Tiny tomatoes, Tiny Jalapenos

[ninnymary]

Well I am really disappointed in my tomatoes this year. I also planted jalapenos for the first time and am also disappointed with those.

My soil was tested and amended and I planted my regular tomatoes. They are early girls, hillbilly, and romas. I also mulched for the first time and went from watering 3 times a week to only once a week.

I know that tomatoes are comprised of mainly water. They all grew to the size of cherry tomatoes. Did they need more water?
I was afraid of overwatering which is a problem I have.

My jalapenos were also watered once a week and they were about the size of my thumb nail. Did these also need more water?

It's interesting that my sweet 100's and sun gold tomatoes did just fine. All my other veggies did fine also.

The early girls were 4" plants from the store and the hillbilly and romas were from seeds. The jalapenos were also from 4" plants that I bought.

Mary

 

[lesa]

If the tomatoes stayed the size of cherries and got ripe and tasted fine- I am guessing you bought cherries that were marked wrong...
weird that your peppers stayed small, too. Was your weather normal? I know peppers like it hot... Sure others will have some ideas. Sorry you were disappointed, but remember, there is always next year!

 

[journey11]

Sorry to hear those plants didn't produce for you. It's hard when you've put so much effort into them not to get anything out of it!

How did the foliage look? Did they have lots of leafy growth? How about the color of the leaves, maybe leaning too much toward yellow? Just guessing, but if the plant itself looked puny, that could explain the fruit. They need a good root system and good leafy growth to support the growth of the fruit. Did they seem to wilt very easily in spite of mulching? If the plant was otherwise healthy, I would think maybe you did get some cherry tomatoes that were marked wrong... It's been known to happen! But since you had puny peppers too, maybe there is something going on here. Maybe even they could have been root-bound in the pot when you got them such that they didn't make a good root system? Or were they in peat pots? I've had trouble with those breaking down into the soil myself and I always peel them off rather than plant them with it on. You'll be able to tell more about the root system when you go to pull them up at the end of the season.

 

[digitS']

Mary, you gardening folks on the Bay had so much trouble with cool weather early this year! It is amazing that you have ripe tomatoes and peppers, at all!

The Early Girls here are heart-shaped! This happened a few years ago and I asked some knowledgeable people about it. They said "weather stress." The later fruit is round but there's not going to be much "later" around here.

Maybe you can give them plenty of water and they can still get some of that lovely North Coast October sunshine!

Steve :coolsun

 

[ninnymary]

I really don't think I got cherry tomatoes via wrong labeling. They are not in clusters. I forgot to mention that my stupice and San Francisco Fog were also very small. I can see maybe one plant being mislabeled, but everything?

Our weather is always cool so that's why I only water once a week. All of the plants grew large and were very healthy. Just like always. The roma tomatoe gave me tons of tomatoes probably around 100! Imagine if they had been full size! Oh well, at least I got tomatoes and jalapenos.

I started watering them more often but by then they were red and was probably too late. The plants are almost done for the season.

Thanks everyone,

Mary

 

[vfem]

I am so sorry This has been a funky year with the weather when it comes to peppers and tomatoes. Funny my peppers went crazy, and my tomatoes were small and few. So I understand your frustration for sure... don't quit though... don't give up... I want to hear about your AWESOME year next year. That's just how gardens work... for every bad season, there is likely to be a better one to follow. :coolsun

 

[ninnymary]

Thanks Vfem...I am excited for next year. This fall I have decided to not plant a winter garden and instead to add my first batch of compost with my chicken poop! It's funny what gets us excited.

Mary

 

[Ariel301]

I've had the same problem, and I think it is the weather. My cherry tomatoes have been the size of peas (getting bigger now though!) and the bell peppers were turning red at about the size of a quarter. We've had a super hot dry summer--yes, it is normally hot and dry here, but this summer was worse than usual, it only rained once between January and now.

 

[ninnymary]

Thanks for your support Ariel...But my neighbor right next door had some good looking tomatoes and he totally neglects them! Go figure.

Mary

 

[digitS']

. . . shade . . ?