sorry for the delay! I have had some computer issues and been working full time for the last 2 months, it will be over soon! The garden has been great, so i have alot of crops to catch up on, so we will start with tomatoes.
Tomatoes are a crowd pleaser, and no one can deny how wonderful homegrown tomatoes taste. I had great production in tomatoes this year. People say their easy to grow, but if okra was a 1 (easy) and peach trees a 10 (hard). I would give tomatoes a 5. They are reasonably drout tolerant, but if they get dried out. They will succumb to blossom end rot, once thats set in, the plant will not give many if any good tomatoes. So constant moisture to the roots is your best way to care for tomatoes (used plasticulture-see march blog). This is difficult to do with container gardening. They need at lest 8 hours of full sun. I did not fertalize past my initial soil enrichments.They are one of the most diseased edibles in Georgia, they have an early and a late blight, and they can have pollination issues.
The best advice is ...
1. use good varieties
2. Mulch and water propperly (use drip irrigation and plasticulture)- dont overwater either, give them a good soak every 5 days.(with the use of plastic mulch this should be enough.
3. Use fungicide - i use daconill dilluted with water- see instructions. You just gotta with tomatoes
I planted 18 transplants (6 Beefmaster 6 Better Boy, 6 Celebrities). Tomatoes come in determinate and indeterminate varieties. Determinate varieties like Better Boy and Celebrity tomatoes stop growing at a determined point, although they can still be pruned, they don't need it as much as indeterminate varieties like Goliath that just keep growing.
Pruning- some people prune their plants, I did a little, it is supposed to insure that you get larger fruits rather than tiny ones. When the plant is around 3-4 feet you will see that a branch has to stems coming out together, the bottom fork called a sucker can be pulled off at the node.
Harvesting- although vine ripened tomatoes sounds great, it is actually better for my garden to pull them a few days early. The redness attracts the bugs, and if it rains your tomatoes will split and may begin to rot within a day. I pull them off in their orange/red phase. Just put them on the counter (a sunny window is unnecessary-its better if their in a cool location) This diminishes none of the flavor loss you experience with store bought tomatoes.
Using the little red boogers- Tomatoes have unlimited uses- spaghetti, pizza, pesto, salsa, tacos, burritos, omelette's, sandwiches, and I just eat them raw. Since I had so many, I started processing sauces and freezing and canning. You can also refrigerate them one ripe so they will last longer. More on preserving and freezing later.
1. use good varieties
2. Mulch and water propperly (use drip irrigation and plasticulture)- dont overwater either, give them a good soak every 5 days.(with the use of plastic mulch this should be enough.
3. Use fungicide - i use daconill dilluted with water- see instructions. You just gotta with tomatoes
I planted 18 transplants (6 Beefmaster 6 Better Boy, 6 Celebrities). Tomatoes come in determinate and indeterminate varieties. Determinate varieties like Better Boy and Celebrity tomatoes stop growing at a determined point, although they can still be pruned, they don't need it as much as indeterminate varieties like Goliath that just keep growing.
Pruning- some people prune their plants, I did a little, it is supposed to insure that you get larger fruits rather than tiny ones. When the plant is around 3-4 feet you will see that a branch has to stems coming out together, the bottom fork called a sucker can be pulled off at the node.
Harvesting- although vine ripened tomatoes sounds great, it is actually better for my garden to pull them a few days early. The redness attracts the bugs, and if it rains your tomatoes will split and may begin to rot within a day. I pull them off in their orange/red phase. Just put them on the counter (a sunny window is unnecessary-its better if their in a cool location) This diminishes none of the flavor loss you experience with store bought tomatoes.
Using the little red boogers- Tomatoes have unlimited uses- spaghetti, pizza, pesto, salsa, tacos, burritos, omelette's, sandwiches, and I just eat them raw. Since I had so many, I started processing sauces and freezing and canning. You can also refrigerate them one ripe so they will last longer. More on preserving and freezing later.
