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Author Topic: I need a tomatoe doctor!  (Read 5711 times)

Offline asprince

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I need a tomatoe doctor!
« on: June 07, 2008, 05:35:33 pm »
I grow tomatoes every year....lots of them. This year, my plants look healthy but not many tomatoes. I see some blooms and not much fruit. The fruit that I have is about golf ball size. I usually have lots of tomatoes by mid July. I have 18 - 20 plants; 3 varieties. They look healthy, get plenty of sun and water, any ideas? 

Steve 
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Offline BlueEggFarmer

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Re: I need a tomatoe doctor!
« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2008, 06:23:34 pm »
If your soil is nice a fertile, saying you have added compost, fertilizer or manure it is possible that it might be too fertile, the actual plant and leaves will grow big and lush while the fruits remain sparse and small.

Offline asprince

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Re: I need a tomatoe doctor!
« Reply #2 on: June 07, 2008, 06:25:23 pm »
I used very little fertilizer. I limed good last year.

Steve
Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resembalance to the first. - Ronald Reagan

Offline doak

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Re: I need a tomatoe doctor!
« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2008, 07:26:53 pm »
Some kinds do not set fruit very well when it gets 90 and above temp.
mine are not doing as good as I would like.
Too much nitrogen can also effect the fruit setting, it puts all the food into the growth of the vine.
I am just trying to keep all my stuff hanging on till we get some rain, if we do before too long.
Another week and I will "have" to let all but a few tomato plants dry up.
Have already gave up my corn. My okra, peppers and collards will stand more drought than most other stuff.
doak

Offline asprince

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Re: I need a tomatoe doctor!
« Reply #4 on: June 07, 2008, 07:45:31 pm »
I have eight 60 foot rows of sweet corn. It is head high and just starting to tassel. I keep it watered with a soaker hose at the base of the stalk. I have found this to be a very effective and efficient way to water. I have been digging and giving away potatoes by the 5 gallon bucket. I have three 25 foot rows yet to dig. Starting to get some squash this week thanks to the soaker hose. Cukes and peppers are slow.  The rabbits and the deer ate all the peas.

Like you doak, we sure need some rain. Several areas around us got about a half inch Monday evening. We got about 30 drops. My yard looks awful, it is depressing to go outside. On top of the drought, the temperatures are 98 - 100 this week.

Praying for rain, Steve
Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resembalance to the first. - Ronald Reagan

Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: I need a tomatoe doctor!
« Reply #5 on: June 07, 2008, 10:02:13 pm »
Quote
Praying for rain, Steve

If I could I'd send you some of Ours, we're still having snow in the hills and mountains.

Lots of water and too cold for crops.  Having to feed my bees, in June, can you believe it?
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Offline poka-bee

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Re: I need a tomatoe doctor!
« Reply #6 on: June 08, 2008, 11:52:35 am »
Yep, Brian, it's just icky!  There is snow in the mtns...just like winter!  You guys can surely have some of our wet.  When it's not raining the onshore flow keeps it gloomy, the sun doesn't get a chance to come through & dry anything out.  The dairy @ top of the hill just tilled the field for their corn, it's mud.  They usually have it a few inches high by now.  My bees almost starved, well a lot died but there are quite a few left, caught it just in time.  Brian, I'm gonna take off the sbb & add a shim for a top entrance.  A good part of my problem was that the piles of bees blocked the entrance & the remaining girls couldn't get out..I feel so bad.  This next week will tell if I lost the queens or not.  Jody
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Online Kathyp

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Re: I need a tomatoe doctor!
« Reply #7 on: June 08, 2008, 11:57:29 am »
i think my corn floated away.  no joke!

poka-bee, i may have lost one also.  no flying this am and it's warm (finally!!!!).  i lifted the top box to peek and they were clumped together between boxes.  i sprayed them with some sugar water, but unless they perk up and fly today, they are done.  :-(

mentally sending rain toward Georgia!!!!!
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Offline Shawn

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Re: I need a tomatoe doctor!
« Reply #8 on: June 08, 2008, 06:08:54 pm »
Ive always been told by my grandparents to smack them around with the end of a broom.

Offline SgtMaj

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Re: I need a tomatoe doctor!
« Reply #9 on: June 12, 2008, 02:10:08 am »
I'm in the same boat with my tomato's this year... I didn't use lime, but I did add oyster shells to the soil for sustained calcium...

The only ones that have been producing are the cherry tomato's.

I just wonder if we've gone too alkaline with the soil amendments.

Offline DayValleyDahlias

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Re: I need a tomatoe doctor!
« Reply #10 on: June 12, 2008, 02:31:45 am »
I have been told to change the location of the plants each year, that if you keep planting them in the same spot

Rotate Plants. Don't plant tomatoes in the exact same spot as last year. Using the same space contributes to disease buildup in the soil. Rotating crops by planting something different in the same spot will help break the disease/pest cycle. Try to plant tomatoes in the same spot only once every three years.

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/california_gardening/34647

Offline SgtMaj

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Re: I need a tomatoe doctor!
« Reply #11 on: June 12, 2008, 03:02:36 am »
Mine were rotated to a new spot (albeit not far from the last spot... but a few feet anyway.

Offline reinbeau

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Re: I need a tomatoe doctor!
« Reply #12 on: June 12, 2008, 07:29:12 am »
A four to five year rotation plan is good for everything in the garden, it helps to avoid the buildup of soilborn problems.  Think of plant families when planning your rotation.  Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and eggplants are all in the Solanaceae family, so think of them as one and don't plant them in the same soil year after year.  Beans, peas, root crops, cabbage family, each one is a group, base your rotation on that and you'll be all set.

 

anything