Paste tomatoes

[ducks4you]

Thought I'd pass this tip on. I found a lovely 4inch long tomato worm last week. Picked it off, threw it in a plastic cup that I had left by the tomato fencing that was full of water. It drowned.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy!!!

 

[Crazy Gardner]

Noticed half a dozen Big Mama's with blossom end rot over the last few days. Was able to source a bag of dolomitic lime for a source of calcium. Just finished applying it to all the plants, figure it can't hurt in the amounts I'm using. A handful of pellets in a 3 gallon watering can, each can did 2 or 3 plants. Took 2 hours in today's heat, sure can get hot working out there, just inside enjoying some apple cider.

 

[digitS']

My tomatoes have a little bit of a problem with yellow shoulders. Things improved in 2018 but I didn't search out information on this until a little late, this year:

"Many scientists believe there are several causal factors for yellow shoulder including: environment (specifically, high temperature >90°F), nutrition, genotype (cultivar) and virus. The inter-action of these factors under field conditions is very difficult to evaluate. This disorder can be triggered by insufficient exchangeable K+, excess magnesium in relation to calcium, and pH above 6.7." LINK

Weeell, temperatures above 90°, we had 'em. pH above 6.7, it sure is! Dang, I wonder if some generous K (potassium) addition would do the trick. I tried adding wood ashes directly in my garden once and changed my mind about that. The same crop grew much better where I didn't put them! Decided that I just contributed to the high pH with the ashes. But, maybe that would not happen with other sources of K.

Steve

 

[Crazy Gardner]

^^ that's hilarious.

I had a look at 1 of my San Marzano's tonight. Hadn't had a really good look before today, as it seems to hide the fruit more than some of the others. Was pretty excited at what I saw.

About 6 of these clusters of fruit I'd guess at around 5 lbs each from top to bottom.

I did both fertilize with 4-7-7 and used dolomitic lime to help with the end rot, and then a good dose of water. I was worried about the amount of nitrogen 80 plants would remove from the soil, couldn't hurt, I figured. Soon see. Should be ripe fruit in 2 weeks or less, some have yellow/orange already.

 

[flowerbug]

i really hope it helps, but i suspect that if there is a BER issue that an application now will only affect those fruits which form from now on.

my experience with BER is that it sometimes happens on the first fruits but not the later ones (when the root system is larger and more able to keep up with demand - but also because it gets cooler).

the most simple solution (the one i like the most ) is to ignore it for us because it doesn't affect enough of the crop. this season we had no BER. we had pretty regular rains for the first month the plants were in the ground and all that cloud cover meant nothing was growing quickly up top but perhaps that meant the root systems were able to get larger than we'd normally see... can't say for sure.

we just started tomato canning season.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A soils analysis will tell you if you have enough calcium in your soil or not. If you have clay, you probably have more than enough calcium. If sand it can be an issue. Your county extension office can help with a good soils analysis. In Arkansas it was free. In Louisiana it is $16 per test. In Arkansas I dropped it off at the extension office, in Louisiana I pick up a packet at a gardening store, I mail it in, but mailing is covered by the $16. Each state is different.

Your soil may or may not need calcium, I don't know. A typical cause of Blossom End Rot is moisture, even if plenty of calcium is available. If it's too dry there is not enough water to carry the calcium where it needs to go. There can also be problems if it is too wet, I can't remember that explanation as to why. Plus the fruit might split. Mulching and trying to maintain a steady moisture level is the best defense, if the calcium is there to start with.

Some tomato varieties are more susceptible to BEM than others. I had a lot of problems with Romas, but Big Mama wasn't too bad.

 

[Zeedman]

I had a look at 1 of my San Marzano's tonight. Hadn't had a really good look before today, as it seems to hide the fruit more than some of the others. Was pretty excited at what I saw.

About 6 of these clusters of fruit I'd guess at around 5 lbs each from top to bottom.

Nice... brings back memories of the time I grew it. IMO San Marzano is much more productive than Roma, with larger tomatoes. I like the larger version, San Marzano Redorta, even better; one of my favorite salsa tomatoes.

 

[Crazy Gardner]

My Dad is of the same opinion as you are, it seemed to me that the first fruits were una

i really hope it helps, but i suspect that if there is a BER issue that an application now will only affect those fruits which form from now on.

my experience with BER is that it sometimes happens on the first fruits but not the later ones (when the root system is larger and more able to keep up with demand - but also because it gets cooler).

the most simple solution (the one i like the most ) is to ignore it for us because it doesn't affect enough of the crop. this season we had no BER. we had pretty regular rains for the first month the plants were in the ground and all that cloud cover meant nothing was growing quickly up top but perhaps that meant the root systems were able to get larger than we'd normally see... can't say for sure.

we just started tomato canning season.

Nice... brings back memories of the time I grew it. IMO San Marzano is much more productive than Roma, with larger tomatoes. I like the larger version, San Marzano Redorta, even better; one of my favorite salsa tomatoes.

Thanks for the feedback, I am trying to juggle which tomatoes to use for salsa, between Roma, Fresh Salsa Hybrid(I know I planted at least 1, but I haven't been able to identify it yet) San Marzano's, and Big Mama's. I'd also like to try making sauce from each to see which the family likes best.

 

[Trish Stretton]

I'm just wondering if or when I should start pruning some leaves back up higher to allow the sun to get through to all the fruit at the bottom.
I put my rows 3' apart, and they could easily have been 6'. So much foliage I'm not certain the tomatoes will ripen by the end of the month.

I always remove the leaves from the bottom as each lot of fruit form up. I think this allows for better air flow around the fruit. I also stake the plants and remove the laterals as they appear , which also means there isnt too much leaf. Quite often I wind up poking a hole in the ground and planting the laterals into them to get new plants.

 

[ducks4you]

I grow Romas to can. Thanks for the advice re: San Marzano Redorta. According to the locals AND Mid American Gardener panelists this week, WE are lucky to have a harvest at ALL this year.