Hey Fellow Floridians - Year 2

[Fiishergurl]

Larry are you getting god fruit set on GGWT and PBTD?

Ginny

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[Zone9b]

[QUOTE=Fiishergurl;511952]Larry are you getting god fruit set on GGWT and PBTD?
Ginny/QUOTE]
Yes, I think so. I haven't counted them but there appears quite a few. The PBTD vines are noticeably smaller but I wouldn't be surprised if there are more tomatoes on them but probably not by much. It looks like on both the majority of tomatoes are in the 2-3" range, but I haven't really measured them. The GGWT seems to be a pretty aggressive vine. I'll take a guess of currently 6' high or a bit more. Both of them, but more so GGWT, don't just create suckers but they often look to go into a Y not just above where a stem with leaves comes out from a main stem about an inch or a little more above that. I don't know if this is just another type of sucker or there is another name for this. I'm guessing this is what AKman was talking about when he talks about Ys. If this makes any sense please say so or maybe I'm just rambling on.
Larry

[Fiishergurl]

What type of tomatoes do you like? PBTD is my favorite right now. Its tart and sweet a little. I have some neighbors that love them and some neighbors that think roma is a good tomato so they dont like the extra flavor in the PBTD and GGWT. To each his own... :-)

Ginny

[Fiishergurl]

Meant to say... i have not noticed the growth pattern. Will have to check that out tomorrow.

Ginny

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by Fiishergurl

What type of tomatoes do you like? PBTD is my favorite right now. Its tart and sweet a little. I have some neighbors that love them and some neighbors that think roma is a good tomato so they dont like the extra flavor in the PBTD and GGWT. To each his own... :-)
Ginny

Of the tomatoes I'm growing now, that I know I like the taste, is Clear Pink Early and Early Wonder. But I have to admit I am not gifting with the most accurate taster in the world. I have been eating a few of the Sun Gold Cherries off the vine and they have a nice sweet taste, but I wouldn't like my large tomatoes to be that sweet. I'm guessing that I will like the taste of the PBTD as well. I like a bit of the old tart tomato taste. I grew Aunt Ginny Purple in the spring and I definitely liked the taste but it wasn't productive enough for me. I would like to find a tomato that I can grow a lot of and tastes at least close to good, so I can freeze and can them. I look forward to tasting Granadero, it is said to taste quite good and it is a plum so would be better to cook with.
I have a list of new varieties to try in the spring. Mountain Magic, Yaqui, Bloody Butcher, Brandy Boy, First Prize, Tomande and Jetsetter are on the list. I look forward to all but especially Brandy Boy. Would be nice if it turned out to taste as good and be as productive as many say it is. Of course many that say those things about Brandy Boy aren't growing tomatoes in compost in Central Florida. I've grown tomatoes in Western Iowa, Eastern Nebraska, South Miami-Dade County but never anywhere as challenging as here.
Larry

[Barb_FL]

Larry - sorry to hear about the nemotodes in your raised bed; covering the soil with clear plastic would not be a lot of work. I'm using most of my raised bed just for the real estate. I have some tomato plants in root pouches elevated on grills sitting on bricks in the raised bed.

I'm growing Brandy Boy now; so far not impressive even the one in the EarthBox; I think I have one weird looking bloom; maybe it is a megabloom.

---
Ginny - what do you mean "continuous feed"? (fertilizing each time you water??? like AKMARK) That plant looks great; and not in a big container for somewhat large tomatoes. What are you feeding it?

Has anyone started to supplement their EB/SWC/containers yet? Other than the EB, I only used 2/3 the amount of Tomato Tone as Marsha.

I had BER on 4 tomatoes; I added the dolomite during the solarizing process and only a little more when the new promix was added. 2 tomatoes were in Root Pouches (same kind - but lots of tomatoes on the plant without BER), the other 2 in different EB.

[Fiishergurl]

Barb,

Are you doing the calcium nitrate (calcinit ) once a week? Is it the roma shaped ones that are getting the ber?

I'm top watering and i put 2 to 4 tablespoons of Tomato Tone just below the top soil every couple of weeks. This is how I fed and watered that plant a couple of years ago that had so many tomatoes that it looked more like a grape vine.

The tomatoes are not large yet as they are young, but the plant already has at least 25 tomatoes and over a hundred blossoms (yes I counted) and is setting new toms every day. And that doesnt even count the second tier of clusters that are already forming.

Here are some of the clusters. Each picture is a different cluster on the lower level of the same plant. You can't see in some of the photos but each cluster has 10 to 15 blossoms and so far they are not dropping. Im hoping it keeps setting fruit.

[Fiishergurl]

Larry,

Above are some pictures of one of my GGWT plants from Barb. I see what you mean by th V. I don't know anything technical about tomatoes but maybe someone else can pipe in... :-)

Ginny

[ginger2778]

Barb- I always supplement my EBs with a teaspoon of calcinit once per week. I wont say absolutely no BER, but maybe only 3 fruits total so virtually no BER.

Ginny- great results.

[Fiishergurl]

Barb,

Did you give me a dwarf besides 2 Sunmertime and a CT? The tall plant in the picture below is GGWT, but the small plant wasnt labeled. I was wondering id maybe it is some kind of dwarf?



Ginny

[Fiishergurl]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Barb- I always supplement my EBs with a teaspoon of calcinit once per week. I wont say absolutely no BER, but maybe only 3 fruits total so virtually no BER.

Ginny- great results.

Thanks Marsha,

One thing i forgot is that soon the night time temps will be too low for fruit set. So this experiment will probably work better in the spring.

Plus it rained this morning so I have to spray tonight. Do you try not to spray the blooms? Even at the lowest dose, I feel like the spraying slows down growth and production.

Ginny

[Barb_FL]

Thanks Ginny and Marsha. I haven't been adding anything to the EB, SWC, or root pouches. Last fall I had BEAST plants but I was adding Texas Tomato Food.

Will start adding CN today.

We had rain overnight also; first time in 3 weeks.

----
RE: BER - I've only had it once EVER on my first Kellogg in the EB. I've never had it on Paste type tomatoes.

I had it on Parks Whopper (in Root Pouch); but there are lots of PW tomatoes that are fine.

My only George Tomato (in EB) had it; plant does not look that healthy compared to the others but is flowering.

I think a Vorlon tomato (in EB) has it; (I didn't pick this one yet) Vorlon is setting a lot of fruit; probably the first tomato that set; also this tomato was shaped different (wider with pleated shoulder) than all the others. Vorlon is a HUGE possibility for lots of fruit set.

------

Ginny - Could it be Black From Tula? My plant is short and bushy too.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by Fiishergurl

Thanks Marsha,

One thing i forgot is that soon the night time temps will be too low for fruit set. So this experiment will probably work better in the spring.

Plus it rained this morning so I have to spray tonight. Do you try not to spray the blooms? Even at the lowest dose, I feel like the spraying slows down growth and production.

Ginny

I try not to spray the blossoms, Ginny, but I'm not religious about it. I also feel that even at low doses it may slow down growth, but fungus can stop it! LOL! Right now, even with spraying they are growing like crazy! I sure hope you are right about the overnight temps soon, we have been flirting with record heat for like more than a week now, and it rained heavily last night here, humidity is very high too. I have to spray this evening. I am having thyroid surgery tomorrow, outpatient, so I wont be able to spray for a little while.

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Larry - sorry to hear about the nemotodes in your raised bed; covering the soil with clear plastic would not be a lot of work. I'm using most of my raised bed just for the real estate. I have some tomato plants in root pouches elevated on grills sitting on bricks in the raised bed.
I'm growing Brandy Boy now; so far not impressive even the one in the EarthBox; I think I have one weird looking bloom; maybe it is a megabloom. ---

Barb,
Thanks for writing about your Brandy Boy experience. I'm interested how they develop. You may save me from spending real estate in my RBs on a dud. I'd like to hear about you experience with Brandy Boy compared to Park's Whopper. I have grown Park's Whopper and Big Beef in the past and had a fairly good experience with both. Just hoping to upgrade my taste experience with just as productive tomato, although I haven't had much luck with this quest. Maybe Garden Gem will be the tomato to do that. I'm waiting for the results on that one also. Do you think I should grow Garden Gem in the spring?
Thanks, Larry

[kayrobbins]

Marsha, I hope everything goes smoothly with your surgery and you are able to get back to spraying and buzzing soon. Maybe the weather will change and give you a break.