New tomato season!

b54red · March 24, 2023

I just set out eleven grafted tomato plants and three non-grafted tomato plants. I am sure glad I waited for them to get a bit larger. My son put out 10 or so two weeks ago and his plants were really hit hard by the little freeze we had last week and several or all of them are severely damaged and may not recover at all. I had some ginger I set out two weeks ago and even with a frost cloth over them they look totally burned but I hope they will recover as they have a nice tuber under them to send up some more shoots.

I have had fairly good luck with my grafting so far this year and have nearly 100 plants out of the healing chambers and slowly recovering. I am going to attempt more grafts this next week though I doubt I will need them unless I have the massive die off from TSWV that I had last year. Despite the early destruction I grafted more plants last year and set them out mid summer with little hope of making anything. Despite near drought conditions and extreme heat those late tomatoes set an amazing amount of fruit though most of them ripened after the cool nights started in the fall resulting in tomatoes that were not the best tasting but far superior to store bought and they were the largest fall tomatoes I have ever grown.

We didn't put up many tomatoes last year but did manage to can a good bit of salsa since we had a massive amount of Jalapenos and bell peppers in the fall so we had to do something with those tomatoes.

We have had a great winter and spring harvest of broccoli, cabbage, mustard greens and rutabagas with the help of lots of frost cloth to get through the worst of the freezes. We didn't do so well with Brussels sprouts and had some kind of damping off hit our onions two weeks after they were set out resulting in almost a total loss.

We are trying to plant a flower bed that will attract more hummingbirds and any good tips will be appreciated. The bed is not very large but it has full sun and has been worked up and mulched so it is ready to plant. I called a few local nurseries and was shocked at the prices of small pots of flowers. Kinda like going to the grocery store hungry for beef.

I hope everyone has a good season this year,
Bill

March 24, 2023	#1
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	New tomato season! I just set out eleven grafted tomato plants and three non-grafted tomato plants. I am sure glad I waited for them to get a bit larger. My son put out 10 or so two weeks ago and his plants were really hit hard by the little freeze we had last week and several or all of them are severely damaged and may not recover at all. I had some ginger I set out two weeks ago and even with a frost cloth over them they look totally burned but I hope they will recover as they have a nice tuber under them to send up some more shoots. I have had fairly good luck with my grafting so far this year and have nearly 100 plants out of the healing chambers and slowly recovering. I am going to attempt more grafts this next week though I doubt I will need them unless I have the massive die off from TSWV that I had last year. Despite the early destruction I grafted more plants last year and set them out mid summer with little hope of making anything. Despite near drought conditions and extreme heat those late tomatoes set an amazing amount of fruit though most of them ripened after the cool nights started in the fall resulting in tomatoes that were not the best tasting but far superior to store bought and they were the largest fall tomatoes I have ever grown. We didn't put up many tomatoes last year but did manage to can a good bit of salsa since we had a massive amount of Jalapenos and bell peppers in the fall so we had to do something with those tomatoes. We have had a great winter and spring harvest of broccoli, cabbage, mustard greens and rutabagas with the help of lots of frost cloth to get through the worst of the freezes. We didn't do so well with Brussels sprouts and had some kind of damping off hit our onions two weeks after they were set out resulting in almost a total loss. We are trying to plant a flower bed that will attract more hummingbirds and any good tips will be appreciated. The bed is not very large but it has full sun and has been worked up and mulched so it is ready to plant. I called a few local nurseries and was shocked at the prices of small pots of flowers. Kinda like going to the grocery store hungry for beef. I hope everyone has a good season this year, Bill