Tomatoville® Gardening Forums - View Single Post - What are you doing differently this year...

Qweniden · January 18, 2011

What are you doing differently this year?

Here is what Im going to do differently this year:

Use cages - Stakes were a disaster for me. I had a really hard time keeping the plants upright
No Plum tomatoes - Especially the long/skinny kind. I like the taste but these had the worst BER for me. Not worth it.
Space the plants out more. I had them too close. This didnt result in any disease but I couldnt get between some plants and missed alot of tomatoes because I couldn't reach them.
Use an irrigation system. This will allow me to have more consistent watering and will allow me to go out of town easier.
Grow less kinds of vegetables - Cucumbers, eggplants, green beans and other vegetables didnt do well for me (mostly in containers). Im going to focus on tomatoes and herbs with just a few summer squashes
Dont freak out about early season BER - Most of my plants did fine as the season went along. My morale was pretty badly effected last year early in the season.
Keep a close eye out for Tomato Horn Worms - They destroyed alot of tomato plants before I even knew such a creature existed. I hate those evil things.
Use some hay as mulch - This should help evaporation in our hot summer climate. Especially in containers.
No "Early" varieties - These had ZERO taste when I grew them. Not worth the effort.

January 18, 2011	#1
Qweniden Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Sacramento, California Posts: 267	What are you doing differently this year... What are you doing differently this year? Here is what Im going to do differently this year: Use cages - Stakes were a disaster for me. I had a really hard time keeping the plants upright No Plum tomatoes - Especially the long/skinny kind. I like the taste but these had the worst BER for me. Not worth it. Space the plants out more. I had them too close. This didnt result in any disease but I couldnt get between some plants and missed alot of tomatoes because I couldn't reach them. Use an irrigation system. This will allow me to have more consistent watering and will allow me to go out of town easier. Grow less kinds of vegetables - Cucumbers, eggplants, green beans and other vegetables didnt do well for me (mostly in containers). Im going to focus on tomatoes and herbs with just a few summer squashes Dont freak out about early season BER - Most of my plants did fine as the season went along. My morale was pretty badly effected last year early in the season. Keep a close eye out for Tomato Horn Worms - They destroyed alot of tomato plants before I even knew such a creature existed. I hate those evil things. Use some hay as mulch - This should help evaporation in our hot summer climate. Especially in containers. No "Early" varieties - These had ZERO taste when I grew them. Not worth the effort.