Tomato Update
Why does it seem like such a chore to write during the summer? I don’t mean to let an entire week go between updates but that seems harder to avoid during summer break. I think I did the same thing last year, too.
Anyway, I thought I’d do an update on the tomatoes, which still seem to be going strong.
Despite the main stem of the Sweet 100s — the part closest to the planter — turning a sickly yellow, the far-flung branches are still a pretty green and are still producing fruit and blossoms. We had a caterpillar issue last month but we’ve sprayed it and haven’t seen anything since, though it may still be affecting it. I suspected blight but it doesn’t look like those pictures. Either way, our temps are firmly in the 100s now so I think overall it’s still doing really well.
Sadly, we’ve all but given up on the beefsteaks. We’ve had several that have made it to a beautiful deep red with a decent size, but you flip it over and they’ve all got blossom end rot or the tops around the vine end are splitting. Mike has a coworker that also grows tomatoes and he says he’s never been able to grow any of the big varieties here.
So, we’ve considered taking out the beefsteak and giving the Sweet 100s some more room, but at the same time I think the beefsteak is providing some support, so we’re just going to wait and see. Next year we’re going to do a bigger cherry tomato variety (the Sweet 100s are great, but they’re tiny) and try some Roma tomatoes.
Yellow like that can sometimes mean over watering.
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Heather
June 26th, 2012 at 1:14 pm
Some of the sites I’ve read say it’s usually the opposite for tomatoes – that yellow can mean too little? There could also be issues with nitrogen or magnesium, air flow, and sunlight (yaaay lol). The thing is, the beefsteak plant looks fantastic, with no yellowing!
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What a delicious and ripe looking tomato!
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I’ve had some success with getting rid of the yellowing of my tomato plants by giving them a good dose of Epsom salts about every other week.
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