What did I learn:

There is such a thing as over watering.

It is hard to find a container mix that drains too fast.

Containers that are too small hurt the plant most late season.

I really really really really need to keep better track of what I did.

that I like tomatoes that are sweet, and dont much care for the others.

Staking and trellising early pays of big later.

There is no such thing as starting too early.

I never prune and learned the strong cage requirement 20 years ago! LOL Texas are great. CRW's are fine too if also staked well.

I think I finally figured this thing out. I plan on no changes next year...;-)

My biggest failing is planting things just a little too close together. I start a lot of plants, and while I give a lot away, it's hard for me to not plant those that may be left. And I don't have a big space. I'm going to resist "just one more" next year so that things are less crowded and easier to manage. And I'm going to get taller cages.

It has been a very interesting growing season. Things I learned this year and will do differently next year:

I'm going to grow with hybrid, bush type tomatoes that do well in containers.

I love Black from Tula tomatoes, but they crack so easily!

My self watering buckets worked great.

Sta Green potting mix seemed to work well in my self watering containers.

I need to learn about spraying. If I had adopted a regular spraying regimen I think my plants would have done better.

My plants did well with morning sun, afternoon shade.

I'm sure I'll think of more.

Yup...what Susan said. It's hard to not plant those leftover seedlings. I have to give away more, leave more room and get more Texas Cages and extensions for those that I have. The overcrowding is stress producing, difficult to weed, add mulch, pick, spray, etc. But boy, what a bounty this year. We are having a Nor'easter right now and those cages are getting a whoopin'. Even though they are managing, I will at least put one in the Texas Cages. Good thing I staked the cheapo cages and poles well.

Seems that this year I had a false start and did almost everything wrong. I need larger containers, better mix, and close attention to varieties, It may not be possible to grow tomatoes in Miami during summer, but next year I will give it my best shot.

I still have early blight slowly killing my tomatoes. I need a spot with more sunlight and less water. I'm going to have to switch to containers or raised beds next year. I think I'll put them where the blueberries are since the rabbits eat those anyway and that is a nice full sun spot within reach of the hose.

Of course, once I put the work in the weather will be completely different next year with a whole new set of problems. This year was just too wet and humid all summer and the tomatoes would have been fine with either a sunnier spot or a better drained spot, but couldn't cope with both wet and lack of sun.

I won't grow Soldaki and Dona got its last chance this year too. And I won't put the cattle panel trellis for the pole beans nearly so close to the back tomato row so the beans can't keep pulling the cages over.

And I need to totally re-vamp my drip irrigation set-up too. Bigger diameter supply lines and larger emitters.

Dave

PS: Oh and less plants too. But then I say that every year and it never happens.

I'm thinking that I'll go with multiple plants on varieties that I know grow well for me and less experimenting with new ones. They will probably be:
Paul Robeson
Green Zebra
Black Krim
Pineapple
Goose Creek and
Coustralee
I will spray daconil from the moment of planting (thanks Dave) to protect against fungal damage. I'll probably plant a bit later, maybe start in late April or early May even, just to avoid the chilly temps we've been getting. And I might just try 1 or 2 of Raybo's SWC's, just 'cause he was such a tease with his amazing photos this year. I'm sure I'll come up with another thing or 2 before next year though.
Don

I'll be changing from buckets and a drip system to SWCs and a gravity feed system with a 55 gallon reservoir hooked to another 55 gallon rain barrel.
I'll also start spraying the fungicide sooner and more scheduled so I don't lose most of the foliage but plants are still producing fine.
Brassicas will be started much sooner and/or later. This was my first year with them and was a miserable failure.

The number 1 thing I will do differently next year is to top off my plants at the top of my trellis. This year I had tomato plants almost 10' tall in SWC's, at least 2-3 feet above my trellis. And when we had a thunder storm with high winds, all of my very tall plants ended up with a lot of broke or damaged stems.

I also think I'll plant less tomatoes next year. Even with all of the super hot weather this year I still had "WAY TO MANY" tomatoes. I think 6-8 plants is plenty for my house.

I won't be using SWCs with 1.5 gallon reservoirs for large tomato plants next year! If I wanted to water daily I'd use a regular pot. :)

wulfe here's a video that might interest you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pu6J1qHt_k&NR=1

I don't quite see how they will incorporate the chicken waterer yet but get the general idea. I like the float valve and 55 gallon drum myself.

Less tomatoes. 20+ for basically 3 people is way too many. I ended up wasting a lot again and wasn't able to tend all of them. I'm going to shoot for 5 plants. A beef steak (2), a paste (2) and an early variety.

I'm also moving my operation to containers, or so i think. My tomato bed is getting converted into blueberries.

This year I discovered the "sideyard". It turns out that this area is an oasis of tomato growing heaven. Who knew that my property had such an area? I sure didn't. This year I only grew 3 tomato plants there but oh what a joy to behold. Next year I will expand in the "sideyard" and till up the sod to my hearts content - which honestly will probably mean doubling the growing space. I am way more motivated before the tilling actually begins. But I'm very optimistic at this point with the work still so far in the future. :-)

~Cindy

I will alternate tomatoes by color so that I can carefully distinguish which tomatoes are which when it becomes a jungle in August.

Stocking up on Messenger and spot treating with 6% clorox solution to keep leaves health. More aireation for SWC which means larger perilite and pine bark fines. Larger 10 gal grow bags that are white instead of black. Don't want to cook those roots. Hunting for ferterlizer to replace my dwindling supply of old Tomato Tone. More space between plants.

George

Actually, my tomatoes did quite well this year (compared to my squash and peppers which were terrible), so I don't need to change too many things.

1. I need to plant MORE tomatoes! Or at least more of the more productive varieties. It takes a LOT of tomatoes to make a batch of sauce! I got enough to can one batch of pasta sauce and do a couple of dehydrator-fulls of dried tomatoes, but not enough for salsa or anything else. It would be great to end up with enough canned tomato products so I wouldn't have to buy any.

2. Caging is not optional. I let them sprawl this year, and while the plants themselves did ok, this allowed a lot of the fruits to touch the ground and then get eaten by bugs. Better to have things up off the ground.

3. Start fall tomatoes earlier. I started mine in July and I don't think that was enough time. They're still very small and it's hard to keep such small plants watered enough in the August heat. I'm going to try starting them in May instead so I'll have larger plants to set out in late summer. I might be pushing things a bit trying to get fall tomatoes at all, but I think it's worth another try next year.

I think that's about it. I also learned that tomatoes do fine being started in the garage in winter, but it's too cold in there for their pepper and eggplant cousins, so I'm going to have to give them some bottom heat.

Here's what I will do differently next year:

1. Use cages for all the plants. This year I tried to cheat and put plants between cages. Eventually the ties all broke and the plants ended up falling all over the place. Not a pretty sight.

2. Plant them later. I put them in the ground about two weeks before the last average frost date and could have easily lost them all. As it was, most of the early tomatoes were severely cat-faced.

3. Plant more of them (and more varieties). I'm always afraid I'll end of with too many, but I have yet to find a friend or neighbor who isn't thrilled to be handed a bag of freshly-picked home grown. I have my favorites that I always plant, but this year I added a couple of new heirloom varieties and was glad I did.

These are some of the things I learned this year...

750 tomato plants is more than enough for one person and one dog.

Squash will never behave properly.

Beans either.

Trellising stuff while you can still see the ground is a good idea.

neohippie=

From experience, letting them on the ground is fine, but if you have voles, which are almost everywhere (they look like a mouse, but are bigger) they'll eat your tomatoes (they like them a lot). I've killed a dozen and trapped just as many, just this year. They breed like rats. I highly recommend good spacing and keeping all fruit off the ground. Voles can't climb.

"750 tomato plants is more than enough for one person and one dog."

So. . . . you need another dog or two! LOL!

Betsy

I need to do a better job keeping up with the spraying. And put the rat bait stations out earlier. And, most importantly, nix business travel in August so I don't have to listen to my DH on the phone telling me about all the wonderful tomatoes I'm missing!

Step away from the heirlooms and pick resistant varieties. I'm in a community garden with rampant disease. Also organic so options are limited. I do all the cultural things but it is hopeless in this setting. Only Martino's roma gave me unblemished fruit. But its leaves are all shot. Tons of leaves on the Speckled Romans, but all the beautiful skin is shot with tiny black spots.

I'll use a tomato cage
I'll not squeeze 2 tumbling tom plants into 1 hanging basket.
I'll use a bigger pot for my main tomato plant.
I'll try not to pull seedlings thinking they're weeds.
I'll grow habs & twilights
I'll plant my onions, garlic etc... properly instead of trying to use seed pots.

I WILL try potato seed from my plant this year as a seperate experiment.

Can't think of anything else...

I lost all but 2 of my plants last year to a hail storm, and that was demoralizing. Then I had a difficult winter and never started my standby varieties, much less any new testers. I ended up buying transplants for our cherry tomatoes (one yellow and one red each for our house and Dad's house), a 4-pack of paste tomatoes (Dad is an Italian cook), and a 4-pack of mixed "early" seedlings (3 red and 1 yellow no-names).

1. My cherry standards, yellow currant (NOT a currant tom, BTW) and Peace Vine, are earlier and we like the flavor better than Sweet Millions and ??? Yellow.

2. My kids are old enough now that one cherry each (yes, they stake their claims on the cherry tom bushes and carefully trade back and forth) is NOT enough. Next year they will each get 2 plants, one red and one yellow. And maybe I'll put in a black and a green for the salad bowl, too.

3. Time to stop TALKING about puting hail hats over the tomato cages in early summer and actually DO it. Just 1/4 inch hardware cloth wired to the top of the tomato cage until the plants get tall enough to push against it. My gardening neighbors swear it breaks up the hail enough to protect the plants in all but the worst storms. (Last year's storm would have beaten them to the ground, though. Every car in town looked like a load of river rock had been dumped on it, and many, like mine, had smashed windshields. No wonder the tomatoes were crushed into the mud, never to be seen again.)

4. Back to my favorite early season toms for the most part, Amber Colored, Maritime Pink, Glacier (red). I live on a cool mountain side, so these are my best bets.

5. I need a new paste tomato that will thrive in our short, cool summer. I've been growing Ropreco for years, considered short season, but I'm just not happy with it. Any ideas?

Catherine

Doing some quick research, I find 2 different varieties called Amber Colored. One is an indeterminate with medium sized fruit. That's the one I have and love.

The other is a dwarf with cherry fruit. Haven't grown that one.

Catherine

As silly as it sounds, I'll make sure the last minute
change from my list isn't a determinate or a plum.

Made both those mistakes this year.

Grabbed one determinate by mistake and grabbed a plum
by mistake.

And that was compounded by grabbing a Habanero instead
of a Jalapeno (peppers). Man those Habaneros are hot!

Zucchini can take over.....put it somewhere where it
won't shade other things (like beans).

Start spraying with Daconil before disease's start. Use as a preventative
instead of a cure.
Use rebar on all of my cheap tomato cages instead of just a few like this
year.
Resist on trading for more tomato seeds, unless it's something really special.
Grow Amish Paste next year. (Didn't this year)

I learned I really like Annies salsa and need to grow some more productive tomatoes so I will cut down on my experimenting on some of the smaller tomatos like JBT, Garden Peach and Purple Calabash.

NAR is a great tasting tomato but for the last three years it has been very unproductive for me and it won't be growing it again. Black Krim was my most productive and best tasting tomato this year.

It was a hot summer here in St Louis and I will not plant the Blue Lake pole bean again as I did not get a single bean off of it this summer.

And lastly, I am thinking about turning my cattle panels horizontical two panels high on each bed to see if I can cut down on the time it takes to tie the branches up and provide better ventilation.

I will go back to a wider spacing and stake earlier and stake all of them. Mine are too crowded and hard to get to, although most are producing great. We're done with trying corn -- two bad years in a row -- so I'll have more room anyway. Love the ultimato staking system, but I'll be more vigilant about moving the bars up as the season goes along. Again, more room between plants should help with that.

I'll also do all my seedlings by wintersowing. I used inside and outside methods this year and had way too many seedlings. Less hassle with the WS ones, and no hardening off.

Black Krim was/is great. I'll be growing that again. And Anna Russian is a huge producer as well, same with Opalka, although the seedlings took forever to thrive and I got just two to maturity from about nine seedlings. Amish Paste and San Marzano were similarly difficult, although the ones that made it are nice producers. Maybe it's the paste varieties, although all the Romas made it.

I'll also tie tags to the cages so identification of variety is easier. My markers in the ground are hard to find once the plant gets big, and one or two got lost so I'm not sure what variety some great tomatoes are.

Caryl

1. Cage all my tomato plants. The caged ones were vastly more productive  very little fruit rot, no bite marks, no fruit drop, easy to weed. Whoever said the "sprawl" method works must not be growing heirloom indeterminates.

2. Rotate plantings to reduce diseases. One of my gardens got hit with Septoria and early blight, which are continuing to climb up the plants. The Septoria is a carry-over from last year. The tomatoes are still ripening, but they're less flavorful since they have fewer leaves to give them sugar. I think that garden will get no tomatoes at all next year.

3. Space plantings farther. I thought 4' apart, on alternating sides of a 3' row, was enough. Next year, I'll move them farther apart for better air flow.

4. Use wider cages. The plants grew to 7' and completely filled my cages, which are 6' high and 24" to 32" across. The narrower the cage, the more tightly packed the foliage. Wider cages will give the plants more light and air.

5. Use cage material with at least 4" Ã 4" holes. Mine are made of 2" Ã 4" holes, which aren't big enough to fit a good-sized tomato. Widening the holes by bending the wires, or passing the tomatoes hand-over-hand to the top, is a hassle.

6. Don't interplant, even when the plants are small. The seedlings that were completely alone in their beds grew much faster and fuller than those that had temporary bunkmates such as lettuce or leeks.

Despite all of the above, I still got an amazing harvest this year, thanks mostly to the great growing weather. I've been feasting on Caprese salads, gazpacho, and sauce. So I'm hooked.

I'm going to start my tomatoes earlier and use supplemental heat in the greenhouse (May 1 target) to keep the night time temperatures over 0C. Six weeks before last frost doesn't give enough time to pot up at least twice. I have a short season and need more mature plants to put in the garden. Also, I'm going to put 10-15 seeds in a 2" pot. I've bought them this way and have usually ended up with 10 good plants from each pot. The single pot technique takes a lot less room under lights. Because I have a relatively (compared to many on the list) small garden and want a large number of plants I am going to prune next year. I plant too close not to.

I'm not sure about corn. I was going to give up on it. However, I have corn and brandywines cheek by jowl and the corn is offering good support. I'm not sure how much germination I'm going to get on the corn. :)

I won't plant any cherry tomatoes because I really don't like them and they are too hard to pick for others. I will plant Eva Purple Ball, Reif Red Heart, Cherokee Purple and Pale Perfect Purple in a good spot and if I go bananas again on too many plants, the new ones will get the less prime spots. I will try to prepare more deep holes with good soil and compost because my best tomato plant this year was planted in a hole I worked on last winter - two feet deep three feet wide with manure and soil added and the rocks removed.

First and foremost, I will have my soil tested. Even though I had a great crop of tomatoes,I want to know what the soil requires rather than guessing. Of course I've been saying that for the last three years. lol I will also find a different cherry tomato next year. I've grown Sweet Millions the last two years. I love the flavor but I'm losing about 80% due to splitting. I pick them early but the flavor isn't the same. I will water on more of a regular schedule to help prevent BER. I will write down on paper where each of the six or eight varieties are planted instead of telling myself that I will remember this year. Yeah,right! I will attempt to convince myself that growing cucumbers is a waste of my time. All these plans will probably end up like my New Years resolutions every year. lol unc

Next season I will grow fewer seedlings.That doesnt mean I will plant out any fewer tomato plants, just that my rule of thumb about growing 6-8 seedlings for every 1 plant for the garden, just so I can be safe, is crazy LOL. I do like to give some away but I just dont have the room to keep 80+ seedlings alive in my house(I grow Peppers and Eggplants too so that means a 125+seedlings ). Plus it is way too much work carrying them in and out to harden off. I have tried tough love with hardening by taking them out and leaving them , but that always leads me to heartache. Soooo....next year I vow to only plant 6 seeds tops, and to only allow the finest 3 or 4 of them to be potted up.If I cant keep those alive long enough to make the garden then they just weren't meant to be.....

I will plant only one tomato per container and use a bigger container. The tomato will stop growing when the root is inhibited. I will make sure to place the plant in part shade (we have stronger sun than most). I will use continueous feed via the water reservoir.

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Tomatoes

I learned that tomatoes grow bigger than I remember growing up.
I learned that the piddly little tomato cage from the BORG is no match for a big indeterminate plant.
I learned that you can't plant 2 indeterminate tomatoes in a 3 x 10 garden. Well, you can but the plants will make the garden whatever size they want, in this case it is 10 x 15.
I learned what indeterminate is.
I learned that tomatoes taste better when you grow them yourself.

This was my first vegetable garden.

I learned that seedlings should be transplanted deeper than the soil surface of their original container.
I learned how to save tomato seeds (yay!)
I learned (like sustainablenick) what indeterminate is.
I learned that wimpy cages are for wimps (will cage properly next year).
I learned that I don't like tomatoes with thick skin, mealy meat or ones that are very sweet.
I learned (as I suspected) that I can never have enough tomatoes.
I learned what "early blight" is (from reading this thread - and yes I seem to have it on some of my plants).
I learned that I *love* growing tomatoes.

Hoping to have an even better experience next year.

three words: soil moisture meter!

only thirteen bucks on Amazon... can't believe how much guesswork it should have taken out of my 15 container plants. :/

I can never have enough garden space. Anybody have 80 acres for sale? I hate yellows and whites, love blacks, purples and greens. Will get tomatoes in the ground by NLT Feb 1. Use big cages, not Florida weave. Dig big holes and lots of sulpher.
I need to plant something determinate for sauce next year. Also, must try CP, have no idea why I didn't plant any last year. Will start making CRW cages in Nov when seeds are started. Will start some fall seeds in May.
Serenade really works, at least here in Phoenix!
For those that find habaneros too hot, try habanero gold jelly. It's nirvana!

My,unlike the Mr's,interest is Tomatoes. I always grow 15-20 different plants per year. I have never grown the same variety twice.Next year I will limit my growth to 10 plants MAX and they will mostly be varieties I like the best with 1 or 2 new ones. I will plant 2 each of Rostove,Marianna's Peace,Black from Tula and Mortgage Lifter(estlers). Looking at Carbon as well as Omar's Lebanese as my newby's.
Jim

Next year I will not buy a seed mixture. I now know that all I need are 2-3 paste and 1 slicer plant. I will also trust my gardening skills. I jammed too many plants into my garden because I was sure I'd kill most of them off. I now have to fight my way through a jungle to do any harvesting.

This is so crucial for me I'm gonna post it twice on this thread. I shalt not travel in August...I shalt not travel in Augest....I shalt not travel in Augest. Came home after 2 weeks away and found total disaster, even though DH had been "tending" to things.

Digdirt,
I can well understand why you say Dona got its last chance
in 2010. That is most certainly though NOT the F1 seeds.
I had one plant in 2010 and found it better than Ramapo.
However, that is the F1 and they are hard to get.

Things I will do this year:
1.) Drip Irrigation: It's cheap and easy to put in and for 30+ plants its a must. Here's to hoping we have a normal growing season and a good spring and don't need to use it too often.

2.) Staggering Seed Starting Times: I timed my varieties to get earlies earlier and later varieties when the weather is warmer. In the past I got everything at once and this year I'd like a little more spread, with the larger / later varieties coming up in the hotter parts of summer when flavor should be best.

3.) Garden Prep: I did all my garden prep in the fall this year and added a 8" layer of rotting organic mulch (sheet composting). All I have to in spring is plant and add some more mulch over top, we'll see how this goes.

4.) Containers: All Earthboxes this year. I have enough land and don't really need the containers, so I cut back from 6 to 3 and I'm going with the Earthboxes for the few I plant because if we get another summer of 100 degree days, I won't be able to keep up with the watering.

I believe I might plant more hybrids. And half of those will be fertilized with shad from the nearby lake. I will attempt to feed less,though I am not sure. Tomatoes really love food.

I have to start fewer plants, give them more room, and keep the foliage off the ground or prune it. I will also try a garden hose with holes punched into it for drip irrigation. Attaching irrigation tubing with flag emitters to my rain barrel didn't work.

Blight has been a problem for me during the last three years (even though I rotate every three years, space apart (last year's 5' x 5' centers weren't enough), drip irrigate from below, prune up 12" from the bottom, mulch and spray frequently). What I haven't done in the past is start fungicide at planting. I intend to do that this year. Root loss has been a problem for the last two years. Tremendous amounts of rain in northern MO. Most of the first half of the last two years, my garden looked like dirt soup. I have lots of compost in the soil but I plan to use more Earthright this year, to deepen the soil more, and improve drainage. I am also considering adding plastic between rows, with weed block on top of that, to let water drain off. I like weed block in 5' wide rolls, because it lets me get in the garden when things are a little damp, and eliminates weeds. Plants will be 4' O.C. with 8' between rows (for air circulation). Based on the way things have gone in the past, I will only have 2-3 feet to walk between plants (even with 8' O.C. rows). Learning all the time.