Unusual season!!!!

Elliot · October 4, 2010

I live in Long Island which is Southern New york. I cannot figure out what happened to my plants this year. I can't complain. We had lots of tomatoes in the mid season but it is still warm out and all of my plants are turning yellow and there are no green tomatoes left on the branches and no new flowers. Normally before the first frost i would have bags of green tomatoes that we use to pickle or fry. Not this year.

My only theory is that it was so hot in this area that that the plants stopped germinating. It does not look like the blight of 2009. Now all of my plants are indeterminate. I should still be seeing growth and new fruit forming.

Any ideas?

Alberta · October 4, 2010

Elliot,
I am a little further east than you are, I went outside Saturday pulled off all the green tomatoes, and the few that were starting to blush. Some that had split due to all the rain we have had the past week. All my plants are now ready to be cut down and cut up and composted. I think the season is pretty much over, unless we all of a sudden get some sunshine and warm weather,

**carolyn137** · October 4, 2010

And I'm about and hour above Albany and this is the third season in a row that my gardens have suffered, but this is THE worst.

Tomatoes: 36 plants, many of them new varieties to all or most folks, with less than 30 tomatoes total. Plants never recovered from the sustained hot and humid conditions of June and July which caused massive blossom drop. A few plants out there still are green, most look like bare telephone poles. A few fruits ripening up inside for fermentation b'c for many of the varieties there is NO other seed source.

Cukes; two fave varieties, not ONE cuke

Summer Squash; two fave varieties, ONE fruit

Carrots; forget it

Radishes; woody, almost as spicy as horseradish

Lettuce; forget it

I think you get the picture.

Elliot · October 4, 2010

yes, Carolyn, it must be the hot weather that caused the flowers on the tomatoes to drop off. Even my cherry and grape tomatoes are finished. Normally at the time of the first frost, I would have lots of green tomatoes and beginnings of baby tomatoes. Not this year. On the other hand, we had a record season with cucumbers. Amazing.

Elliot · October 4, 2010

Alberta. You said you live East of me. Is this East on Long Island or Maine? I am trying to determine if my problem is geographic or was I personally doing something wrong this year

Direct Sunlight · October 9, 2010

Tell me about this being an odd year. My tomatoes aren't setting any more fruit than they did early in September, I've got a record (for me) crop of watermelon growing now, and no mildew despite one of the wettest Septembers ever here. Peppers and eggplant are doing great, but the pumpkin isn't. In other words, here it hasn't necessarily been a bad fall, but an odd one.

rsg2001 · October 12, 2010

My season was over for tomatoes the third week of August. I had a very good output in a concentrated period of time, but had a lot of disease issues. I'm sure the crazy heat here was the problem. Oddly, some of the plants that seemed like they had completely dried out, started putting out fresh stems from the bottom. Marovski Div in particular has three or four new tomatoes coming even though I took down the rest of the plant save for a couple inches. But I'm not expecting any more than that. It seemed like it was mostly early blight.

Still, hearing others' stories in the Northeast, I'm not complaining.

We get a CSA delivery from a farm in Riverhead, Long Island, Garden of Eve, and they had a very good first and second crop of tomatoes because while it was hot, it was dry, and they irrigated frequently, the farmer told us. So far we've enjoyed the local organic produce very much.

My hot peppers though are still doing pretty well - much better year for hot peppers than I've had in a couple of years.

tam91 · October 13, 2010

Mine is odd too.

I got tomatoes very early. Then not much for a while. I kinda gave up treating for disease lately figuring it was over - plants look awful, but I'm still picking baskets of tomatoes. Weird.

My Neckargold beans produced early and are still going. The stupid Blue Lakes just started a few weeks ago. Okaaaaay....

Alberta · October 13, 2010

sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner Elliot, I am East of you, further out on Long Island, in Mastic which is near Shirley.

Alberta

October 4, 2010	#1
Elliot Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Hicksville, New York Posts: 503	Unusual season!!!! I live in Long Island which is Southern New york. I cannot figure out what happened to my plants this year. I can't complain. We had lots of tomatoes in the mid season but it is still warm out and all of my plants are turning yellow and there are no green tomatoes left on the branches and no new flowers. Normally before the first frost i would have bags of green tomatoes that we use to pickle or fry. Not this year. My only theory is that it was so hot in this area that that the plants stopped germinating. It does not look like the blight of 2009. Now all of my plants are indeterminate. I should still be seeing growth and new fruit forming. Any ideas?

October 4, 2010	#3
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	And I'm about and hour above Albany and this is the third season in a row that my gardens have suffered, but this is THE worst. Tomatoes: 36 plants, many of them new varieties to all or most folks, with less than 30 tomatoes total. Plants never recovered from the sustained hot and humid conditions of June and July which caused massive blossom drop. A few plants out there still are green, most look like bare telephone poles. A few fruits ripening up inside for fermentation b'c for many of the varieties there is NO other seed source. Cukes; two fave varieties, not ONE cuke Summer Squash; two fave varieties, ONE fruit Carrots; forget it Radishes; woody, almost as spicy as horseradish Lettuce; forget it I think you get the picture. __________________ Carolyn

October 4, 2010	#2
Alberta Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Mastic, NY Posts: 212	Elliot, I am a little further east than you are, I went outside Saturday pulled off all the green tomatoes, and the few that were starting to blush. Some that had split due to all the rain we have had the past week. All my plants are now ready to be cut down and cut up and composted. I think the season is pretty much over, unless we all of a sudden get some sunshine and warm weather,

October 9, 2010	#6
Direct Sunlight Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: N. Texas, Zone 8A Posts: 79	Tell me about this being an odd year. My tomatoes aren't setting any more fruit than they did early in September, I've got a record (for me) crop of watermelon growing now, and no mildew despite one of the wettest Septembers ever here. Peppers and eggplant are doing great, but the pumpkin isn't. In other words, here it hasn't necessarily been a bad fall, but an odd one.

October 12, 2010	#7
rsg2001 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: New York Zone 6 Posts: 479	My season was over for tomatoes the third week of August. I had a very good output in a concentrated period of time, but had a lot of disease issues. I'm sure the crazy heat here was the problem. Oddly, some of the plants that seemed like they had completely dried out, started putting out fresh stems from the bottom. Marovski Div in particular has three or four new tomatoes coming even though I took down the rest of the plant save for a couple inches. But I'm not expecting any more than that. It seemed like it was mostly early blight. Still, hearing others' stories in the Northeast, I'm not complaining. We get a CSA delivery from a farm in Riverhead, Long Island, Garden of Eve, and they had a very good first and second crop of tomatoes because while it was hot, it was dry, and they irrigated frequently, the farmer told us. So far we've enjoyed the local organic produce very much. My hot peppers though are still doing pretty well - much better year for hot peppers than I've had in a couple of years.

October 13, 2010	#8
tam91 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Crystal Lake IL Posts: 2,484	Mine is odd too. I got tomatoes very early. Then not much for a while. I kinda gave up treating for disease lately figuring it was over - plants look awful, but I'm still picking baskets of tomatoes. Weird. My Neckargold beans produced early and are still going. The stupid Blue Lakes just started a few weeks ago. Okaaaaay....