Another item on the bucket list checked off

mensplace · July 1, 2010

This may seem like a small thing to some, but it surely meant a lot to me.
In preparation to take some tomatoes to our little market on Wednesday I went out early for for normal twice a week picking. I was pleased to end up my my normal two to three bushels of nice fruits, but among those I had twelve of the type that I have always dreamed of producing...each between 1.6 an 1.7 pounds. Since I don't have the means of watering my plants, these were all grown thanks to planting them about a foot deep. Since we haven't had any measureable rain in about three weeks, these were all grown using available water and no extraordinary steps taken to produce large specimens..just good varieties. Not adding the extra water has certainly resulted in a LOT of flavor and no cracking. No external BER either, though several nice fruits at ground level had turned to mush inside...not just a soft spot, but entire fruits that felt as though they had boiled. Fortunately, plenty had not. My main insect pest is something that looks like stinkbugs. However, since I pick twice a week and eat or sell the fruits, I am reluctant to add poisons. That said, these 12 fruits were gorgeous and have certainly justfied my many months of work. Can't help but wonder what either rain or watering might have added, but I'm not onto size for the sake of size. Thes fruits were all perfect specimens of round, flavorful tomatoes, not grotesque compound fruits. Too, they were each of different varieties.

cottonpicker · July 1, 2010

That really sounds like a winning garden and I'm so glad you had such great luck with your "benign neglect"way of doing things. Didn't seem to hurt them and, in fact, tells me that we often "fuss over them" too much. Tomato plants are actually very tough and can stand some neglect & still do well as YOURS have proved!

WHICH VARIETIES are you talking about????

Thanks for sharing your experiences and congratulations on a good crop!
LarryD

Sherry_AK · July 1, 2010

Excellent! I've never cracked the one-pound mark here in my cool climate. Good job!

sprtsguy76 · July 1, 2010

There is no doubt that cutting back on water weather it be rain or city water will help with flavor. But in my experience you have to be careful, because the ground water will dry up and if you dont start supplementing with rain or city water you could be in (unless your in an area thats gets heathly amounts of rain water year around) for massive BER attacks and eractic flavor. Like everthing else, timing is everything. I share this with you because I love the taste of dry farmed tomatoes or minamally watered tomatoes, unfortunately I dont live in an area where I can do that as I'm too far from the coast and do not live in a area where it rains year around. This year I'm trying to pin point how much or how long my plants will go in between waterings without causing the massive BER attacks and erratic flavors. With summer here I'm at the point where I'm drip watering my plants 2.5 hours a week and I'm thinking of cutting it to 2 hours a week. Problem is I have three beds and two of them are much more established and free draining. While the middle beds soil is much heavier and holds water longer than the other two.

Damon

mensplace · July 2, 2010

Here, the Georgia clay drains very slowly and retains water for a long time. But, at three weeks with no rain and none expected this week they have begun to droop in the evening, but by the next day are perky again. With the high humidity the foliage of the plants is wet each morning. Not only did I plant very deeply, but the rows and spacing is far closer than normal and every six feet in the row I have a 12 foot high sunflower with leaves only above the tomato plants to provide a modicum of shade from the afternoon sun. With temps that have consistently been in the nineties and high humidity, working in the garden is unbearable until around 7:00 PM or early morning. Even if I did water, unless I let it soak for hours in the evening, it would evaporate VERY quickly and the water bill would be massive.

July 1, 2010	#1
mensplace Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: USA Posts: 1,013	Another item on the bucket list checked off This may seem like a small thing to some, but it surely meant a lot to me. In preparation to take some tomatoes to our little market on Wednesday I went out early for for normal twice a week picking. I was pleased to end up my my normal two to three bushels of nice fruits, but among those I had twelve of the type that I have always dreamed of producing...each between 1.6 an 1.7 pounds. Since I don't have the means of watering my plants, these were all grown thanks to planting them about a foot deep. Since we haven't had any measureable rain in about three weeks, these were all grown using available water and no extraordinary steps taken to produce large specimens..just good varieties. Not adding the extra water has certainly resulted in a LOT of flavor and no cracking. No external BER either, though several nice fruits at ground level had turned to mush inside...not just a soft spot, but entire fruits that felt as though they had boiled. Fortunately, plenty had not. My main insect pest is something that looks like stinkbugs. However, since I pick twice a week and eat or sell the fruits, I am reluctant to add poisons. That said, these 12 fruits were gorgeous and have certainly justfied my many months of work. Can't help but wonder what either rain or watering might have added, but I'm not onto size for the sake of size. Thes fruits were all perfect specimens of round, flavorful tomatoes, not grotesque compound fruits. Too, they were each of different varieties.

July 1, 2010	#2
cottonpicker Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: SE PA..near Valley Forge Posts: 839	That really sounds like a winning garden and I'm so glad you had such great luck with your "benign neglect"way of doing things. Didn't seem to hurt them and, in fact, tells me that we often "fuss over them" too much. Tomato plants are actually very tough and can stand some neglect & still do well as YOURS have proved! WHICH VARIETIES are you talking about???? Thanks for sharing your experiences and congratulations on a good crop! LarryD __________________ "Strong and bitter words indicate a weak cause". Victor Hugo

July 1, 2010	#3
Sherry_AK Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Alaska Zone 3/4 Posts: 1,857	Excellent! I've never cracked the one-pound mark here in my cool climate. Good job!

July 1, 2010	#4
sprtsguy76 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: Santa Clara CA Posts: 1,125	There is no doubt that cutting back on water weather it be rain or city water will help with flavor. But in my experience you have to be careful, because the ground water will dry up and if you dont start supplementing with rain or city water you could be in (unless your in an area thats gets heathly amounts of rain water year around) for massive BER attacks and eractic flavor. Like everthing else, timing is everything. I share this with you because I love the taste of dry farmed tomatoes or minamally watered tomatoes, unfortunately I dont live in an area where I can do that as I'm too far from the coast and do not live in a area where it rains year around. This year I'm trying to pin point how much or how long my plants will go in between waterings without causing the massive BER attacks and erratic flavors. With summer here I'm at the point where I'm drip watering my plants 2.5 hours a week and I'm thinking of cutting it to 2 hours a week. Problem is I have three beds and two of them are much more established and free draining. While the middle beds soil is much heavier and holds water longer than the other two. Damon

July 2, 2010	#5
mensplace Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: USA Posts: 1,013	Here, the Georgia clay drains very slowly and retains water for a long time. But, at three weeks with no rain and none expected this week they have begun to droop in the evening, but by the next day are perky again. With the high humidity the foliage of the plants is wet each morning. Not only did I plant very deeply, but the rows and spacing is far closer than normal and every six feet in the row I have a 12 foot high sunflower with leaves only above the tomato plants to provide a modicum of shade from the afternoon sun. With temps that have consistently been in the nineties and high humidity, working in the garden is unbearable until around 7:00 PM or early morning. Even if I did water, unless I let it soak for hours in the evening, it would evaporate VERY quickly and the water bill would be massive.