Tomato Tips

[pentex]

What's your best tip for growing good tomatoes?

 

[foxglove]

I have had the best of luck with Miricle-Grow for tomatoes. I've dug the hole, put ina little puddle of the mixed fertilizer then the plant and you don't get tht droopy period after. Just go by the directions and fertilize when they say to and you have pretty good luck with the tomatoes. Right now I have cherry tomatoes, Bonnie Best and Beef steak growing. The cherry toms have little tomatoes already and the rest are flowering. Hope it helps

 

[Snowwark]

I can grow cherry tomatoes blindfolded (me, not the tomatoes), but I always have problems with regular tomatoes. This year though, so far so good...we'll see.

Maybe I should have foxglove come over to start mine out, next year.

Pentex, last year you had trouble with your tomatoes not developing, are things going better this season?

 

[pentex]

Snowwark, I am sort of a novice...I think (but could be wrong) that last year, I overpruned. What I did was prune the suckers, of which there were tons. The stems that remained had lots of flowers but few set and those that did were poor fruit. Someone told me I should only prune a little.....do you think this is true? This year, I'm afraid to prune at all.

My plants are a nice size now but are quite bushy (cause I haven't pruned). No flowers but we had a very, very cool June in NJ so I'm not surprised.

What are your views on pruning? Are there any rules for this?

And hey, thanks for asking about my tomato plants! I'd so love to have some nice tomatoes this year....they are by far my favorite....

 

[Mamu]

Pentex Number one thing is sun, the more they get, the more tomatoes you'll get.

I do many thing, when I plant I dig a huge hole 3 times the size of the root ball. I put 2 inches of compost in the bottom of the hole fill it with water. Remove all the side shoots, and try to plant the tomato as deep as I can 6 to 8 inches deep. I remove all the suckers for about a month to a month a half. After that I just let them go.

I feed with miracle-gro every other week.

Whether or not the fruit sets does depend on the weather and bees. This year has been a terrible start in Mass, not much sun, lots of rain and cold nights. Everything tomatoes hate.

I was very excited I had flowers on my plants in May, then the second set of flowers in early June. Neither set of flowers did much of anything. I have some tomatoes but nothing to brag about. My plants are now 3 feet tall, getting their 5 set of flowers, with a little luck this could be a good tomato year, late but good.

 

[Snowwark]

There you go Pentex, Mamu's advice is always excellent. She grows oodles of tomatoes!

Do you remember what variety your tomatoes are? Obviously they aren't an early season tomato.

Here's even more info for you.

Pruning Tomatoes

 

[foxglove]

Pentex, when I plant my tomatoes I put marygolds in amoungst them. So far it has always worked for keeping those awful tomato bugs away. It also makes the garden look a little colourful while you're waiting for the tomatoes