Posted on 07/14/2025 5:31:41 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The U.S. government said Monday it is immediately placing a 17% duty on most fresh Mexican tomatoes after negotiations ended without an agreement to avert the tariff.
Proponents said the import tax will help rebuild the shrinking U.S. tomato industry and ensure that produce eaten in the U.S. is also grown there. Mexico currently supplies around 70% of the U.S. tomato market, up from 30% two decades ago, according to the Florida Tomato Exchange. Robert Guenther, the trade group's executive vice president, said the duty was “an enormous victory for American tomato farmers and American agriculture."
But opponents said the import tax will make tomatoes more expensive for U.S. consumers. Mexican greenhouses specialize in vine-ripened tomatoes, while Florida tomatoes are typically grown in fields and picked green.
(Excerpt) Read more at ksbw.com ...
I've resorted to going to the local farmers markets, buying bushels of tomatoes, and canning them for the year.
Whatever it takes, my friend.
L
“No white sugar. No white flour. No MSG. I’ll use raw olive oil, but I never cook with olive oil. I only cook with coconut oil. Fats like canola oil turn into trans fats….I use Himalayan pink salt as the sodium. I never use iodized salt,” Campbell said.
He continued, “[Tom] doesn’t eat nightshades, because they’re not anti-inflammatory. So no tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, or eggplants. Tomatoes trickle in every now and then, but just maybe once a month. I’m very cautious about tomatoes. They cause inflammation.”
The metropolitan area is just keep paving over farmland p
I’m one of those gullible gardeners. I bought several varieties of baby tomato plants in 4-oz pots, and transplanted them into 5-gallon buckets. They’re producing lots of tomatoes. Problem is they’re very thirsty, wanting lots of water every day. Water is expensive here, but worth it for the tomatoes.
Ah...you TRANSPLANTED them into a larger home. I am referencing people who leave the plants in the garden center one gallon plastic pot, then are disappointed by the lame results.
I go to my backyard for fresh tomatoes on the vine.
TOMATOES ARE VERY EASY TO GROW IN POTS IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD OR ON DECK.
HAD 4 plants when I lived in So CALIF.
GAVE TOMATOES AWAY ALL UP & DOWN THE STREET
I’ll have to look into one of those types of pots and see if it would fit reasonably on the patio. I certainly didn’t know one needed a 20-gallon pot for tomatoes. Thanks for the info.
I presume it will still need a support cage, but maybe wider? I can ask at a nursery.
I plant my own Roma tomatoes-they grow nearly all Summer here, so I only need to get store-bought ones in Winter-and most of those are organic ones from greenhouses in the Valley area...
I’ve had a garden most of my adult life. At first it was for stress relief of my 68 hour work weeks building nuke power plants.
As life moved on, gardening was less for stress and more fun but the veggies were the true prize.
tomatoes alone, we eat all summer long and process them into sauce n paste throughout the summer.
Even the zucchini, we shred the fleshy meat and freeze for winter muffins, quiches n bread.
I had no clue until a couple of years back...I have ten 20-gallon Smart Pots with a single tomato plant in each, and they are ALL producing like mad. You WILL need to stake them. :-)
I’m confused. Are you telling me there are agricultural jobs in Mexico? I thought the only agricultural jobs a Mexican could get was here in America.
That or Canada Hot House. We have enough Tomatoes to feed the USA, THEY ROT IN THE FIELD, As PRICE GOUGING GROCERS BUY MEX/CANADA, CHEAPR CRAP.
There is a Tomatoe grower less than half a mile from the house, says he lost $200K under Biden in a year.
The Mexican tomatoes SUCK! Absolutely no flavor. I don’t waste my money on that crap.
My late dad used to come from the city into the country and he’d have a salt shaker in one pocket and pepper shaker in the other. And he’d go through my garden for a couple hours.
I sure miss him.
If your entire property is not densely shaded, and your daytime temperatures get well into the 80’s, I’d try a few tomato plants in pots with potting soil. If space is tight, determinate types like “Better Bush” might be the way to go, and you may need to hit ‘em with some Bloom Booster or Super Phosphate to get them to bloom. That said, it may be that “early” varieties will do best, tho’ if your temperatures get into the 90’s, some early types may not do well.
I’m in growing zone 7a, we get summer temps into the 09’s fairly often, and I have tomato plants in (too small, really) pots on the NORTH side of my house, about 2 ft. from the house’ outside wall. They are spitting out a few blooms even without the Bloom Booster. As an experiment I’ll likely try one each of different varieties, in bigger pots, and see how well they produce.
There is quite a disconnect in warm regions between temperatures ideal for many vegetable plants, and being in direct sunlight. Shading is often suggested: It may apply to both of us...
(In really hot summers, the only tomato plants that have done well for me in 75% or more direct sunlight are Heatwave II’s (quite bland), Celebrity tomato plants, Romas (sometimes, and also bland) and some of the grape and cherry varieties.)
Note that I’m no expert: Better advice can be had on FR’s / Diana’s Monthly Garden Thread.
cc to Diana In Wisconsin !
Correction: “90’s”
Mine do well in (mostly potting soil with nutrients added by the mfgr.) in 4-5 gallon pots or buckets with holes in the bottom. I DO feed them after their 1st month or so in the 5 gallon pot, mostly chicken guano, crushed eggshells, and the last couple years (usually starting in late June) a little Super Phosphate.
I’ve had them get over 8 ft. tall in such - I suppose they might get bigger in bigger pots. :-)
But, the cost of even “house brand” potting soil is a struggle, to fill even the 4-5 gallon pots.
(Obviously, we have a few chickens.)
BIGGEST problems? Keeping them hydrated and producing in very hot*, dry weather, without going overboard, and, tomato hornworms showing up when we are away a few days.
*It seems to help to shade the pots themselves, to keep the soil from getting too hot. Maybe that’s an advantage of a larger pot.
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