Florida Growers Thread

captnkirk · September 8, 2007

Thought id start a thread here for Fl growers to post what tomatos and other veggies they have had success with and ones that didnt do so well.Beings im a beginner at this,i dont have alot of info to share yet,but hoping to change that soon.I have a few mater plants i started from seed and a few i bought growing now.some have blooms but no fruit set yet.Anybody else got fall maters out now?

MargeH · September 9, 2007

Most of my plants have 2 sets of blossoms. Can't see any little tomatoes yet, but I think that some of them have set.

I am growing.:
Manasota
Chi Quita
Heaven's Joy
Prudens Purple
Florida Winter
Earl's Faux
Heart Brandywine
Black Krim
Sungold
New Big Dwarf
Stupice
Citron Compact
6 Cheeky F2 dwarfs
and two that are supposed to have resistance to Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl virus: Inbar and Polina

I pulled one plant today that I was afraid was showing early signs of the virus. It was my personal Mystery that I found last year in a commercial pack of Homestead seeds.

Last fall, the virus showed up in all of the plants that I had planted in early August. The last ones that I planted out in September never got it. I assumed that the whiteflies must have left my backyard in search of other types of plants. I cleared things earlier and waited later to plant this year, hoping to cut down on the spread of the virus. We will have to wait and see if it starts showing up everywhere.

I really hate this virus. It seems to be more infectious than some of the others people talk about. Every one of my spring plants had it by the time I pulled everything. It seems to be better to get it in older plants, though, because tomatoes that have set before the infection will ripen close to normal. But once the plant is infected, it will set very few tomatoes and they will be small.

Captnkirk, I hope you don't have this virus in your area.
______
Marjorie

captnkirk · September 9, 2007

Thanks for posting marjorie.How long you been growing maters in florida?Do you have better luck in spring or fall.Sounds like it can be quite a challenge getting a good harvest in either.The plants i bought from walmart ,HEATWAVE,SUMASTER,RED BEEFSTEAK,and RUTGERS all were pretty far along and all have blossoms now.The plants i started from seed BEEFSTEAK,SUPER MARMANDE,RUTGERS,and TINY TIM are pretty small yet.Im not sure if TYLCV is a problem in my area or not although i suspect it probably is.I live about 35 miles north east of Tampa which really isnt to far from you.

MargeH · September 9, 2007

I am a Florida native and grew up in South Lake County (Clermont). I have lived in Titusville and Pensacola, and have been in Sarasota for about 20 years.

This is my second fall growing tomatoes. I work at a newspaper and had to buy a couple of plants for a photo shoot 2 years ago. I couldn't just kill them when the shoot was over, so I planted them in self-watering pots from Wal-mart. The two plants became about 6 before the season was over. One of them started looking funny and I started researching the problem. That was my first experience with TYLC.

Sarasota County was one of the first places that it showed up in the '90s. Manatee and Sarasota counties are historically heavy areas for commercial tomato production, so I expect a lot of diseases are well-established here. The seeds for the two resistant varieties I am growing now came from someone from Winter Park who had the virus for the first time in the spring. He got seeds from Hazera Seed Co. for a number of resistant varieties and shared them with people on Garden Web who have had experience with the virus.

I found Tomatoville and Garden Web during my research. I had no idea there were so many kinds of tomatoes; that got me hooked. This past spring was my most successful, so far. I was giving tomatoes away to neighbors and friends at work. I didn't start seeing the virus until about mid-May. My plants were well established by then with lots of tomatoes on them.

Fall is probably going to be tougher because the virus will be attacking younger plants.

I am starting most of my plants from seeds now and have gotten so successful at it that I am giving away plants to anyone who will take them. Most of my friends who are growing my plants haven't had the virus yet, so I guess it is just the luck of the draw.

____
Marjorie

captbobs · September 9, 2007

captnkirk,
from captbobs--here in Puerto Rico I am sure we have the same hot humid problems you have!!!After 15 years I would love to have something other than the cardboard we can get in the market--I have tried so many over the years--I have put up sunscreens-nothing seems to work--heatwave-solar set sunmaster-sunfire-and on and on !!!seems ch-purp.-ark-trav-bl-krim-do as well as the so called hot weather ones !!yes- in oct-nov I can plant anything--and it will thrive !!! would love to find one that will work in our summer---92 tops in the day -85 at night--its the night 85 that seems to kill them !!

captnkirk · September 9, 2007

I got hooked the same way.I grew up in missour and allways loved home grown maters.Ever since i moved to fl seems even the maters at the produce stands are not nearly as tasty as i was used to in missouri.I have a freind who lives in ky that grows alot of plants every year,and i stop by there every year and bring a bunch of them home to give to the neighbors.He has a place in fl next to me where he spends the winter so he likes me bringing his maters down to give to all his buddies.When i 1st found this site and the other i was like you ,amazed at all the other different varieties. I guess theres not much you can do to prevent the tylcv and once they have it theres no getting rid of it.

captnkirk · September 9, 2007

captbob are you able to grow a early spring crop and get maters b4 it gets to hot or are you just able to grow the 1 fall crop?

captbobs · September 10, 2007

captnkirk-yes I can grow a spring crop up to may-june--this year for some reason I had one plant give me maters this summer--I don't know what it is--as it came up in the garden after I turned it over--a bunch came up -but only one gave me maters--I now have seedlings up a couple inches-- it's to early--but I try every year---I will keep you posted on how each does !!

captnkirk · September 10, 2007

marge i was looking through some of your post on other threads and your description of TYLCV has me assured now that i do indeed have it in my area.I pulled a plant that i had got at walmart that im sure had it. Allso your harvest pic on may 4th was amazing,really gives me some extra exitement bout being able to grow some nice looking maters in florida.Keep us updated on your maters progress im thinking you are gonna be a big help on my tomato adventure. lol

captnkirk · September 10, 2007

captbob thats not so bad just use july and august to get your fall crop started good.Sungold might be a good one for you to try in the spring that might make it through most of the summer from what other florida growers have posted in other threads.

annecros · September 11, 2007

I'm in South Broward county, and I am still picking Sungolds from my two plants at the rate of 2/3 pints every 2/3 days. They were planted in March, and are still blooming and setting fruit! They just seem to love the heat.

The virus got 3 of 6 Opalkas late in the Spring, but the others are fine. Odd, it was like every other Opalka in the row got it.

About a month ago I set out:

Kellogg's Breakfast
Cherokee Purple
Black Sea Man
More Opalka
Heinz (not doing so well)

Last weekend I set out 8 week old:

Earl's Faux
Marianna's Peace
Gardener's Delight

This weekend:

Black Cherry
Silvery Fir Tree (not doing so well)
Constoluto Genovese

The white flies are still out and about, so keeping my fingers crossed. There is an empty lot next door, so there is only so much and I do about them and other pests.

captnkirk · September 12, 2007

Annecros are your opalka plants still producing?and can you describe a little bit about them ,size ,taste and color,and is there any indeterminate larger size fruited plants that you have had good results with.And one other question.How long have you been growing maters in south broward. thanks kirk

annecros · September 13, 2007

Well, I only moved to South Broward last October! However, I was in Palm Beach County for 10 years with much less growing space. Because of the move, I put in Bonnie Plants from a Big Box in January here, just so I would have tomatoes. Previous years in Palm Beach County I have had great luck (with exception of 2005/2006 of course) with the usual hybrids (BigBoy, BetterBoy, etc), Cherokee Purple, Kellogs Breakfast. I am obviously trying to put in more heirlooms now. Cherries do well, too well. You end up with all sorts of little cherry volunteers down here.

Opalka is indeed producing fruit now, in mid September! It is almost done, though, and these are stragglers, and not very good. I had probably a dozen Cherokee Purple and Kellogg's Breakfast through early August, two plants each. We have had an unusually nice rainy season, and I don't expect that to repeat every summer. I've had to stick with a very active spray program, but the fungus is not as bad as you would think, but the stinkbugs in early and late summer are awful. Rootknot is common here and in Palm Beach County, so I try to rotate carefully.

Opalka is a nice pepper shaped paste tomato. I do a lot of canned sauce and salsa, and it's just such a hardy, productive and sturdy plant I can't seem to get away from it. My space is limited to three beds - but I plan more.

There's a lady I know that lives in the county with a lot more space than I have that sets out seedlings once a month from August to March, and harvests from November to July.

What part of Florida are you in, captnkirk? Above or below the frost line?

captnkirk · September 13, 2007

Thanks for all the info anne.Im in pasco county about 35 miles north of Tampa ,so i do get a few hard frost most years.It would be great to be able to harvest nov to july.I have a few bonnies best from walmart to.I was a little late getting seeds ordered so had to go that route.I have most my plants in the self watering earthboxes and a few others in the ground using a version of earls post hole method,hoping that helps with the rootknot using organic mix.

captnkirk · September 16, 2007

ok florida growers whos got toms set.I cant wait to get back home and see how mine are doing,although might be awhile yet beings im about 3000 miles away.I deliver load in Portland,OR. In the morning then il be on my jouirney back home.I see where the lows back in Florida have atleast been down in the low 70,s so my sunmasters and heatwaves should have a few fruit set im hoping.Was looking on TGS website and sunmaster is supposed to set fruit best with high in the middle 90,s and lows in the 80,s.Guess i will find out when i get home.

September 8, 2007	#1
captnkirk Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: florida Posts: 126	Florida Growers Thread Thought id start a thread here for Fl growers to post what tomatos and other veggies they have had success with and ones that didnt do so well.Beings im a beginner at this,i dont have alot of info to share yet,but hoping to change that soon.I have a few mater plants i started from seed and a few i bought growing now.some have blooms but no fruit set yet.Anybody else got fall maters out now?

September 9, 2007	#4
MargeH Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Sarasota, FL Posts: 224	I am a Florida native and grew up in South Lake County (Clermont). I have lived in Titusville and Pensacola, and have been in Sarasota for about 20 years. This is my second fall growing tomatoes. I work at a newspaper and had to buy a couple of plants for a photo shoot 2 years ago. I couldn't just kill them when the shoot was over, so I planted them in self-watering pots from Wal-mart. The two plants became about 6 before the season was over. One of them started looking funny and I started researching the problem. That was my first experience with TYLC. Sarasota County was one of the first places that it showed up in the '90s. Manatee and Sarasota counties are historically heavy areas for commercial tomato production, so I expect a lot of diseases are well-established here. The seeds for the two resistant varieties I am growing now came from someone from Winter Park who had the virus for the first time in the spring. He got seeds from Hazera Seed Co. for a number of resistant varieties and shared them with people on Garden Web who have had experience with the virus. I found Tomatoville and Garden Web during my research. I had no idea there were so many kinds of tomatoes; that got me hooked. This past spring was my most successful, so far. I was giving tomatoes away to neighbors and friends at work. I didn't start seeing the virus until about mid-May. My plants were well established by then with lots of tomatoes on them. Fall is probably going to be tougher because the virus will be attacking younger plants. I am starting most of my plants from seeds now and have gotten so successful at it that I am giving away plants to anyone who will take them. Most of my friends who are growing my plants haven't had the virus yet, so I guess it is just the luck of the draw. ____ Marjorie Last edited by MargeH; September 9, 2007 at 06:02 PM. Reason: typo

September 9, 2007	#7
captnkirk Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: florida Posts: 126	captbob are you able to grow a early spring crop and get maters b4 it gets to hot or are you just able to grow the 1 fall crop? Last edited by captnkirk; October 3, 2007 at 11:54 PM.

September 9, 2007	#5
captbobs Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: Puerto Rico Posts: 13	captnkirk, from captbobs--here in Puerto Rico I am sure we have the same hot humid problems you have!!!After 15 years I would love to have something other than the cardboard we can get in the market--I have tried so many over the years--I have put up sunscreens-nothing seems to work--heatwave-solar set sunmaster-sunfire-and on and on !!!seems ch-purp.-ark-trav-bl-krim-do as well as the so called hot weather ones !!yes- in oct-nov I can plant anything--and it will thrive !!! would love to find one that will work in our summer---92 tops in the day -85 at night--its the night 85 that seems to kill them !!

September 10, 2007	#8
captbobs Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: Puerto Rico Posts: 13	captnkirk-yes I can grow a spring crop up to may-june--this year for some reason I had one plant give me maters this summer--I don't know what it is--as it came up in the garden after I turned it over--a bunch came up -but only one gave me maters--I now have seedlings up a couple inches-- it's to early--but I try every year---I will keep you posted on how each does !!

September 11, 2007	#11
annecros Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: West Park, FL Posts: 219	I'm in South Broward county, and I am still picking Sungolds from my two plants at the rate of 2/3 pints every 2/3 days. They were planted in March, and are still blooming and setting fruit! They just seem to love the heat. The virus got 3 of 6 Opalkas late in the Spring, but the others are fine. Odd, it was like every other Opalka in the row got it. About a month ago I set out: Kellogg's Breakfast Cherokee Purple Black Sea Man More Opalka Heinz (not doing so well) Last weekend I set out 8 week old: Earl's Faux Marianna's Peace Gardener's Delight This weekend: Black Cherry Silvery Fir Tree (not doing so well) Constoluto Genovese The white flies are still out and about, so keeping my fingers crossed. There is an empty lot next door, so there is only so much and I do about them and other pests.

September 12, 2007	#12
captnkirk Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: florida Posts: 126	Annecros are your opalka plants still producing?and can you describe a little bit about them ,size ,taste and color,and is there any indeterminate larger size fruited plants that you have had good results with.And one other question.How long have you been growing maters in south broward. thanks kirk

September 13, 2007	#13
annecros Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: West Park, FL Posts: 219	Well, I only moved to South Broward last October! However, I was in Palm Beach County for 10 years with much less growing space. Because of the move, I put in Bonnie Plants from a Big Box in January here, just so I would have tomatoes. Previous years in Palm Beach County I have had great luck (with exception of 2005/2006 of course) with the usual hybrids (BigBoy, BetterBoy, etc), Cherokee Purple, Kellogs Breakfast. I am obviously trying to put in more heirlooms now. Cherries do well, too well. You end up with all sorts of little cherry volunteers down here. Opalka is indeed producing fruit now, in mid September! It is almost done, though, and these are stragglers, and not very good. I had probably a dozen Cherokee Purple and Kellogg's Breakfast through early August, two plants each. We have had an unusually nice rainy season, and I don't expect that to repeat every summer. I've had to stick with a very active spray program, but the fungus is not as bad as you would think, but the stinkbugs in early and late summer are awful. Rootknot is common here and in Palm Beach County, so I try to rotate carefully. Opalka is a nice pepper shaped paste tomato. I do a lot of canned sauce and salsa, and it's just such a hardy, productive and sturdy plant I can't seem to get away from it. My space is limited to three beds - but I plan more. There's a lady I know that lives in the county with a lot more space than I have that sets out seedlings once a month from August to March, and harvests from November to July. What part of Florida are you in, captnkirk? Above or below the frost line?

September 16, 2007	#15
captnkirk Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: florida Posts: 126	ok florida growers whos got toms set.I cant wait to get back home and see how mine are doing,although might be awhile yet beings im about 3000 miles away.I deliver load in Portland,OR. In the morning then il be on my jouirney back home.I see where the lows back in Florida have atleast been down in the low 70,s so my sunmasters and heatwaves should have a few fruit set im hoping.Was looking on TGS website and sunmaster is supposed to set fruit best with high in the middle 90,s and lows in the 80,s.Guess i will find out when i get home.