size.

The Early Girls' timing this year:

Seed Sown - March 24 - in a mini-electric greenhouse indoors with a steady temp in the mid-70s

First Germination - March 28 - then kept under fluorescent lights indoors

Planted Out - May 8 - in WalloWaters - our last frost date is around May 31.

WalloWaters removed - sometime around June 15, so that the cages could be put on

First Ripe Tomato - July 7

We had a VERY cool, terribly wet spring until around the last week in June, when it became hot and sunny.

I'm going to try Stupice next year, and will probably grow Early Girl again. I'll start them a bit earlier than March

24 next year: probably around March 10.

Pat

[Dave Allyn]

My EG's are not that far along... course, they didnt' get into the ground until the end of may... But My sweet 100's have a couple "red but not quite ready to pick" on them.....

I have always wondered... I assume you are revering to the "coffee can's" that are put around baby tom's... what is the purpose for them? what do they do??

dave Central IL small garden, but do my best!

email: daveallyn at bwsys dot net please respond in this NG so others can share your wisdom as well!

[Pat Meadows]

No, not 'coffee cans'. See:

- the pictures are TERRIBLE quality unfortunately. Here's a better picture of a similar thing:

ones shown above are red, the actual WalloWaters (at least mine) are green.

Each WoW is a circlet of plastic tubes - you fill the tubes with water and put the circlet over the plant. The tubes of water acquire heat in the daytime (from the sun), and release enough of it at night to keep the plants from freezing.

In my experience, at least, they really do work. They not only keep the tomato (or other) plants from freezing, they give them a warm and sheltered environment. And you can use them from year-to-year: we're only on our second year with them, but they look just fine and as if they will last quite a few more years.

Where we live, the nights get quite cold even in late May and June, and tomatoes tend to just sit and sulk when the nights are cold, so these are a real help.

Pat

[Glenna Rose]

Our tomato guru, specializing in heirloom veggies (over 100 varieties of tomatoes), told us that the red Wall of Waters are best. He gave a detailed explanation about studies done on the light rays, etc., and said the results of the research was that the red was more effective than the green. I didn't bother to remember the reasons, just that it was. I have total faith in Michael; he's been growing and selling commercially for years and "knows his stuff" and does thorough research on everything he does.

However, whichever ones are used will give a tremendous head start to the grower, or so I'm told by those who know and have used them. Mine have done so well in past years that I just "rough it" with my freshly mown grass mulch. :-)

Glenna

[Pat Meadows]

I think their usefulness is mainly in coolish, short-season places (such as ours).

Our last expected frost date is June 1, but two of the three years we've lived here we had killing frosts in mid-June. Then our first frost date is around October 1.

This is a fairly short season for tomatoes, plus the nights in June stay pretty cool here - sometimes down into the 30s, often into the 40s.

Pat