Advice on what to grow

cloz · January 17, 2011

I am looking for a little advice on what would be some good selections to grow for my mother-in-law. She lives down in the Pine Barrens of NJ, is 87 years old and not very mobile. She can pick tomatoes but is not able to care for the plants and I will only get there every 3 or 4 weeks to look after them. I am thinking determinates or compact plants that will not need a lot of staking. I plan to use the cheapy store bought tomato cages supported by a couple of wood stakes so they won't fall over. I have room for 5 or 6 plants that will be watered by the automatic lawn sprinkler system. They will have southern exposure. I'd like to give her a little variety and figure that any extras could be shared with the other retirees in the community where she lives.

My current selections are Sophie's Choice, Danko, New Big Dwarf, Black Sea Man, Marglobe, Purple Hillbilly.

Bjorn

Fred Hempel · January 17, 2011

Bjorn,

Kudos to you for wanting to do this for your mother in law. Unfortunately, so much can happen in 3-4 week time intervals, and I fear that a sprinkler system will always be over, or under watering the plants.

I have a small nursery and we specialize in selling plants (particularly tomatoes) at farmers' markets. However, I am going to give you the same (usually unwanted) advice I give many of our customers. Don't grow tomatoes. It is frustrating, and time-consuming, to grow tomatoes when the situation is stacked against you for any reason (too much shade, too little space, foggy climate, not enough time to water correctly).

What we often suggest is that these customers grow herbs. Herbs are something your mother-in-law could grow in pots in her apartment window, and she could cut them continuously. They often need less water, and they can be easily tended. However, the value of a few herb plants is often very great, particularly since you probably couldn't find the fresh herbs available locally anyway.

Then, when you visit your mother-in-law, with all the time and money you have saved by not buying cages and soil and tomato plants etc. etc. etc. you can visit the best farmers' market or produce stand in the area (with or without your mother-in-law) to buy perfectly tended tomatoes.

I apologize for completely not answering your question.

shlacm · January 17, 2011

What size tomatoes are you thinking? I found Matt's Wild Cherry to be indestructible and very productive as well as having really good "tomato flavor!"

I think I saw somewhere that "Heidi" is pretty low maintenance and an overall great tomato!

cloz · January 17, 2011

Fred,
Thanks for the advice, but cost is not the problem. I have tomato cages that I am not using and sprouting a few seeds is not a problem. I will be planting some 50 plants at my house this year. I just thought it might be nice for her to have some fresh tomatoes from the garden. She has some Asiatic Lillies on the same side of the house that do fantastically under those conditions so I am just hoping a few tomato plants will survive. That's why I am asking if there is any advise on low maintenance, durable tomato plants. It won't bother me if they don't survive.

My mother-in-law still lives in her own home in a retirement community (55 and over) and has her own little property to maintain. She is not good with watering indoor plants and I have started a couple of Tiny Tims for her bay window. I am sure she will kill them before they set any tomatoes, but it will be a conversation piece for her at the weekly coffee chat. She has become a bit of a shut-in since her boyfriend died 2 years ago. He was 91 and very active, always had her on the go.

Shlacm,
I purposely avoided cherry tomatoes. It is tough for an 87 year old's arthritic fingers to handle very small tomatoes and Matt's Wild Cherry sounds like it grows to be a huge plant. I am trying to stay with plants that don't grow over 5 feet tall (or there about).

Bjorn

Barbee · January 17, 2011

I plant raised beds at the Senior Apt Complex in town. It's definitely do-able. I use determinates from the local nursery (donated) and I go up each fall and collect the cages that were also donated.
A thick layer of decorative wood mulch helps the tomatoes with the weed situation and that also helps hold in moisture. I try to drop by there every 2 or 3 weeks and check/spray for fungal diseases and pests. pull weeds, fertilize as needed, and talk with the residents. They love the company, and I realized that many of them used to have a large garden and enjoy taking care of their little area of the big community bed. This year, I think I'll add thick layers of newspaper under the mulch to attempt to make it weed free and help hold the moisture in even more. The way the beds are set up, each resident is responsible for planting their own area of raised bed. Some of them water and some don't. With only 5 or 6 plants, you could probably install a line of drip tape or soaker hose that hooks direct to the spigot which she could turn on to water as needed.

tam91 · January 17, 2011

Could you have tomatoes in containers, and a soaker system set up on a timer?

b54red · January 17, 2011

You don't want varieties that grow really huge vines with tons of suckers like Gary O' Sena. As to answering your question; I would plant Big Beef. It is very disease tolerant and can do with very little care and is a good tasting hybrid. Indian Stripe was fairly indestructible for me last year and the vine is fairly compact and it is a very good eating tomato. Another hybrid that is very productive is Jetsetter and it is easy to care for. Old Virginia is one that had a compact growth with little need for pampering and it tastes fanstastic.
I would not grow more than one determinate because of their tendency to make most of their crop over a two week period whereas the indeterminates produce a little more regularly over a much longer period of time.

cloz · January 17, 2011

Barbee,
My situation is different. The retirement community I am talking about is a community of 3,000 individually owned homes with a minimum age to live there of 55. My mother-in-law still drives and does everything for herself, she is just slowing down a lot. There are a lot of these communities in southern New Jersey.

Tam91,
Containers will be more of a problem than a solution. I've grown cherry tomatoes in containers at my house and they were a lot more sensitive to watering than my in-ground plants. You definitely can't miss a day watering.

b54red,
I thought about Big Beef but I thought they grew quite tall (I have not grown Big Beef)and I am trying to stay with smaller plants. Point well taken on all the determinates. I may look into a timer and soaker hose but the one year I tried timers (had 3 different ones) they all failed the first season. They just plain stopped working. I am not worried about over watering there because the ground is mostly beach sand as soon as you get down 2 inches in the grass. There is good soil (old flower bed) where the tomatoes will go, but below is all sand so drainage is no problem.

Bjorn

dice · January 18, 2011

Russian Red: It could be earlier, but it is a tough little dwarf
tree-type plant like New Big Dwarf, with tasty saladette
sized fruit. It does not get beyond 3' tall for me, might get
to 4-5' in some places with a much longer growing season.

Demidov: plant looks the same, about the same size, although
this one is usually listed as determinate. Bigger fruit, maybe
a week earlier.

Moravsky Div: more rangy kind of plant, to 4-5', much earlier,
small fruit, excellent flavor, produces all season.

**carolyn137** · January 18, 2011

My current selections are Sophie's Choice, Danko, New Big Dwarf, Black Sea Man, Marglobe, Purple Hillbilly.

*****

I can see Sophie's Choice, Danko and NBD and Black Seaman or Southern Nights, both det PL backs as possibilities if she likes so called blacks, but wonder about Purple Hillbilly, please see the comment I just made about that one here at Tville in the seed source thread just this AM.

First, if there are that many folks living in the retirement community why can't sonme of her neigbors water the plants? She could even share fruits with them in return. You could do the fertilizing when you could get there.

I also agree with Dice's suggestion of Moravsly Div but I do think there are other varieties that are det or semi-det, which is what you seem to be looking for, that might also work well.

Let me think about that a bit and get back to you here in your thread.

cloz · January 18, 2011

Carolyn,
Thank You for the reply. Another tomato I was considering was Thessaloniki. It is supposed to be a compact indeterminate.
I have considered asking her neighbor to make sure they get watered OK. Great neighbor. Takes out her garbage, brings the newspaper and mail to her door every day and picked her up out of a snow drift last winter when she fell. She has trouble getting up if she should fall. I keep telling her to be careful and not break anything. I dealt with that with my mother for 8 1/2 years. She had 2 hip replacements and went from walking with a cane then to a walker and finally to a wheelchair.

Bjorn

cloz · January 18, 2011

Eva Purple Ball seems to be another compact indeterminate that might work.

dice · January 19, 2011

Eva Purple Ball was not compact when I grew it. Only the
cool, short summers that we have here kept it in check
at all. It is a good producer of nice tomatoes, though.

I would be suspicious of Thessaloniki in that regard, too.

One that really is compact is Grub's Mystery Green. Good
producer, excellent flavor, early mid-season, unusual
appearance.

cloz · January 19, 2011

dice,
Thanks, that's the kind of advice I need. My "ideal" plants would be 5' or less and continue producing all season long. My experience with tomatoes up until now has been Early Girls, Beefsteak, Big Boy, Better Boy or whatever Boy and cherry tomato they were offering at the local nursery. All of them grew out of my cages and over the 5' stakes I was using. Obviously I will be updating my own tomato plant support system this year, but that is really not an option at my mother-in-law's. I have yet to see an heirloom seedling offered at any of the nurseries I've shopped at over the years. Coincidentally. Grubb's Mystery Green is one of the seeds I have from one of my seed orders earlier and I will consider using that one. It would obviously add variety.

Bjorn

cloz · May 31, 2011

I planted 7 tomato plants for her (Danko, Eva Purple Ball, Grubb's Mystery Green, Sophie's Choice, Black Sea Man, Golden Dwarf Champion and Stupica) and things are going better than I expected. She has apparently taken a lot of interest in the tomatoes and is diligent about watering them. (That was very unexpected by me) It is getting her up and out of the house to walk around and look at them a couple of times a day.
If any (Eva Purple Ball especially) get too big, I'll prune them back and I'll put in some stakes to stabilize those cheapy cages so they won't fall over once fruit starts to set. My wife was just there and said some already have their first blooms.
The Sophie's Choice is right outside her kitchen door. Doesn't get much more convenient than that
This is turning out much better than expected.

January 17, 2011	#1
cloz Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Southern Connecticut Posts: 435	Advice on what to grow I am looking for a little advice on what would be some good selections to grow for my mother-in-law. She lives down in the Pine Barrens of NJ, is 87 years old and not very mobile. She can pick tomatoes but is not able to care for the plants and I will only get there every 3 or 4 weeks to look after them. I am thinking determinates or compact plants that will not need a lot of staking. I plan to use the cheapy store bought tomato cages supported by a couple of wood stakes so they won't fall over. I have room for 5 or 6 plants that will be watered by the automatic lawn sprinkler system. They will have southern exposure. I'd like to give her a little variety and figure that any extras could be shared with the other retirees in the community where she lives. My current selections are Sophie's Choice, Danko, New Big Dwarf, Black Sea Man, Marglobe, Purple Hillbilly. Bjorn

January 17, 2011	#5
Barbee Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: SW Ohio Posts: 1,818	I plant raised beds at the Senior Apt Complex in town. It's definitely do-able. I use determinates from the local nursery (donated) and I go up each fall and collect the cages that were also donated. A thick layer of decorative wood mulch helps the tomatoes with the weed situation and that also helps hold in moisture. I try to drop by there every 2 or 3 weeks and check/spray for fungal diseases and pests. pull weeds, fertilize as needed, and talk with the residents. They love the company, and I realized that many of them used to have a large garden and enjoy taking care of their little area of the big community bed. This year, I think I'll add thick layers of newspaper under the mulch to attempt to make it weed free and help hold the moisture in even more. The way the beds are set up, each resident is responsible for planting their own area of raised bed. Some of them water and some don't. With only 5 or 6 plants, you could probably install a line of drip tape or soaker hose that hooks direct to the spigot which she could turn on to water as needed. __________________ *Barbee*

January 18, 2011	#9
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	Russian Red: It could be earlier, but it is a tough little dwarf tree-type plant like New Big Dwarf, with tasty saladette sized fruit. It does not get beyond 3' tall for me, might get to 4-5' in some places with a much longer growing season. Demidov: plant looks the same, about the same size, although this one is usually listed as determinate. Bigger fruit, maybe a week earlier. Moravsky Div: more rangy kind of plant, to 4-5', much earlier, small fruit, excellent flavor, produces all season. __________________ -- alias

January 18, 2011	#10
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	My current selections are Sophie's Choice, Danko, New Big Dwarf, Black Sea Man, Marglobe, Purple Hillbilly. ***** I can see Sophie's Choice, Danko and NBD and Black Seaman or Southern Nights, both det PL backs as possibilities if she likes so called blacks, but wonder about Purple Hillbilly, please see the comment I just made about that one here at Tville in the seed source thread just this AM. First, if there are that many folks living in the retirement community why can't sonme of her neigbors water the plants? She could even share fruits with them in return. You could do the fertilizing when you could get there. I also agree with Dice's suggestion of Moravsly Div but I do think there are other varieties that are det or semi-det, which is what you seem to be looking for, that might also work well. Let me think about that a bit and get back to you here in your thread. __________________ Carolyn

January 19, 2011	#13
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	Eva Purple Ball was not compact when I grew it. Only the cool, short summers that we have here kept it in check at all. It is a good producer of nice tomatoes, though. I would be suspicious of Thessaloniki in that regard, too. One that really is compact is Grub's Mystery Green. Good producer, excellent flavor, early mid-season, unusual appearance. __________________ -- alias

January 17, 2011	#2
Fred Hempel Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Sunol, CA Posts: 2,723	Bjorn, Kudos to you for wanting to do this for your mother in law. Unfortunately, so much can happen in 3-4 week time intervals, and I fear that a sprinkler system will always be over, or under watering the plants. I have a small nursery and we specialize in selling plants (particularly tomatoes) at farmers' markets. However, I am going to give you the same (usually unwanted) advice I give many of our customers. Don't grow tomatoes. It is frustrating, and time-consuming, to grow tomatoes when the situation is stacked against you for any reason (too much shade, too little space, foggy climate, not enough time to water correctly). What we often suggest is that these customers grow herbs. Herbs are something your mother-in-law could grow in pots in her apartment window, and she could cut them continuously. They often need less water, and they can be easily tended. However, the value of a few herb plants is often very great, particularly since you probably couldn't find the fresh herbs available locally anyway. Then, when you visit your mother-in-law, with all the time and money you have saved by not buying cages and soil and tomato plants etc. etc. etc. you can visit the best farmers' market or produce stand in the area (with or without your mother-in-law) to buy perfectly tended tomatoes. I apologize for completely not answering your question.

January 17, 2011	#3
shlacm Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Central VA Posts: 436	What size tomatoes are you thinking? I found Matt's Wild Cherry to be indestructible and very productive as well as having really good "tomato flavor!" I think I saw somewhere that "Heidi" is pretty low maintenance and an overall great tomato!

January 17, 2011	#6
tam91 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Crystal Lake IL Posts: 2,484	Could you have tomatoes in containers, and a soaker system set up on a timer?

January 17, 2011	#7
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	You don't want varieties that grow really huge vines with tons of suckers like Gary O' Sena. As to answering your question; I would plant Big Beef. It is very disease tolerant and can do with very little care and is a good tasting hybrid. Indian Stripe was fairly indestructible for me last year and the vine is fairly compact and it is a very good eating tomato. Another hybrid that is very productive is Jetsetter and it is easy to care for. Old Virginia is one that had a compact growth with little need for pampering and it tastes fanstastic. I would not grow more than one determinate because of their tendency to make most of their crop over a two week period whereas the indeterminates produce a little more regularly over a much longer period of time.