Another sad summer for tomatoes

[Jenise]

About two weeks ago, we harvested our first tomatoes, about five in one day. Haven't had a single tomato since, but for those I picked on Friday morning to make fried green tomato BLTs for a crabboat breakfast which means those don't really count--ripe tomatoes, and the fact that I don't have anymore yet despite the fact that my bushes are covered in potential fruit, is what matters. There aren't even any that are turning orange-y.

Boo hoo.

I'm boo-hooing right along with you....we had a very long and wet spring here, and the cycle of the tomatoes was interrupted. It took them too long to get started, and then the 90° plus stopped their flower production. The same for my one cucumber plant that has tons of flowers but so far only 2 cukes. I'm blaming the weather, but at the Farmer's Markets, the growers have tons of tomatoes, so it could be a soil problem. The ones that did produce were the cherry toms, but even then they were smaller and the plants had minimal foliage. Gene put a shade cloth over the heirlooms, and they have taken off, taller than me now and lots of blooms. Strange thing too, is that they have very thick and sturdy stems and are spreading out everywhere outside of the tomato cages. I don't know if there is enough time for them to produce. Weather is erratic this year....today and tomorrow, 107°, then down into the 80's with morning temps in the 50's. Very strange for August.

[Robin Garr]

It hasn't been quite that bad here, although ours did go through a short period of failing to set fruit for a week or so before they got used to the hellish heat that lasted pretty much unbroken from the end of June (except for this week, aaaaaaaaah, a much-needed break).

This article from Sunday's New York Times op-ed, though, is downright scary, and to some extent plays into the weird weather the whole world has been having. Perhaps Alan will be along in a while to reassure us.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/opini ... dixon.html

Several years ago, we were traveling in our RV and stopped at the Columbia Ice Field in Jasper National Park. We had hopes of taking the ice vehicle onto the glacier, but after looking out onto the glacier and seeing lots of mud and considering the outrageous price for the tour, we decided against it. During our two week trip in Canada, we were told they had been having a drought for the past five years. We saw lots of dead trees in beautiful neighborhoods, and other signs of the long drought. Up and down the Sacramento Valley where we live, oak trees are dying at an alarming rate, some sort of bug, it is being reported. We have really noticed a change in the oak trees on our property, have lost many, and about to loose a few more. There are many signs of something alarming going on, some subtle, others very prominent.
In our area, animals such as bear and mountain lions are being seen near homes and schools. They are keeping their distance and staying in their natural habitat, but still too close for comfort. We had a very wet winter with above average water and snow in the mountains, so one has to wonder why the animals are coming in closer.

It has been cold in Sonoma County, but today my own thermometer read 107. I don't like hot weather, so I hope it at leasts gives the tomatoes a kick. Ours too are just sitting around looking green.

I only have 5 tomato plants back here in MA. I've been harvesting dead ripe tomatoes for about 6 weeks. I would think you guys should have way more ripe ones than me.

It's been cool, until the last two days, here in Silly-Con Valley, too. I've picked half a dozen so far off TomatoZilla, which was also infested with aphids and whiteflies this year, which is unusual around here. Last year at this time I had been begging and pleading for people to take some of my tomatoes, and I ended up freezing about 10 or 15 pounds of them.

I had a slice of one tonight on my hamburger - it being 97 degrees at 7 PM.

John

Same down here in the Willamette Valley. One red ripe tomato so far. Tons of little Sungolds.

We're located not too far from Robin on the sunny side of the river and pretty much the same situation here. The tomatoes shut down for a week or two when the temps were ~ 100F.. Strangely, the heat had little impact on the volunteer cherry tomatoes which just kept chugging along. With cooler temperatures the last few days the tomatoes do seem to be making up for lost time. Peppers and basil have thrived in the heat, while the zucchini abandoned ship.
The heat will likely delay the planting of my fall lettuce and spinach crops for another 10-14 days.
BP

So far we have a pretty good crop of Sungolds, but the plant is leggy and the leaves don't look lush. I put in five Oregon Springs. We lost the first beautiful fruit to the potato bugs. We have since had 3 more, but the taste isn't up to par. I put in one Fourth of July, but broke the stem when I planted it sideways below ground to make up for a leggy plant. It rallied and is producing fruit, though none ripe. Missed the 4th of July, August and am not sure it will even make September.

[Jenise]

So far we have a pretty good crop of Sungolds, but the plant is leggy and the leaves don't look lush. I put in five Oregon Springs. We lost the first beautiful fruit to the potato bugs. We have since had 3 more, but the taste isn't up to par. I put in one Fourth of July, but broke the stem when I planted it sideways below ground to make up for a leggy plant. It rallied and is producing fruit, though none ripe. Missed the 4th of July, August and am not sure it will even make September.

So sad! My 4th of July is covered with fruit but they all have rotten bottoms. They turn brown and wilt, and it's a clean line of brown all the way around as if they got dipped in something. No idea what that scourge is, have never seen it before. But elsewhere in town things are good: last week I bought some fantastic local toms at the Co-op, and they're pumping them out at Joe's Garden too so at least we can buy what we cannot grow.

So far we have a pretty good crop of Sungolds, but the plant is leggy and the leaves don't look lush. I put in five Oregon Springs. We lost the first beautiful fruit to the potato bugs. We have since had 3 more, but the taste isn't up to par. I put in one Fourth of July, but broke the stem when I planted it sideways below ground to make up for a leggy plant. It rallied and is producing fruit, though none ripe. Missed the 4th of July, August and am not sure it will even make September.

So sad! My 4th of July is covered with fruit but they all have rotten bottoms. They turn brown and wilt, and it's a clean line of brown all the way around as if they got dipped in something. No idea what that scourge is, have never seen it before. But elsewhere in town things are good: last week I bought some fantastic local toms at the Co-op, and they're pumping them out at Joe's Garden too so at least we can buy what we cannot grow.

Sounds like blossum end rot. I always add about a good hand fill of lime around each tomato when I plant them. It's a trick I learned from the first Victory Garden guy, James Underwood Crockett. My tomatoes are about the same as yours, lots of green ones but no ripe ones. My figs were also a big bust this year too!!! grrr


-mike

[Robin Garr]

Sounds like blossum end rot.

It DOES! Mary spotted that coming and banished it with some kind of topical application. I'll ask her and report back.

[Jenise]

Mike and Robin, I've heard of blossom end rot but haven't (obviously) seen it before. Lime cures it? Probably too late for my plant by now but at least I'll know what to do if it pops up again. Five other plants aren't affected, but the Fourth is in a container of it's own. Maybe that's what went wrong.

[Robin Garr]

Mike and Robin, I've heard of blossom end rot but haven't (obviously) seen it before. Lime cures it? Probably too late for my plant by now but at least I'll know what to do if it pops up again. Five other plants aren't affected, but the Fourth is in a container of it's own. Maybe that's what went wrong.

Jenise, Mary says your plant should be fine. She bought a commercial product called either "Stop-Rot" or "Rot-Stop" at a garden store, which basically gives the plant a big shot of calcium so it's more rot-resistant. As soon as she applied it, the new fruit was unblemished, although of course it can't un-rot a blemished tomato. (However, even those tomatoes can be saved for sauce or whatever ... once you cut off the bad part, the rest of the 'mater is still edible.)

[Robin Garr]

Jenise, here's a good article about tomatoes ... there's a paragraph at the very end about blossom-end rot, which advises the same product Mary did.
http://www.tastefulgarden.com/growing_tomatoes.htm