Upside Down Tomato + about a month.

I have FLOWERS on my upside down tomato project, how about THAT!! I hate it when everyone can tell I am SUCH a newbie by my silly excitement over a plant, lol

Cool! That's a nice looking plant; looks like an extra fun way to grow tomatoes. I may try it next year. Keep us posted, ok?

I've got my four tomatoes in the ground (it's all I had room for), and I just pruned them a few days ago. It made me sad; they were very handsome plants before my hack job, but I guess I'll get a better crop this way..

I hope you can keep that excitement forever. It's the greatest feeling!
Larisa

LARI;
You seem very knowledgable on tomatos. If there are like seven flowers on one stem, and you take off 4 of them, will the remaining 3 yield bigger tomatoes??

Best;
bluelytes

Oh, I'm not, I'm clueless!
Let's ask Farmerdill or someone like that.

Editing to say I cross-posted the question to the veggie gardening forum.

This message was edited Jun 24, 2006 11:09 PM

I agree re: it being a miracle. I think that's what is so amazing about gardening, is participating in all those miracles. :D


editing to link to the answer we got from the veggie forum:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/619170/

This message was edited Jun 25, 2006 9:43 AM

I agree with melody. I understand that "prunning" your tomato plant does not make production better. It just makes your tomato plant smaller. Think about it...the leaves of a plant produce food that goes into making a bigger plant and more fruit. Why would we want to cut the food production back on a plant?
A good reason for pinching off blossoms would be so the branch doesn't get so heavy it breaks from the weight of all those delicious tomatoes (I like to think of myself as an optimist).

P.S. I've been gardening for about 20 years and I still get giddy when my tomatoes are rippening! Ohhh, I love tomatoes!

SUNN,
thats IF I get any tomatoes OFFA these plants, lol. I have not had good luck the last few years.

Best;
blue

Why the bad luck blue?

I've kinda wondered about the pruning issue.
My father, who grew up working in his parents' nursery, always prunes his tomatoes. But then, he gardens differently from me in a lot of ways (straight, widely-spaced rows with bare dirt in between vs. intensive raised beds of mixed veggies and flowers, sprinkling vs. soaker hoses, etc.).

Intuitively, it sure makes sense, that fewer leaves=less food for the plant, although as I said above, I did prune mine a little this year. They're all indeterminate, and I removed all the very lowest stems where the leaves touched the ground or got wet easily from watering. Then I was sad. The plants had looked quite handsome, all bushy at the base; they look ugly with skinny bottoms.

I can't make a valid comparison of this year's crop on pruned plants, to last year's crop on unpruned plants, because this year I planted them next to the thermal mass of my new flagstone path, and they started blooming and setting fruits much earlier. Tomatoes can be not so easy around here. Some years, our night-time temperatures stay pretty low practically until August, and drop again by September, but this year I'm definitely hoping for a bumper crop. (fingers crossed!) Next year I'm going to try watermelon in that spot.
(I'm already excited about that, now! *blush*)

That would make an interesting experiment. Prune one plant and don't prune a plant next to it. I wonder if you would be able to tell the difference?

Hey, did you know that a watermelon could explode right on the vine? I was reading a forum yesterday that they were talking about it. I planted watermelon on my old compost spot this year. It would be fun to get something from it.

I read that, too! It sounded pretty amazing. David Letterman would be pretty psyched about it.
I think I'll pick up two matching tomato starts at the farmers' market--they have starts in gallon pots that pass knee high already--and grow them in pots, and prune one the way my dad would (all the way up to the first flower cluster, and all suckers), and let the other one do its thing, and then count (and weigh) the crops. It'll be fun!

SUNN;
I dont know. One year they did just ok. Next two years running they all got blossom end rot. Next year I put them in around mid april, and took them out in late Nov. NOT ONE of them suckers turned RED. Came up, grew, and STAYED GREEN the entire. NO, they were NOT tomitillos, lol, and back then they did not have the "green" variety.......at least I dont think they did...lol.

Best;
bluelytes

Bluelytes,
Do you have low night-time temperatures, like us?
Larisa

my night time temps are lower than most

The wonders of a tom house in W Wash.

good thing I prune otherwise I would have had to many to eat . Ernie

Wow Ernie, those look wonderful!! Is your tomato house a simple A-frame? How late in fall do they keep ripening under there?
Wow.

LARIS,
I think that our temps are on average lower than yours, but not that much.

Best;
blue

Larisa it is not an a frame but it is simple. The first hard frost decides how long they grow in the fall. Usually the house protects the plants from the small frost untill late october but the bigger season extender is the protection from the rain and dampness keeping the blight away. Before I started growing under plastic my tomatoes got it late Aug early Sept and that was it for them.

another view

But as to upside down tomatoes mine tried to curl up so right now it is growing stright up and I will turn it over soon to try it again.

EWEED,
Mine did that also. I was told that I needed to use an indeterminate variety or a "bush" type. I will try that next time also.

Best;
bluelytes

I'm so envious! We're going to build a greenhouse next year, but I don't get to use hoop houses, and DH even grumps a little when I put rowcovers over the winter garden (we're in an urban neighborhood, and he feels obligated to keep the yard pretty).

Editing to ask:

Bluelytes, have you tried any kind of weather protection for your tomatoes?
I tried Wall-O-Water once, but they kept collapsing.
and
Ernie, what varieties do you prefer to grow? and what do you do with so many,make sauce maybe?

This message was edited Jun 26, 2006 10:50 AM

LARI,
No, re: weather protection. Dont really need to as long as you dont put them out TOO early.

Best;
bluelytes

bluelytes, you'd get more red tomatoes with protection though.

Eweed, are the ends completely open on your tomato house?

Gwen

LARI,
In the case of the non-color turning green tomatoes, I am not sure ANYTHING would have helped them. Water under the bridge now and all that rot.

Best;
bluelytes

Bluelytes,
Good philosphy; let byegones compost. Best of luck with this year's crop, though!
My cucumbers started blooming today. YAY! They won't be so far behind after all, now that it's warmed up.
Larisa

Blue lol I did not use bush type no one ever said bush type I am not sure what I shoved in that bucket just something from the top of the table without a tag. Thanks I will try to remember that for next year.

Larisa I am big on Buffalo, Earl of Edgecombe, Orange blossom, Sun Gold, Tumbler, Joes special, Prudens Purple, Aunt Rubies German Green Big Beef. This year I will decide on half a dozen and quit all my experimenting with heirlooms that do taste good but are stingy. Yes lots of sauce lots of sliced lots right in the garden and lots of salsa and lots of friendly garden raiders lol.

Guen hard question to ans in the early spring if I am home yes it is closed pretty much of the time but need vent stays open to let the moisture out if I am at work the ends are open because it can cook things if the sun comes out.

EWEE,
What beautiful maters!!! Edited to read: And the hand's not too shabby either!! hehehe

Best;
bluelytes

This message was edited Jun 26, 2006 6:30 PM

So far, my upside down maters has a total of four BIG yellow flowers on it, within a group of about 7 buds. Keeping fingers crossed. You can see two about at the 5 o'clock position, the other two are hiding at about 11 o'clock position.

Best;
blue

EWEED~
I have to come! OK, I'm on my way! Well, not exactly, it is 12:20am.........I'll give you a call. My Aunt and I want to go out to a lavender farm that one of her nurses has in Ferndale.

see blue it is turning up again must not be a bush. Ernie

lol a hand full

Look at this lol soon I will be eating this first of the season treat. Ernie

EWEE,
Mighty nice tomatos!! Mine are about the size of marbles, I dont think they will EVER turn red :(

Best;
bluelytes

Blue thanks yes they will. Ernie

EWEE,
YMW!! And it would not be the FIRST time they nevver turned red, or in the case of "limony", yellow, lol.

best;
blue

Turn the heat up on them. Can you get some visqueen over them even a little roof to keep the rain off and the damp air that will start sooner than you think. By mid Aug I start taking off all the new flower buds bedause they wont amount to anything anyway and I cut the tops off .Ernie