Tomato Question...

05 June 2015 | US Navy Vet

[ResponseAbility]

***Water the roots but fertilize the leaves if you are using Miracle Grow or an organic alternative like liquid fish fertilizer.***

Around here spraying fish fertilizer is like inviting all of God’s creatures to a banquet.

[Alas Babylon!]

I'm trying grafting this year to allow my heirlooms to last beyond the wilt... So far, so good!

I'm letting some of the rootstock (I have RST-04-105-T and RST-04-106-T) because these seeds are REALLY expensive. So far, without grafting a heirloom scion on to them, they're putting out crappy little cherry size tomatoes, but I'm waiting for them to get ripe enough to save the seeds.

I'll be glad to share some with you NEXT year and you can try this to.

I found the grafting very easy to do. I took a straight razor and simply cut the rootstock plant and then the scion at the same angle. You could also try a v-shaped splice but I haven't done that yet.

Anyway, I bought some surgical hose (the kind to draw water from an aquarium--pretty cheap and big but you can get some in different diameters) and then cut off 1 inch pieces and slit it length-wise. Then I put it over the rootstock stem and then push the scion part into the top of that. Line up the angle cut nice and neat and then you're done! I did put the grafted plants on a "tent" I made for high humidity--just wrapped some plastic drop cloth over a wire shelf and a week later planted them out doors. At some point I'll provide pictures.

[Alas Babylon!]

Oh, and meant to say, I DO have some Black Krims I grafted!

I grafted Cherokee Purple, Black Krim, Black Cherry and Green Zebra.

[razorback-bert]

Use blossom set.

[Yosemitest]

I will leave a very few suckers on, unless I'm making a "Tomato Tree" and want a very large plant that's about 5 or 6 foot tall, and very well framed with support sticks.
I usually use three "Better Boy" Tomato Plants in the "Prepared Bed" (prepared the fall before I grow them) and they do very well if you keep a close eye on the plants and keep the bugs and caterpillars of of them.
You start the fall before, and dig a 3 foot by 3 foot hole, 3 foot deep, and layer it with Nematode poison, top soil, grass clippings, dried leaves, fertilizer, and then repeat until the hole is full.
Then cover the filled hole with black plastic until you're ready to plant your tomatoes in the spring.
In the spring put in a stout center pole and build your support frame.
Plant 3 tomato plants about 8 inches away from your center pole and evenly spaced around your center pole.
Then watch it grow, and check it every day for bugs, and keep it watered.
Keep it supported and tied down in case of thunderstorms and strong winds.

[AppyPappy]

Mine are fenced. I try using bone and blood meal a while back and the dogs tore up the garden.

[Mariner]

This Navy Vet says:

ALL Potting Soils are deficient in nutrients.

You MUST add composted manure and augment with other fertilizers throughout the season. And probably more than you think.

[Mariner]

"“home-grown tomatoes are kind of pricey”, but BOY ARE THEY TASTY!"

Here in Sacramento Homegrown tomatoes cost $1.59 for the seeds and $6.00 for a couple of bags of composted manure.

Hell, I think I spend more on the WATER through the season.

That's for about 50lbs of tomatoes...harvesting the first of them on the 4th of July and the last in late October.

Smile.

[bikerman]

here in Florida it’s hard to grow tomato I made a elevated shelf in our back yard and took a couple of bags of potting soil with Miracle grow added cut the topside of the bag out after laying the bag flat on the shelf planted my plants in the open bag and watered, this is the first year we actually harvested the juicy tomatoes also growing peppers in other bags and planted radish’s around the edges of the bags and harvested them also.

[mrsmith]

All plant and no fruit is symptomatic of over -nitrogen- fertilization.
Of course with balanced fertilizers, that people mostly use, it’s the same thing.

[Yosemitest]

Go to "Lowes" and look for a large Yellow Bag of "Black Kow".

[mrsmith]

Last year the 30 delicious Beefsteak tomatoes I harvested 10 feet from my kitchen cost about 5 cents apiece.
Buy ‘em -4 for $4 (neighbor wanted the other three seedlings) , plant ‘em, fertilize ‘em once or twice -$.50, tie ‘em to a stick as they grow.
Labor: maybe 4 hours total.
Splurged on a cage this year. About doubles the cost. Call me “big spender”.

[ken5050]

So FEDEX ‘em to me..I’ll pay you 50 cents each, plus shipping..

[mrsmith]

LOL!
Just wanted to give the other side, so to speak.
Was my first try with tomatoes too.

Darn, if I lived further south I bet there is a market for shipping home-grown tomatoes Fed-ex...

[Georgia Girl 2]

I grow all my tomatoes in containers. The secret is bone meal and I use osmocote pellets for fertilizer. Plenty of water and you should get a good crop of tomatoes. Also plenty of sun.

[saltydog11]

I plant my tomatoes in 30X30” pots. I put them up on cement blocks on a 2X12P/T plank. I use Miracle grow potting soil and feed them with Miracel grow. I usualy get enough to feed the relatives and some neighbors. I don’t have problems with bugs or weeds. Works here in the Orlando area.

[greeneyes]

US Navy Vet - let me know if you would like to be added to the ping list. Meanwhile, come on over and post your question.

I have just started the weekly thread, so you may get some additional tips as the day goes on.

[Antoninus II]

All plant and no fruit is symptomatic of over -nitrogen- fertilization. Of course with balanced fertilizers, that people mostly use, it’s the same thing.

Don't fertilize until you have fruit set. Otherwise you're just growing a beautiful plant.

[US Navy Vet]

Please add me.

[Antoninus II]

If you’re a smoker, wash your hands before handling the plants. Tobacco mosaic virus can be transmitted to tomato plants. And don’t smoke around your plants!