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Old September 14, 2018   #1
SpookyShoe
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Default Fall tomatoes

I giving it one more try. I've tried to do the this before and it's always so darn hot, the plants won't set fruit. I picked up a Husky Cherry Red and a Celebrity at a big box store (please don't judge ). I didn't want to plant them in the usual area b/c of nematodes and disease present from the spring crop. The cherry is in a pot and the Celebrity is near a compost area. The temps have been unseasonably cooler for about the last 10 days b/c of frequent rains. I am under a flash flood warning. So they are off to a good start. Wish me luck.

Donna, Texas Gulf Coast
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Old September 14, 2018   #2
Nan_PA_6b
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Donna, good luck! Husky Cherry Red and Celebrity sound like good choices; I hear good things about each. Report back when you can to let us know how they worked out.
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Old September 15, 2018   #3
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Buying from a big box store works

It's all about giving it a try - and then keep on trying. We don't know each other, but I'm proud that you are growing some tomato plants. I do understand the nematodes and soil diseases all to well.
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Old September 21, 2018   #4
b54red
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My best producers this fall or late summer have been ISPL, Gary O' Sena, Arkansas Traveler, Limbaugh's Legacy, and Spudakee. I have not had much trouble getting fruit set this year even though the temps have been mercilessly hot with nights staying in the 80's the past week or two but surprisingly the plants have new little greenies every day. I have been very good about keeping them watered in this heat. For the past two weeks I have been watering in the morning and then again at night every other day. If I wait longer between watering lately the blooms just drop off. My plants are heavily mulched with cypress mulch. I have been plagued with foliage and fruit worms the past two weeks and finally broke down and sprayed them with Sevin two days ago since the BT just wasn't doing the trick. I am also losing any tomato that gets the slightest red on it to birds and squirrels. I am keeping water in my bird bath but I guess they like tomato juice better so they are getting picked and put on the screened porch as soon as the slightest blush appears. If we got a little steady rain for a day or two the birds might let up.

Bill
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Old September 21, 2018   #5
carolyn137
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Originally Posted by SpookyShoe View Post
I giving it one more try. I've tried to do the this before and it's always so darn hot, the plants won't set fruit. I picked up a Husky Cherry Red and a Celebrity at a big box store (please don't judge ). I didn't want to plant them in the usual area b/c of nematodes and disease present from the spring crop. The cherry is in a pot and the Celebrity is near a compost area. The temps have been unseasonably cooler for about the last 10 days b/c of frequent rains. I am under a flash flood warning. So they are off to a good start. Wish me luck.

Donna, Texas Gulf Coast
Why would I ever chastise you for growing Husky Red Cherry when this summer I had only 10 plants out there for Freda to take care of,but she didn't,they were all Bonny plants, for reasons I've discussed before.

And Husky Red Cherry was one of them.LOL

Carolyn
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Old September 22, 2018   #6
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Default I can die now...I've seen it all :)

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Why would I ever chastise you for growing Husky Red Cherry when this summer I had only 10 plants out there for Freda to take care of,but she didn't,they were all Bonny plants, for reasons I've discussed before.

And Husky Red Cherry was one of them.LOL

Carolyn
You????? Husky Cherry Red?????

Donna
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Old September 22, 2018   #7
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B54Red, my spring crop was done for in early July.

Donna, Texas Gulf Coast
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Old September 22, 2018   #8
b54red
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B54Red, my spring crop was done for in early July.

Donna, Texas Gulf Coast
I have posted before the steps necessary to successfully grow tomatoes in the hot inhospitable conditions of the deep south. I grow in raised beds 8 to 10 inches high to make it easier to be successful with tomatoes down here. The raised beds make it easier to maintain proper moisture without drowning during times of heavy rain. A lot of organic matter is added to the beds and they are mulched heavily during the summer with cypress mulch to help keep the soil cooler and to maintain moisture better.

If like me you are dealing with nematodes and or fularium wilt then varieties that have good tolerance or grafting onto root stock that have those traits is a must for long time survival of the plants.

Limiting the number of stems is important to help encourage fruit set. I know it is tempting to leave on every sucker with blooms but this will result in poor fruit set most of the time and small fruit.

Tomato plants will not set well in the heat if the soil is not moist enough. Only one day of letting the plants get too dry in the heat will result in major blossom drop and minimal or no fruit set.

Regular feeding of the plants is a major boost to fruit set. Though I prepare the soil well with cottonseed meal, compost, and a little chicken manure; I still feed the plants with Texas Tomato Food every week to ten days throughout the season. I just fed my fall cucumbers, okra, and peppers today with Urban Farms Vegetable formula but for the past few weeks when I was out of it I used Miracle Grow. I will be feeding my tomatoes tomorrow or the next day. Despite near 100 degree days and nights in the eighties most of my plants are still setting fruit. Last night was the coolest we have had in a few weeks because it got down to 75 around daylight.

Regular application of fungicides is a necessary step nearly every week because of the disease pressure our high humidity and heat cause. I will also use pesticides when pest pressures start taking a toll on the plants but I try to use the least poisonous thing that will get the job done.

Of course there are always things that I can't control that can come along and destroy all my hard work. I have lost entire crops from Late Blight and TYLCV and much of what I had to Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus and spider mites. A month of heavy rain or a couple of months without rain can also devastate a crop but as long as I have a next season I will keep trying.

Bill
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Old September 23, 2018   #9
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Bill, it is truly impressive that your spring crop is still producing fruit at this time of the year. You put a lot of work into your crop and you deserve to reap the benefits of your labor. I know myself; I will not graft onto rootstock and put in the effort that you do. So I am content with settling for less. As the old saying goes, you get out of it what you put into it. Do you ever grow in containers?

Donna
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Old September 23, 2018   #10
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Yes it is a lot of work but actually it involves less time now than when I just planted store bought plants and staked them. I ended up replanting and replanting and doing all kinds of things to try to keep the plants producing longer. I spend more time preparing the plants and beds so that I don't have to do so much work once the planting is done. I graft so that I can grow varieties that just won't survive long enough most of the time to get any tomatoes off and I would rather take the time to graft than have to eat most of the hybrid varieties that will survive here. Before my fusarium problems got so bad I did have one hybrid that was okay for eating and performed very well any time of the year. Besides being a very good main season tomato it was also a great fall tomato and that was Big Beef. For decades I always planted a half dozen or so Big Beefs in the spring, summer and late summer for fall tomatoes. It has a good disease package and is resistant to RKN. About eight or nine years ago I started having trouble with the third race of fusarium and before long the ff resistance of Big Beef wasn't enough.

Yes I have grown in containers and really didn't like it because of how often I had to water and the work of filling and getting the containers ready. I grew a few varieties that thrived in the containers but most produced much smaller fruit than those same plants in the raised beds and required so much upkeep. I only used containers in the 5 to 7 gallon size and I'm sure the plants would have done better in larger better containers but once I found grafting I didn't have to worry about the soil diseases and only use containers for my citrus plants which have to be brought in during the winter months. The varieties that did the best for me in containers were Big Beef, Indian Stripe, Pruden's Purple and Grubs Mystery Green along with a few cheery varieties.

Grafting is not as much trouble as it seems once you get through the learning curve and I rather enjoy the process. The first time I grew some grafted plants I was amazed at the difference in how the plants thrived and produced for so long. If Big Beef thrives in your garden you may only need a root stock that is ff resistant and not the fff that my soil requires and Big Beef is a great root stock. I used it when first learning to graft and found most varieties did well with it as the root stock but as my fusarium problems got worse I had to quit using the cheap Big Beef seed and go to the more expensive root stock seed. Now I try to buy my seed in bulk and have cut the cost down to almost as cheap as using the Big Beef seed. Having a nice assortment of grafting clips is probably my biggest expense in grafting now. It usually takes me around 2 hours to graft about 25 plants and have them in the healing chambers which are nothing but clear plastic seal-able containers from Walmart. Before my arthritis got so bad in my hands I could do about twice as many in that amount of time once I got the hang of it.

Bill
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Old September 23, 2018   #11
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Ah, Fall tomatoes! I've pretty much gotten to the end of a very good season, but a few of my Big Beef, Big Boy, and Chef's Choice Pinks are still producing a few tomatoes a week. They've been in the ground since April/May, and they look like dang-it-to-heck, but I'll let them go til frost...

I've got one Big Beef that I rooted from a sucker and planted out in July. I should be getting ripe tomatoes from that one in a week or two...

Good luck with yours!
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Old September 23, 2018   #12
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My spring tomatoes are put in the first week of March, sometimes late February. They grow quickly.

Donna, Texas Gulf Coast
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Old September 23, 2018   #13
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My spring tomatoes are put in the first week of March, sometimes late February. They grow quickly.

Donna, Texas Gulf Coast
Dang, I wish I could plant mine out that early...!!
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Old September 26, 2018   #14
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I don't know if they will have time to make before frost but right now I have a huge amount of green fruit on most of my plants. We had a drizzly rain yesterday and when I went out this morning I was surprised at the number of new babies set. Chances are the cool nights will move in before the tiny ones have a chance of ripening but it is nice to see them loaded this time of the year considering the blistering heat we have had the past few weeks.

Bill
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Old September 28, 2018   #15
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Check out recipes using green tomatoes?

Donna
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