Fall tomatoes in Texas

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by b54red

To me a master gardener is someone who has a consistently great garden, growing a variety of plants. A master gardener is also someone who has learned to adapt their growing methods and the varieties they choose to the local growing conditions.

Oh, I agree. But they have Master Gardener classes which are affiliated with the County Extension Service and the A&M university system. And you have to do a certain number of hours answering phone calls from gardeners asking questions. You're expected to toe the line on what are "recommended" varieties. That's generally going to be Celebrity, BHN444, or Amelia, despite the fact that TSWV is not an issue in S.E. Texas. They also have "approved" means of pest and disease control which are more appropriate to a farmer than a home gardener but hey, one size fits all.


hornstrider,

The problem I've run into with heirlooms in the fall is, they are slow to set fruit, and by the time the fruit is ripening, we're starting to get some nights in the 40's. Well, 40 degrees is the temperature of most refrigerators. You can see where I'm going with this.

Black and Brown Boar and Momotaro F1 are two varieties I've found that seem to hold their flavor even after a couple of nights in the low 40's. Everything else, the flavor is just sucked right out of the tomatoes. I suppose if I had a greenhouse and was keeping temps in the 60's, then I could grow anything.

[AZRuss]

creister, what are your summers like, day and night?

I like your attitude--pulling spring plants and not mollycoddling them through summer. I did that for most of mine. A few looked good enough to keep (Akers WV, Moskvich, Ramapo), and they're holding up surprisingly well so far, but they're not getting any special treatment. I think I'm going to do as you do and start some seed outside. Heck, why not? Fall crop was tragic here last year. It was too hot to get anything out until October.

[b54red]

Feldon I had great luck with Marianna's Peace last year planted out the 8th of August til the 20th of August and I was picking the first ripe tomatoes in about 2 months. The ones that survived til fruit set that is.

It can be a challenge to keep the whiteflies and foliage diseases at bay long enough for them to get large enough to carry a load of tomatoes. My theory is to start in mid or late July and just keep replacing the ones that die until I run out of seedlings or it gets into September. I always plant a few Big Beefs for security. I put out about 25 in the last week and lost over half due to extreme heat but then we finally got some showers and a little cooler weather so maybe I'll have 5 to 10 of those make it. I also have about 60 more seedlings potted up and outside getting ready to be planted in August. Almost all of them are heirlooms which set fruit in the heat for me this summer. I don't use determinate hybrids because for some reason they set fruit slowly in the fall and ripen even slower than almost any of the heirlooms I have tried.
Most heirlooms set out in mid to late summer down here will set fruit much faster than when set out in the spring; but the plants and fruit are usually much smaller. I'm trying a lot of new ones for the fall and will let you know which make the grade and which don't. I also prune more heavily in the fall to encourage earlier and faster fruit development. I'm not looking for a 10 ft tall plant with monster tomatoes on it in the fall; just a few nice slicers for sandwiches and salads.

[hornstrider]

I am just hoping for a few tomato's for Thanksgiving. If we are lucky again this year we won't have a freeze until after Turkey Day. I planted out 3 Cherokee Purple, and one Sungold, and a couple of Big Beefs last week. This evening I will put 3 more plants in the ground. I have a large Cantaloupe vine on the west side of my CP's that will provide shade in the late afternoon. I will let the vines continue to grow even though I know I will not get anymore melons. The mater plants are in a raised bed, and the soil temp gets very high so I water them daily............b54red........why do you suggest to let the plants dry out every now, and then?

[veggie babe]

I started planting out my fall tomatoes today. I had planned to get them in the ground earlier but things didn't work out. I still have a few tomatoes but there will be a gap between the ones I have now and the fall toms. For fall I planted black cherry, black krim and cherokee purple. Can you tell I love the blacks?

happy harvest,

Neva

[rnewste]

Hey Neva,

I think you have started a "Theme" planting for Fall.

I've got the Wild Boar Farms Collection ready to plant in a few days. Made up of: Berkeley Tie-Dye, Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye, Black and Brown Boar, Pink Boar, Large Barred Boar, and Beauty King. Should be a "colorful" Fall crop for the Thanksgiving table!

Raybo

[b54red]

hornstrider I let them dry out a few times to toughen the stems and to increase the root growth. The first few times I did it by accident and thought I might have ruined my seedlings only to find they came back fine and survived planting out better. I now do this even for my spring planting though it is not nearly as important as when putting them out in the summer heat. Even when doing all of that I will still lose a good number of my summer plant out if I don't get some rain to moderate the soil temperatures a little.

[hornstrider]

Thanks b54red!!........I planted my last three in ground maters yesterday evening. I planted one more CP, and one Black Krim, and one Sweet 100........I will grow two plants in two EB's in the greenhouse. Now I will pray for rain.....

[creister]

AZRuss,

Our temps our mid 90's and low 70's for July and August. We do get streches of 100's as well. June is usually low 90 for high, and high 60's to around 70 for most of the month.

July and August are very brutal here for tomato plants, and the spider mites usually hit about mid to late July.

[AZRuss]

Your nights are a little cooler than here. Following your lead, I quickly moved my brand new seedlings outside. They tolerate the heat and, surprisingly, the brutal sun well. Their growth is exceptionally slow, however. I've moved them inside temporarily under grow lights in a room with the A/C vent closed. It has been very overcast and windy here lately. It'll be interesting to see how this trial turns out.

[hornstrider]

An update on my fall mater crop..........I planted 3 CP's, one Juliet, one Sungold, and one rooted Big Beef around July 19th or so.........I also planted one Sweet 100, one Black Krim, and one more CP a week later........a few days later I planted my lone Big Beef seedling, and another CP in an EB in my greenhouse.

The bed I planted on July 19th was the home of one of my onion beds in the spring. I pulled the onions around mid May. I tilled up the bed at that time, and added liberal amounts of Alfalfa pellets to the bed along with turkey compost, and tilled the pellets, and compost in also. I topped the bed with leaves, and more alfalfa pellets, and watered the empty bed every other day until I planted my mater plants in late July.

Let me tell ya'..........the mater plants are HUGE (4 ft. tall, and bushy).........They have been in the ground less than a month, and the Sungold, and Juliet are LOADED w/ maters. The CP's are not quite as big, and as of yesterday no fruit set, but still very large plants considering how long they have been in the ground. The plants I planted a week later w/ no alfalfa pellets are normal size 2 1/2' tall w/ a few flowers, and not near as bushy, but still look lush, and healthy. I believe alfalfa pellets make a HUGE difference.................What do you think??...Temps are have been at 100 deg for over a week now, and all of the plants look really healthy. I will try to take pics tonight, and post them tomorrow.

Like I stated at the beginning of this thread I have never had much success w/ a fall mater crop. Maybe I should not get my hopes up because we are now in the grips of the annual late summer heat wave where we will have temps at or above 100 deg for an extended length of time.....but for now I am a happy mater farmer....

[b54red]

Hornstrider, you may not get much fruit set during the heat wave but if it doesn't last too long that Big Beef will probably start setting as soon as the temps moderate into the 90s. My Big Beefs that I set out the last week of July are already flowering though the plants are a little spindly compared to ones planted in the spring; but they look healthy enough. I am still setting out plants and will be until September. I like to set out a few each week and if any die I replace them.

[Suze]

Believe it or not -- Sweet Quartz is still giving me at least a large handful of tomatoes every day! Never seen anything like this. I kept thinking I'd cut that plant back a little for the fall when the time was right, but it never stopped setting significant fruit and the foliage still looks pretty decent. If I cut it back now, I'd be cutting off a bunch of new fruit set! Even Sungold pretty much gave out a couple of weeks ago (very low production of currant sized fruits), so I just went ahead and cut it back.

The rest of my spring/summer plants have been pulled for quite some time now, except an Atkinson with one or two fruits left to finish up. I also have a Purple Haze F2 still in that gives me a fruit or two a day, but the plant just looks sad, and will probably need to be pulled soon.

Got a Bloody Butcher and a Better Boy from a local nursery and those are already planted in containers under the shade of a well limbed up tree.

Currently rooting cuttings of Sungold, the PH F2, Sweet Quartz, Atkinson, and a med red BW x NAR selection I've been playing around with for a couple of years. The med red BW x NAR is a real trooper and sets well in heat, so I thought it might be a good choice for fall crop.

[mdvpc]

I have several window box going that have fruited already. Also have a pearly pink orange that is doing well, no fruit yet, but the plant is young. Going to set out purple haze, 3 plants that Suze sent me seed for. Also have Al Kuffa and about 10 other varieties that will go in containers in the greenhouse soon.