Tomato update

[ksmith]

The two largest tomato plants shot up 4-5" while I was at Denvention. Buds have been spotted. I plucked a little worm off one of the plants, and am hoping I don't see any more. I would like to avoid any sort of pest spray, although I will use soap if I have to.

The odd thing so far is that the plants in the deck planter aren't hanging straight down, but are curving up to catch the sun. My only concern about this is if the tomatoes weigh down the plants too quickly, leading to the stem snapping. Guess I'll figure out a way to support them if I have to.





To my surprise, at least one of the in-ground plants, which I had pretty much given up on, is budding. I'm surprised--those plants are only about 1/4 the size and fullness of the two monsters in the planter.





I had spread some corn gluten stuff that was supposed to prevent weeds. Guess there are still a few bugs in that system.

Comments

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

9 feet tall?

I think one issue with the growing upside-down thing is that since the stem doesn't support the weight of the plant in the same way, it doesn't thicken as much as the plant grows. If the stems of my two biggest plants are a half-inch in diameter, that's a lot, and those plants are very bushy and probably about 2 feet long/tall.

[(Anonymous)]

I've never had tomatoes like this year. They're against an 8' fence, and they're flowering a foot above that. I'll need a ladder to pick them. Thank goodness most of the fruit is close to the ground. They're down stream of the compost heap, so I think the soil is extra rich there. At least that's my best guess as to why that's the only place in my garden that tomatoes will produce. But last time I planted tomatoes there, I got 4' bushes. They were nothing like this year's explosion.

Adrianne

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I have never heard of or seen a tomato plant that was taller than an average adult. Maybe I've led a sheltered life...

I'm crossing my fingers that the pests stay away and that in a couple of weeks I'll learn whether these homegrown heirloom are worth the trouble. In the meantime, more tasteless grocery store tomatoes will be consumed. We have a weekly farmers market, but it's hard to tell the difference between the real growers who are selling off their excess produce and the fibowskis who buy veggies from wholesalers. I can usually spot the commercial crates and boxes, but sometimes they hide them.