Anyone else growing tomatoes this year?

[nick681]

I am taking my first stab at gardening this year.

I have planted 8 tomato plants this year. I planted them in these plastic tubs from Kmart, I just drilled a bunch of holes in the bottom and raised them above the ground for drainage and voila tomato garden. I have placed them on the side of the house where they will get sun most of the day. So we will see what happens.

I have tried a couple of things I never heard of in planting them, for one I planted them on the 6th since it had something to do with the moon phases. Got this info from a friend of ours. I figured that it couldnt hurt.

Also some one else told me to mix 1 cup lemon dish soap, 1 cup lemon ammonia, and one 12 oz beer and spray them so as to keep pests away and help wit growth. I tried this mixture on one of the plants and it seemed not to do any harm so I tried it.

Has anyone heard of these two methods before? Also any other tips, methods , etc. for successful tomato growing would be appreciated. I am trying not to use any chemical insecticides if I can help it.

Here is a pic of my tomatos

I am also growing herbs Rosemary, Spearmint, Oregano, Basil, and garlic.

So post some pics of the gardens, recipes, and any hints, tips etc.



Nick

 

[Centaur]

... Also some one else told me to mix 1 cup lemon dish soap, 1 cup lemon ammonia, and one 12 oz beer and spray them so as to keep pests away and help wit growth...

I would avoid using ammonia on vegetable plants. Sounds a bit toxic, IMHO.

There are plenty of recipies for home made pesticides on the net. Just do a google search, and you'll find a bunch. Alot use liquid dish soap. But it's diluted way down.

The only fertilizer I use is miracle grow.

I haven't gotten around to starting my garden yet, but I will soon. I have tremendous luck with tomatoes. I usually stick to heirloom varieties, and skip the fancy hybrids.

 

[kamkazmoto]

Grew tomatos one year and then ignored them. They damn near took over my yard!!!

 

[S2nd]

Intentionally growing tomatoes? No thanks. With all the tomato plants that have grown out of my mulch pile, I could open a ketchup factory.

 

[Matches]

Everyone should have a garden for at least a couple years. Tomato plants are great but you end up with 1 week in August where you need to eat them every meal, can them, stew them, throw them at stray animals, and give them away to everyone in town. I gave up all that for a perennial herb garden

 

[Ebbtide]

We try to have a couple of plants every year.
And have marigolds around them to keep the bugs away.
The best part is, at the end of the summer, eating the green ones.
Salted with garlic, oregano and olive oil.
On a nice slice of Italian (crusty enough to cut your gums on) bread.
Heaven

 

[Cindy Denning]

I never have used household recipies but buddy I do believe in cow manure mixed in with the soil. Good looking containers and hope your garden grows well indeed. Tomatoe sandwiches anybody?

 

[Danbo]

One thing you're going to have to deal with, with your container planting, is the fact that those tomato plants will soon outgrow those containers. Trust me, I know this from experience. You really can't have a container too big. Plus, you'll be needing to water these containers every single day in a month or so. Your tomatoes will be smaller too, regardless of the variety you planted. Again, been there, done that.

Myself, I tilled up about half our backyard(that much less to mow) with my 7hp Troy Built tiller. Planted 22 tomato plants last week, along with two nice double rows of Sugary Enhanced Bicolor sweet corn, and about 2 dozen pepper plants of various types. Gardening is one of the best things in life, IMHO. A few years back, my Son was watching me in the garden, and he came up and asked me, "Dad, why do you like to garden so much?"

I looked him in the eye, and told him, "Well, it's like raising kids, except they don't talk back!" He smiled, shook his head and walked away.

 

[Stumpy]

Ahhh tomatoes,it may surprise some but I'm an avid gardener and love tomatoes eat them everyday.It looks like you have large buckets and that's a good thing,their roots need alot of room.You will need to add fertilizer and plenty of water once they start to grow.Depending on the type it may be a good idea to prune some as the growing season nears end.One other thing that may help you get larger fruit is once you have a large number of tomatoes on one plant pinch off any new blossoms.This allows the plant to concentrate its's growing effort on the fruit that has already set.Good luck

 

[Steve Hayden]

I grow 'em every year. We need to wait till mid-June here cause there's almost always a frost then. Last year it happened on June 23rd.

 

[underaged!]

Used to have tomatos, cherry tomatos. Untill I started shooting them with my slingshot. My mom pulled um up shortly after.

Try spraying coffee instead. helps with slugs and aphids.

I myself used to do strawberries, but it was little hard to keep them cool (being in Hawaii and all), and have enough light. They all died out , they were the best strawberries I ever had.

They were some kind of heirloom variety, picked up from some friend's, aunty's second cousins, barber's baby sitter.

 

[mycroftt]

Tomatoes in containers will require lots of watering -LOTS of watering.

Pretty good herb collection but watch out for the mint and oregano - they are pretty invasive. I put them in a couple of years ago and have been trying to get rid of them ever since.

I'm growing strictly heirloom tomatoes this year - Brandywine, Black Krim, and Big Rainbow.

 

[Danbo]

I'm growing strictly heirloom tomatoes this year - Brandywine, Black Krim, and Big Rainbow.

Mmmm, heirloom maters! (in my best Homer Simpson voice)

Heirlooms are the best for flavor, and I have Brandywine and Caspian Pink planted this year.

 

[Rick in KY]

My garden got so big, it became too much of a hassle to be fun anymore, so I tilled it under and seeded it with grass.

But I still love homegrown 'maters (especially the ones with a really high acid content), so I bought this dude.

Love gimmicks, and this is only the first year with it, so I'm crossing my fingers.

BTW, it looks pretty odd with tomatoes (Rutgers this year) growing out of the bottom and petunia waves growing out of the top...

 

[silenthunterstudios]

Every year my father has planted a garden, last year was the first time he didn't get to. The transmission on his ancient tractor went up, I think that if he can get the tractor home in time, he will plant another garden. He has ten acres, and almost a whole acre for the garden. Tomatoes, peppers, string beans, squash, you name it. We had a lot of fun taking out the groundhogs too!


I planted a small orchard, plums, pears, peaches and apples. Weird shapes, but the best tasting pears I've ever had!

He also put up a grape vine, but the dogs get to it long after the grapes have fermented on the vine. They are entertaining...


This may be a stupid question, but what is the correct term for MD beefsteak tomatoes? I'm not making a lewd joke for WC, just want to know what the name is for my favorite tomatoes. Rye bread, some salt and pepper and mayo.

 

[Ilovetoolsteel]

Everyone should have a garden for at least a couple years. Tomato plants are great but you end up with 1 week in August where you need to eat them every meal, can them, stew them, throw them at stray animals, and give them away to everyone in town. I gave up all that for a perennial herb garden

You have to do some planing. different varieties mature earlier in the season. Read how long to maturity of the different varieties and you can have home grown tomatoes from mid to late june all the way into late sept.

Inevitably you will have an abundance in august so can a big pot of chili sauce!

Another way is to buy an early variety like "early girl" and spread out your plantings. plant a few in may more in june and a few more in july.

 

[mycroftt]

Heirlooms are the best for flavor, and I have Brandywine and Caspian Pink planted this year.

Yeah, the heirlooms are the way to go. You may not get the yield or the "perfect" shaped 'maters like you get with the hybrids, but they make up for it in flavor.

I haven't run into any Caspian Pinks - where'd you get the seeds?

 

[Danbo]

Yeah, the heirlooms are the way to go. You may not get the yield or the "perfect" shaped 'maters like you get with the hybrids, but they make up for it in flavor.

I haven't run into any Caspian Pinks - where'd you get the seeds?

Actually, I found a garden store called, "Market Basket" that had plants.

Supposedly, Caspian Pink is a really great Russian Heirloom tomato. We'll see. They do have the potato leaves like the Brandywine. I might even save some seeds, assuming they don't cross pollinate with the Brandywines(but, maybe that would not be such a bad thing anyway).