http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?SYNDX 8 August 2008 Tomatoes picked today My tomatoes are relatively poor this year, due to cold weather in June, but I do have enough for our needs, and the quality is acceptable, certainly not as good as 2007. We have picked one or two per day since about the 20th of June. Our favourites are the dark tomatoes beyond a doubt for taste, but the reds are also nice. The yellows don't do much for me.
congratulations on your tomatoes! in looking at your tomato plants, i'm wondering if you are pruning at all. by the way, do you fertilize? i was putting the fish emulsion every week or two, but the other day when i went to a farm, i spoke to the lady who has 700 tomato plants, and she said she puts 20-20-20 at first, then the 10-10-10 a week later, then the 20 the next time, and then nothing after that. i already did the fish emulsion a few times since the beginning of june. do you think i should not use it anymore? i also have the poultry manure. what do you think of that? i think i put that at the time i planted them in my containers. thank you.
I have good soil, and apply city vegetative compost every year, which seems to satisfy my plants. But I would prefer some manure, but living in an urban area, manure would probably offend the noses of the present generation. I did prune my tomatoes rather strongly several times. Sometimes I think fertilizing is over-done. I never apply any of the pellet commercial fertilizers, not that I wouldn't if my plants sort of indicated that such was necessary. I have a large garden by urban standards, and a bit of experience, so sort of play it by ear. Eventually one gets to know one's soil by trial and error, as judged by the health of the plants growing.. My soil is basically good clay-meaning original top soil not the dried up mess many contractors leave behind, mixed with much compost, and is well drained of standing surface water. I add partially composed wood chips yearly to open up the pores of the soil, and inhibit packing after rainfalls. These wood chips disappear every year rather quickly, due to microbe action. Poultry manure has to be applied sparingly, since it is strong compared to other animal manures. In fact, in the old days we never used pure chicken manure, since we had horse and cow manure available, or a mixture from the manure pile, which was well composted. If poultry manure is used spread thinly. at first and see what happens. After all we are not researchers, but backyard gardeners. Our success is measured by results, and we don't have to apply figures to our endeavors.
thanks for your prompt response durgan. when i said "poultry" i meant the pellet poultry kind. sorry. you have such a huge garden. it seems like you live on a farm, not in an urban area. the pictures you put are great. i like how you can click on them and see everything bigger. i wish i had the land space, but my backyard is all shade. i had planted mint there when we first moved in, hearing that it takes over, and after three years, i have three stalks sticking out. So, i'm stuck with the containers on the front deck. given i have these tomatoes in containers, would you advise me to continue with the fish emulsion? i'm on long island, zone 6. i have flowers that don't have any fruit emerging yet, then i have a few very small tomatoes, still green. I stuck an eggplant plant and a big chili pepper plant in a large wooden rectangular box and they look healthy, but the pepper plant only sprouted one small pepper a couple of weeks ago and nothing else has happened. the eggplant has a bunch of flowers and i see a little stuff coming out of them so i don't know why everything is so slow. like the tomatoes, i do the fish emulsion. i originally started with the miracle grow organic potting soil and i added compost to it. My mint, rosemary, chives, thyme and basil are all doing fine in the pots but to see yours in the ground is a whole other story. do you think next year i have to find deeper pots to give more room for the roots? it's kind of hard to find a three foot pot. thanks again.
I have grown tomatoes quite successfully in pots about 12 inches across and as deep. Not quite like the open garden, but I got a enough tomatoes for the table. My biggest problem was keeping them watered, and determining when they needed water. This is subjective. Tomatoes require full sun- meaning 8 or more hours per day, and they like heat. Also tying them to a stick for support takes a bit of effort, but can be done. The soil you indicated probably has enough nutrients for the season to grow a tomato plant without adding additional fertilizer. It depends upon how much water runs through when wetting- meaning leaching may remove nutrients. Pepper plants can use a cup of vinegar in a liter of water once or twice during the season. Peppers like an acidic ph, so I add vinegar for local ph change, and my peppers thrive. This is trial and eror. If you have more than one plant treat one or two and compare growth to the untreated ones. Some of the small hot peppers thrive in pots, explosive ember is one cultivar you might try, but the larger ones probably are not worth the effort, certainly for production. Every year more will be learned, but some success help the confidence. Usually pots 8 inches by 8 inches will handle most plants you mention. Egg plant vines, so probably is not suitable for a balcony vegetable.
thanks durgan. yes, my tomatoes are in sun all day. i wonder if i can put the vinegar in the box since the eggplant is in with the pepper plant. i was looking at pictures of people's tomatoes this year and wonder if my little teeny green things are ever going to do anything. is this normal considering i put them in the pots at the begnining of the summer? i have one small one but it's been green for ages. it's a black prince. i'm not even sure. what color does that one get? i haven't had a chance to look it up yet.
I would remove the egg plant and give the vinegar treatment to the pepper. Black prince is a deep red when ripe, almost purple at the base. The size is not large but slightly smaller than a baseball. They are a fine tasting tomato.
thank you once again durgan. you've been very helpful and i appreciate your taking time to answer my naive questions. :)