I have tomato blossoms!!!

addiebee · Jun 25, 2009

I am not much of a gardener... but I wanted to try my hand at growing tomatoes... since we love them so much in the summertime. I bought an heirloom variety plant called Moscovitch... a sweet tomato... early producer.

I put it in Miracle Gro potting soil and in a sunny spot on the back patio and this thing as grrooooowwwwwnnn!!!

I went to check the other day and voila - tomato blossoms! Yay! I will keep an eye out for bugs.. but so far so good. Do I need to put some netting on it once it develops fruit? To keep off the critters?

gailc · Jun 25, 2009

How tall is your plant? Due to our odd June weather my plants are about 1 ft tall and some have blossoms. I pick them off so I can get more growth on the plant before I let fruit set so the plant can support more fruit.

addiebee · Jun 25, 2009

Originally Posted by GailC

How tall is your plant? Due to our odd June weather my plants are about 1 ft tall and some have blossoms. I pick them off so I can get more growth on the plant before I let fruit set so the plant can support more fruit.

Dang, Gail... this plant is huge 2.5 ft at least!! It gets a lot of sun in this spot. It has grown like a weed!! If u have any advice for protecting the plant from predators winged and legged... pls let me know.

ETA: in case you're wondering, this is the tomato variety in my porch pot!
http://store.tomatofest.com/Moskovic..._p/tf-0327.htm

trouts mom · Jun 25, 2009

Wow, how exciting!! I love watching plants grow!

nurseangel · Jun 25, 2009

I don't usually have any problem with critters getting my tomatoes (though it was a different story when I tried to grow cantaloupe). In NC, there are what I call "tomato cut worms" (which may be the same thing as horn worms). They are not easy to spot...they blend. Every year, I puzzle over how they find my garden, because they just seem to materialize out of nowhere. I'm convinced they crawl for miles just to get to my yard...

gailc · Jun 26, 2009

The only problems I have with my tomato plants esp some heirloom types are that they grow too tall. I have chopped off the tops of some of my plants once they reach 5 ft-this is usually later in August. I have some cages that Dad made over 25 years ago from field fencing and I hold them in the ground with rebar rods and they still tip over. Also late August to late September slugs make holes in some of the fruit. By then though I've had my fill of tomatoes.

The best advice and I've done this already with mine is to mulch the soil under the plants with marsh hay/straw or untreated dry grass clippings. Remove the lower set of leaves (closet to the ground) from the plant too. Most diseases occur when water splashes on the ground and back to the plant. I'm not saying if diseases will occur but having them mulched will prevent the majority from occuring. Plus less weeding!

By 24 tomato plants and 24 pepper plants are mulched and I will increase the the ground area to be mulched as the season progresses.

pushylady · Jun 26, 2009

It's so funny that there seems to be a few of us first-time tomato growers here! I have one little plant on my balcony, and I'm very excited because there are now 3 little baby tomatos growing!

I have a couple of pepper ones too, but I don't see any babies just yet.

nurseangel · Jun 26, 2009

Forgot to mention when I posted, congratulations on your tomato blossoms.

Here, where it's probably considerably hotter

, I have tomatoes that are almost ready to start ripening. I've never gotten ripe tomatoes from my garden before the Fourth of July, so I am excited. I love to garden, even though I'm not good at it. It relaxes me to come home from a stressful day at work and spend time in my little garden.

tari · Jun 26, 2009

I have tomato blossoms, too, and some tiny tomatoes already! The back of my yard has been flooded out for almost two weeks, and I haven't been able to check out my garden behind the garage. I thought for sure it was done for. But it dried up enough for me to make it back there this morning, and they're doing great. The garden's full of weeds (so you know what I'll be doing this weekend

) but the plants are going strong. The down side is that I planted WAY too many plants, and it looks like they're all going to make it, so I'm going to have WAY too many tomatoes on my hands! Anybody want some?

snosrap5 · Jun 26, 2009

Congrats on the blossoms. Not too long before you have this...

I picked these this morning before work. I bring all the extra for my dad.

addiebee · Jun 26, 2009

Originally Posted by GailC

The only problems I have with my tomato plants esp some heirloom types are that they grow too tall. I have chopped off the tops of some of my plants once they reach 5 ft-this is usually later in August. I have some cages that Dad made over 25 years ago from field fencing and I hold them in the ground with rebar rods and they still tip over. Also late August to late September slugs make holes in some of the fruit. By then though I've had my fill of tomatoes.

The best advice and I've done this already with mine is to mulch the soil under the plants with marsh hay/straw or untreated dry grass clippings. Remove the lower set of leaves (closet to the ground) from the plant too. Most diseases occur when water splashes on the ground and back to the plant. I'm not saying if diseases will occur but having them mulched will prevent the majority from occuring. Plus less weeding!

By 24 tomato plants and 24 pepper plants are mulched and I will increase the the ground area to be mulched as the season progresses.

Sigh.. it is one lone plant in a porch planter - a BIG porch planter. I will get pics and show you....

addiebee · Jun 26, 2009

Here is the heirloom plant ... next to a smaller pot with Genovese basil in it..

And a close up of my tomato blossoms!

This variety produces smaller tomatoes - like 3-4 inches across... good for eating one per person!

alleygirl · Jun 26, 2009

I can't wait for mine (assuming I can get rid of those weird bugs I posted about). I've never grown one before so I'm very excited

Tari, feel free to send them to me!

crazyforinfo · Jun 29, 2009

Congrats on the blooms.
It finally stopped raining here and I was able to take some pictures Saturday.

jcat · Jun 29, 2009

Congratulations on your blossoms!

Originally Posted by snosrap5

Congrats on the blossoms. Not too long before you have this...

I picked these this morning before work. I bring all the extra for my dad.

We've just picked (and eaten) the first cherry tomatoes, but the Roma and Beefsteak have a ways to go before they ripen.

I have tomato blossoms!!!

addiebee

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gailc

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trouts mom

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pushylady

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