We've enjoyed a few cherry tomatoes, but please allow me to introduce y'all to our first "real" tomato! Thought I'd better take a picture because it's going to disappear fast!
LiseP
Celebrating!
Congratulations. It is beautiful. At least tell us what kind it is.
Rookie mistake, my records are scrawled in about 7 different places, so I can't tell you at the moment. I want to say "Early Girl" (?) but I honestly am not sure. I can tell you that it tasted great though. :-)
beautiful
Good one! Enjoy.
Jerry, who is finding green tomatoes on the ground with worm holes around where the stem was attached.
Thanks! Its nearly red brother has suffered at the hands (er, beak) of a bird, I think. Two big gashes in it. I just added a big chicken wire box around the plant to save the others.
And, as long as we're talking tomatoes, this plant produced 5 tomatoes at about the same time, all of which will be reddening this week. But...that's it. I'm not seeing any new blossoms. I would have expected it to produce more, but maybe this Texas heat is already getting to it?. I guess I should direct my question to the Texas gardening forum maybe, but maybe someone here knows?
Oops, just saw your post, Jerry. Thanks, and too bad about the worm holes. WIsh I had advice but you probably know more about it than I do. Mine are container tomatoes so maybe that's why mine have escaped that danger. Since we are in the same climate -- are you seeing new blossoms on yours?
This has been an interesting year. My tomatoes had an excellent early fruit set but it has been poor as of late. Looks like the tomato show may be over. It may be a good year, however, for beans, okra, southern peas, and sweet taters and melons.
As is often the case with our weather here in Central Texas our Springs and Falls are only about a week or two long. One day it's 100º, the next 33º (Summer to Winter) or one day it's 30º and the next 100º (Winter to Summer) - go figure.
Jerry
I'm in 8b and still getting lots of blooms and lots of heat and daily rain. The fruit set has definitely slowed down but I think it is because of wet pollen. The nights are still cool enough for fruit set. All this rain is very rare here in May and is causing leaf diseases. Always something, sigh...
If your plant is luxurious and beautiful, it may be enjoying too much fertilizer to set fruit.
Well, I'll just hang on and enjoy what I've got, I guess. Jerry you sound like a true native with all that okra and southern pea talk. I am not, but I do have beans planted!
Twiggybuds, yes, the growth is pretty green and prolific-- maybe I did overdo it on the fertilizer. That said, our nights are fairly warm and steamy around here (see Jerry's weather report!). Maybe they never really get a chance to cool down.Thanks for the insight.
The plants should still be blooming even if they don't set fruit. I use hasta grow ever so often it has a higher phosphate content which is good to initiate blooming 6-12-6. It has been in the 90s here with much higher humidity then normal but my tomatoes are blooming and setting fruit.
LiseP~Could be that this particular variety of tomato is a determinate.
Oh, I hadn't thought of that, Stephanietx. You could be right.
I didn't think of that either but now that you mention it, I do have several determinates that are finished already. Yesterday I was noticing that some have quit making new blooms so I guess that's it. I have a bunch of different varieties and a lot of the determinates are still blooming. IMHO they're the most reliable for early tomatoes and for processing. I'm getting the impression that trying to have a continuous supply of maters requires getting to know the habits of a bunch of different ones.
Or, it could be an early variety. Guess you need to have early, middle, and late varieties to ensure tomato production all season long. Gosh! There's just so much to this gardening thing! LOL
Unless the plant is a determinate it should still be throwing blossoms. The early varieties produce sooner but they should keep on blooming unless they are determinants. When I lived in Ca. tomatoes were actually perennials,and I have some in pots that I have over wintered and they are starting to really set fruit again even though they are well over a year old.
There's nary a blossom, so I'm guessing it is probably a determinate. Now if I had kept better notes, I would know, wouldn't I?
LiseP
LOL Lise! My "notes" are scribbled on a post it note!
Every year I say I'm going to keep better notes, Maybe I did but I can't find the notes from last year. ARGH.....
Glad I'm not the only one.