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Joined: Jan 2005
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Ciao John,

I think it could possibly be soil-borne viruses or fungi causing my container plants to bite the bullet so early. It's recycled Pro-Mix from last year. We thoroughly dried it out, but who knows..I won't use it for any tomato plants in the future, but the peppers, eggplant, and tomatillo seem to be doing fine in it so far.

I had my first Sungold F1 this morning...dee-lish! Mountain Princess and Kotlas are now showing blush.

Cheers,
Julianna

PS...John, did you treat your container tomatoes any differently in terms of when you started hardening them off? I'm considering potting them up into 1/2 gal containers for the hardening off process or maybe using walls o' water in the containers and shoot for maybe a May 1 outside all the time date. Is your Kimberley in a pot or in the ground? And how is your Lime Green Salad doing? You've got Yellow Canary as well, don't you? Trade you some Sophie's seeds for that one straight away if you're keen. I want to see if I can grow it inside along with Red Robin over the Winter.

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WIPPPPEEEEEEEEE!!!! FINALLY! 2 Red ripe tomatoes! yummie!! And I did it all myself!! flw flw flw flw flw

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CONGRAT'S Mandi..
That is a feeling you will take from year to year
and it'll never go away...for every garden you plant...
(I still get excited at every ripened fruit)

Joined: Aug 2005
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Congrats to you Mandi!

I just picked my first new big dwarf and two sungolds last night before the thunderstorms came. They are not quite ripe yet, but I didn't want them to split.

Julianna, Kimberly's in the ground. I am definitely gonna get my containers out earlier next year. I potted them up the same time I put Kimberly in the ground which was 5/20. LGS is doing good. It's also in the garden, albeit not a great spot, and has about 8-9 fruit. One is finally starting to darken up now. I don't have yellow canary. Haven't heard of that one, but I'd be happy to share any others I have.

What about mater? How's he doing? And has anyone seen Comfrey around?

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Sure wish I new how to grow tomatos like that mine are just green and have been that wat sence June. I feed them they have lot's of sun don't know what I am doing wrong Good job guys

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Mine just turned..and only 2 Im still frustrated, just not as badly..lol smile flw

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And has anyone seen Comfrey around?
I still talk to her on a daily basis on MSN..she just hasn't been posting much lately..she'll be back. She's been picking ripe tomatoes for a good week now...has lots of cukes and has already started her canning. thumbup

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I should post this under Christina's "My Mess" topic, or a new topic titled "no progress report." I've had tons of fruit set, but limited harvest. Disease and insects have been rampant this year, and the heat has been horrid. Amazingly, many tom's have set fruit right through the 100 plus temps here...better than they did through the 90's, if you can believe it. My problem now is sunscald, and insects. If I try to leave fruit on the vine until fully ripe, they're ruined. I can give a 100% reccommendation for Black Plum tomato, though...totally resistant to disease, although very prone to BER...consistant watering is imperative...but talk about a delicious little tomato! Mortgage Lifter seems to be a magnet for fruitworms and every pest in the books! Huge beefsteak type tomatoes that get eaten before they can ripen. Bloody Butcher is the most prolific producer I've ever seen, but I have to harvest early so they don't rot on the vine...a heat issue? I can't say. Mostly the same with Arkansas Traveler. It's hard to compare tastes when the fruit is harvested early, but Ark. Traveler is pretty good. Watching other varieties...I liked the few Yellow Pear I harvested...they never seem to ripen? Had two German Red Strawberry, harvested early also, good flavor. Watching Rutgers, BW,others...I'm very disappointed. Sorry to be so long-winded, but I've not posted lately. Wishing luck to others. I should change my sig line to "Kill Me Now."

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Aw Dave,

So sorry you've had so many challenges this year, but I'm glad that Black Plum has been a winner for you! Paste varieties, and Black Plum is definitely in that category, are more prone to BER. I remember last year, my Black Plum plants had some BER, especially in the early part of the growing season. It's so prolific, it's hardly noticeable as the season wears on. I dried 2 very full quart freezer bags of Black Plums last year and despite using them liberally on Winter pizzas and salads, as well as giving many away as gifts, I still have quite a few of them left. I hope you were able to save some seeds from yours for next year.

Cheers,
Julianna

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Julianna, I bow to you, thanks so much for introducing me to Black Plum. What a delicious, wonderful, incredible and prolific tomato. I'm not sure if i've even had a ripe one, they don't fair well if left too long on the vine, but as of this year, they're the most excellent tomato by far. These are not paste tomatoes, well, too good to not eat fresh.

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Dave, sounds like some real tough conditions to grow tomatoes in. Nothing you could do but the best you can I guess. I hope things improve for you and you get to try a bunch of good tomatoes. Do you pick the fruit at the first blushing of color and let them ripen inside? They'll ripen just as well that way as they would on the vine. You just need to wait for that first sign of color.

I have a few other pastes you can try next year. One variety called Heidi that is producing like crazy right now. Even through the heat and humidity we've had lately. I'll be saving seed from it as I promised Carolyn I would due to her medical situation, so I'd be glad to send you some. There's also Opalka, which is supposedly an excellent paste, San Marzano, Amish Paste, Mama Leone and Wuhib that I have seed of. Good luck.

My latest report...

Finally picked my first sungolds. They are ripening on my kitchen window. Most likely will have them tonight! I counted 56 of them on the one plant. Also picked two more NBD and my first lucky leprechaun. Lime green salad is ripening nicely(I guess) and will be ready to pick in a few days. My first time growing green-when-ripe fruit so we'll see. I finally had fruit set on Earl's Faux and Prue as of last night and the last stubborn plant that has yet to set is Lillian's Yellow.

Happy tomatoes to all!

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John, do you really think they would taste just as good ripened inside? That would be great, but I have the impression that they don't develop as much flavor. I wouldn't lose much fruit if I snagged them early, darned bugs like them as much as I do, and sunscald hits a lot, too.

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Originally posted by peppereater:
John, do you really think they would taste just as good ripened inside? That would be great, but I have the impression that they don't develop as much flavor. I wouldn't lose much fruit if I snagged them early, darned bugs like them as much as I do, and sunscald hits a lot, too.
Dave, honestly I have no first-hand experience to back that up, but from what I've read is what I posted. I'm sure they won't be 100% the same, but the trade-off is lost fruit. Duh That first Kimberly was ripened for two days in my kitchen and man was it deelish! muggs

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I've been eating New Girls for about a month now. I've also picked a few of my Moscvitch and Oregon spring. Today I picked my first Brandywine and a couple of what I think are Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter. It was a seedling in a pot labelled "serrano" Duh

All of my tomatoes now have fruit on. My first Red Grapes and Orange Sungolds are almost ripe!

I've had to top my New Girl and first Brandyine plants as they are at the tops of their 9 foot stakes.

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Ciao all,

Kotlas now has 3 blushers. I've picked 5 Sungold F1's so far and all have been fantastic as well as 4 Kimberleys. I most likely won't be saving seeds from the Kimberleys because there are only about 10 more fruit on the plant and I didn't bag blossoms. It's a great-tasting tomato for sure and I'll definitely try it again..I just have to either figure out how to solve my container issue or find a spot for it in the ground.

Obywan, I'm growing Moskvich too, but mine are all green still. I try not to obsess, but you know how that can be..I go out there several times a day to see if anything's changed..I need help, lol.

John, personally, I don't do the inside ripening thing until Fall when it's highly doubtful that they'll ripen outside with the low temps, particularly at night, not to mention the shortened day length. At that point, I pull them out, cut the vines into reasonable lengths with the tomatoes on them, and bring them all inside on a big towel to ripen on my floor. I'm such a nutbar that what should be my livingroom is actually my grow-op in the spring and my canning warehouse/manufacturing/seed-saving/dehydrator area in the Fall. I get about 90% of those tomatoes to ripen and I can them, I don't use them for fresh eating, except for the cherries or something a tad larger like Jaune Flammee.

Cheers,
Julianna, who waits anxiously for Heidi tasting notes from John as well as notes on Wuhib's growth habit....tap tap tap....

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I'm convinced that one problem with ripening fruit indoors is that one tends to eat them before they're fully ripe! Patience, patience. laugh Duh

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Just wondering about the ripening in the house thing...do you need to keep them attached to the vine or pick them like you do when they are red and ready? Also, do they need to be put in a sunny area in the house?? Thanks all.
flw

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</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="COMIC SANS MS, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="3" face="COMIC SANS MS, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Mandi:
<strong> Just wondering about the ripening in the house thing...do you need to keep them attached to the vine or pick them like you do when they are red and ready? Also, do they need to be put in a sunny area in the house?? Thanks all.
thumbup

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My tomatoes are doing good. I picked a 3 gallon bucket full Sunday and so far we have been able to eat them and keep up with the harvest, but each day there are more and more ripe ones, So I will be making mator juice soon.

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Hey Comfry!!! wavey wavey wavey
jfredt was lookin' for a Tomato Juice Recipe..
Do you happen to have one???
here\'s his post inquiring about one.. kissies

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Here is a picture of todays tomato picking...These are are Brandywine and are not perfect shaped tomatoes, but that doesn't take away from the taste. [Linked Image]

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Holy shnikeys!!!! shk shk shk shk shk

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Comfrey, I'll take those treasures over a perfect looking store tomato anytime ! thumbup

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Oh, man, my lips are smackin' right now!!!
(insert lip smackin' gremalin here)

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Hi, it's been a long time since I have posted..Everyone's tomatos look delicious! I picked my first Early girl today. My Pink Brandywine are green, patiently wating I am!

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