Tomatoes

[Roger Taylor]

Good resource is rec.gardens - well attended.

[TURTLE]

This is Turtle.

go to Walmart or local Feed Stores and get the tomato plants all ready started to growing in a small pot. Plant them in a big pot or in the ground and water them 2 times a day. like morning and evening . When the flowers start budding out clip all but maybe leave 5 budds or flower on and just leave the 4 or 5 flowers or buds. You will only get 5 mators but they will be very well shaped and strong.

Now if you want to can buy some mircle grow and water them with that stuff and they will grow like crazy.

Now like other have said about watering will make the split open. It is from watering them irregularly. Water them twice a day and at the same time. Now you might try to not water them at the hottest part of the day to not steam the plants when you do that.

TURTLE

[Abe]

------- Avoid the splitting by reducing watering by half as the fruit gets close to maturity. That's what the pros do.

[J O E]

Pennsylvania grown -

Supersteak Tomatoes, using composted cow manure ...

[JustDave]

I hope this isn't too far off topic - I couldn't find another newsgroup even close

It's tomato planting season here in Central Florida. Any suggestions for a favorite variety which will yield a good crop of good tasting medium to large tomatoes in hot (often 95 degree plus) direct sun with lots of water? I grow them in pots and have little trouble with bugs, but last year the Better Boys split on the top pretty often. I've got about 90 days until it's too cold. The little Sweet 100's ("cherry" tomatoes) do very well, but I've never found an outstanding large variety.

JustDave

[FDR]

Try rec.gardens.edible

If your tomatos are splitting it's most likely due to uneven watering. Pots will dry out quickly under those hot conditions, so consider larger ones or more frequent irrigation.

[Colbyt]

Park's whopper. Nice size and flavor. Also VFNT.

Should be able to find it a Lowes, HD or your favorite garden center.

[Duane Bozarth]

May be from infrequently enough watering then...growth cracks are accentuated by changes in water availability--if they dry out they tend to stop growing or at least slow down significantly. If they then get an abundance of water, they try to "make up for lost time"...

Try watering on a more frequent schedule or watering more deeply on the same schedule. W/ the number you have, a test plot or two for comparative purposes should be possible.

[Liz]

"JustDave" wrote in message news:%TOQe.67116$ [e-mail]...

Ah, finally! A topic I can contribute to with confidence!!

I'm in SE PA and have been growing heirloom tomatoes for 10 years, and hybrids for about 20 years prior to discovering the heirlooms. This year I planted 24 varieties, and because of the extreme heat and humidity, I've noticed a lot of cracking for the first time. In my case it is definitely not due to overwatering. I use a soaker hose as always and only water when the soil dries out. If you are going to plant in the ground rather than in a pot, use raised beds, lay down a soaker hose, cover the rows with a 4-ply layer of newspaper (black and white only as the colors can be toxic), then cover the newspapers with 3 to 6 inches of grass clippings (assuming you don't use chemicals on your grass). Then dig your hole through the mulch layer as deep as you can get, drop in some ground egg shells (calcium help prevent blossom end rot) and a 1-A-Day vitamin for good measure (my secret ingredient!) and be sure to place your plants deep in the soil. You can do a Google search for tomatoes that grow well in hot climates. I did this for a friend in FL and sent her some of my seeds that happened to fit that category...Big Rainbow and Kellogg's Breakfast (both large tomatoes) were 2 of them if I remember correctly. She planted her first crop in late January and had most success with the plants she grew upside down in 5 gallon buckets. (Drill a 2-3 inch hole in the bottom of one of those buckets with a handle, place your plant upside down with the roots inside the bucket, and fill the bucket with good rich soil, then hang from a high tree branch.) BTW, if you're looking for outstanding flavor, forget about the hybrids and try heirlooms. The flavor is so much more tomato-y!!

If you need further help feel free to e-mail me at

Liz

[Liz]

True, but in 30+ years of growing tomatoes this is the first year I've experienced tomato cracking as a regular occurrence. It's also been the second hottest summer in this area on record with extremely high humidity and drenching rainfalls. Now considering that I haven't changed my watering habits over the years, i.e., using soaker hoses for deep root watering on an average of once a week, plus double layers of mulch, I'll have to credit this year's cracking to Forces beyond my control.

Why bother? I'm not in the business of selling tomatoes, so the cracking really doesn't matter. It doesn't affect the taste, and that's what it's all about as far as I'm concerned!

Liz

[Duane Bozarth]

....

I'd say it is under your control--that you haven't changed the watering schedule in a drier and hotter than normal year is undoubtedly a major contributing factor. Once a week in the kinds of soils there in really hot, dry weather is quite likely not enough.

As long as you don't care, I don't either... :)