Your oldest tomato plant?

slugworth · June 20, 2020

What is/was your oldest tomato plant?
I have one approaching 10 months on the 25th
Pretty good considering it's a determinate type (independence day)
I started them sept 25th last year.
Nov 25th all the seedlings had blossoms.
January I was eating tomatoes that tasted like tomatoes.
Then the plants started to die off,I took cuttings from 3.
At the base of one there was a sucker so I babied that ever since.
I pluck the blossoms when they appear to keep it growing.

slugworth · June 20, 2020

The base of the plant is original,I just let the sucker grow.
So it's not a clone

edweather · June 20, 2020

I put one out of it's misery about a month ago. I started it last summer in a 5 gal bucket, and it lasted about 9 months outside. I just kept grooming it, and it had a few waves of blossoms and fruit. Would probably still be alive, but just got tired of looking at it.

b54red · June 24, 2020

I have had a couple last up to 10 months outside but only in years when the first freeze is in late December which is very very rare. In the past I have had a fair number of plan ts last 7 to 9 months but have decided over the years that those old plants are usually not worth the trouble to keep them going that long. I use the lean and lower single stem method and by the time the vines are 12 to 15 feet long the production is usually so low and the plants are so disease and pest ravaged that it is better to just put them down and concentrate my efforts on the newer plants from successive plantings. Besides I need to clear out some space for fall and winter crops.

Bill

Father'sDaughter · June 28, 2020

Mine are all grown in ground now (gave up on grow bags and buckets a few years ago) and never live past the first week of October at the very latest, so seven months from sowing to composting.

Any fruit still hanging that is fully formed with a chance of ripening gets picked and brought inside, then the plants get yanked out. They are occupying the space needed for the fall Garlic planting and I need them out of the way. The fruit continues ripening inside over the next month, so we still get to enjoy tomatoes for a few weeks after the growing season ends.

Vespertino · June 28, 2020

Longest for me was 10 months, I grow a lot of cherries and many don't give up until the frost kills em in October/November.

June 20, 2020	#1
slugworth Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: connecticut,usa Posts: 1,152	Your oldest tomato plant? What is/was your oldest tomato plant? I have one approaching 10 months on the 25th Pretty good considering it's a determinate type (independence day) I started them sept 25th last year. Nov 25th all the seedlings had blossoms. January I was eating tomatoes that tasted like tomatoes. Then the plants started to die off,I took cuttings from 3. At the base of one there was a sucker so I babied that ever since. I pluck the blossoms when they appear to keep it growing.

June 20, 2020	#3
edweather Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Southeast GA, USDA 9a, HZ9, Sunset Z28 Posts: 396	I put one out of it's misery about a month ago. I started it last summer in a 5 gal bucket, and it lasted about 9 months outside. I just kept grooming it, and it had a few waves of blossoms and fruit. Would probably still be alive, but just got tired of looking at it. __________________ You'll be surprised what you'll never have to do, if you put it off long enough.

June 24, 2020	#4
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I have had a couple last up to 10 months outside but only in years when the first freeze is in late December which is very very rare. In the past I have had a fair number of plan ts last 7 to 9 months but have decided over the years that those old plants are usually not worth the trouble to keep them going that long. I use the lean and lower single stem method and by the time the vines are 12 to 15 feet long the production is usually so low and the plants are so disease and pest ravaged that it is better to just put them down and concentrate my efforts on the newer plants from successive plantings. Besides I need to clear out some space for fall and winter crops. Bill

June 28, 2020	#5
Father'sDaughter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: MA/NH Border Posts: 4,919	Mine are all grown in ground now (gave up on grow bags and buckets a few years ago) and never live past the first week of October at the very latest, so seven months from sowing to composting. Any fruit still hanging that is fully formed with a chance of ripening gets picked and brought inside, then the plants get yanked out. They are occupying the space needed for the fall Garlic planting and I need them out of the way. The fruit continues ripening inside over the next month, so we still get to enjoy tomatoes for a few weeks after the growing season ends.

June 28, 2020	#6
Vespertino Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Southlake, TX Posts: 743	Longest for me was 10 months, I grow a lot of cherries and many don't give up until the frost kills em in October/November.