All of my tomato plants are loaded with blooms and tomatos. Just no pink showing yet. If everything holds together, this will be my best year yet. I am just getting impatient for some pink to show so we can start picking.

Just go away on vacation for a few days and they'll all be ripe when you come back. : ) In the same way that a watched pot never boils, a watched tomato won't ripen.

I've been picking ripe tomatoes since April (container grown and pulled into the garage on cold nights) and from in-ground plants since May. The harvest is really at its peak now and I'm in far southern OK. So, for anyone who planted further north from about mid-April to mid-May, I'd think you'd be having ripe tomatoes any day now, depending on the varieties you planted.

I hope you get your first ripe ones soon.

Dawn,
You are ahead of me. The seeds you sent have all been making lots of tomatoes on the vine, but haven't picked many yet. they're still green, but some blushes, and have had a few. The 4th of July are on time and have been enjoying them and the sun golds that I have been waiting on. They are really good.
I am really surprised of the size of some of the ones you sent, most notably Prime time, Red Scarlet, Red Defender and those like that.
My regular Big Beef's and Carnivals are outdoing themselves, in size and production. The hot June weather stopped fruit set, so this first flush will be it for a while. The next five nights are below 75 degrees and the days will not be as hot as june so look for more setting of fruit in the next few days.
Best of luck
Bill

Hi Bill,

I'm glad to hear your crop is doing so well. If the new hybrids you and I are trying (Scarlet Red, Red Defender, etc. ) do this well and make such large tomatoes in the heat we've had in June, just imagine how well they might do in a more normal June. Hopefully Scarlet Red and Red Defender wil have good flavor. We thought Primetime tasted really good last year. I bet they'll all start turning red at once.....because they always do.

I'm happy about the cooler temperatures too because it gives us all a chance for additional fruit set, which is nice after the abnormally hot June weather.

I didn't grow Big Beef or Beefmaster this year, and I miss them, so they'll likely be back next year.

I'll be out bright and early tomorrow thumping blossoms and shaking cages to encourage that pollen to move around and do its thing.

Best of luck to you too.

Dawn

Dawn, with all that many different varieties, how many plants of each do you have? And what in the world do you do with all those tomatoes?

Dawn too early for me to tell much. I thought i would have some by now on the early plants. But still at least two weeks away I think. Seeing more fruit set but still wouldn't say a heavy set. Most is on plants I expected. Have had some surprises so far. Some have been good and some not so good.
So far of those I have noticed fruit set on Amazon Chocolate, Kanora, Thessalonki and Illini Star are the leaders. There are several other with some fruit set. I was at my stepdads today and his Thessalonki is setting well also. Where I planted several later they are just starting to set so too early to tell on them. The Cowlick's set fruit early and then quit when the heat hit. Hopefully will set some more during the next few days. The PL Cherokee Purples are setting fair.
The biggest disappointment is Golden Cherokee. Was a big early plant which I put out 4-20 and it still looks good and hasn't set a fruit yet. Lots of blooms. Almost pulled it last week. Barring a big turn around it won't be back. Have had my share of trouble with the new Harris hybrids. Lost two Red Defender and then the current one got scalped by a hornworm. Hopefully will still get a few. Security went in late but looking good. The bell peppers from Harris look good.
I will update as the season goes along. Hopefully results will improve soon. Jay

Bob,

I have about 85-planted spring tomato plants and will plant the same number, more or less, for the fall garden in a couple of weeks.

We eat, eat, eat, all we can. We don't just eat them fresh, but I also cook a lot with them. Also, I dehydrate several thousand of the bite-sized ones for winter, and no matter how many I dehydrate, we always run out of them before spring arrives. I also freeze them a lot and cook with them in the winter months. I used to can a lot of tomatoes, but the fancy new stove (it is a lot smarter than I am!) we bought last year is a ceramic-topped one and you can't use it for canning. However, I kept the old stove and it still works and is out in the barn-style garage so I could clean it, plug it in and use it to can if I decided I wanted to spend a hot day out in the garage canning. (NOT likely to happen. LOL)

Also, we still do give away tomatoes to family members, friends, neighbors and hubby's co-workers, although we don't give away nearly as many as we did in the years I had 300-400 tomato plants. (For the record, with that many plants, you spend your whole summer doing absolutely nothing but picking and processing tomatoes, even if you give away Wal-Mart bags full of them daily.)

For years, we have joked that when Tim retires from his job, we'll become market growers and raise/sell tomatoes at the local farmer's markets. I think, though, that we may really do that. He won't be retiring for another decade or so, though, so that is some time away yet....and it gives us time to build more raised beds and a greenhouse before he retires.

I am not alone in being a tomato maniac. I know several hard-core gardening families here in Love County that routinely plant 200 tomato plants every spring. Most of them can/dry/freeze a great deal and also share with the family and friends. They all, though, plant in the spring, and I plant half in the spring and half in the mid-summer for fall.

Jay,

As long as the cold weather hung on there this spring, I was afraid you wouldn't have ripe tomatoes until mid- to late-July, so it sounds like you are right "on schedule", although I certainly wish you were getting ripe ones already.

When we first start getting ripe tomatoes, I eat them at every meal and often for snacks too. I simply cannot get enough. Then, as the summer goes on, even though I am still enjoying them, I no longer eat them 3 to 5 times a day. Still, nothing makes me appreciate my tomatoes more than walking through a Whole Foods or Central Market grocery store in the D-FW metro area....and seeing heirloom tomatoes priced for $4.99 to $6.99 a pound. Even more amazing? Seeing people happily pay that price! I consider our little garden a "gold mine" in terms of what our homegrown tomatoes would cost if I had to buy them.

So, Cowlick's is doing the same as every single other Brandywine we've ever tried? That's disappointing news. So is Golden Cherokee, and I am really surprised it has been in the ground so long without setting fruit. Maybe it will surprise you and be a great late-setting tomato.

All the Harris hybrids have pleased me greatly so far. So far, Primetime and Supersonic have been great in terms of fruitset,and the tomatoes have been quite large. Ramapo (purchased directly from NJAES) is stunning both in its heavy, heavy fruit load and good flavor. (I think Ramapo tastes better this year than last year.) Red Defender and Scarlet Red are planted both in containers and in the garden and are doing equally well in both. I haven't tasted one of them yet. And, Moreton, is doing great in the ground....heavy, heavy fruitset and also doing quite well in a molasses feed tub container but not nearly as well in a 5-gallon container (not unexpected).

I was delighted with Mtn. Princess until it died, so I'll try with it again next year.

My heirlooms are not producing as heavily as many of the hybrids, but Chocolate Stripes and Indian Stripes are amazing in terms of fruit set, as are Royal Hillbilly and Momotaro.

I look forward to hearing your future reports. Some years, I feel like July is too early to give up on plants, but that is only in years when we have enough recurring cold spells (like this past weekend's) to encourage additional fruit set. In a hot dry year with no cooler spells, the fruit set I have by the end of June is pretty much all I get on the larger-fruited spring plants, although the cherry and other small types set all summer long.

I know you're probably too far north for fall tomato plants set out in mid-summer to produce before your freezing weather arrives, but they are my salvation. Often, the fall crop is better than the spring one, which I really didn't expect when I started growing fall tomatoes about 15 years ago.

I am going to go eat a plate of fresh tomatoes for breakfast, and then out to the garden I go.....to pick more tomatoes. It is my favorite part of the year!

Dawn

Dawn: Cowlick's is by far the best setting of all the Brandywine types and crosses I'm trying this year. We will see if it sets more with the cool spells. And unless there is a big change it maybe the only one back next year. Ed's Millenium was set out later and seems to be setting some fruit now. So maybe it will come on. Usually my best and most productive time for tomatoes is Sept 1st till frost. So still plenty of time. Indian Stripes did well last year but also not setting heavy this year. Cherokee Purple from Craig was one of my heaviest setters last year and so far hasn't got into gear. The PL versions of CP have set a lot better so far. The last ones I set out the last 2 -3 weeks are my fall tomatoes. Although most years I can carry all through. Will little loss. Knock on wood. Here I usually see fruit set in August. I have always said any fruit set by Sept 1st in a normal year will mature. I've seen many give up and either abandon or pull plants in July then I would have a bumper crop in Sept. Now some of them are more patient. It looks like 7-10 days of extremely hot temps with little chance of moisture coming up. We had a big cloud split just west of us this evening. The lightning drove me in. Haven't been out but figure we got around a tenth. By the radar looked like some good rain close. Last night 30 miles to the west they got an inch. They have had close to 4 inches in the last two weeks. So it is getting close and also we are getting a little which is a start. Our turn is coming.
Had a coworker who was gone for the holiday weekend and have ten plants said when he got home last night he thought a hail had hit his plants and then found the hornworms. Think he said they pulled 12. He thinks two plants are goners. Said they ate some of the small fruit. I had told him two weeks ago they had hit my garden. Did a quick look tonight with the light rain and lightning and didn't see any. Jay

Dawn,

Of the ones you mentioned that I planted: Early Girl has done very well (as always); Red Defender had a fair fruit set but the plant health was very poor on 3 out of 5 plants (likely due to really bad aphids one week) and I have yet to taste one; Viva Italia made nice tomatoes (better than LaRoma) on poor plants (I didn't fertilize them) and are mostly all harvested; and lastly my 2 Brandywines have 11 and 7 tomatoes respectively and are good sized but not ripe yet.

I grew about 30 standard varieties and the Red Defender, Finish Line, and Viva Italia had very poor plant health compared to the others, but still produced a fair crop. The "control" group of Early Girl, Celebrity, and LaRoma all did well as usual. The other impressive ones of note this year are Amelia (best yield and big), Grapette (no cracking!), Juliet (huge yield and no cracking!), and Beefmaster.

Better Boy, Sioux, Fantastic, Empire, and Bradley all did well. Cherokee Purple were all deformed, but still did OK.

All are in raised beds and harvest is about 25% along so far.

Jay,

The only time I've ever really had great fruitset on Brandywine was in two years when I planted out in early March and was able to protect the plants from late freezing weather. In those two years, the plants flowered profusely in May and set a lot of tomatoes. We had so many Brandywines that year, I even gave some away. I was growing Sudduth's and OTV that year.

The best Brandywine here in terms of productivity has been True Black Brandywine, the William Woys Weaver one for which seed is available through Baker Creek. It produced all summer long last year in a hot, droughty year. This year, both the plants died early on after being planted, so I don't have any of them growing now. I think we probably gotr 15-20 ripe fruit per TBB plant last year, and that is better than the other BWs. This year's BWs (two plants) have produced 6 ripe fruit between them, and I'm having Brandywine BLTs for lunch in a few minutes. Yummy!

Indian Stripe has been slow this year, but the Harris hybrids have made up for it by giving us lots of ripe ones to keep us busy.

I saw the storm on radar and was hoping some rain would fall there.....I just wished you'd gotten more rain than you did.

Scott,

It sounds like you're getting a lot of tomatoes. I am dehydrating some today and boiling a big pot of others down to make spaghetti sauce for dinner.

I keep meaning to try Amelia but never quite get around to it.

Dawn

Dawn,
You were right about my tomato jungle. It was getting out of control so we went and bought t posts and twine and did the florida weave (somewhat). We will definately be better prepared next season.

My neighbor came over to check out the progress of the veggie garden. She was amazed. I have been harvesting lettuce and okra for a few weeks. And of course my "tomato jungle" is weighed down with tons of green tomatoes and a few ripe ones. Well, the neighbors love fried green tomatoes. So I plucked a few handfuls of the green hybrids and gave them away. I think that is the best part of having a garden is giving away alot of stuff. Although I am afraid there won't be much for us. lol Yeah right!

Anyways, my question is this...
Every year my boss picks his tomatoes green and puts them in a brown paper bag and puts them in a dark closet where they ripen on their own. He has given me a few bags every summer and they are great. So, I went and pulled alot of the heavy ones off and did the same thing. Is this a mistake? What are the benefits (if any) and what is not good about this method. Thanks Dawn!
Kristy

I don't have any great producers (grrr)...but my dad (whose garden is on steroids this year!) has had multiple large clusters of a tomato I'm unfamiliar with...Mountain Spring. He always buys his plants from Horn Seed Company in OKC. Anybody out there grown this one before?

Kristy,

I knew when I told you that you needed bigger cages that all we had to do was wait, and you'd see why I said that. It always amazes me how gigantic tomato plants get each year and they do it in only a few short months.

Without knowing if the tomatoes are 100% green when picked or if they had reached the breaker stage, it is hard to know how to answer this question, but I'll try.

Research has shown that you can pick green tomatoes when they are at the breaker stage and you can ripen them indoors and they'll taste just as good (or, at least, almost as good) as those that are vine-ripened. The breaker stage is that stage at which they are just starting to have the slightest hint of a non-green color, often it is sort of pinkish-white or a yellowish-white, but it depends on the variety.

If you pick them while they are too green and have not yet reached the breaker stage, they won't ripen naturally.

If you pick them while they are too green and are not going to turn ripe naturally no matter what, sometimes you might be able to 'force' them into ripening by putting an apple into the brown bag with them. The apple gives off ethylene gas that speeds up their ripening.

So, I think if you pick them once they are at the breaker stage, you can ripen them inside without a huge difference in their flavor. I'd rather let them vine-ripen because I think it gives them a fuller, richer flavor, but they have a perfectly acceptable flavor when picked at the breaker stage. Personally, I just prefer better than "acceptable" flavor....I want outstanding to excellent flavor and you don't always get that with tomatoes ripened indoors after being picked at the breaker stage.

It takes experience in watching tomatoes change color to learn what the breaker stage is. So, as a new gardener, one thing you have to be careful about is that you're picking them at the breaker stage and not picking them too soon.

For what it is worth, for everyone suffering the endless days of waiting for some greenies to turn to their ripe color, the darn things WILL ripen more quickly inside than they do outside on our 90-100+ days. But, it only works if don't pick them until they've reached the breaker stage. Please note that I could say "turn red", but I just use the words "turn to their ripe color" because a lot of us grow tomatoes that are not red when ripe, but that are other colors including black, pink, yellow, orange, white, purple or bi-colored or tri-colored. There are even some that are green-when-ripe that more or less stay green or turn a yellowish-green or an amber shade with green at the end or in streaks.

So, Kristy, if your tomatoes had reached the breaker stage, what you did was not a mistake. If they are not yet at the breaker stage, you might be able to force them to ripen using the apple-in-a-bag trick. If they were picked pre-breaker stage and won't ripen, you can make fried green tomatoes, fried green tomato sandhwhiches or chow-chow (green tomato relish) from them.

With some tomato varieties, I think it doesn't much matter if you pick them at the breaker stage, and with other varieties I feel like I definitely can tell the difference in the ones I leave on the vine to ripen. In the overall scheme of things, I might give most breaker-picked tomatoes a "B" on an A=F scale and most vine-ripened ones an "A" or "A+". Since everyone's tastebuds vary, you'll just have to try it different ways and see what works for you and see if you like them better when left on the vine to ripen or when picked at the breaker stage.

Sometimes, Kristy, (and I am not above doing this myself) it can be to your advantage to pick the green-breaker ones just before a summer 'cold front' rolls in or during a cool spell. That way, you're removing a portion of the fruit load which encourages the plants, in concert with cooler temperatures, to form more fruit.

This is an area in which the whole commercial tomato industry has gotten it wrong for so many years. They pick their tomatoes often before they are at the breaker stage, and they do this because really green tomatoes have a long shipping and shelf life. Then the tomatoes are exposed to certain chemicals that turn them red. However, even though the tomatoes are the correct color, they aren't ripe. So when you eat a red grocery store tomato that has poor flavor, it is because it was artificially reddened, but NOT ripened. Because the tomatoes were picked before the breaker stage, they don't have the full, rich flavor and texture of ripe tomatoes. That's why most grocery store tomatoes taste so bad and have poor texture. I won't even buy a grocery store tomato. I'd rather not have a tomato than to have a bad one. If the commercial growers/shippers, etc., could wait a few more days and pick at the breaker stage instead of when tomatoes are almost to the breaker stage, more of America would have a chance to see what a tomato ought to taste like, but it is unlikely the happen.

Dawn

Sharon,

Mountain Spring has been around since at least the early 1990s and was one of the disease-resistant hybrids developed by Dr. Randy Gardner while he was at NCSU. I believe he has since retired.

I don't specifically have Mountain Spring growing this year and haven't grown it in the past, but do have Mountain Glory Plus which is supposed to be Mountain Spring with some added disease resistant bred into it. I've got it going for fall, so will let you know how it does after I harvest and eat some of them.

If you are not familiar with Dr. Gardner's tomatoes, many of them have the word "Mountain" in them. He worked for decades to develop tomatoes that had resistance to multiple diseases and also had good flavor. Most of the ones currently on the market do produce good sized crops of tomatoes. Some produce better in hotter climates than others. Some have better flavors than others.

If you're impressed with your dad's tomatoes this year, then I'd encourage you to try Mountain Spring or other of Dr. Gardner's tomatoes next year. The seeds of quite a few of his tomatoes are available to home gardeners.

Dawn

Dawn,
Wow, thanks! My boss has been growing tomatoes for years and I guess thats why he knew when to pick them. I don't trust myself yet. I'm gonna let them vine ripen. Thanks

P.s. whoever gave me the grape cherry tomato at the garden swap....thank you. thank you. thank you. It is my favorite plant in my entire garden. I had never eaten a grape cherry tomato until yesterday. I will definately save seeds from this one and plant a bunch next spring.

Kristy

I like to leave mine to garden ripen. Some years the birds and other things like to eat if I leave them to plum ripe. So I pick 2-4 days early a lot. With lots of color but still not ripe. And let them ripen in the house. You don't even have to put them in a window. That seems to help. I like to leave them as long as possible as I believe the flavor is better. Jay