What's your favorite tomatoe?

[seedcorn]

what does the wall of water do for the tomato plants? i love peoples secret tips
the one i will try is placing 3 eggs under every tomato plant

I'd never heard that one before! If nothing else, maybe it would stink bad enough to deter the deer!

eggs below peppers are a good thing as peppers love sulfur.

I no longer do it because my dog, skunks, other animals, will go dig up the plants going for the eggs or the remains of the eggs.

 

[elijahboy]

either it was suppose to supply the tomato with calcium or prevent root rot cant remember the specifics but i thought i read it here maybe not

what does the wall of water do for the tomato plants? i love peoples secret tips
the one i will try is placing 3 eggs under every tomato plant

I'd never heard that one before! If nothing else, maybe it would stink bad enough to deter the deer!

Edited to remove link, no fundraising allowed on these forums

 

[nittygrittydirtdigger]

Last year I experimented by adding a teaspoonful of powdered milk in the bottom of the starter pots for my tomatoes. I don't know if that's the reason why, but the plants were huge and so were the 'matoes.

ETA, I added the powder, not the reconstituted milk.

 

[obsessed]

steve - so you notice that all my tomatoes are short season huh?! I did that because by the time the end of May early June rolls around it is so freakin hot that tomatoes fail to set fruit. The early season was a recommendation from a garden book. I was also thinking although they are early they are still indeterminate so they should just produce more right? since they should get started earlier.

That and my first crop of earlies/Mid/late got killed by a three year old and i was out of all but the earlies.

Any how I am so excited except that it is a hybrid and I won't get any seeds from it.

Oh and I of all my seeds I lost a total 10 tigerella due to hardening off. I had repotted them from the tp rolls to container and left them outside on a reasonable warm day and they died but the lime green/bb/Kimberly didn't. How funny. Maybe they are just more sensitive. I am starting some more.

 

[digitS']

Of course, I don't know anything about growing tomatoes in a place like Louisiana, Obsessed. I have visited the state but it was December and February. (Enjoyed my little side trip to New Iberia and Tabasco country .)

It is almost startling to me that you are hardening-off plants right now and getting ready to set them out in your garden! It is good to know that the Tigerella may need a little cosseting . . . how does that fit with them being okay in Albuquerque ? Well, I'm getting them from Calgary and suspect that the seed originally came from the UK. One never really knows how things will turn out without giving things a whirl .

There are several varieties that are supposed to set fruit well in hot weather. You may need to find those and make them your friends ! Darryl Jones in Alabama seems to command a fair amount of respect from knowledgeable tomato growers. He probably has all sorts of choices for you to consider.

Steve

 

[lettuceleaf]

Here is an excellent article on heirloom tomatoes by heirloom grower Gary Millwood

http://mckarion.wordpress.com/2009/12/06/heirloom-tomatoes-are-a-treasure/

 

[obsessed]

This will only be my second season in LA so I only got a slight clue. I grew big boys and celebrity last year but didn't get more than a couple off of each plant. No real clue why. My sweet million cherries did great and produced up till december.

My confusion was that they were in the same bed with the same treatment. That is why I think it was a heat thing. Oh well i guess we are always learning.

 

[desertgirl]

Did somebody say Albuquerque??

Seriously-I can't find the original reference to ABQ in this post.It is freaking me out not knowing what you are talking about...tomatoes and my hometown in the same post??!!

 

[HiDelight]

I will say it "Albuquerque" I love and miss Santa Fe and Albuquerque. ...I am feeling a great loss right now my sister passed away last May she lived in Santa Fe and spent a lot of time getting treatments for her cancer in Albuquerque....you live in one my other homes I have a had a rough time of it lately missing her ..she had a tough time gardening there that is for sure ...

I wanted to ask about a tart tomato ...I want a high acid tangy tart tomato this year ...sweet is easy ..there are tons of sweet tomatoes to choose from ..we have got the sugar down ....but I need a tart one this year as mentioned some place above and reading the flavor profiles I am having trouble finding one that brags about acidity!

any suggestions out there?

and I am still looking for that perfect roaster for Persian dishes? I may try a new Roma for that one ..but searching for idea's and suggestions

acidic for one

roaster for another ..help?

 

[digitS']

I'm the guy who tends to bring these tangents into things . . . I try to be good!

I was saying that where I garden is not much different from northern New Mexico and Tigerella is supposed to do well there . . . but, if Obsessed has trouble hardening it off where others do fine - it makes me wonder. Yep, wide fluctuations in the temperatures from night to day is tough on tomatoes and a lot of things. Humidity that drops below 20% everyday thru the growing season is tuff on things too.

I can grow tomatoes! Other people have different conditions. I bet that we can all grow tomatoes but, a fair amount of our success, is probably choosing a variety that can be happy in our gardens.

HiD, this is a fairly large pdf on a tomato trial by Penn State U. It isn't a huge number of tomatoes that they trialed, however. There choices look to me more like what a gardener might want to plant than a farmer. They talk about the sugar/acid balance and give stats for each variety.

Higher or lower "brix number" like the pH number makes quite a bit of difference. Those are big steps from an 5 to a 6 brix, for instance. But, the balance has to be taken into consideration and high brix, which should mean sweetness, can be overcome by a low pH, which should mean tartness. Anyway, that can give you something to look at, HiD.

I don't grow 'em but think that an ox heart tomato looks to me to be the best bet for roasting. But, you would benefit from some opinions on specific varieties, HiD. Tart? Roast? . . . Gardeners?

Steve