'Maters out the......

[Dishpointer]

I am also battling blight. I already pulled a few plants and threw them on the burn pile. Today I ended up canning about 16 quarts of salsa and will need to do something with the other 4 bushels still on the vine. I like the idea of quartering up and canning so I will probably do that. AS for mater sandwiches, my favorite is broiling some bread with miracle whip on top until it is almost golden, putting a thick slice of tomatoe on top, a little salt & pepper, than a piece of swiss cheese. I believe I could live on that as long as I had a big glass of milk to go along with it.

 

[kenmac]

The last 2 years I also fought blight. There's not much you can do but, watch your plants die. It's heart breaking just from all the work I put into the tomato plants. I have asked what causes blight & get different answers from every one I ask.I haven't had a blight problem this year but, I still don't know the single cause (if there is one) of blight.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

The last 2 years I also fought blight. There's not much you can do but, watch your plants die. It's heart breaking just from all the work I put into the tomato plants. I have asked what causes blight & get different answers from every one I ask.I haven't had a blight problem this year but, I still don't know the single cause (if there is one) of blight.

Blight is a fungus. There are ways to reduce the likelyhood of blight. 1.) set plants further apart to improve air flow to lower portions of the plant. 2.) spray (as directed on label) with good fungiside. (Don't have product name with me) 3.) Don't plant tomatoes in same area 2 years running. 3.) remove EVERY scrap of infected plant material. Don't leave a single speck in garden, nor place any in a compost pile. Fungus will live several years buried in ground. 4.) Hope for ideal weather conditions. (Not too hot, not too cool, just enough rain, lower humidity) Good luck with #4.

 

[dmccarty]

Tomato Gurus,

This is the first year at the new house where we had time to plant. We did not get to plant but two things, tomatos and some hot peppers. The hot peppers where planted late and I dont think anything is happening. I was going to stake up the tomato plants but one thing led to another and they have just grown all over the place. I think I 6-7 plants survived and they are a good 8 feet in diameter. These are the best tomato plants we have ever had. I have only found one rotten tomato and I think a bug got it. At our old house I bet we lost half the tomatos to rot. The rest have been fine except for the cracks on the top of the tomatos.

What is the advantage to staking the plant? The only thing I can see is that it maximizes the number of plants in the garden.

How do you stop the top of the tomato from cracking? Its happened with every plant we have ever grown.

Later,
Dan

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Tomato Gurus,

This is the first year at the new house where we had time to plant. We did not get to plant but two things, tomatos and some hot peppers. The hot peppers where planted late and I dont think anything is happening. I was going to stake up the tomato plants but one thing led to another and they have just grown all over the place. I think I 6-7 plants survived and they are a good 8 feet in diameter. These are the best tomato plants we have ever had. I have only found one rotten tomato and I think a bug got it. At our old house I bet we lost half the tomatos to rot. The rest have been fine except for the cracks on the top of the tomatos.

What is the advantage to staking the plant? The only thing I can see is that it maximizes the number of plants in the garden.

How do you stop the top of the tomato from cracking? Its happened with every plant we have ever grown.

Later,
Dan

On staking up tomatoes; 1.) Rabbits. 2.) Box Turtles. 3.) limited space. 4.) ability to get between rows to pick. 5.) ability to spray for insects/disease. 6.)weeding. 7.) old man with bad back.... Easier to pick.

One reason why tomatoes crack open is too much water/rain. That, combined with the heat of the day causes them to bust open.

Also, it is very easy to OVER fertilize tomatoes. The insides outgrow the skin. I tried to "force" a few this year and they're all splitting wide open.

If I was to learn from my mistakes, I'd be the smartest man on the planet. Been growing tomatoes for ages and still have the same troubles everyone else has.

 

[TBDonnelly]

The blight/fungus is an ongoing challenge. We've learned over the years to use multiple methods to deal with it. A good fungicide pretty much stops it in it's tracks...unfortunately.....with the hot/humid weather conditions we're having in Michigan it doesn't take long for the blight to rear it's ugly head again and again.

The fungus seems to start at ground level and work it's way up the plant. We stake the plants up to keep as much of the plant off the ground as possible. Then we trim the lowest leaves off, especially the one's touching the ground. I spray fungicide early in the season primarily at the base of the plant and on the ground surrounding the plant. The early ground level fungicide spraying has paid dividends later in the season by slowing the blight from traveling up the plant.

Now if I could only keep this regimen up ....and I'm only working with 30 tomato plants.

Don

 

[gotrocks]

Man are those beautiful! I would really like to see a picture of the plants, how close and how you support them. Please?
Edit Well now I see TBDonnelly's picture BUT would still like to see Farmwithjunk's. Thanks

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I wish mine still looked that good. They were still standing tall, dark green, and LOADED with red tomatoes 10 days ago. A week ago this past friday, we had a summer storm that blew over everything in sight. Included were my tomatoes. I managed to stand 'em back up, but the damage was done. Several were broke off at the ground. Since then, the blight has taken hold. Most of my plants went in the ground in late April. (Full month earlier than normal.) We had an early spring. They'll be done for the most part by mid August.

We,ve got every canning jar we own full. I went to an auction saturday morning. They had 16 dozen qt. Ball jars. I mentioned that to the Mrs., who then asked me where I was going to live with my new jars IF I bought them.

I may be slow, but not THAT slow. I took the hint and didn't bid.

 

[TBDonnelly]

Many of the tomato plants have outgrown their cages. We supplement with tall stakes and twine, loosely bundling the plants. This year when buying the tomato plants I chose early, middle and late season maturity dates....to hopefully spread out the harvest. We've had a few ripe one's daily since around the fourth of July.

I also look for the blight resistant varieties.

Don

 

[jinman]

That's a terrific lookin' haul of tomatoes. Mine are on their last legs. I'll probably only have another 10 to 20 pounds. The weather has just been brutal here. On the bright side, the okra loves this heat and is producing like crazy. I took about 10 lb to work yesterday and gave it away. Our freezer is full of it.