Hey Fellow Floridians - Year 2 - Page 64

Barb_FL · April 12, 2016

Jax - I've had that pea size tomato happen before even on plants that end up productive.

What I have pretty much on all fully mature plants with fruit is later blooms that should produce a tomato, don't fall off and if I remove the bloom, there is a little tomato but it never drops.

This is especially obvious with the determinates I grew this year.

But also on the Orange Russian 117 - I have 4 giant tomatoes - blooms on various parts....out there buzzing but no new fruit set , then 3 more tomatoes, blooms again .... there are less and less blooms lately.

I also see it on the dwarfs I'm growing....

We need Marsha to chime in - Kay might know.

Ginny - I keep thinking of you having 30 tomatoes on the PBTD with lots of blossoms - I won't get 30 tomatoes from PBTD all year. What are you feeding it?

I probably have 30 tomatoes on Juane Flamme or Dragon's Eye.

Fiishergurl · April 12, 2016

Barb its hard to see but there are 10 tomatoes in this one cluster pictured above. This PBTD. One tomato is partially hidden behind a leaf and one or two are partially hidden behind the other tomatoes. I got a late start becaue of cold weather so they are just golf ball sized or smaller but growing fast. And there are about 6 or 7 large stems all with tomatoes and tons of blooms. I counted 43 tomatoes so far on this plant. I have the 3 cups in the fert strip of tomato tone. And i supplement with cacium nitrate or texas tomato food about once a week. I have been rotating those two because i have both on hand.

The tomatoes anove are Sgt Pepper on the right and Not Purple Strawberry on the left.

Ginny

kayrobbins · April 12, 2016

Thanks for the replies. Kay, do your tomatillos sort of look like a cross between a pepper and tomato plant? I'm getting blossoms at the forks like a pepper.

I am fascinated by this plant. It is not like anything else I have ever grown. The fruit looks like paper lanterns when it starts forming. I had to touch them to check it out and they seem totally hollow at first. I am very impressed at the productivity. I have been having a battle with army worms on my tomato plants even though I am spraying with bt. So far nothing seems to be bothering the tomatillos.

kayrobbins · April 12, 2016

Barb, it seems like everyone loves Painted Pink. Even though it does have great taste I have to wonder if the beauty of the tomato doesn't influence it being picked as a favorite.

I am growing the Indigo Cherry Drop also and it is taking forever to ripen. I wonder if that is just a trait of the blue tomatoes. I am looking forward to comparing taste. Painted Pink tomatoes start out plain green and then get the purple shoulders. ICD starts out a very dark purple and then lightens up on the bottom as it grows

Fiishergurl · April 12, 2016

How do i kill these things on my cucumber plants? We picked off what we could find but is there something i should spray?

Ginny

ginger2778 · April 12, 2016

http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgi.../hgic2207.html

Fiishergurl · April 12, 2016

So which one is it? I had already searched.

Barb_FL · April 13, 2016

Ginny - you could spray with BT; that would take care of any worms/catepillars.
When I get them, they go for the fruit - probably pickle worms....I never just see them hanging out on the leaf.

I picked 1 Cuke yesterday and 4 today. I also picked my first Juane Flamme tomato (ever) from the batch planted in March.

Except for a few plants such as Lucid Gem, Painted Pink, and Orange Russian, all of my tomato plants were in their final destination with 3 days of March 1.

-----
So I'm also growing Dragons Eye - I got the seeds as a free pack from Heritage. Honestly, I don't see how this tomato will turn into the color posted. At first it reminded me of Painted Pink, but it looks like Ginny's picture and is way bigger than a cherry or painted pink. I have it in an EB and Root Pouch.

I will try to post a picture of it later.

ginger2778 · April 13, 2016

Ginny, in that article, every single pest is taken care of with Neem oil. Most with pyrethrins too.
I use BT on worms I see, so all 3 might be useful.
A cucumber beetle article showed a larva with a long body, 3 sets of legs, and a black head. Maybe that's your buggy?

JaxRmrJmr · April 13, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fiishergurl

How do i kill these things on my cucumber plants? We picked off what we could find but is there something i should spray?

Ginny

That's the pickle worm. They infest mine every year. I am going to drape mine with toole (sp?) fabric at night and remove it in the morning this year. I want the pollinators during the day. However, the pickle worm moth flies between midnight and 3-4 a.m. and it is not attracted by UV light so a bug zapper is of no use.

A close cousin is the squash vine borer, but I bought a trap that has pretty much taken care of them. I just inspect my squash stalks and remove them if I see any frass.

JaxRmrJmr · April 13, 2016

I'm going to make an order from Urban Garden (TTF). Anyone else local need anything? That way we split shipping.

Barb_FL · April 13, 2016

Jax - That is a great idea about using toole. I didn't know what time they flew. How will you drape the toole when the plant is full size? I use to make toole rooms to keep away caterpillars and use to wrap tomato cages in toole before the plants got bigger than the cage. I'm sure I still have loads of it left.

I gave up on growing squash (zucchini) due to getting 1 huge one and then worms took over or mildew. What does your trap look like?

Barb_FL · April 13, 2016

Here's my picture of what is suppose to be Dragon's Eye:

Any ideas?

JaxRmrJmr · April 13, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaxRmrJmr

That's the pickle worm. They infest mine every year. I am going to drape mine with toole (sp?) fabric at night and remove it in the morning this year. I want the pollinators during the day. However, the pickle worm moth flies between midnight and 3-4 a.m. and it is not attracted by UV light so a bug zapper is of no use.

A close cousin is the squash vine borer, but I bought a trap that has pretty much taken care of them. I just inspect my squash stalks and remove them if I see any frass.

I take that back, I'm not sure that is the pickle worm as I think the marking down the back is green. Brown head, then green stripe down the middle. Not sure what you have there. I have never found a SVB or pickle worm outside of the stalk or fruit.

JaxRmrJmr · April 13, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Jax - That is a great idea about using toole. I didn't know what time they flew. How will you drape the toole when the plant is full size? I use to make toole rooms to keep away caterpillars and use to wrap tomato cages in toole before the plants got bigger than the cage. I'm sure I still have loads of it left.

I gave up on growing squash (zucchini) due to getting 1 huge one and then worms took over or mildew. What does your trap look like?

Not sure how I'm going to do the toole frabric yet. I want it to be quick, so I can uncover it in the morning and cover it at night. I usually check my garden before and after work, so I'll come up with some half-brained idea that only takes a minute or so. Right now, I'm thinking of threading or using that ironing hemming stuff to fuse the bolts together to make sort of a blanket, then connecting one end to a piece of PVC or such. Then just pull it up and tuck it in at night like I do my kids and uncover in the morning.

I'm worried that it will keep crap like DM and help it spread.

April 12, 2016	#951
ginger2778 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10 Posts: 9,283	See if this helps http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgi.../hgic2207.html

April 12, 2016	#946
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 2,000	Jax - I've had that pea size tomato happen before even on plants that end up productive. What I have pretty much on all fully mature plants with fruit is later blooms that should produce a tomato, don't fall off and if I remove the bloom, there is a little tomato but it never drops. This is especially obvious with the determinates I grew this year. But also on the Orange Russian 117 - I have 4 giant tomatoes - blooms on various parts....out there buzzing but no new fruit set , then 3 more tomatoes, blooms again .... there are less and less blooms lately. I also see it on the dwarfs I'm growing.... We need Marsha to chime in - Kay might know. Ginny - I keep thinking of you having 30 tomatoes on the PBTD with lots of blossoms - I won't get 30 tomatoes from PBTD all year. What are you feeding it? I probably have 30 tomatoes on Juane Flamme or Dragon's Eye.

April 12, 2016	#947
Fiishergurl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Oak Hill, Florida Posts: 1,781	Barb its hard to see but there are 10 tomatoes in this one cluster pictured above. This PBTD. One tomato is partially hidden behind a leaf and one or two are partially hidden behind the other tomatoes. I got a late start becaue of cold weather so they are just golf ball sized or smaller but growing fast. And there are about 6 or 7 large stems all with tomatoes and tons of blooms. I counted 43 tomatoes so far on this plant. I have the 3 cups in the fert strip of tomato tone. And i supplement with cacium nitrate or texas tomato food about once a week. I have been rotating those two because i have both on hand. The tomatoes anove are Sgt Pepper on the right and Not Purple Strawberry on the left. Ginny

April 12, 2016	#950
Fiishergurl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Oak Hill, Florida Posts: 1,781	How do i kill these things on my cucumber plants? We picked off what we could find but is there something i should spray? Ginny

April 12, 2016	#952
Fiishergurl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Oak Hill, Florida Posts: 1,781	So which one is it? I had already searched.

April 13, 2016	#953
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 2,000	Ginny - you could spray with BT; that would take care of any worms/catepillars. When I get them, they go for the fruit - probably pickle worms....I never just see them hanging out on the leaf. I picked 1 Cuke yesterday and 4 today. I also picked my first Juane Flamme tomato (ever) from the batch planted in March. Except for a few plants such as Lucid Gem, Painted Pink, and Orange Russian, all of my tomato plants were in their final destination with 3 days of March 1. ----- So I'm also growing Dragons Eye - I got the seeds as a free pack from Heritage. Honestly, I don't see how this tomato will turn into the color posted. At first it reminded me of Painted Pink, but it looks like Ginny's picture and is way bigger than a cherry or painted pink. I have it in an EB and Root Pouch. I will try to post a picture of it later.

April 13, 2016	#954
ginger2778 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10 Posts: 9,283	Ginny, in that article, every single pest is taken care of with Neem oil. Most with pyrethrins too. I use BT on worms I see, so all 3 might be useful. A cucumber beetle article showed a larva with a long body, 3 sets of legs, and a black head. Maybe that's your buggy?

April 13, 2016	#956
JaxRmrJmr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Jax, FL - 9A Posts: 172	I'm going to make an order from Urban Garden (TTF). Anyone else local need anything? That way we split shipping.

April 13, 2016	#957
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 2,000	Jax - That is a great idea about using toole. I didn't know what time they flew. How will you drape the toole when the plant is full size? I use to make toole rooms to keep away caterpillars and use to wrap tomato cages in toole before the plants got bigger than the cage. I'm sure I still have loads of it left. I gave up on growing squash (zucchini) due to getting 1 huge one and then worms took over or mildew. What does your trap look like?