What are you doing differently this year...

[BigBrownDogHouse]

I have learned that crowded tomatoes are not happy tomatoes. Last year was the first year I really started giving the plants some space and they rewarded me. It was so much easier to get around them, pick, weed, etc. I will be spacing them out even a bit more this year.

Last year was the first year I stayed up to date with weeding throughout the entire growing season and it made me enjoy the garden so much more. Will make sure I do it again this year.

Going to mulch.

Will not be growing so many extra plants. The past few years I have grown so many extras and then given them out to friends, family, wife's co-workers, etc.
A few folks really appreciate the plants and rave about the tomatoes but I have found out some others don't touch their plants from the time they plant them until they're pulling them out of the ground in October if they even live that long.
Had about 25 plants around the house but seeded about 100. Almost too many to give away.

Even more canning! I find myself opening up jars and eating them straight out of the jar without them even making it to my pot of chili on spaghetti....too good!

Improve the cages and stakes even more. Made life so much easier last summer.

[Douglas_OW]

I haven't made plans for any big changes this season. I spent most of last summer getting ready for this season- enlarged the garden, fenced it, add some compost.
Below, I copied/pasted the latest edition of the Rutgers news letter that I get. It has some good ideas to consider. The tomato variety database might be of interest to you; I don't know if it covers any varieties that aren't already listed in Tatiana's database, but it might have some additional photos.

"I don't want you to make all of the same mistakes that did; pick out 2 or 3 good ones, and run with them."

Jim

From Rutgers:

New Tomato Year Resolutions

People make a lot of resolutions for the start of a New Year: to lose weight, stop smoking, eat healthier, watch less TV, etc. But how many of us make resolutions for our gardens? At the height of the growing season when we’re looking at unimpressive tomato yields or fruits with some kind of rot – sometimes we wish we could go back and start over – if only we had done something differently.

At Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension, we hear from many disappointed gardeners who spent much time, effort and money on raising their tomato crops, only to be faced with a crop failure that sometimes is preventable.

Outside of extreme weather conditions and plant disease epidemics such as late blight, there are many steps a gardener can take beforehand to ensure a healthy tomato crop.

It is the height of winter and the time to start seeds indoors is weeks away – now is when many gardeners like to shop for seed. There are hundreds of tomato varieties on the market – how can you compare them to know which ones to choose? Introducing Rutgers NJAES tomato variety database. Every year at our NJAES research farms we conduct tomato variety trials and record the data for these different varieties. From growth habits to flavor we have included key attributes for each entry in our database: http://njaes.rutgers.edu/tomato-varieties.
Starting seeds indoors? Watch how-to videos with expert advice from Rutgers Cooperative Extension.
Many issues arise when planning a vegetable garden: location, fertilizing, watering, etc. Read our recommendations from Cooperative Extension agricultural specialists and agents to make sure your tomato garden is properly prepared: http://www.njfarmfresh.rutgers.edu/g...factsheets.htm
A gardener’s success is in the soil. Have you had your soil tested for pH and nutrient levels? Avoid the spring rush – if your soil is thawed, now is a good time to send in your soil samples for testing to Rutgers Soil Testing Lab: http://njaes.rutgers.edu/soiltestinglab.
Looking for that old fashioned Jersey Tomato flavor? Two old time varieties grown by Jersey Tomato farmers and also favored by gardeners were off the market, leaving many disappointed gardeners. Rutgers NJAES brought back these two favorites: Ramapo and Moreton tomatoes. Sales of the seeds help support our research efforts to bring back tasty tomatoes: http://www.njfarmfresh.rutgers.edu/JerseyTomato.html (order form is first item under “What’s New”).

[BlackestKrim]

A lot of people have been mentioning giving the tomatoes enough space... but how much space do you recommend? I think mine would be better if I did not crowd them.

This year I plan to do a lot more container tomatoes. I got some dwarf project seeds from tomatoes at SETTFEST that I am going to try out. I am in a new house (yay, no more renting!) and I have some raised beds in the front yard, as well as a sunny, paved sideyard. The paved sideyard I want to fill with container plants. The back yard is shady and is no good for tomatoes.

I am hoping to make some SWCs this year, for the first time. I think the up-front time sunk making them will be worth not fussing with watering/irrigation.

[FILMNET]

Here is what i did last year, great year

[FILMNET]

30 inches and watch them

[Full Moon]

Filmnet,

Your plants look very healthy well done.
I'm growing Stump of the World for the first time this year by looking at your picture it looks smaller than everything else around. Is that the case? Would you say it's a "smallish" plant compare to others?

Lyne

[mich04]

I am switching from wooden stakes to the Florida weave with metal T post. My tomato plants were like 6.5 feet or 7 feet tall last year which ended up being a mess. I will be adding 10 more varieties of vegetables which should be fun. Also the most exciting thing to me is that I just bought a house built in 99, down in the basement is a bathroom with a HUGE walkin shower ( I don't know what they were thinking.) Lets just say some metal shelving with a lot of flats...constant 75 degrees high humidity some grown lights...I CAN"T WAIT FOR SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[FILMNET]

It was only 5 ft. it went wide and with large fruit.Actually these 3 plants were on 10 ft of the ground.

[BigBrownDogHouse]

Filmnet

Your tomato plants look very impressive. Did you do a lot of pruning through the year? If I am seeing the picture correctly, it looks like low branches were pruned off.

I started the big time spacing last year and it really paid off. It was so much easier to get through the garden. When I planted close, I would usually have to tie a rope around my waist and tell my wife that if she didn't see me in a half hour to start pulling me back out.
I had created a tomato forest. A forest of 6-7-8 foot bushy monsters all intertwined.

Last year, along with the usual garden area, I started a single row of tomatoes in the sunniest part of the backyard. I had great production and knock on wood, the dogs never ran through the row!

[FILMNET]

Yes as soon a the bottom fruit came out i cleaned out bthe bottom leaves and anything else, On this shot i used a 6 pole a small one, tied to plants. The other wood sticks were only 4ft and i put them to tie the plant. Only 1 time did i cut alot off the plants, after 50 days i did this. I open the bottom of plants to see any new branches coming out in the bottoms, which i cut any all summer. The shot shows bottom fruit,in a few weeks i got more fruit. then i let the plants grow crazy and got more fruit. 3 times from all plants, i will do this again this year, If you grow black Cherry's
as the plants grow up , which i tie the plants up every other day, new fruits are coming from the tops. These plants i do not cut off, only long branches with no flowers,fruit.

[ceresone]

Every cage I've ever built, the tomatoes droop over the top.
This year, I'm using 16' cattle panels, in a hoop, joined at the top. I plan on planting on both sides, 2 to a panel (they're 4' wide)-and I'm using 16 panels. They should have all the room they want to grow--they can grow 16' before they touch the tomatoes coming up the other side. Between, I'm planting pole beans-and peas. Possibly squash too.
So, if it fails? I'll try something different next year.

[FILMNET]

dont forget Marigolds

[dice]

This cage works pretty well (see the picture at the bottom):
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...27s#post148586

If I wanted to make longer rows with that trellis system,
I could put one of those Woodie's folding cages (idea from
Mother Earth News) at each end of the row, put the pipe
across the top, and then tie the trellis. Tieing the trellis
takes quite a bit of rope (I used 1000' rolls of 1/8" nylon
on 20' long rows with the crossbar 6' high; you run out
faster than you expect). It has no problem holding up
tomato plants, though, and holds up to UV pretty well.
That particular one in the photo is sitting on a concrete
patio with a self-watering container under it and another
one on each side.

It is basically "a day's work up front and then just tuck in
plants as they grow" system that will last for years. I planted
poles in the ground at the ends of rows, since I had them
already (saved building more of the A-frame type cages
for the ends), but if one used the A-frames at each end,
it would be easier to move the rows (crop rotation).

edit: The pipe was recycled galvanized steel from the top
rails of a torn-down chain link fence. 20'+ long pieces.

edit2: I found 8" diagonal mesh most satisfactory. 12" mesh
left too much room for the plants to flop around, and 6" mesh
took longer to tie and more rope. So I started with a 24-foot
piece of rope every 8 inches on the top bar, doubled up into
a strand of two and tied with a Prusik knot. I made the first
"half mesh" row under the top with the knot 4 inches from the
top bar, then made the next course 8" down from the row
of knots above, and the same all the way to the bottom.
So that took about 700 feet of 1/8" nylon for 20 feet of row,
with the top bar 6 feet off the ground. If you end up with short
pieces (like on the ends where you may be tieing it off to
a vertical support), it is easy to just tie on extra pieces of rope
or string.

One does not have to use 1/8" nylon, I simply found that strong
and easy on the plant stems. One might use 1/16", for
example, and find that perfectly satisfactory. It depends on
how windy it gets where you grow your tomatoes.

[Chucker]

I started my seeds today - 2 weeks ahead of last year. So I can check one thing off my list of things to do differently this year. This is sort of like keeping New Year's resolutions :]

[Dawningstar1]

I only started a couple of the hearts seeds I got here and they are doing great!!! I started them in those seed pods that grow when hot water is added to them and then after they came through the dirt, I put them in empty 1.89 litre bottles with the top cut off, they have grown more and by placing them in these bottles I put the tops back on to make little individual greenhouses lol.... they are now about three inches high with six leaves on each!!!

By the time they are ready to go in the ground they should be almost flowering, with nice stocks on them, I just take sissors and slice the bottles open like a banana being careful to not disturb the roots and place the whole thing inside a cage!!!

I will be doing more seed starting in the next few days!!!