Oops! Novice mistakes

MuddyToes · December 27, 2016

The Hoosier thread made me start thinking of all the novice mistakes I made last year. This was only my 3rd year growing tomatoes. Listed below are a few Mistakes I made. It got me to wondering what advice you would give to someone starting out.

We live in a very humid area, sometimes rainy, sometimes drought. We have anthracnose, septoria, and God know what else is lurking in the soil. Some of The heirloom varieties I grew were much more susceptible to disease (Amish Paste and Black Plum) than San Marzano and Sunsugar (hybrid). I'm not saying I wouldn't grow the AP again. It was delicious. But now I know I need to be proactive in fighting the diseases.

Mistake #1 No Fungicide: I didn't start spraying until after the plants were infected. Then I used copper fungicide once per week and Neem oil after every rain, sometimes daily. Now I know to start spraying right away.

Mistake #2 No Mulch: After picking the brains of the people at a local garden center, I put down coconut mulch and planted lemon gems as ground cover under my tomatoes. They smell incredible when the wind blows or if they get wet. They made watering my tomatoes (twice per day here) something to look forward to.

Mistake #3 Overcrowding: I started out with 6 heirlooms in one 4x4 raised bed. I soon learned that they were way overcrowded. I thinned them out to 4. This year I will only put one tomato plant per 4x4 bed and grow other things around it.

Mistake #4 Cages: I wasn't fast enough getting the cages in the ground. We had a sudden storm that knocked my seedling to the ground. They never fully recovered from that.

December 27, 2016	#1
MuddyToes Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2016 Location: Delaware Posts: 234	Oops! Novice mistakes The Hoosier thread made me start thinking of all the novice mistakes I made last year. This was only my 3rd year growing tomatoes. Listed below are a few Mistakes I made. It got me to wondering what advice you would give to someone starting out. We live in a very humid area, sometimes rainy, sometimes drought. We have anthracnose, septoria, and God know what else is lurking in the soil. Some of The heirloom varieties I grew were much more susceptible to disease (Amish Paste and Black Plum) than San Marzano and Sunsugar (hybrid). I'm not saying I wouldn't grow the AP again. It was delicious. But now I know I need to be proactive in fighting the diseases. Mistake #1 No Fungicide: I didn't start spraying until after the plants were infected. Then I used copper fungicide once per week and Neem oil after every rain, sometimes daily. Now I know to start spraying right away. Mistake #2 No Mulch: After picking the brains of the people at a local garden center, I put down coconut mulch and planted lemon gems as ground cover under my tomatoes. They smell incredible when the wind blows or if they get wet. They made watering my tomatoes (twice per day here) something to look forward to. Mistake #3 Overcrowding: I started out with 6 heirlooms in one 4x4 raised bed. I soon learned that they were way overcrowded. I thinned them out to 4. This year I will only put one tomato plant per 4x4 bed and grow other things around it. Mistake #4 Cages: I wasn't fast enough getting the cages in the ground. We had a sudden storm that knocked my seedling to the ground. They never fully recovered from that.