Tomatoes Mmmmmm
- Thread starter davidhelmly
- Start date
davidhelmly
5 year old buck +
Not sure how I posted the pics in the middle of the post but I can’t figure out how to fix it. Lol
You southern guys are killing me!!! I won’t get my plants in the ground until next weekend. Our frost free date is around May 20th.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
davidhelmly
5 year old buck +
We had some warm weather in late Feb and early Mar this year so I took a chance and planted early, we had a few frosts after but I covered them and it worked out. The downside of living in the south, it’s suppose to be low 90’s here tomorrow!
davidhelmly
5 year old buck +
The first picking, it’s a small picking but still!!
davidhelmly
5 year old buck +
Looking good!!
davidhelmly
5 year old buck +
All I can say is wow!!! Mine have all given up for the year, what state are you in OakSeeds?
davidhelmly
5 year old buck +
Nope, they were all indeterminates.
mid-central IL .... I have 10 plants; all in concrete wire cages supported by 7' steel t-posts. Pick off all blooms after 8-20 so energy goes toward development of existing green fruit.
several things help my production .... plants in full sun all day and when I planted each plant last spring, I placed a black landscape pot (with the bottom cut out) over each plant pushed down 3 inches into the soil). Depending on rainfall during the week and temperature (is it above 85-90), I water each plant (the entire contents of a cat litter plastic container filled with water) on Wed. and maybe Sat. Weeks with 1"+ rainfall and hot dry days, I would water only on Wed. Anymore than 1.5" of rain, I don't water that week even though I have soil with excellent drainage. The black landscape pot helps keep out cutworms and other critters, provides a greenhouse effect in early spring, and makes watering the plants very efficient (quick and all water goes to root zone). I provide fertilizer in 2 ways; I throw a light hand full of 12-12-12 in each planting hole in the spring .... mix it well with the soil in the planting hole and fill hole with water (stir into a slurry - careful you don't burn the tomato plant). During the 1st week of June I place another handfull of fertilizer ON the soil inside the black landscape pot (every rtime I water, the plant gets a mini-boost). At any rate, the system works well for me; it is not uncommon for me to pick 125-150 perfectly shaped (with few blemishes since they never touch the ground) tomatoes at a time. Then I spend 2 hours driving around giving them to farmer friends and others. fresh tomatoes and good venison sausage are two of the best gifts you can give to folks who don't have access to them. Hope these tips might help others!
PS with the exception of 1 early girl plant (my wife likes them) ALL my other plants are Big Boy tomato plants. Oops .... my mistake ... I have one yellow plant for neighbor who can't take the acid in red tomatoes / sorry for the inaccuracy
several things help my production .... plants in full sun all day and when I planted each plant last spring, I placed a black landscape pot (with the bottom cut out) over each plant pushed down 3 inches into the soil). Depending on rainfall during the week and temperature (is it above 85-90), I water each plant (the entire contents of a cat litter plastic container filled with water) on Wed. and maybe Sat. Weeks with 1"+ rainfall and hot dry days, I would water only on Wed. Anymore than 1.5" of rain, I don't water that week even though I have soil with excellent drainage. The black landscape pot helps keep out cutworms and other critters, provides a greenhouse effect in early spring, and makes watering the plants very efficient (quick and all water goes to root zone). I provide fertilizer in 2 ways; I throw a light hand full of 12-12-12 in each planting hole in the spring .... mix it well with the soil in the planting hole and fill hole with water (stir into a slurry - careful you don't burn the tomato plant). During the 1st week of June I place another handfull of fertilizer ON the soil inside the black landscape pot (every rtime I water, the plant gets a mini-boost). At any rate, the system works well for me; it is not uncommon for me to pick 125-150 perfectly shaped (with few blemishes since they never touch the ground) tomatoes at a time. Then I spend 2 hours driving around giving them to farmer friends and others. fresh tomatoes and good venison sausage are two of the best gifts you can give to folks who don't have access to them. Hope these tips might help others!
PS with the exception of 1 early girl plant (my wife likes them) ALL my other plants are Big Boy tomato plants. Oops .... my mistake ... I have one yellow plant for neighbor who can't take the acid in red tomatoes / sorry for the inaccuracy
Last edited:
Taste, size, appearance, meaty composition, production numbers and ease of growing. Over lots of years, I'v tried others but about 12-15 years ago I decided Big Boy tomatoes gave us everything we wanted. I love tomatoes in salads (especially those featuring tomatoes), salsa, on tomato burgers (had them off the grill tonight), in chilli and - of course - in BLT's.
I can take a softball sized BB .... remove its skin, quarter it, remove its seeds and enjoy tomato "meats" chilled with Italian dressing with a sandwich at lunch or with dinner. we don't make juice or can them so I have lots of fun giving them to folks who love them and don't grow them. Hope this answer is sufficient. :-)
I can take a softball sized BB .... remove its skin, quarter it, remove its seeds and enjoy tomato "meats" chilled with Italian dressing with a sandwich at lunch or with dinner. we don't make juice or can them so I have lots of fun giving them to folks who love them and don't grow them. Hope this answer is sufficient. :-)
