Hey Fellow Floridians - Year 2

[elight]

Hey Larry, I put the names of the tomatoes in the same order I posted the photos - so that is a Bundaberg Rumball. First time I have planted it. It's a dwarf (and smaller still because it's in a 5-gallon bucket).

Agreed about the season - better to get heat, pests and disease on the tail end when the plants are nearing the end of their life anyway and fruit is already set than battling it from day 1. In hindsight, my leaf miner problem started in the seedling phase but I didn't do anything as I hadn't seen it before. Last season the problem was mosaic virus. Never a dull season here it seems!

Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk

[Fiishergurl]

Some updated pictures of my cherokee purple plant. It has so many tomatoes I had to add supports and crossbars. The other plants are being slow to catch up.

There are so many blossoms but i think the rain we have gotten plus the deluge that is coming will limit how many of the new blossoms set.








Ginny

[ginger2778]

That is beautiful, Ginny. Even if it didnt set another fruit all season, it will have given you a bountiful harvest for that plant.
This weather stinks!

[Fiishergurl]

Thank you Marsha. Yes I agree. It has about 35 tomatoes on it already. I'm also concerend about causing an imbalance from trying to keep it fed enough to support all those big tomatoes its making.

[Barb_FL]

Ginny - it is beautiful.

Is this the one in a regular bucket (top watered and fed with Tomato Tone)? Can you take a full view picture?

Are you watering it more than once a day (when it isn't raining). We haven't had rain; weather is so different; just so hot.

----
Marsha - hope the recovery is going well; need updated pictures from you. You can post to your 2016 season so everyone can enjoy.

---
A FEW TOMATOES ARE BLUSHING - one of the Garden Gem, and 2 of Cole (from Robbie-Cole).

Kay - Is your Garden Gem still producing? I think mine has stopped and after posting on the GG FB page (no answer), I found this document which does confirm that GG is Determinate.

http://www.ffsp.net/wp-content/uploa...3/ITN13-15.pdf

Neat to see the picture of the parents;



Tidbits - Buzzing - Electric Toothbrush / Vegibee - Does anyone else get/see aphids coming out of the flowers.

---

[Fiishergurl]

Thanks Barb,

Yes that is the one that is getting small amounts of tomato tone top watered. I had lettuce plants in there so I top watered it a couple time a day to keep the lettuce growing but I have since cut the lettuce and removed it. There is also a small reservoir in the pot with an access hole and i water that two to three times a day. The pot is so small and the plant is big and its really hot, so I have to water it a lot. But I dont mind since I'm working from home. I also buzz it and all my plants three times a day id its not raining.

I will take a picture when i get home. Its not huge.

Ginny

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Ginny - it is beautiful.

Is this the one in a regular bucket (top watered and fed with Tomato Tone)? Can you take a full view picture?

Are you watering it more than once a day (when it isn't raining). We haven't had rain; weather is so different; just so hot.

----
Marsha - hope the recovery is going well; need updated pictures from you. You can post to your 2016 season so everyone can enjoy.

---
A FEW TOMATOES ARE BLUSHING - one of the Garden Gem, and 2 of Cole (from Robbie-Cole).

Kay - Is your Garden Gem still producing? I think mine has stopped and after posting on the GG FB page (no answer), I found this document which does confirm that GG is Determinate.

http://www.ffsp.net/wp-content/uploa...3/ITN13-15.pdf

Neat to see the picture of the parents;



Tidbits - Buzzing - Electric Toothbrush / Vegibee - Does anyone else get/see aphids coming out of the flowers.

---

[Fiishergurl]

Here it is with the bamboo support similar to what was shown in the video you sent me except not teepee style at the top since the plant was too wide. Thank you for the video!!

Ginny

[ginger2778]

Ginny, please, why do you buzz three times per day? I am doing it once per day.

[Barb_FL]

What time do you all buzz? The VG says every 2 days between 11-2 but my backyard especially by the pool is so hot, I'm trying to do it earlier. Once per day as well.

Ginny - thanks for the pic; beautiful plant; glad the bamboo supports worked out well.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

What time do you all buzz? The VG says every 2 days between 11-2 but my backyard especially by the pool is so hot, I'm trying to do it earlier. Once per day as well.

Ginny - thanks for the pic; beautiful plant; glad the bamboo supports worked out well.

For me, time of day varies, but always after 10 am. Today it was about 2.

[Fiishergurl]

I'm out there anyways and I noticed I get more tomatoes to set by buzzing really quickly and lightly several times a day than I do when I do it once a day. I have been buzzing them since Laura in Florida told me to try it my first growing season because about 95% of my blossoms on the beefsteak type plants were dropping. It was spring and temps were fine but the humidity was keeping them from setting.

Maybe the pollen is ready to drop at varying times or maybe its too hot mid day? If I only buzz once a day, i dont get those 10-15 flower clusters to set all those blossoms like they do when I buzz multiple times a day.

Plus there are so many blossoms that i might miss some. I have noticed that you can coax more tomatoes to set by doing it lightly more often. By lightly I mean I dont buzz them to death for a long time... i tried that and it didnt work. Just need a light 2-3 second buzz on a stem that has a cluster of flowers so I can see the flowers vibrate and move on.

You could give it a one week test of trying it several times a day and see if you notice a difference. I even think it stimulates more blossoms to grow but that is just speculation. If it doesn't work for you all then maybe it has something to do with my micro climate.

Past seasons...







Ginny

[ginger2778]

Ginny, the amount of fruitset you get has always amazed me. I was curious to learn your logic, but I am absolutely going to try buzzing 3 X per day. This is the first year I have done even 1, and I must say, I am very impressed with the fruitset I have now even with the weather being so unseasonably warm. For sure it makes a difference. Thank you for teaching this to us.

What are your approximate buzzing times?

[Fiishergurl]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Ginny, the amount of fruitset you get has always amazed me. I was curious to learn your logic, but I am absolutely going to try buzzing 3 X per day. This is the first year I have done even 1, and I must say, I am very impressed with the fruitset I have now even with the weather being so unseasonably warm. For sure it makes a difference. Thank you for teaching this to us.

What are your approximate buzzing times?

Hi Marsha,

I do it first thing after the sun comes up as long as it's not raining and not too much dew. If there is a ton of dew then I wait a little while. Then sometime during the 10-2 time frame usually around 12 or 1 which is my lunch time from work. And then sometime again just before or just after dark. I'm a sporadic, spur of the moment type person so I don't have set times, but I try to spread it out with at least several hours in between and I try to hit the cooler times and hotter times. I know for a fact (from trying it and seeing the results) that in my climate, just doing it once in the middle of the day doesn't produce the same results. But I don't know why.

And in thinking about it, I don't even buzz 2-3 seconds... maybe a second. But I do try to look at the blossoms and see which ones vibrate when I buzz so that I can get the others on the same cluster by buzzing again on a different area.

There are a couple of other things too that I know you guys already do but I'm adding here in case someone new needs more detail... :-) I water heavily early in the season (keep the reservoirs full). I also feel that just the fertilizer strip alone doesn't support this many tomatoes so I always supplement with something. I'm still trying to figure out the perfect something but have used Texas Tomato Food to excess and at other times Calcium Nitrate especially with something with a lower Nitrogen like Tomato Tone. And when it seems like the tomatoes or plant stalls on growing, I prune some of the lower and inner stems (even non diseased ones) to make it jump start into tomato growing mode again and also for air flow (which here the humidity is a problem). The last thing is I really have a problem with the fungicide. Jury is still out on that one. I probably just feel that way because I overused it at a strength that was too strong and haven't given it a fair chance since.

This is just what works for me. I know some of you know her (you do Marsha.. :-) but I was lucky when I first started that I was able to get so much really good information right from the get go from Laura who lives in Florida also and mostly posts on another forum.

Ginny

P.S. none of the above are my ideas... these are things that were shared with me by others. I just tweaked some of them to suit my climate.

[Zenbaas]

uploadfromtaptalk1447085521410.jpg


The buzzing craze is definitely catching on..!

[Fiishergurl]

That is the cutest picture ever!!!

Love it!

Ginny