What's wrong with these tomatoes? :-(

[stepstephens2]

I was talking to my retired farmer neighbor the other day. His son farms about 100 miles to the west of here. He was saying that California Central Valley farmers put down 4" of water at a time and complain that they have to share water with the cities. He puts down 1/2" of water at a time on his farm and feels lucky to have it.

Steve

I'm not sure if I just quoted this right, but digits ask your farmer friend why we need that kind of water... It was 105 outside today! The Central Valley was mostly desert before the agriculture got started. The soil is very fertile, but it takes a lot of water to keep anything alive here.

 

[digitS']

You don't have to defend Central Valley farmers from me, Steph. Their practices must provide half the food many Americans have to eat. BTW - 100 miles west of here is also desert. At under 20" of yearly precipitation (& most of that snow), right here isn't far above desert status, either.

Both the idea that 1/2 inch of water can make any difference and the idea that 4" of water at a time is needed, are foreign to my gardening, however. Flooding my rocky soil would just feed the aquifer, the plants would get little of the water before it quickly moved beyond the reach of their roots. I'm afraid that I'd just have to get water back on it in just a few days, anyway! And, I'm afraid that 1/2 inch of water would nearly all evaporate !

Heat is one thing, humidity (or the lack of it) is another. Soil is yet a third . . . Then there are the needs of specific plants.

I am not sure what the water needs are to grow rice. The fact that the Central Valley can grow rice I think is wonderful. They are remarkably productive plants! Californians must decide what is the best use of the water they have and we all should hope that food production continues to get a good part of it.

Steve
♪ ♫ 90F ♪ ♫ here yesterday & predicted again today!

 

[nachoqtpie]

Well.. the last couple days I haven't done much of anything.... much less go out to the garden! I somehow scratched my eye! It was enough to lay me out for a couple days. I couldn't go outside because the sun was SO bright all I wanted to do was hide under a blanket and (which I did some... LOL)

I'm happy to report that the tomatoes are all doing FANTASTIC!!! The ones that we got from our neighbor all made it except for 1! That one I replaced with the very last plant we started from seed and it is now taking off and trying to catch up with the others! They all (except the one) have some tiny yellow flowers on them!

Tomorrow we're going to do some SeaMagic Seaweed feed out there. We're sooooo close to being able to harvest some beans!!

 

[nachoqtpie]

Thought you might like a picture!

 

[digitS']

Wonderful, qt!

And, wonderful that you are healing. A happy garden can be a sight for sore eyes . Make you feel better!

Tomato plants are a good choice for foliar feeding, seems to me. I will be running around mine with some fish emulsion this weekend.

Steve