What to do with these plants?

elight · October 8, 2013

An almost-end-of-season update on my plants. I documented via a few different threads the challenges I had this year, namely living in an apartment with no outdoor water source and a patio (my only planting option) that got around 3.5-4 hours of sunlight per day. I was doubtful that I would get ANY ripe fruit based on what I read on the Internet about the sunlight requirements for tomatoes. Without further ado, here are the results (with essentially all of the full-size fruit now picked and the plants giving in to disease):

SUN GOLD
# fruit picked: 409
Total weight picked: 5 lb 5 oz
Average weight: 0.2 oz

BLACK CHERRY
# fruit picked: 113
Total weight picked: 3 lb 1 oz
Average weight: 0.4 oz

EARLY GIRL
# fruit picked: 20
Total weight picked: 4 lb 3 oz
Average weight: 3.4 oz

CHEROKEE MYSTERY*
# fruit picked: 26
Total weight picked: 7 lb 12 oz
Average weight: 4.8 oz

And now some notes:

1. The plants all produced reasonably well given the circumstances. These were grown in EarthTainers hooked up to a pressure-less automatic watering system (using a larger reservoir and mini-float to control water level). The soil mix with 3-2-1 using Pro-Mix BX; fertilizer was Libbie Miller 10-10-10, supplemented weekly with Neptune's Harvest 3-2-1 in mid-season.

2. To say these plants were leggy would be an understatement. They were looking for the sunlight, which really only hit the edge of the patio. They grew up and out. I was constantly pruning, wrapping vines back into the cages, etc., to keep them under control. Mid-summer, I lifted them onto dollies to make it easier to wheel them away from the railing the prune the far sides.

3. The variety that was labeled Cherokee Purple (which I have now dubbed Cherokee Mystery) was not... it was a salad-size red fruit. I got these from a community farm, so who knows where the error was. It was the latest fruit, but ended up the most prolific in terms of total weight. Taste was nothing to write home about.

4. I tried to plant varieties that were known as being both prolific and early. I thought this gave me the best chance of success. And sure enough, the Sun Golds were a home run, and the Early Girls held their own under the circumstances.

Hopefully I'll never have to plant under these conditions again. My conclusion would be that others should not let a lack of sunlight keep them from planting tomatoes. Everyone says you need 8 hours, or 6 at a bare minimum, to have any chance of growing tomatoes. This proves otherwise. Yes, your plants will never realized their full potential with 3.5 hours of sunlight each day, but better to have some tomatoes than none.

Thanks to everyone in the Tomatoville community as always for your help and support. I'm counting down the days to spring training and seed germination!

October 8, 2013	#16
elight Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Allentown, PA Posts: 349	An almost-end-of-season update on my plants. I documented via a few different threads the challenges I had this year, namely living in an apartment with no outdoor water source and a patio (my only planting option) that got around 3.5-4 hours of sunlight per day. I was doubtful that I would get ANY ripe fruit based on what I read on the Internet about the sunlight requirements for tomatoes. Without further ado, here are the results (with essentially all of the full-size fruit now picked and the plants giving in to disease): SUN GOLD # fruit picked: 409 Total weight picked: 5 lb 5 oz Average weight: 0.2 oz BLACK CHERRY # fruit picked: 113 Total weight picked: 3 lb 1 oz Average weight: 0.4 oz EARLY GIRL # fruit picked: 20 Total weight picked: 4 lb 3 oz Average weight: 3.4 oz CHEROKEE MYSTERY* # fruit picked: 26 Total weight picked: 7 lb 12 oz Average weight: 4.8 oz And now some notes: 1. The plants all produced reasonably well given the circumstances. These were grown in EarthTainers hooked up to a pressure-less automatic watering system (using a larger reservoir and mini-float to control water level). The soil mix with 3-2-1 using Pro-Mix BX; fertilizer was Libbie Miller 10-10-10, supplemented weekly with Neptune's Harvest 3-2-1 in mid-season. 2. To say these plants were leggy would be an understatement. They were looking for the sunlight, which really only hit the edge of the patio. They grew up and out. I was constantly pruning, wrapping vines back into the cages, etc., to keep them under control. Mid-summer, I lifted them onto dollies to make it easier to wheel them away from the railing the prune the far sides. 3. The variety that was labeled Cherokee Purple (which I have now dubbed Cherokee Mystery) was not... it was a salad-size red fruit. I got these from a community farm, so who knows where the error was. It was the latest fruit, but ended up the most prolific in terms of total weight. Taste was nothing to write home about. 4. I tried to plant varieties that were known as being both prolific and early. I thought this gave me the best chance of success. And sure enough, the Sun Golds were a home run, and the Early Girls held their own under the circumstances. Hopefully I'll never have to plant under these conditions again. My conclusion would be that others should not let a lack of sunlight keep them from planting tomatoes. Everyone says you need 8 hours, or 6 at a bare minimum, to have any chance of growing tomatoes. This proves otherwise. Yes, your plants will never realized their full potential with 3.5 hours of sunlight each day, but better to have some tomatoes than none. Thanks to everyone in the Tomatoville community as always for your help and support. I'm counting down the days to spring training and seed germination!