all Beefsteak tomatoes, worst year I ever had Didn't get any peppers too.

[coffeeman]

Hi all
I planted a flat of tomatoes, Beefsteak. I picked those because an old name and I remembered them to be big & meaty. I gat so many that seemed to rot before ripe, because of deep cracks at the stem of tomato. Between the animals and and rot or blight not a good year. Also, Planted bunch of peppers . Thin skin , small and didn't do any good. Very small. Second year for garden and didn't do good. Used planting soil when planting. Same stuff in pepper hole. Watered good. spread some fertilizer in wide circle around plants. Cucumber plants did great.
2 plants gave us more than we needed .

SO.. in about a 100 words or less, whats the best way to do a garden; tomatoes, peppers cukes & squash

Cheers

 

[Mendonsy]

Hot and dry summer???

 

[newbury]

<snip>
SO.. in about a 100 words or less, whats the best way to do a garden; tomatoes, peppers cukes & squash

Cheers

If you are talking an 18 container flat of tomatoes that failed and 2 cucumber plants gave you more than you needed, I'd look at 5 gallon containers hooked up with water hose for tomatoes and peppers and a plastic 30 to 50 gallon trash can for your cukes and squash.

 

[Firehawkmph]

Add some bone meal to the soil next year. Prevents the blossom rot in tomatos, lack of potassium. My small garden (10' x 32') did great this year in Ohio. My wife put up 60 quarts of tomato sauce, about thirty quart size ziplocks of green beans, 20 pints of banana pepper rings, froze about a dozen stuffed peppers, and dried a few hundred cayenne peppers and crushed them. Here's a pic from what I was picking every 2-3 days.
Mike Hawkins

 

[Stimw]

Tomatoes have a term called- blossom end rot. The tomato is considered the blossom!
As stated, it can easily be treated once you know what you have.
Everything I plant gets Epsom Salts (magnesium sulfate) sprinkled and raked in before I plant. Directions also state to dissolve in water and apply.
My cucumbers are legendary! I always have too many and give them away. Everyone tells me they are the best they have ever had!
I believe it is from the magnesium sulfate.
It would help if you added your location, someone might be able to offer local growing problems.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Blight is a common problem with tomatoes. You can minimize the blight by pruning them and training them onto a fence so the tomatoes get plenty of sunlight and don't touch the ground.

 

[adimice]

Not to act like a knowitall, I,ve been growing tomatoes commerically for years. Blossom end rot only occurs with the first set of tomatoes because I grow hundreds of plants I don't worry about it. Early blight is the bane of us eastern tomato growers. You have to spray with fungicide, from day 1. The day you plant them, spray with either: Mancozeb, fung oil or daconil. Then spray every 7-10 days for 7 times. When you plant, water them in with a light blue solution of soluble fertilizer ( Wal-Mart sells an inexpensive soluble called Expert) It has a high middle number 15-30-15. When the tomatoes are golf ball size, side dress with 10-10-10. Check your PH, all the fertilizer in the world won't help if PH is off. Mulch with straw or hay, will keep soil damp and keep down weeds. I only grow Goliath and get 25lbs per plant. Of course you should stake or use a trellis system or cages.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I usually do pretty well with tomatoes and cucumbers, but this was not a good year for either. I got a good first crop of tomatoes through July, but the rest of the season was poor. The cuke vines all died from blight. I don't plant a lot of tomatoes, usually about 18 or so but my yields are usually good. I mix a cup of bone meal and a cup of blood meal in the soil at the bottom of the hole when I plant them and that seems to work well. I plant them in cages and trim up the bottoms of the plants to allow good air circulation. I mulch with cotton seed hulls and water with a soaker hose. My best variety is Super Fantastic; they are very disease resistant and almost always produce.

I have never planted Goliath, in fact don't recall ever seeing that variety. I have never had good luck with the Heritage varieties.

A few peppers early; the deer ate the rest, along with my East Texas Purple Hull peas and some of the tomatoes.

 

[mad e max]

The experts will all tell you to get your soil tested, after that opinions vary..
For new gardens I add equal amounts of ag lime, dolomite lime, and gypsum.
I always mulch with compost , 2-3 inches deep 3 ft out from tomatoes
Watering frequently, helps with both blossom end rot, and cracking.
My favorite canning tomato is heirloom variety polish linguisa. Store bought cages won't hold them up, I use 6x6 welded wire and t-posts.
I tried a lot of different varieties of peppers, California wonders will not produce in a northern climate, my favorite bell is king Arthur hybrid.
I've also had good luck with Italian heirlooms.

 

[Industrial Toys]

What's the best way?

Buy it in season, cheap, from someone else that is better at gardening than you and has lots of time.

Our Tomatoes didn't do to bad. Started with a big plant from a store and that gave us a head start. Otherwise, our season is too short.

Potatoes (German Butter Balls) pretty small in size and number.

Peas and carrots , dismal!