tomato update

[quietann]

This is mostly for my own reference, but some of you might find it useful.

In mid-May I planted seven cherry tomato plants, each of a different variety, in whiskey barrels (and one plastic planter) on our patio.

Several weeks later, a critter (groundhog?) ate most of the leaves off any plants marked with a ** below. I covered the plants with netting and put an improvised wire fence around the plastic planter, gave them an extra dose of Tomatoes Alive Plus! organic fertilizer, and all rebounded vigorously.

Many of our friends have had bad luck with tomatoes this year, because of the rain. Mine are doing fine; I think this is because they are in containers, which allow for better drainage, and on our deck, which is very, very hot when the sun is out (and tomatoes love this as long as they are well-watered). A few of the plants had some sort of leaf wilt, but as the weather has dried up it has mostly disappeared. Also, I planted early -- not the traditional Memorial Day weekend. With the climate warming in our area, I find it highly unlikely that there would be a frost in May, and if there is a frost, it's easy enough to get replacement plants. (I don't start plants from seed because I want one plant of each variety and I have really bad luck with seedlings.)

So here is where we stand:

• Sun Gold: the only non-red variety. This plant is very tall (over six feet) and was the first to yield ripe tomatoes, four so far, which make me wonder why I thought I didn't like yellow tomatoes.
  
  
• Small Fry: The plant doesn't look great but it has a lot of green tomatoes on it and numerous blooms, and is about 5 feet tall.
  
  
• **Sweet Million: Most damaged by the critter, it now is tall and has several branchlets with 10 or more tomatoes on each, and plenty of blooms.
  
  
• **Sugary: Planted in the same large barrel as Grape. Both plants suffered from critter damage and have recovered nicely and have lots of fruit and flowers. Both varieties are oblong rather than round, and Sugary is supposed to be more disease-resistant and more tasty. We'll see.
  
  
• **Grape: see above. The classic oblong cherry tomato variety. I can't compare potential yields for this and Sugary because the two plants twisted together as they recovered from the critter, and the fruits are identical.
  
  
• Husky Red: a very sturdy, short plant that has ripened one fruit so far and has many more coming. Planted in the plastic container with Matt's Wild
  
  
• **Matt's Wild: This one is a short bushy plant that will give tiny round tomatoes, but right now it mostly just has flowers.

Comments

[noire.livejournal.com]

Matt's Wild is one of my very favorite all-time tomatoes, and definitely my absolute fave of the little tomatoes. Yummmm!

Where did you get the plant???

[quietann.livejournal.com]

Lake Street Garden Center in Salem, NH. They had a really nice selection of plants -- about a dozen little tomato varieties and probably 3 dozen big tomato ones. And they are also very nice people.

Mahoney's (the closest one to you is now in Allston, and the big one is in Winchester on Rt. 3) also usually has a nice selection and is closer to you.

[n5red.livejournal.com]

I am? That's news to me, I always thought I was rather boring.

[cogitationitis.livejournal.com]

It's possible that your browser was a deer, not a woodchuck. They tend to not be able to handle getting up into containers.

[davecycle.livejournal.com]

Stella's tomatoes are doing incredibly well. She is picking about a gallon of cherry tomatoes every other day. Our counter is covered with some larger tomatoes. When you visit, there are sure to be a large number of excellent tomatoes. And other stuff, too!

Cheers,
Dave