Tomato Plant Problem

I posted a question over at Garden Pests and Diseases but it isn't getting any response, so I thought I'd post the link here. Surely this isn't too obscure of a problem.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1203391/

Kelli, the tomato experts are over at the tomato problem. Hate to send you advice shopping but that's probably your best bet. Is there any chance of herbicide over spray or contaminated mulch in your garden? Many vegetable growers are complaining about packaged mulches containing herbicide residues.

Try this image and description and see if it matches. http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=tomato+leaf+curl+virus&view=detail&id=36B5D1D1CDD4A4BADEC926782C11CC61C20C217D&first=31&qpvt=tomato+leaf+curl+virus&FORM=IDFRIR

Thanks Maypop. I didn't know there was a tomato forum. (Yes, I've only been a member for nine years. Talk about a Duh! moment.)

Cala, could be. Looks a good bit like that.

Kelli, maybe that means you have a life? :>) Did I say the "tomato problem" and mean the "tomato forum"? I'm having a "duh" day.

Maypop- thats funny, for some reason what you typed has really made me laugh. Must be the heat, over at the "tomato problem". Kelli didnt know there was a tomato forum but she does know she has a tomato problem.

Glad to cheer you, 1lisac. I was being pretty literal. We were supposed to be in the garden, eighty five miles from Atlanta, the day before yesterday but there was a melt down of a failed circuit breaker at the Atlanta house. This was caused when my next door neighbor's tree service dropped a tree through the power lines which resulted in a surge when the power company repaired the line. We had no power for the day in part of the house and spent most of the day embroiled in a major electrical panel repair. When we finally got to our garden, yesterday afternoon, we discovered fifty feet of 5' high concrete reinforcing wire tomato cages (twenty plants), all of them tied to each other, had gone over in a weird wind storm that brought no rain. Nine other plants in a different area were getting ready to go over. Arghh! It took hours to hoist the cages and stake them. They were so heavy with fruit we had to use rebar. Tomatoes were everywhere. I've got about fifty pounds of tomatoes to deal with here. The joke is if the day has a "y" in it, I'll be canning. That is my tomato problem. Did I mention that I have the same problem with cucumbers (a sink full), peppers, basil and eggplants? Off to make tomato sauce, pickles, pesto and caponata.

Ow! Laurel! So sorry to hear about the crisis in the garden! Happy preserving!

Oh thanks Cindy. I've got a twelve quart pot of tomatoes simmering away. It is so hot that the tomatoes cooked where they touched the ground! The skins peeled right off on those spots. Of course that had to be cut and thrown away.

It almost makes me forget that its 107* on my back porch in the shade and its only 2:15!

Life is just two bowls of cherries.

My goodness! It would take me a couple years to get that many tomotoes, though I usually only have 4 or six plants. It is 101F here, but it's a dry heat, which is a really over-rated concept.

Having four to six tomato plants is proof positive you really do have a life, Kelli.

Or maybe I just spend too much time on the computer

Kelli-I was in Granada Hills for the 4th of July. The thermometer in the van said 105, yes its a dry heat, but to me it was just HOT. Today it was 108* in the shade and supposed to be around that temp all week +. I give up, I go to CA to get cooler,it gets hot for the week we are there. Here, its just unbelievable. Im so glad my kids got to go with friends this week because I can hardly go outside in this weather, I get dizzy. BUT my tomato plants are doing OK. Stupice is even setting fruit, I found little tomato buttons in the blooms.

Granada Hills is near here, maybe 10 miles as the crow flies. The heat was bad around the 4th of July. Fortunately, it doesn't stay hot all summer but fluctuates between sort of hot and very hot, with a little bit of blast furnace thrown in once in a while. Most places get their bad weather in the winter. We get ours in the summer.

I got an Arkansas Traveler tomato plant because they are supposed to produce fruit even when it is hot. So far, that seems to be the case. The fruits are sort of small, but I don't know if that it is typical. All of my other tomato plants have always produced fruits that are smaller than what is supposed to be typical.

When it gets hot and we want to do something outside, we go to the beach. Yesterday we went and it was 25 degrees cooler down there. (For those who don't know, that is because we have a cold ocean. According to what I could find on the internet, the water temperature right now is between 60 and 66F.)

@Laurel, I love your kitchen photos - looks like mine, but so much neater! I had 4 plates/bowls of tomatoes going the other day - waiting for enough to do something with. I think I am going to start taking the approach of all tomatoes that aren't being eaten soon are going into the sauce pot every three days...

Kelli, I grew up on the right ocean, not the left so what a surprise when I first put my toe in Pacific water! Regarding the Arkansas Traveler, they should be a medium sized slicer. I grow those every year and find they are not especially heat tolerant. Black Krim has been both early and prolific here in our hot weather. Also Sun Gold and Sugar Sweetie which are both cherries.

Cindy, that's the kitchen at Maypop, our cottage in N. GA.. It's a twenty year old DIY job on a really low budget. Close out and back room everything. We did the wiring, appliance installation, cabinets, tiling, papering, window treatments, etc.. As for being neat; thanks. I'm pretty neat (actually fanatical) in the kitchen 'cause I cater.

Your kitchen is beautiful

Thanks, Kelli. I spend a lot of time there and in the garden.

Kelli-I grew up in Granada Hills. Yes, Im a Valley Girl.

I grow AT every year. Just picked one a day or two ago so they must be pretty heat tolerant considering it was 108* today. Mine arent very big and are kind of square.

The ocean looks so good right now and the temps sound wonderful.

Awesome kitchen. I would kill for half of that space! I know the story about DIY... we're still DI'ing... :)

Once you start, it's a lifetime commitment, Cindy. :>) Our cottage is small but the floor plan is open. I reconfigured the space. The main counter used to end 12" from the sink on the left and then there was a free standing stove. I swung it around to that peninsula/breakfast bar configuration to get people out of the kitchen when I'm working. There are eight feet of pantries and utility space to the left of the fridge.

Dream kitchen there!! Wow! I could sooo see me working in there.. :) Beautiful!!

I love all the tomato pictures.. I know it's crazy hard work when you are overwhelmed.. but I'd love to be drowning in tomatoes this year... I can eat all I can produce so far..

Tomatoes in the sink, tomatoes on the counters, tomatoes everywhere. These were the ones I planned to process that day. So far there are three cases (36 quarts) of tomatoes and a case of pints stowed in the basement. I've canned meat sauce, plain tomato sauce, tomato pieces and tomato juice.