Pacific Northwest Tomatoes

[Mark]

I live in Blaine, WA and have had a terrible year with my tomato plants. I've been growing them for several years now with great results - but this year was 'wierd'.

Has anybody else in this area experienced the same? I've heard we had 'a bit more rain' than normal but that was back in June (wasn't it?) -

ANY feedback will be greatly appreciated. Next year I'll try liming more, red plastic sheeting, etc. -

Thanks in advance ==

Mark in Blaine

[Mark]

I just posted a question re: tomatoes in the Pacific Northwest. I was wondering why my tomatoes had such a problem growing this year.

I try to grow a garden with mostly vegetables up here. The last several years we've been able to can, freeze and dry most of our produce and it lasts most of the winter. This year has been different - in addition to our tomato problem we've also had a reduced yield in corn, beans, peppers, lettuce, etc. Our potato crop has been 'as ever' - excellent and our fruit trees have had a good year.

I'd like to get feedback from any local growers - is it my soil or the weather or....!!!!!!?????? I consider myself 'somewhat' informed but this year has left me puzzled...I'm thinking of ordering new seeds from this next years cataloges and new methods of gardening.

Again, ANY information will be very much appreciated. This newsgroup has been a 'life-send' in the past with information I couldn't find in any books.

Thanks again.

Mark

[Bills Garden]

Hello Mark! I live in Dayton, WA and I have to agree that this wasn't a very good year for tomatoes. I think our severe draught had everything to do with it, because I certainly did not do anything differently than I usually do, and I normally have a great crop of tomatoes. We had a hotter than normal Summer in my East of the Cascades location too, and probably didn't help matters any.

Regards, Bill

[~patches~]

Mark I'm in a more central location in zone 6b. I can't say it's been a bumper year for tomatoes and I had 31 plants outside with a few more in the greenhouse. The tiny tims did well. The romas were a close second as was the mellow yellow. The brandywines and beefsteaks were disappointing. We had a cool spring so even local farmers were predicting a bad year with crops 2 weeks behind the norm. Then it got too hot with no rain. When it finally rained it dumped about 4" all at once causing tomatoes to split. I don't know what the solution to this other than I know some years are better than others and you can't fight the weather.

[~patches~]

I replied to your first post. My pole beans were awesome this year. I canned 21 - 500 ml jars, froze several lg ziploc bags, gave many more away. If I see any more beans for the next month I'll be tempted to toss them! My sweet peppers were a disaster but the various hot peppers did well. I didn't plant corn and I dug the potatoes when still small. It was the absolute worse year for any kind of lettuce! Most of my herbs did quite well.

I use the square foot method to maximize my production in raised beds. I really like it. I think the weather was the problem this year.

[simy1]

all of this is consistent with the soil pH having become lower.

[simy1]

all of this is consistent with the soil pH having become lower.