How are your Fall Toms doing?

[mysidx]

Is it common for IS to have so many fused and webbed branches. Also it appears my toms are kind of ribbed like a pumpkin, at least at it's early stage.

[b54red]

I had a Porterhouse do the same thing this year; but never any other variety. It started about 12 inches up the main stem and it flattened out to about an inch and a half wide but only about a quarter inch thick. Freaky looking aren't they?

My fall tomatoes and plants often look, and taste different than my spring tomatoes. Often, the fall tomatoes are on the same plants that produced in the spring. Sometimes the fall tomatoes have ribs, or stripes when green that spring tomatoes didn't have. The fall tomatoes sometimes have a much more intense or deeper flavor than the spring tomatoes from the same plant. I've never known what causes the difference, but I suspect it is due to shorter days with less sunlight or decreasing temps instead of rising temps. My fall tomatoes have fully developed root systems delivering more nutrients than the same plants had in the spring.

I used to grow a hybrid named Better Boy every year. The tomatoes were good, but a little bland tasting in the spring. I always anticipated my fall tomatoes on the same plants. They were usually smaller in size, but their taste was outstanding.

Ted

[sirtanon]

I got a rather unfortunate late start on my fall toms due to the lingering summer heat. Didn't get them out until mid-late September. My tallest is only about 20" tall right now. I'm hopeful that they'll get tall enough to produce something, and perhaps last through the winter to get me an early start on Spring.

[Keiththibodeaux]

Judging by the huge numbers of big green tomatoes on my bushes and our average first frost date less than 3 weeks away, I think I better start brushing up on my green tomato recipes.

We had our first frost two nights ago. I covered most of my tomato plants the night before. When I went to the garden yesterday morning, the lawn was covered with frost. As the day warmed, I could see the unprotected plants were unharmed. The protected plants had frozen tips where they were in contact with the cloth covering, but the tomatoes were unharmed. Hopefully, we should have a couple of weeks before the next frost/freeze. I should get a lot of ripe tomatoes from the vines within that time.

Ted

[Keiththibodeaux]

Originally Posted by tedln

We had our first frost two nights ago. I covered most of my tomato plants the night before. When I went to the garden yesterday morning, the lawn was covered with frost. As the day warmed, I could see the unprotected plants were unharmed. The protected plants had frozen tips where they were in contact with the cloth covering, but the tomatoes were unharmed. Hopefully, we should have a couple of weeks before the next frost/freeze. I should get a lot of ripe tomatoes from the vines within that time.

Ted

Old gardeners around here would get up about 5am on days frost were predicted and run the water sprinklers on the plants. They swore it was effective.

[PaulF]

There are three tomatoes left from this year's garden and they will be part of the season's last BLT tonight.

Keith,

I am an old gardener, but I don't get up around five a.m. for anything. My philosophy is if it needs to be done around five a.m., it won't get done.

Ted

[Keiththibodeaux]

Originally Posted by tedln

Keith,

I am an old gardener, but I don't get up around five a.m. for anything. My philosophy is if it needs to be done around five a.m., it won't get done.

Ted

My problem as well Ted. I am a night owl, so if it needs to be done at 5am, I would have a far better shot staying up, rather than getting up.

[Keiththibodeaux]

Speak of the frost devil. Just checked the weather, 37 low projected for Friday morning. That is definitely frost range here.

[kygreg]

Tomato plants are still looking good and producing; harvesting every 3 or 4 days now.

1st pic

Some of the larger ones:

Back row left to right
Brandywine Liams, Blue River, Church, Red Barn

Front row left to right:
Blue Ridge Mountain. Church, Mortage Lifter Bicolor, Zore's Big Red

The Church on the back row was the largest, less than 2lbs.

2nd pic all the harvest including some late bell peppers

[Marymcp]

Like sirtanon above, I also started several tomato plants in mid-Sep. Some are in the ground and others are in large containers. I have lots of green fruit, if we do not have a frost can I expect the fruit to eventually ripen?

[Ruth_10]

Still harvesting tomatoes here. No real frost yet. Wednesday night is expected to be down to 29, however, and if that happens it will be the end of the fresh tomatoes.

We usually have a tomato killing frost in late October, than a hard freeze 3-4 weeks later. This year is an outlier.

[b54red]

These are some of the fall tomatoes I have picked the last week or two. It was 80 degrees today and will be again tomorrow so I should get some more ripening. Day after tomorrow we are going to get some temps in the low 30s at night and then warm up again. Hopefully no severe frost damage will occur those two days then we will warm up again to near 80. I'm really enjoying these late tomatoes and hopefully will have some til after Thanksgiving. There are a lot of different tomatoes pictured and they are all mixed up: DDR, IS, Lumpy Red, Dr. Wyches Yellow, Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Red, Barlow Jap, Rose, Midnight in Moscow, Cherokee Purple, Zogola, and Spudakee.