Tomatoes, I am a real newbie

I have noticed that my tomatoes leaves are turning brown on the edges. I live in Florida and it is very I mean very hot here this summer (well every summer for that matter). Is it something eating them? Or do they need more water? How much should I water? I am watering by hand. Should I give each plant about a gallon a day? HELP! I so wanted so tomatoes this summer.

can you put a photo on here i would help bunches

pryncese, you may be out of luck for this summer. I lived in Fl for thirty years, and my maters (except for some cherry varieties) were always on the way out by June.
Here's a thread that may help you, these are The Florida Tomato Mavens, and you'll see that they start again in August....

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1029093/

Good luck, and check with these people, they have very successful tomato harvests :)

pryncese - I lived in Palm Beach County for over 30 years. In my experience, tomatoes do best during the fall/winter months in zone 9B. I'm not sure where you are, I know north Florida gets frost in the winter, so you might have to work around that. Where I was we rarely had frost, and the only time it snowed, I happened to be in Tennessee!

I don't understand why a tomato plant wouldn't survive a Florida summer. Granted I'm in zone 7 not 9 but last summer I transplanted my tomato plants into the garden the first week of June. It probably averaged 90 through June and 95-100 in July and August. Keep in mind these temps are in the shade and at a mile or so in elevation the sun here is intense (probably 5 degrees hotter in the sun...where the plants live) The plants went from 6-8 inches in June to 6-7 feet by August and they started producing in August as well and continued producing into October until frost finally got them. The varieties included Yellow Taxi, Brandywine (which didn't do very well), some random "patio hybrid" purchased at a nursery, and Siberian Red (because of our cool weather lol). None of them had any trouble growing throughout the summer although the Brandywine failed to produce and only got about 4 feet tall. Why can't they survive in Florida?

They may survive, but they don't produce well, at least mine didn't. I found it easier to plant again for fall rather than try to nurse plants thru that had little chance of setting fruit. They're (in my experience only) unlikely to get back to pre-heat production after the long season.

But, then, I also don't plant that late even here in SC, which is a bit more moderate in temp (SOMETIMES!! not now:). I get them all in ground by the end of april (or try to) and they're beginning to produce now. They won;t set fruit at the temps we're having now, but should begin again when (if) it moderates. I'll plant out again in late August, Sept.

Dorkasauras - South Florida is very humid. Add that to the high temperatures, fungus/mold/mildew and most vegetables, not just tomatoes, have a difficult time of it through the summer months.

As catman pointed out - fall/winter are the best bets.

Yes, its the season that affects the production of the fruit of the tomatoe. You say you planted yours in June & harvested in Aug. & Oct. That does happen to be in the fall., & not in the summer.So Florida, you should plant for the fall.

I guess it makes sense. I was just a little confused because August is still 90's in the day and 60's at night so I never really thought of it as fall since it doesn't really cool off here until late Sept/early Oct and tomatoes were producing in August heat. It doesn't help here that we often go from winter to summer in a just a few weeks (May 2nd 49f, May 30th 90f)

This message was edited Jun 16, 2010 1:40 PM

Tomatoes have to have a 15 degree difference between night and day to set fruit. I'm just hoping the hot nights hold off a little longer. I want more maters.

sapphirestar - Does 70's at night an 90's during the day count as a 15 degree difference? That's what we have been having recently and my maters seem to be still flowering, which surprises me 'cause I thought they wouldn't do so above 85F.

Honeybee, mine are flowering, too. I'm just not sure they're setting fruit. I wouldn't be.

It's way too hot to be just June.....

And we're way cool for June - go figure...

Heneybee, I have heard (and in my experience it seems to be true) that it's not so much the daytime temps that affect fruit set, though the pollen does clump at temps over 90°. It is the hot night temps that are more detrimental to fruit set. 70s are good, anything above that seems to be too hot for mine to set fruit. We are once again moving into those temps here in Phoenix. We're averaging about 105° during the day and still in the 70s at night, so I still have fruit set. Very soon though those nighttime temps will rise enough that the fruit will cease.

We're way too hot for June here. :(

Our daytime and nightime temps are still enough apart that I'm getting fruit setting, but like Kelly, pretty soon that won't be the case. I'll baby my maters through the hottest part of the summer and then they'll start producing again when it cools off. That, of course, will be sometime in November! LOL (Not really!) Should be around September. I just keep trimming off the dead and diseased parts and keep feeding and watering them.

My experience is mostly limited to Houston, but when its 100 degrees during the days and 85 degrees at night, that is the end of my fruit set. I read the no closer to 15 degrees in the local newspaper. I usually figure if its too hot for the gardener, its too hot for the maters. :)

Too hot for this gardener! Its not so hot that my tomatoes aren't setting fruit they are putting on like crazy, but so humid.
Pry-are spider mites a problem in your area? They can make the leaves turn brown, just a shot in the dark. We have problems with them here.

This message was edited Jun 17, 2010 4:11 PM

The maters seem to be still setting fruit. I don't think night time temps go above the 70's here, but I've never taken much notice. Will have to keep track when August rolls around.

Dorkasaurus - Zones are misleading. I've been told they really are intended
as guidelines for trees and shrubbery, not so much for veggies and flowers.

Our big difference here in NM is humidity - or lack of it. I know what that does
to my skin and it is probably just as hard on our tomatoes! ;-)

LOL - just like my Zone 9a is unlike any other 9a. I live in the desert for crying out loud...

The zones are based on cold not heat. So its the lowest average temp that determines your zone.

Yup - last year we barely had winter. It was like a Zone 11 winter - lol...

Last winter it snowed 3 times and we got down to 8* one day, and plenty of rain, now heat and extreme humidity.

Yeah, we had an unusually cold and long winter as well. I was hoping that would mean a cooler summer, but apparently I was just a bit off :(
sigh

catmad - I had hoped for the same thing. It's August in June here!

This is one of the times I wish I'd chosen the mountains instead. Still, I wouldn't change it. Now, if I could afford a summer home in Bat Cave, and could figure out how to get the critters there, well, then it would be truly perfect....