Hey fellow Floridians...

[Barb_FL]

I will be starting Jaune Flamme on January 1. I was thinking of starting my seeds the week of Christmas (we are away) upstairs and leave the wooden shutters (inside) open and hooking up a small fan on a timer so seedlings won't get spindly. We have Lexan on all our windows so when the shutters are open, it is a greenhouse effect when the sun is shining.

This weekend was perfect weather for me and the tomatoes. Super windy now and rain called for this afternoon.

I went out this AM and the black cherry had a lot of grey mold spots on them. I think this is all new to me because the tomato varieties I grew in the past, didn't get grey mold. They might have had other leaf issues (like yellow spots but I'm not sure if that is an leaf age thing of not).

I thought the spray I made last week was really rough on the KBX. Maybe I used too much Monterey Liqui Copper in the formula unless the leaves are suppose to wither. (for the couple of times I tried Daconil, the leaves afterward looked fine but I'm not sure if Daconil did anything either).

Lots of SunGolds and Matts Wild Cherry.

Your neighbors plant looks so healthy - that is how my Matts, Sungold looked until it didn't anymore , and now JD's special C Tex looks. I am trying to prune the C Tex so the plant stays looking good.

On another note, the Chocolate (rareseeds) has lots of flowers maybe some toms and doing so much better than last spring. I'm glad I didn't give up on it.

[ginger2778]

Barb, i never had that rxn from the Southern Ag fungicide used at half of their weakest recommended strength. I did at full recommend weakest strength or stronger. That is why I started using it at half. Daconil is not organic, and is better as a preventive than after active disease hits, also Copper spray kills bacteria too.

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

I will be starting Jaune Flamme on January 1. I was thinking of starting my seeds the week of Christmas (we are away) upstairs and leave the wooden shutters (inside) open and hooking up a small fan on a timer so seedlings won't get spindly. We have Lexan on all our windows so when the shutters are open, it is a greenhouse effect when the sun is shining.

This weekend was perfect weather for me and the tomatoes. Super windy now and rain called for this afternoon.

I went out this AM and the black cherry had a lot of grey mold spots on them. I think this is all new to me because the tomato varieties I grew in the past, didn't get grey mold. They might have had other leaf issues (like yellow spots but I'm not sure if that is an leaf age thing of not).

I thought the spray I made last week was really rough on the KBX. Maybe I used too much Monterey Liqui Copper in the formula unless the leaves are suppose to wither. (for the couple of times I tried Daconil, the leaves afterward looked fine but I'm not sure if Daconil did anything either).

Lots of SunGolds and Matts Wild Cherry.

Your neighbors plant looks so healthy - that is how my Matts, Sungold looked until it didn't anymore , and now JD's special C Tex looks. I am trying to prune the C Tex so the plant stays looking good.

On another note, the Chocolate (rareseeds) has lots of flowers maybe some toms and doing so much better than last spring. I'm glad I didn't give up on it.

[Fiishergurl]

Barb I agree with Marsha. I used the copper fungicide at a higher dosage than what she uses and my plants suffered as much from the fungicide as they did from the original disease. So now that I use it at Marshas strength it is fine and I also try not to spray the blooms but I do spray everything else.

Ginny

[Fiishergurl]

Decided to pick these before the rain washed them away...







Ginny

[Fiishergurl]

Barb & Marsha,

I'm trying to decide when to start more seeds too. I'm concerned mine might get done by frost at some point. Marsha when do you start a new batch?
Ginny

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by Fiishergurl

Barb & Marsha,

I'm trying to decide when to start more seeds too. I'm concerned mine might get done by frost at some point. Marsha when do you start a new batch?
Ginny

Really, i can start them at any time Ginny, frost only happens once every few years here. To answer though, usually I start my spring batch the first week in Dec. to plant out second week January. Only 10 plants at most, as all my August starts are usually still going strong. I just scored around 20 seven gallon pots from a landscaping site in my neighborhood. Guess what is going in those?

[Barb_FL]

Thanks for the advice; I think I will spray just the Black Cherries with lower dosage because everything else looks fine; can still see the blue spray.

Ginny - The plants will be tiny so you can always bring them inside. Also, you have so many good ones going, you could just take cuttings of those and just grow from seeds anything new you want to start.

Marsha - great score - do you have any pics of your set up?

Ginny - those tomatoes look wonderful. What is the big yellow one on the scale?

Is it super windy by you? My plants do worse in the wind than anything else. I've been patching up my poor staking today as I see the plants laying down.

[Fiishergurl]

Hi Barb,

The big yellow one will end up red. Its an Ugly Ripe from seed saved from a grocery store tomato... :-). I would have left it on the vine longer but the last time it rained it ended up raining for about 50 or so hours and that was not forecast and the tomatoes I left on during that were still good but more watery than usual. So today I picked everything that was blushing, just in case.

My husband and I spent quite a bit of time earlier today tying the plants back up after a couple of huge strong gusts did a number on some of them.

My friends and I are going to have a taste testing in a couple of days... below are the ones we have to compare so far... :-)

Girl Girls Weird Thing
Ugly Ripe
Stupice
Indian Stripe
Jaune Flamme
Sungold
Blush
Cherokee Tiger Large Red Dwarf
F3 Red Golf Ball sized saved seed from grocery store tomato

Ginny

[ginger2778]

Hey Barb, I think you just mentioned the issue. Your copper spray shouldn't appear blue on the leaves, if it is, then it's really too strong. I suggest that you check the amount your directions say, to make sure it isn't something simple like teaspoons instead of tablespoons( just saying cause I've done that LOL!)., and make sure that it's really weakly diluted. Also, since I am trying to problem solve with you, what time of day did you spray? It's best to spray only early am or late afternoon so the sun won't fry the leaves that have spray still wet on them. Chances are you knew this already, but it doesn't hurt to mention it.

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Thanks for the avice; I think I will spray just the Black Cherries with lower dosage because everything else looks fine; can still see the blue spray.

Ginny - The plants will be tiny so you can always bring them inside. Also, you have so many good ones going, you could just take cuttings of those and just grow from seeds anything new you want to start.

Marsha - great score - do you have any pics of your set up?

Ginny - those tomatoes look wonderful. What is the big yellow one on the scale?

Is it super windy by you? My plants do worse in the wind than anything else. I've been patching up my poor staking today as I see the plants laying down.

[Fiishergurl]

Ok here is what I'm starting this week.... some I had started for Fall but either they didnt make it or I gave them away due to lack of space. Except Sungold and Indian Stripe which I'm just starting a few more of those to make sure we have plenty. .. :-)

Captain Lucky (thanks Marsha!)
MarNar (thanks Ray!)
Indian Stripe
Sungold
Chocolate Stripes
Rebel Yell
Paul Robeson
Isis Candy (thanks Barb! )
Chocolate Cherry (thanks Barb!)

I have so many others I want to try but just so limited on space.

Ginny

[Fiishergurl]

I might be doomed for Winter. I thought since Barb was only 60 miles south of me and didn't have frost issues that I wouldn't either. I've been comparing my temps to hers and we've only been a couple degrees apart.... that is until this front moved through. It is 38 here and 47 where Barb is.... a 9 degree difference. So it looks like it might get significantly colder here. This is my first fall crop so ive been wondering if the tomatoes will last through the winter. Hmmmm.

[kurt]

Worst case scenario for would be for a prolonged period of 30-35 temps.But the accelerated danger will be a wind borne threat(wind chill).A barrier of saw horses,poles tarps will contain warmth after some good watering before (water is at 70 plus out of tap and warms during day in containers)the evening hours.Use some barrier to dispel the wind if you can.

[kayrobbins]

It broke previous records here last night and got down to 27. I had 13 of my tomatoes in the 5 gallon SIPs and I moved all of them into my one garage that is heated. The dwarfs were easy but moving the heirlooms was a challenge. They were so loaded with tomatoes that I was not going to loose them since it will be 80 again by Sunday. I did not knock off too many tomatoes and only broke a few branches. This normally does not happen here until January.

[Fiishergurl]

Originally Posted by kayrobbins

It broke previous records here last night and got down to 27. I had 13 of my tomatoes in the 5 gallon SIPs and I moved all of them into my one garage that is heated. The dwarfs were easy but moving the heirlooms was a challenge. They were so loaded with tomatoes that I was not going to loose them since it will be 80 again by Sunday. I did not knock off too many tomatoes and only broke a few branches. This normally does not happen here until January.

Wow, that's cold! What was it with the Wind Chill? Did everything fare ok?

We had a few branches break off in a couple of huge gusts that came through before the rain started. We were able to tie all back up except one branch with a few green tomatoes on it.

Ginny

[Fiishergurl]

Originally Posted by kurt

Worst case scenario for would be for a prolonged period of 30-35 temps.But the accelerated danger will be a wind borne threat(wind chill).A barrier of saw horses,poles tarps will contain warmth after some good watering before (water is at 70 plus out of tap and warms during day in containers)the evening hours.Use some barrier to dispel the wind if you can.

I was wondering if Wind Chill would have an effect. We had a wind chill advisory last night that made it feel colder than freezing. If the plants were damaged would it show up right away? My frost row coverings arrive today so I didn't cover anything last night. Except myself, my hubby and my dog and we were under three layers of blankets... lol.

Ginny