Growing tomatoes on the rainy west coast?

Hi. I'm new to these forums so I hope I manage to get this right!

We moved to the lower mainland (Fraser Valley) a few years ago and I have been trying to grow tomatoes here ever since - with no luck whatsoever. We are now living on Quadra Island near Campbell River (zone 7b). We used to live in snowy Eastern Ontario and grew our tomatoes in the ground in the regular garden. We always had fantastic crops with no problems other than the occasional critter.

But since moving to BC, we have had no luck at all. At first, I thought maybe we had the wrong varieties and tried different ones. The plants grew, flowered and even set fruit but the toms rotted on the vine long before they were even close to ripening. Then someone told me that there was some kind of blight in the soil and that I needed to put them in pots. We bought pots and planted the seedlings in them. I put them up on the cement steps and kept them watered but the end result was the same - tiny rotten tomatoes. Now, someone has suggested that we need to build them some kind of shelter to keep the rain away from them.

I'm hoping that someone can tell me if this will actually cure the problem before we go to all the work and expense of building them their own little house. Has anyone else had this problem?

Please and thanks.

Anne

Here's a couple of suggestions:
1. Choose quick-maturing varieties to get fruit as quickly as possible. Here is a cut and paste link to quick maturing vegetables.
http://www.harvestwizard.com/2009/02/quick-maturing_vegetable_varie.html

2. Plant close to a warm wall or fence (south facing if possible).

3. In containers use plastic draped around the base of the plant to control the amount of rainwater that collects in your container. Evenly moist soil is best but not wet. So the plastic will be a raincoat for the soil. (But don't let the soil go dry.)

4. Use compost rich soil to make sure the plants get the macro and micro nutrients; don't plant in the same soil two years in a row.

Thanks for the suggestions. Your suggestion of covering the pot rather than the whole plants makes sense. It would stop anything in the soil from splashing up onto the plant if that is what is causing the problem. I'm afraid our southern-facing wall is about ten feet away from a stand of douglas fir so it doesn't get much light. There is a south-east facing corner that I could try, though.

Maybe I'll get some seed for quick-maturing varieties and try them all over the place in every kind of condition I can think of! If the deer don't eat them, surely some of them will do something for me.

Again, thanks.

Anne

If I were in this situation, the next things I would try would be:

- Choose tomatoes designed for cold, cloudy climates. I'd start with Russian tomatoes, just because that's what I've heard of.

- Mix the soil for the pots with an eye toward drainage - maybe a really sandy mixture, or vermiculite, or...? Of course, this means that if the rain _does_ let up, you'll have to be extra careful to water. And you'll probably have to fertilize more, to account for all the water washing through.

- Put the tomatoes in the very sunniest spot available.

However, I don't necessarily know what I'm talking about. :) I just wanted to suggest these ideas as options.

Burnet

Edited to add: If you decide that drainage was the key, and you get tired of fussing with pots, then you could build a raised bed or mound with the soil designed for good drainage.

This message was edited Feb 26, 2009 4:49 PM

Home supply stores have 2 ft x 8 ft sheets of clear corrugated material. About a 6 x 8 flat roof of this stuff over tomatoes planted in good draining soil in hills or raised rows would let in plenty of light (like a greenhouse) and give you good control of soil moisture.

Frank

Oh, I know the stuff you mean - I've seen greenhouses built using that wavy stuff instead of glass. That's another great idea!

I have a few seedlings started so I'll try to get some more varieties next time we go over to Vancouver Island (no seeds available here right now). Then I'll try a few in different situations to see if some work better than others. I did ask a couple of the locals and their suggestions were to keep them in the greenhouse or to grow them in hanging baskets under the eaves! Since I don't yet have a greenhouse, that's obviously not going to happen this year. And the only overhang is on the north side of the house under a giant douglas fir - a little dark methinks.

Thanks for all the great suggestions, gang. We'll try a few different combinations and, hopefully, find something that works incredibly well!

Anne

Anne the rot you get is a form of blight. I fought it for years and lost so many times. I quit growing tomatoes for a few years. Then I built a PVC green house with a visqueen cover .Instand success. The next year I expanded it to 14x50. You and your hubby can build one 12x18 pretty cheaply on a saturday and plant tomatoes in it on Sunday.

Most Roma tomatoes are somewhat tolerant of blight, You surely need to look at short maturity dates like Siberia,it's a Russian that tolerates cold temps. Forget big beefstakes and hierlooms without some form of gh.

I have more or less the same climate as you do except you are a lot damper. Here is a shot inside a couple of years ago

Results

All good sized and every one matured without blight . Hoop houses rock LOL

Side view of tomatoe house. These things can be built many ways.

Well thats my story and I am sticking to it. Ernie

Oh, thank you. Somebody had told me it was some kind of blight but didn't have any sensible ideas of what to do about it. It would be easy enough to build a small shelter for them if that's what they want. I'll definitely try to get something up for them! I've seen some cherry tomatoes being grown in hanging baskets here but they have been under roof overhangs so maybe that's why they were working.

Your tomatoes look beautiful - they are making my mouth water. I sure do miss having real ones rather than the tasteless wonders from the grocery store! And we are not very far apart geographically so it is likely the same problem.

Thanks so very much!

Anne

Anne thats the ticket but remember they need air to so if you build them something make it large enough so air can go by.

Cherry tomatoes are tougher than regular tomatoes www.vermont bean and seed.com. has a guareenteed cherry for you it is called Tumbler.

This message was edited Mar 1, 2009 4:40 PM

This message was edited Mar 1, 2009 4:41 PM

WWW.vermont bean and seed.com . Last try if it fails google it

This message was edited Mar 1, 2009 4:47 PM

Hi - I know what you mean. I was used to growing tomatoes in Quebec before moving to the Island in 1990. The problem here is that it doesn't get that hot and most importantly it doesn't stay hot at night. That's why a lot of people grow them in green houses. I've had success in growiong them in a south facing location against a wall or fence.

Debbie

Thanks, gang. I feel a lot more hopeful than I did. Actually, if I didn't love tomatoes so much, I think I would have given up completely.

I wonder, though, if this blight is in the soil or in the rain or what? It has to be coming from somewhere!

Anne

Some say it is in the soil and splashes up on upur plants I think it may be. I also think it can be transfered in the air because they seem to get it in the late days of Aug when the fog starts, When the air begins to smell like fall is when it starts.

For years I lived in Zone 8 in Seattle, and had no problems with tomatoes in the garden or in pots, save for a bit of drying out damage from hot das.