Online class improves the odds of growing tomatoes successfully

[sfmathews]

This article was in today's Dallas Morning News:

Tomatoes tend to be the top choice for the home vegetable garden. Tomato Growing 101, an online course by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, is meant to help home gardeners grow with greater success and to lay the foundation for other online courses.
"Of all the vegetables, the tomato is the No. 1 interest of home gardeners," says Dr. Joe Masabni, AgriLife Extension vegetable specialist. "We decided that if we were to develop a self-paced, self-taught course, the needs and demands were for tomato information."
I gave the free beta version of the tomato course a shot. You can, too. Just log on by selecting the course at
http://www-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/
After writing about gardening, often vegetable gardening, for about 20 years, I can't say that the information presented was new to me. However, I would say that experienced and novice gardeners alike might find the course useful.
First of all, it's nice to have so much information about growing tomatoes in Texas all in one spot. Eight chapters cover a variety of topics, seed starting, transplanting, training plants, fertilizing and more. Short tests wrap up each chapter, and a ninth concluding chapter lets you give input on the course.
Even when information isn't new, it doesn't hurt to have reminders. For instance, the signs of overwatering can be the same signs as under-watering. I know this. I also know how easy it is to pick up a hose if the plants look a little wilted or the leaves are turning brown.
"Classic symptoms of water stress include wilting followed by browning leaf tips and margins. However, these are also signs of excess watering!" warns Chapter 5. Tomato Growing 101 reminds gardeners to check the soil with an index finger. "If the soil is the same temperature as your finger, it is dry and you should water. If the soil feels cool, it is moist and you should hold off on watering."
The course includes helpful illustrations. When the reader is instructed in Chapter 3 to "avoid transplants that are leggy or stretched," you get photos of well-proportioned and misproportioned transplants so that you know exactly what those words mean.
Wonder what is chomping bites out of tomato leaves or making them curl? Chapter 7 gives pictures of plants affected by different diseases and pests, as well as nice shots of the possible offenders themselves, such as aphids, whiteflies, spider mites, tomato hornworms and Colorado potato beetles.
As you work your way through the course – you can read as much or as little as you like at one sitting – words are occasionally highlighted. Click on those for definitions of terms such as pH and suckering or for more information, such as "Constructing Your Own Cages."
The complete version of the course will be relaunched soon for a nominal fee, says Masabni, which will support the development of future online courses such as Squash 101 and Cucumber 101. My one note to the developers for that final version: Spell check.

[sfmathews]

Sorry, it's already full!

[feldon30]

I'll be curious to see what varieties they recommend.

[bigbubbacain]

Originally Posted by feldon30

I'll be curious to see what varieties they recommend.

Yes, so will I. I'll never forget one morning at Buchanan's Native Plants when Harris County's so called expert from Agri-Life was giving a presentation for the public. He shot me a dirty look when I asked him a question about heirlooms and replied that he doesn't recommend heirlooms when we have so many wonderful hybrids like Celibrity and Heat Wave that were practically made for our growing area.

Ummmm, okay.........

[feldon30]

mmm Celebrity...

If you add basil, garlic, EVOO, salt, and pepper, and roast it for an hour, then it's not bad.



Sorry, no after pictures, but it made some pasta very very happy.

[bigbubbacain]

I didn't mean to sound like I was knocking Celebrity. It IS a good tomato. It's always part of my backup plan, as I can always find good looking Celebrity plants when all else fails.

It's unfortunate that enrollment in this course is no longer open. Perhaps someday they'll structure their courses to be perpetual and always available, the way major universities offer their "distance learning" programs.

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by bigbubbacain

I didn't mean to sound like I was knocking Celebrity.

I grew Celebrity my first year. If that were my only exposure to home grown tomatoes, I would have quit right then.

I rail against Celebrity because county extension services dispense their professional advice that people must grow Celebrity or BHN444 to get decent results. And when Brandywine gets beaten by Celebrity in a county extension service-organized tomato tasting, it's like reading about alien abductions -- until I see it in person.

Originally Posted by bigbubbacain

It IS a good tomato. It's always part of my backup plan, as I can always find good looking Celebrity plants when all else fails.

I can always find Jet Star, Arkansas Traveler, and Rutgers, and I'd recommend them to anyone.

Originally Posted by bigbubbacain

It's unfortunate that enrollment in this course is no longer open. Perhaps someday they'll structure their courses to be perpetual and always available, the way major universities offer their "distance learning" programs.

I'm not sure how an online videoconference course has a maximum student load? Isn't it just a webcast?

[duajones]

I feel the same way about Celebrity, an AAS winner in 1984. I have grown it and Bush Celebrity and averaged over 50 tomatoes per plant so production wise they are great.
But I grow for taste and I would rather get 20 tomatoes from a plant that have great taste versus quantity from a plant that are just a step above storebought in my opinion.

I do grow Bush Early Girl every year for its production and I think it tastes better than Celebrity. But taste is subjective and I have heard many people rave about Celebrity.
Most of those folks have never heard of Big Beef, an AAS winner in 1994 and hands down a better tomato.
Probably my favorite hybrid out of those I have grown so far.

[Suze]

I'd be interested in knowing what recommendations for planting dates were provided in the course.

My problem with the date ranges I've seen suggested before is that waiting to plant out until late March to mid-April in Central or South Texas frequently means the plants don't lock in well, fruit set is poor, etc.

A handful of my tomato beds usually end up getting planted later than the rest, and this year was no exception. Plants for the last three beds didn't make it in until 3/22. Those 3/22 plants probably made it in -just- in time to get some decent results from most of them.

Last year, I planted my last two beds after April 1. The plants struggled in the May heat, never got as large as my other plants, and harvest was poor. They failed to lock in as well as the other plants in terms of putting down a deep root structure and always needed more frequent waterings just to keep them alive. I even threw in another Sungold plant for the heck of it, and it didn't even come close to the other one I planted 2-3 weeks prior. Barely made it to the top of the cage, and total harvest was less than half of what I got from the other Sungold. The quality of the fruit was also not as good.

In 2008, I planted a BHN 444 and a Jet Star in the second week of April. Got one fruit from the BHN, and only a few from the Jet Star. Similar experience a few years back in Fort Worth with various April planted hybrids and an OP or two. I think I planted Lemon Boy, Celebrity, BHN 444, San Marzano, Sweet 100, CP late that year - they all struggled. Sweet 100 managed to do okay (not great), but that was about it.

So, I have experimented a bit with later planting dates. I'd love to be able to get away with planting later so I wouldn't have to worry about protecting on those few odd nights where it may be necessary. However, based on my personal experience, I'll continue to start my planting out on a date I know gives me the best results. Here, that seems to be March 7-15.

Originally Posted by feldon30

I'm not sure how an online videoconference course has a maximum student load? Isn't it just a webcast?

I didn't understand that either.

[chalstonsc]

Suze,
Hear you on dates....but I'm running into different experience this year. Last year I planted out on March 8th and I've never been later than the last week in March. My plants always grew a little, but also seemed to struggle their way through March and early April, taking some beatings from cold snaps and cold winds. Looking back at my records, it was clear that my plants really didn't do much until the first or second week of April, when they clearly took off.

So this year I tried a different approach. Planted my seeds on 2/24 and when first true leaves showed hardened them off as soon as the weather allowed and gave them the "cold treatment" as well as I could, leaving them outside as much as the weather allowed days and nights. I potted them up to 32 oz yogurt containers and that's where they stayed until 4/20, when I put them into my containers, which probably was later by 1-2 weeks than I needed to wait. That way I protected them, roots and tops, from less than 50-55 degree weather throughout.

My theory was that if they didn't ever really start growing vigorously until
mid April, why not protect them as much as possible, and have healthier, less "beat up" from cool weather plants to make a faster start, as they always seemed to do after potting up. And that's what happened when I planted out.

My plants are more bushy, healthy and loaded with blossoms, with fruitset, by far than they have ever been. My first ripe tomato was never before the last week of May, and that was a Sungold. My Galinas(no Sungold this Spring) don't look more than a week or so behind the past several years, if that. Maybe it is one of those "good years", maybe the first try at a cold treatment, but I don't seem to have lost anything significant production-wise from a significantly later plant out....

Just something to think about....

[feldon30]

Every year for the last 3 years (2007-2009), we had a near-frost in N.W. Houston after the tomatoes were in the ground. And I don't mean in March. I mean mid-April. If I waited until mid-April to plant tomatoes, I would have to grow Celebrity, BHN444, etc.


So I would say anyone wanting to grow tomatoes in S.E. Texas needs to grin and bear it as far as planting early, and then be willing to protect your plants for those 1-2 nights in the mid to upper 30's.

Suze and I have experimented with going ahead and wrapping our plants in row cover right from the beginning, and leaving it on until mid-April. I've left row cover on for weeks before and didn't see any drawbacks. Actually, I saw less disease, and the slight greenhouse effect of the row cover seemed to help the plants hold in heat and grow faster.

And row cover is a lot easier than trying to do this...

[gflynn]

Celebrity:

I grew Celebrity in a pot once. It was a beautiful plant with lots of perfectly formed toms but the taste was such a disapointment. It wasn't bitter or negative it was just plain as can be.

Starting dates:

I just pot them up if I want to go earlier. I can just use the soil from my pots of previous years. This keeps the roots warmer and I can bring'm in if necessary.

Greg

[TZ-OH6]

Feldon,
Is that plastic or fabric?

[cdg]

what kind of row cover did you use??
CDG

[feldon30]

That's 8 mil "clear" plastic. Sort of a temporary greenhouse. It took over an hour to put up the plastic and secure it with duct tape. Environmentally friendly this was not. More desperate than brilliant.

The plants did grow faster, as it was low 40's outside, but mid-70's inside, BUT it was humid inside and probably accelerated foliage diseases.


As for row cover, there's summerweight and winterweight. I use summerweight.

http://www.gardeners.com/Row-Covers/...efault,pg.html