Hey Fellow Floridians - Year 2

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

I have 3 plants of Pink Passion (dwarf). Again, they seemed like they were the holy grail of tomatoes for Florida. They are determinate by most sellers, I bought seeds from Heritage (Bunny) and are listed there as indeterminate.

After the first plant's fruit were getting big, the plant started looking bad and really didn't set fruit on the remaining flowers; the other 2 were still looking good and setting fruit. I finally removed the first plant and put it off by itself (for fruit to ripen and get away from the other surrounding plants, just in case). None of the 3 plants were next to each other.

Now that the fruit is getting larger on the other plants, they look bad too; I moved the 2nd plant out of the way. Here is a picture of the 2nd plant:

Is this just a determinate thing? When I first started growing tomatoes, I grew determinate hybrids and don't remember them looking bad when they were done.

Thank you for your advice,
Barb

Barb,
I am not saying for sure, but my guess is Early Blight. For one reason it is about as common as grass here in Florida. Another it seems, for what ever reason, more of a problem when the rains come. Forever hopeful me, I saw no signs of it but we have had very little rain until the last couple of days we have been drenched. I had seen no evidence of EB but after the rains, shazam there it was on the bottom leaves of indeterminates grown in Raised Beds (RBs) with old compost. Other container plants close by with all new compost show no sign of it but just a mater of time before it spreads. Also when you talk of determinates you would seem to be kind of on the right track. Not that most tall indeterminates are resistant in any way but many seem to have a degree of ability to outgrow it. Aggressive hybrid indeterminates with the advantage of heterosis seem to a degree to be able to grow above the worst of the EB and if the EB finally catches up many of the tomatoes have already been harvested. And those nice bushy low to the ground determinates, well many don't know what hit them. I tried to grow a number of the new dwarfs in the fall and it was a total wipe out. Some had a few blossoms but not many. There are some smaller plants such as Bush Early Girl and 4th of July that have enough vigor that they can produce in spite of it but not many can. This season I am growing Giant Beef which is said to be resistant ( I'll believe it when I see it) and Mountain Magic also said to be resistant.
If you grow in containers far away from the Raised Bed grown tomatoes or soil grown tomatoes you have a much better chance of controlling it. Maybe one day I will quit growing toms in RBs and use only containers changing compost frequently and try to get it under control. At the end of this Spring season I will post what varieties worked best for me, which might be of some value for other growers who at war with EB.
I would suggest to do as you have, assuming it is EB, and get the plants far away from others which do not appear to be infected. Dispose of plant and soil medium and sterilize your container before reintroducing it among your other plants which seem to be, at least for the time being, EB free.
I will always remember last fall looking at my few Silver Fir Tree toms which many say are a beautiful plant. Mine looked old, haggard and dead to the world.
Best of Luck,
Larry

[Imthechuck]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Were pretty much all in the same boat, Chuck. First it stayed hot until Jan3, then cool with tons of torrential rain, finally cool and dry, blossoms formed, I got TRMs and suck bugs, blossoms fell, stems died, now I have the Russet Mites under control, lots of blossoms and new fruit forming, but its getting so hot so quickly that I doubt most will get to any size. Awful awful season.

Yah I have never had plants succumb to disease so quickly maybe my first year when I had 0 idea

I'm not sure if I even want to waste any bt/copper and or spinosad/daconil on them

Maybe Ill just pull them out and plant some "heavy hitter okra" which I received from someone graciously on this forum.


sidenote: this was the first time powdery mildew got not only on any of my tomatoes but the entire crop of 10 earthboxes

[Fiishergurl]

I havent posted much...been on the go a lot. Below are pictures of my jungled mess which if I dont get cleaned up, trimmed up and aired out real soon will be an invitiation to all the rainy weather diseases.





















Ginny

[AudreyFL]

Hi everyone! Just wanted to introduce myself - am a first year gardener in Jupiter and have been reading this forum and this thread...such great stuff!

Growing 9 tomatoes from Dwarf Tomato Project this year (not for the project, just wanted to grow some) as well as a few container-friendly tomatoes since I am in an HOA with very limited space.

Also having great luck this season with strawberries, beets, carrots...lots of good stuff!

I didn't know that "season" for spring started so early, so my seeds were started late Feb. at this point, just racing the calendar hoping to see some tomatoes before it's too hot!

Not sure how to attach pics yet but I'll keep everyone updated on the dwarfs. I see that Barb is officially growing them so am happy to report my results. Dwarf Golden Gyspy and Kangaroo Paw Yellow are struggling. Leaves are torn/ripped and they don't look well.

Thanks to everyone here for the great info and it's fun to see all the comments about Florida gardening! I've had to learn so much on the fly and having this site and you guys as a resource is great!

Audrey

[efisakov]

Originally Posted by Fiishergurl

I havent posted much...been on the go a lot. Below are pictures of my jungled mess which if I dont get cleaned up, trimmed up and aired out real soon will be an invitiation to all the rainy weather diseases.

Ginny

Ginny, beautiful pictures. Cute looking heart shaped tomatoes. What are they? Your dill, basil, cilantro, and peppers are really nice.

[alexita]

Welcome, Aubrey! I'm new to the forums too. And I also got a late start this year and am running with it.

Ginny, your plants look so happy! What tomato varieties are those in the pics?

[Barb_FL]

Ginny - your plants look fabulous! I see you got your EBs. What mix did you use? I'm going to solarize my mix in the EBs again this summer and use it in the root pouches and maybe 1/2 the EB. I want to restart over on the other half EB to keep $ down, especially if I still stay with Pro-Mix.

Welcome Audrey and Alexita!

[Fiishergurl]

Originally Posted by efisakov

Ginny, beautiful pictures. Cute looking heart shaped tomatoes. What are they? Your dill, basil, cilantro, and peppers are really nice.

Hi Ella,

The heart shaped ones with the antho stripes are called Sgt Peppers. I believe they are heart shaped red (maybe pink... Marsha will know for sure) tomatoes with antho on the shoulders although mine seem to have antho stripes so far.

Thank you for the comment on the herbs and peppers. Everything is finally growing again... :-) But with all the rain we've been getting who knows for how long. The rainy season doesn't start here officially until June but we have been getting tons of rain every few days. Maybe courtesy of El Nino?

Ginny

[Fiishergurl]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Ginny - your plants look fabulous! I see you got your EBs. What mix did you use? I'm going to solarize my mix in the EBs again this summer and use it in the root pouches and maybe 1/2 the EB. I want to restart over on the other half EB to keep $ down, especially if I still stay with Pro-Mix.

Welcome Audrey and Alexita!

Hi Barb,

Yes, I got some for Christmas when they had the free shipping, although I saw recently they had free shipping again... :-) The plants look good from a distance but they do have some powdery mildew. I really really need to trim them up and move the boxes farther apart and stake them with the bamboo cages like you told me about last fall because the one cage I made then is still working great. But I can't seem to find the time. I think the constant rain and humidity is going to put a damper on the plants soon.

I just used Miracle Grow Potting Mix, plus lime, plus 3 cups of tomato tone. And the Mychorrizae (sp?).

Ginny

[Fiishergurl]

Originally Posted by alexita

Welcome, Aubrey! I'm new to the forums too. And I also got a late start this year and am running with it.

Ginny, your plants look so happy! What tomato varieties are those in the pics?

Hi Alexita,

Pictured plants are Sgt Peppers, Not Purple Strawberry, Brad Gates Small Mix, Paul Robeson, Cow's Tit, San Marzano Redorta, Pink Berkeley Tie Dye, Orange Minsk Heart, Brad's Black Heart, Juane Flamme, Stupice, Black Cherry, RK Purple Heart, Cherokee Purple Heart, Painted Pink and something that I didn't label thinking I would remember what it was and now I can't remember... :-) I think that's all that are pictured... might have forgotten one or two.

I have a bunch growing at my neighbors campers too that I check on every day that I'm here like Neves Azorean Red, Rebel Yell, Black Vernisage, and some crosses from friends, etc.

Welcome to the forum. There's a great bunch of friendly and very knowlegdable people here. I used to post more but had a rough year with several health issues in my immediate family.

Welcome to Audrey too!

Ginny

[jpop]

Beautiful pics Ginny. Hope your plants stay healthy even w/ the set backs.

[maxjohnson]

Originally Posted by Fiishergurl

Hi Ella,

The heart shaped ones with the antho stripes are called Sgt Peppers. I believe they are heart shaped red (maybe pink... Marsha will know for sure) tomatoes with antho on the shoulders although mine seem to have antho stripes so far.

I must have that tomato!

[Barb_FL]

Seems like the rainy season is starting early. After over a month of no rain, we are getting rain every day. Yesterday rained, cleared up, etc finally clear so I sprayed just to have it rain again.

Larry - Any verdict on the broccoli? I've been going for the side shoots and Packman wins out by far with the best/biggest shoots. Can you save broccoli seeds? My only broccoli in the container I let flower (for the bees) and the flowers are all gone so could harvest seeds. I pulled 2 of the Premium Crop plants yesterday; they were in the raised beds and any new broccoli was small. Weird, that the ones in the sand are actually producing more.
Likely reason is that I only was feeding the raised bed organic plant food and gave the stuff in the ground the all purpose non-organic that I don't use anymore. I'm still getting enough daily for 2 people. Goal is to get through May including what I froze early on.

Kay - You weren't kidding about those Painted Pink tomatoes take forever to ripen. I'm finally seeing a little lightening on a few but no where near pink.

BTW - 4th of July is an awesome plant; same with Juane Flamme, and of course Big Beef.

The thing with growing new ones every season is that I don't know what the plant should look like. But the ones I'm repeating from fall even though they did terrible then probably due to TYLCV are behaving way different. IE. Jazz, Orange Jazz, and Bulgarian Triumph. These were probably the only ones that I gave another chance to.

[kayrobbins]

Barb, it will be worth the wait when you see how pretty they are and how good they taste. Being further north I plant later than you and my Painted Pink doesn't even have any tomatoes yet.

[Fiishergurl]

Originally Posted by maxjohnson

I must have that tomato!

I dont have any ripe yet but will share seeds if they get that far.



Ginny