Talking about windy day ! Tell me about it , Janice.

Not too bad though. Maybe 20 MPH ?

Here is the the one and only tomato with fruits on it : SILVERY FIR TREE. I might get a ripe tomato in May. I have 2 SFT. They are each in a 5 gallon fabric bags. Very pretty compact determinant , w/ carrot leaves and beefsteak size tomatoes. VERY EARLY !!!

I have few with flowers. The best ones are :

SUNGOLD

and >>> BLACK CHERRY

Sey

Looking good Sey. You have a lot of growing space. Beautiful garden. I just transplanted cucumbers, six hills, all big box store Boston Pickling. I had good luck with them last year. They seem to be less attractive to the beetles. I believe that is all I can squeeze in. I have about 10 plants to give away, including a Big Beef, Sungold, Giant Pink Belgium, Pink Accordian, Rutgers, and Gold Medal. A nice assortment for someone.

Here is a young Pink Accordian. It has always had an odd color.

Here is a closeup of my Black Vernissage tomato. It is a black and green stripe tomato I got for free from Baker creek. Surprisingly it's doing the best of all my tomatoes so far. all of the seeds germinated and I have so many plants right now. more photos tomorrow.

Looking good, you all!

Today planted the last 4 dwarfs in a raised bed. First planting outside!

Under 14" high domes (vents are opened since will be 75 high, but very windy, then closed at night). The domes are made in USA and so tough you can stand on them!

1 Pride of Flanders

3 Margo hybrid (only grow to 30" and disease resistant):

http://www.tomatogrowers.com/MARGO-VFFT-HYBRID/productinfo/3095/

Here are the rest of the dwarfs planted in containers over a week ago --- now outside getting 9+ hrs of sun.

One jalapeno pepper that overwintered and two Tiny Tims

Two Lime Green Salad (in the 5 gal buckets) and one Orange Pixie micro

One Tiny Tim

Tony

The dwarfs are looking happy to be outside Tony.

It rained here yesterday, then up to 86 today. The rainwater and the heat put the plants in high gear. The little Pink Accodian come up about 5 inches off the ground. And the others are growing frenetically. Here are some close ups of the growing tips:

I was at HD (in Myrtle Beach ) today and bought a Juliet plant. I wanted to start it from seeds but did not have any. I like Juliet. It is productive and crack resistance. It is bigger than grape and smaller than Roma. I like also its tangy taste. Perfect for making fresh pasta sauce or just canning whole.

OH ! I also bough a RED BHUT JALOKIA (ghost pepper)

sey

Janice --- nice !!!

Sey --- we love tangy tomatoes!

Under domes overnight. Tomorrow sunny with 72 high temp. So, domes come off and the Tiny Tims are out again.

Tony

If you have growing space and a freezer, you should add JULIETS Sey.

I read where others have issues with Sungold splitting. Mine have never done that. I tend to pick at strong blush though. They taste wonderful if vine ripened or counter ripened.

The RED BHUT JALOKIA sounds hot.

Another busy leader

Everyone's plants are looking AMAZING. We had some severe storms yesterday, but I didn't suffer much damage. Here's a video I took today. Let me know what you think

Very nice Kevin. Really enjoyed your video. Look forward to more.

Kevin --- Super !!!!!

My back is beginning to ache just watching how many you planted.....

Tony

First opened flowers !!!

Tiny Tim (listed as 45 days)

Lime Green Salad (listed as 55 days)

The race is on Janice :)

Tony

p.s. this Tiny Tim is already 7" tall (they get to be about 12" when mature)!

And the rest are getting the first sun-rays.

Another rainy night, followed by bright sun and strong winds. Some of the plants are showing some frayed leaves from the wind, but they are still carrying on the business of growing. The growing tips look like little factories. They just keep churning out more leaves and buds. All plants are looking better. Only one Principe Borghese looks very unhappy. The other one looks fine.

And the Pink Accordian.

The difference in color between the Indigo Apple and Pink Accordian is quite noticeable.

Janice, your garden is on its way to a great season.

I grew Indigo Apple and Indigo Rose last year. This year I am growing Indigo Cherry Drop this year. I have read the reviews saying that it tastes better. We shall see.

One of my Sungolds has pea size tomato. The remedy to cracking SG tomatoes is to pick them early and let them ripen on the counter.

My ML was toasted by the freeze but then started growing from the roots. Now it is short and bushy.

Sey

Thx Sey. I believe this is a Pork Chop.

Today saw the 1st tomato formed on the Tiny Tim I planted 3-22 (started from seed 1-28).

Tony

Congrats, Tony.

Today I finished planting the last of my tomatoes. i have few extras to compost. hehe.

Now I have to get busy with supporting them. I am going to do one row (12 plants ) by stringing and lowering. An I will do Florida weave on the rest. Can't afford to make/buy so many cages.

I think I have a total of about 50 plants in the ground out of close to 33 varieties. Then I have about 20 peppers, and 10 eggplants. Luckily they are much easier to support. Few Bamboo sticks or twigs will do.

sey

Elena, haven't heard from you in awhile. Tell us what you are planting, how far you are along, and post some pics.

Tony

Got my first tomatoes blushing. It's my Sakura variety (was my first plant to set fruit also) which is also my earliest variety I have.

The water spots are residue from the copper and mancozeb I sprayed yesterday.

Congrats on the first bush !. What is the final color ?

I can't wait to see mine to break color.

Now that the night lows staying in 50s that should speed up the process a bit.

sey

Batch #1 (~30 varieties) is going outside tomorrow. We'll harden them on the porch of the main garden shed during the day and will put them inside the shed at night. Nothing but lows in the 50s in the extended forecast. Batch #2 is 1.5 weeks behind #1 and Batch #3 is 3 weeks behind Batch #1.

The pepper and eggplant starts have been fabulous this year. We're thinking they'll go out in a couple of weeks.

Shell 6A

I was gone a whole week and found these on my return:

Pick my first tomatoes today. Some sakura and a couple sungolds. I have a couple issues with my plants - leaves are yellowing and poor fruit set. I gave them a healthy dose of water soluble fertilizer, that will hopefully take care of the leaves, since I don't believe it is a disease issue. As far as the fruit set its mainly the bigger beefsteaks, so I'm thinking it could be too hot already or once again a nutrient issue. I'll be keeping a close eye on them and if they don't start producing, I'll pull the and replace them with something that will.

My cherries and determinants like Rutgers are setting. I am seeing the beefsteaks struggle. The first blossoms are too heavy to open. The early beefsteak blossoms are super sized. I inspected some dropped blossoms today off of the beefsteaks, there did not appear to be any signs of infestation. The flowers seemed to be to heavy to open. The petals were stuck to each other and the other main part, forget its name, seemed to hold moisture as a result and molded. We had high humidity on Sunday/Monday. Not sure what happened last week as I was suffering in the Bahamas. I noticed more recent beefsteak blooms are opening up nicer(look more like a Sungold blossom). I think it just takes the beefsteaks a little longer to stabilize, unless you have a magical greenhouse like Hudson. The best magic I have is fish emulsion. There is a Sweet Million that is making mega buds. It is a freak. The Dr Wyches Yellow is flowering like crazy, but all are dropping. I am seeing strong setting on the Sungolds, Principe Borghese and Rutgers. I think the beefsteaks need a little more time. I don't have any ideas on your yellowing leafs.

One more thing. I am jealous you have fresh cherry tomatoes to eat.

Pcola, could your plants be staying too wet? Looks like a root issue to me.

Ncrealstateguy - I'll check next time to see how wet they are. I haven't watered since last Tuesday, and previous to that just a lil rain and water when I planted out. It's affecting the oldest plants first, I would say. Also all the new growth looks super healthy, that's why I'm thinking a nutrient problem maybe. The newest planting I did all seem to be doing good, so only time will tell, but I planted them the same way.

Mega bud on Sweet Million

I keep fruiting logs. I compared last years to this year. Overall, there is more fruit this year because I have almost twice as many plants. But because my plant out date lagged almost two weeks behind this year(remember the freeze around 15 March), my pollinated beefsteak fruit is way down. I only have 9 this year. Last year I had about 38 on the vines.

this year:

'Last year:

Hey Janice - My Beefsteaks seem to be doing better, they are starting to set some fruit. The newest row that I planted (CP, CG, and Chefs Choice) seem to be doing a lot better then my previous plantings, they are setting fruit as well. I had some kind of nutrient problem. I think it may have had to do with the not quite composted wood chips.

I also have another garden that I planted that is starting to show great growth after some hesitation.

Forgot what this one is, but all are looking about the same. I still have to lay some irrigation and mulch.

P.S. nice cats

I am also noticing the last set of plants that went into my garden seem to be very well adjusted. They were smaller when I set them out, but seem to be doing very well. They are still catching up. They have large leaves, better color, and good proportions, being stocky and bushy. If they can set fruit in time, then this is a big lesson learned.

Your late garden looks good Kevin. Especially that last plant. In the past, Cherokee Purples have competed well with Big Beefs for early fruit set for me. Can't beat them for our climate.

My most mal adjusted plants are in the raised bed. This goes for tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. Two of the tomato plants in the raised bed are from the big box store. They are not thriving like their in ground peers. I have a few Bonnie and other store bought starts mixed in as a very non scientific gage of how my starts are doing compared to others. Everybody in the ground is much happier than anybody in the bed, regardless of starting talent. Plants in the ground seem fairly equally happy. Except for one. I will document it. One of two Principe Borghese will need to be pulled. I will show photos comparing it to its neighbors and one peer. The other PG was started at the same time and even though somewhat small, is loaded up with fruit. The small size may be a reflection of my gardening talents or may be characteristic of the variety. I will also be examining the root/ground area. I am always on the lookout for root knot nematodes. The failed plant is very odd. The main stem seems normal, it just can't seem to grow normal branching stems and leaves.

The problem in the raised is something I am doing wrong. I did add one or two bags of new soil. I still have an unopened/unused bag. It could be that whatever is in the bag is acting like uncomposted wood chips. I can't remove it now. It is mixed in. I may offset with a two inch layer of Black Kow composted manure mixed into the top. In hindsight, I should have just added more Kow. I have never had a bad experience with that product. Tomatoes always seem to love it.

I will be making cages today. I need these in a hurry. Some of the plants are starting to sprawl.

Fruiting is improving. 152/10/10 for cherries/mids/beefsteaks

Sungolds:

Orange Blossom (med to large determinant, orange, sweet)

Indigo Apple showing some darkening where the sun hits. Fruit set struggles on this plant. A peer plant does a little better)

Crazy truss and buds on the Sweet Million. Waiting to see how it sorts it all out.

Finished the cages just in time. Made about 16 over the weekend and used up all the CRW. My back hurts a little, but I am injury free. You really have to treat those cut ends with some respect. All 48 plants have a cage. No Florida weave experimenting this year.

Here an update on my dtown garden. I'm having issues with all my plants, maybe you guys can help me out. The video cut out at the end.

https://youtu.be/q9GrA-3o75Y

Ouch!... That is ugly. Looks like maybe more than one issue going on to me... the uniform yellowing of the leaves on some and then the brown growing tips of others seem like two different issues. Have you ever checked the pH of the soil?

Ncrealstateguy - I had the extension office do a pH test which came back 6.3, so I'm not sure that's the issues especially since my containers are doing almost the same thing. I'm stumped, I have no idea what I'm going to do. I am going to give them some more time and see how they react to the fertilizer I gave them today. The tops 3rd of all my plants look like they are doing good. Lots of growth, normal color, and they are still setting fruit. At this point they just look really bad, but I'm not sure that they are really dying. I'm hoping for the best. It would be a pretty big loss, but I do have another 47 plants at another location that seem to be doing better than these ones.

Thanks

Are you applying/spraying in sun? Has the top one third (new growth) been sprayed?

PcolaGrower, try starting a new thread for identification of your issue. Good luck.

Kevin -- so sorry to see this, because if it is what I think, this plot is done for planting till next year.

Fertilizer Burn. Happened to a fiend who picked up a load of manure and spread it a month before planting. Halfway through season leaves started yellowing then browning then crumbling till the plants all died.

The manure was fresh and hadn't composted/matured/cured --- so was too strong and killed the plants. Next year by spring he just tilled the now well composted garden and had fantastic tomatoes.

I don't think its a disease since no tale-tail signs such as blotches, spots, brown/grey dots, holing, etc. are showing.

All the best and keep us posted.

Tony

Thanks Tony, I'm not giving up yet, hopefully they might recover. The only problem now is, I ended up fertilizing them again, so I might have made it worse. Hopefully the rain we had last nite diluted it and flushed it out some. It's crazy to me the only stuff I used was some black kow manure and some generic manure, all bought at home depot. I also used some of jobes organic fertilizer for tomatoes at the recommended rates. The only fertilizer I did use that might have been strong was Flora nova by General Hydroponics, it's just a water soluble fertilizer, I used at at the recommended rates also. Luckily, I do have another grow site with 47 plants that is doing great, I'll probably focus on that site and wait to see what happens to the damaged plants. If they don't get better, I'll just pull them, harvest what I have, and plant some other crop.

I asked a fellow gardener in my area, he said it did look like nitrogen burn.

Anyways, not all is lost. Lesson learned

Also, my containers show the same symptoms and I used the manure in those too, so I'm thinking that could've been the cause maybe

Kevin --- since you fed them again yesterday, if they get much worse in the next few days, than it's definitely fertilizer burn (too much).

Rain and over-watering won't help since the excessive fertilizer is already deep in ground. Pick what you can, then pull. Dump containers on the ground (fill with fresh top soil) and plant in the containers only. The rest, till and let sit for several months before planting.

Keep us posted.

Tony

Kevin --- the 6.3 PH only means that N, P, K are balanced --- it doesn't mean
that all are NOT way too excessive in concentrated strength.

Tony

Fertilizer burn would fall under my suspicion of root damage.

Does cow manure really have that high of nitrogen? Or is it that it was not composted enough and when decaying it locks up all of the available nitrogen?

I'm not sure Ncrealstateguy, the generic manure doesn't have an analysis. The Black Kow bag have a analysis of .5-.5-.5 , so that doesn't seem like much to me. The jobes organic has a 2-5-3. I did sprinkle some osmocote on the top, but it wasn't much at all. I used the same fertilizers over at my other grow site minus the manure and they are all doing great. I do have some new growth at the bottom of my plants. I'm wondering if it might be worth it to go ahead and cut the plants down and leave a growth tip and see if they will grow normal or do you guys think that would stress the plants. On the other hand I think my plants are already super stressed. I'm hoping maybe they recover and will adapt and hopefully produce.

Based on my sandy soil here, rain/water will flush nutrients out and away sufficiently. I would say hold off. I would not do anything except give normal water, and monitor. See if they can pull through.

So after checking on my garden today, it looks like I might have to start over. They look much worse due to me fertilizing them again. Also that storm that came through late last night tore them up pretty good. I think my best bet is to probably take cuttings from the plants that still look somewhat healthy and maybe cut the plants down to the lowest growth tip and see if they will recover. This was my first time attempting to grow tomatoes in the ground, even though I wasn't too successful I still managed to get some ripe tomatoes and the experience has taught me some valuable lessons. I cant get too upset with myself, as much as it does suck, I still have my other grow site and my house garden. I'm going to probably start another thread about my other grow site. Thanks for all the comments, hope to see you in my next thread.

The other grow site is one I've been working on since last October. It was a super sandy piece of land that I've been amending with leaves and compost for a while now. Its finally taking shape and my tomato plants seem to be happy at the moment.

The before

This past winter

Prepping for tomatoes

I think I planted them around 4/7ish and this is from 4/20

Todays Pic 5/01

Lots of activity on this spring thread!
Right now my tomatoes are looking pretty good, I'm behind anyone w fruit right now but it's coming along.
Attached is a pic from one of my Syrian cucumbers. They are growin like mad in a raised bed that's way too small , but is packed with a lot of companion plants and apparently getting enough water and food. Will post more pics tomorrow. I'm out of room and have to really start a new bed before pepper season hits here!