Summer doldrums

[Worth1]

This is about as good a place to post this as any.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would still have fruit set this late in the year.

I have done nothing to the tomato plants as far as any kind of sprays.
The sungolds are still going strong and the early girls are still setting fruit as well as the san marzano plants.
It seems as though the critters are even tired of tomatoes.
The ground looks orange from all of the dropped rotten sun gold tomatoes on it.
What a waste that the neighbors didn't pick any.

Worth

[efisakov]

Worth, u are home!

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Worth1

The ground looks orange from all of the dropped rotten sun gold tomatoes on it.

Worth

You ever notice how well seemingly every one of those seeds will spring up during the next year when the seed you sometimes save only get about 90% germination. I always have clumps of weed tomatoes everywhere a tomato is left on the ground and I'm too lazy to pick them up. Or at least that is what my back tells me every time I bend over to pick up fallen fruit.

Are ya'll still getting all that rain over there this late in the season or has it all moved over here? We have had a hard rain almost every day for two weeks and it is getting really tiring trying to maintain everything. I had my biggest JD's Special C Tex of the year bust like a firecracker had been put in it and lit. I'm trying to pick everything now at first blush but sometimes I let one stay on just one day too long. Fruit quantity is dropping off now as well as size. I'm afraid the taste of some of the latest ones won't be nearly as deep after all the rain but at least I'm not having to water at all; in fact I haven't even given my plants their usual weekly fertilizing in nearly three weeks now and the fruit set is showing it. It has also been hard to keep up with my pruning and supporting of the plants because they are always so wet or it is too dang hot to go out when they aren't wet. I never got around to grafting my fall seedlings but since everything except the TSWV casualties is still alive I may not need them anyway.

Bill

[Worth1]

My neighbor lady said it rained quite a bit while I was gone.

Worth

[b54red]

I couldn't do anything with the plants this morning since they were so wet from the rain yesterday so I went out this afternoon to pick some and support those that have grown above the support bar. I got halfway down one row on one side of the two beds and got drenched. Oh well I'll see what happens tomorrow.

Bill

[b54red]

Just as I was walking out to pick the tomatoes that I couldn't get yesterday because of the thunderstorm that caught me it started flooding with lots of lightning and wind. It finally stopped a few minutes ago so I'm about to venture out once again. I hope too many limbs that were unsupported didn't get broken in the wind. I really need a dry day to lower and clip my plants to the drop lines before it gets totally out of control but the weather just isn't cooperating.

Bill

[b54red]

After raining an inch and a half yesterday starting first thing in the morning it finally quit around 4 pm. By 7 the plants were fairly dry thanks to some steady wind so I went out and started trying to lower and clip the vines to the drop lines. I got a little done before it was too dark to see and feed the mosquitoes despite a liberal dousing of DEET. Thankfully this morning it was nice and sunny so I got to finally get that first single stem bed taken care of. Wow did I have some suckers and a lot of diseased leaves to remove. The bleach sprays I have been applying seem to have done a good job of suppressing most of the diseases despite two weeks of rain with no fungicide. If it will stay dry for another day or two I think I might be able to apply some much needed TTF. The oldest plants are really showing a definite paleness after all the fruit they have produced and definitely need a boost. I have decided that I won't graft any plants for the fall since it is getting pretty late in the season and I just set out about a dozen plants two weeks ago. So far most of my plants are still fairly healthy and many may live til the cold gets them so if I do need any plants I may just set out some seedlings and hope a few will survive the fusarium.

Bill

[efisakov]

I got wilt on few of the tomato plants. Not the whole plant just part of it is infected. Hope after cutting infected part I can collect on few tomatoes yet. Margaret Curtain and Xanadu are first time growing tomatoes. They have many fruit set and I really like to taste some.
Bill, do you think bleach spray can help to save the rest of the plant?

[b54red]

Originally Posted by efisakov

I got wilt on few of the tomato plants. Not the whole plant just part of it is infected. Hope after cutting infected part I can collect on few tomatoes yet. Margaret Curtain and Xanadu are first time growing tomatoes. They have many fruit set and I really like to taste some.
Bill, do you think bleach spray can help to save the rest of the plant?

If your problem is systemic or a soil borne disease then the bleach will do you no good. If you have something like Gray Mold or another foliage disease issue then it might help.

Bill

[efisakov]

Thanks, Bill. Hope your rain goes away.

[b54red]

We have had 36 hours with no rain so I got out and sprayed my plants with the bleach solution this morning very early. The diseases looked to be pretty much under control so I guess the spraying with the bleach every couple of days during the rainy period really helped. Hopefully that means this last spraying won't find too many diseased leaves to shrivel up.

Bill

[AlittleSalt]

I missed this thread until now.

I have been pulling tomato plants that I know will not make it through the 100+F temperatures. Mid July has always been a sad time in our garden because of this. But this year, I'm removing them to make room for new plants. These (Picture) are hardening off in the shade beside the north end of our house. It has been very windy out of the south this week, so I'm trying to protect them. I have around the same amount still in cells inside. I'm excited to try Fall tomatoes this year.

[b54red]

I guess I got my fall tomatoes in a bit early. I set them out just as the big two week rainy period began back on the 22nd of June and they are doing fine if a bit spindly which is normal for plants set out in the summer heat. I just never got around to grafting any more plants though I have a lot of seedlings that are ready for grafting. I think it is a bit too late for that now so I guess I'll just see if I can keep some of my presently growing tomatoes alive til frost. I think they will keep me in fresh tomatoes til then and I don't need any more for freezing so maybe for once I can have some beds ready in time to set out my fall veggies on time.

Bill

[b54red]

I wanted it to stop raining a few weeks ago and got my wish. I didn't know it wouldn't rain again for nearly a month with temps nearly 100 every day allowing spider mites to ruin many of my plants. It finally rained nearly half an inch yesterday and it was only 75 this morning at daylight so it feels almost like a cold spell. Maybe I can get a little cleaning up and much needed pruning done this morning. I hate handling wet plants but this may be my best chance to get something done without risking heat stroke. They are forecasting highs in only the low 90s and lows in the low 70s for a few days along with a few decent chances for some more showers. I hope everyone else who has been suffering from this unrelenting heat gets a break also.

Bill

[efisakov]

Bill, our summer is just like yours it is raining heavily or we get a hit advisory. My back is killing me. I need to prune/clean and just giving up. I sprayed 2 days ago against spider mites and yesterday we had torrential downpour.
Now I am not even sure what to spray against first. Too much.