Vegetable Gardens

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Bird,
Thanks for taking the time to resond./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I did have a fellow examine a portion of a plant at a gardening show. Fusarium wilt was the diagnosis. He recommended, first use resistant varieties (VFN), keep water from the leaves, add mulch around the base to prevent soil from splashing on the leaves, remove all plants from the garden and don't use them in the compost pile, plant in different locations ever year......
No Cigar no Tomatoes. I planted Early Girl, and Improved early Girl last year with two of six plants surviving. what variety do you plant?

Also I do the same as you on removing the leaves and planting sidways, but select much smaller plants. Maybe I will try the long spindly ones. My mother says if a plant in the nursey has started fruit it's not worth taking home.

 

[DFB]

Twinkle Toes,

It sounds to me like your covering all the bases. Here's a link that might help Tomato. But like Bird said a local expert might be more benificial because problems vary with locations.

A couple of remote possibilities come to mind. Do you have any Black Walnut trees near your garden? Its been published that the roots from a Black Walnut tree can release a toxin into the soil that will cause tomato plants to die off. The lower leaves fall off first. I've also read that people who smoke can cause problems too. Tobacco Mosaic disease can be transmitted from a smokers hands while handling the plants. Its supposed to resemble the blight. I'm always on my wifes case about that one. (Nothing worse than a reformed smoker)

I have an annual battle with the blight because of our humid summer weather. The only way to control it is with continous applications of a copper based fungicide. I been using a product called Soap Shield from this place GardensAlive. I have to apply it even before it happens.

And Bird, about planting tomatoes that way and why it works. The reasons I've read are that the plant will root along the buried stem and because the roots are closer to the surface and the sun's warmth the plant will grow faster than if the roots are buried in deeper/colder soil.

DFB

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

DFB,

First thanks/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
No black Walnut here. My wife the "Smoker" did have a response to the tobacco mosaic disease. (Not suitable to post). Hell knows no fury like a ........

I have never heard of the tobacco mosaic disease and it has some merit. She did the pruning on two plants that I placed on the front deck in 1/2, 55 gallon barrels with sterile potting soil and steer manure. Both plants developed disease. She has always given me a hard time about my futile attempts to grow tomatoes. I'll make here wear surgical gloves.... yea right!!/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[DFB]

Twinkle Toes,

Yep, MERIT, that's the wife's brand of smokes. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Btw, the garden book advises smokers to wash their hands in milk. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

DFB

 

[Bird]

Hmmm, this has developed into a very interesting thread./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif My wife and I are both heavy smokers and we knew smoking gets blamed for every problem that mankind has ever known, but this is the first time I'd heard it affected tomatoes./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif And I agree with your mother; I wouldn't buy plants that have started producing fruit, and I do rotate everything in the garden so that nothing gets planted in the same place two years in a row.

Al, I don't know which varieties of tomatoes are best; I like to play around and experiment. This past year, I planted 6 Patio Cherry, 6 La Roma, 6 Porter's Pride (Improved), 6 Big Boy, and 12 Homestead #24 and they all produced more than we could use, sell, give away, or that the grasshoppers could eat. Sure glad I didn't use gloves or wash the tobacco off my hands or I guess we'd still be swimming in tomato juice./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif I've also had very good luck with the Early Girl tomatoes in the past, and haven't decided for sure what I'm going to use this year; seriously considering nothing but Early Girl and Big Boy since they seem to make the biggest tomatoes.

Bird

 

[Bird]

Hmmm, this has developed into a very interesting thread./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif My wife and I are both heavy smokers and we knew smoking gets blamed for every problem that mankind has ever known, but this is the first time I'd heard it affected tomatoes./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Al, I don't know which varieties of tomatoes are best; I like to play around and experiment. This past year, I planted 6 Patio Cherry, 6 La Roma, 6 Porter's Pride (Improved), 6 Big Boy, and 12 Homestead #24 and they all produced more than we could use, sell, give away, or that the grasshoppers could eat. Sure glad I didn't use gloves or wash the tobacco off my hands or I guess we'd still be swimming in tomato juice./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif I've also had very good luck with the Early Girl tomatoes in the past, and haven't decided for sure what I'm going to use this year; seriously considering nothing but Early Girl and Big Boy since they seem to make the biggest tomatoes. And I agree with your mother; I wouldn't buy plants that have started producing fruit, and I do rotate everything in the garden so that nothing gets planted in the same place two years in a row.

Bird

 

[DFB]

Bird, it is interesting about that virus. That first link came from the Texas Plant Disease Handbook of all places. Your practical experience seems to suggest otherwise and I have to say my father-in laws' brother was always having a smoke while he tended to his garden. Now, you wouldn't also happen to be sitting in the shade of a black walnut tree while your having that smoke./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

In the short time I've had my garden I've been experimenting with different varieties too, trying to see what will work out best. There are so many but I'm limited to short season producers. I've grown both Big Boy (did okay this year, too much rain) and Early Girl (lots of tomatoes but small). Northern Exposure grows well here. Have you ever tried HeatWave. Supposed to do well in in the hottest summer weather. They grew good for me both in the rain this year and in drier weather the year before. Also tried some of those keeper varieties. Both LongKeeper and Red October. Had some Beefsteaks this year. Total loss with all the rain./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif For cherry tomatoes I grow both Sweet 100 and Gardener Delights. I'm going to try Celebrity this year. On the commercial side my wife's step father has been using Sunbeam for last 2-3 years with good results. Good size fruit. 3/4 to 1 lb. And if all else fails there always Jet Star.

DFB

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>you wouldn't also happen to be sitting in the shade of a black walnut tree</font color=blue>

Nope, no walnut trees on my property./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif In fact, my garden gets NO shade; out in the open with full sunlight. When I was about 12 years old, Dad & I found that you don't want to put your fish pond under a black walnut tree, either. We buried a concrete watering trough in the shade under a black walnut tree to keep minnows in. Bad mistake; walnuts fall in the water and kill the fish./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Now-a-days, there's so many different varieties of every fruit, vegetable, nut, and berry that I can't keep up with them. Celebrity and Beefsteak tomatoes have done pretty well for us and a neighbor, and I only planted HeatWaves one year, late in the year. They made a lot of big beautiful green tomatoes, and not a single one ever ripened before the first frost./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif And I haven't tried any of the other varieties you named.

Bird

 

[jyoutz]

Bird, this system is entirely different altogether. It's very thin flexible stuff and you run it at low pressure (10-20 psi). I use a pressure reducer at the head of the tubing. I run 100' rows with no problem. All you do is make a header pipe along one end of the garden (I use 1/2' black polyethelene), attach a hose connecter and pressure regulator and end caps. Then cut the header pipe at each row, slip a t-conector into the pipe, and branch off a run of t-tape down each row. I weight the tape down every so often with a shovel full of dirt. When use want to plow or pick it up, just start at the end and roll it up to the header pipe. It's that flexible. The lettuce growers and berry growers use this stuff on very long runs in AG applications.

 

[jyoutz]

Bird, also once this system is intalled, you don't have to move it at all until the end of the season.