My tomatoes are frigid

13 years ago

I've done everything I know to do, but they can't seem to get beyond a state of semi-arousal. They grew impressive vines, flowered profusely, and even set quite a few fruits. Then...they hit a wall. They can't seem to let loose and get over the hump.

The fruits have just been sitting there for 3 weeks, neither succumbing to disease nor growing any larger. They are the size of cherry tomatoes. My Big Boy is a toddler. My Stupice is in a stupor. My Celebrities would be lucky to have 5 minutes of fame, let alone 15 minutes.

Is Oregon where tomatoes go to die? I'm not an inexperienced gardener, though this is my first garden in Oregon. All of my previous gardening experience was in the Midwest, and by mid July the tsunami of produce was on. Here? It's like my garden has an enlarged prostate, and can only produce vegetables in a pathetic trickle.

The fact that we are in August, and the sun continues to perform its Gypsy Rose Lee act, teasing, suggesting something that it never quite delivers, flashing a bit of thigh by midday only to retreat behind its curtain of clouds again, doesn't help.

This has been my most disheartening gardening experience ever. I got plenty of zucchini, but who doesn't? Even the tomatillos seem to be stuck, with plenty of fruit that refuse to grow larger.

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Comments (9)

dianasan
13 years ago
solidago,

Forget about gardening; you should consider a career as a comedy writer! LOL! Great post!

Don't know if this would help in your situation, but I gave my peppers a couple of doses of Epsom salts and that got them out of their stupor about a month ago. Sprinkle 1 tsp at the base of each plant and then water as usual.
borderbarb
13 years ago
Ditto the sun teasing down here in SoCal. We have set several 'record low temps' for July this year. But my toms have produced enough for my family ... just not the usual glut to give away. I've seen references to pulling on the stem of the plant ... breaking smaller rootlets, but not pulling whole plant up ... to shock the plant into producing. Do a google search on key words "root pruning tomatoes"
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http://www.garden.org/foodguide/browse/veggie/tomatoes_care/365
...snip....Root pruning is a special trick you can use to speed up the ripening of early tomatoes. It simply involves cutting some of the roots of a plant when it has three or four clusters of tomatoes on it. By cutting the roots, you put quite a bit of stress on the plant, which causes it to mature more quickly. It's as if the plant were worried that it might not have time to complete its life cycle, so it rushes to mature some fruit and seed. The plant won't die if you root-prune it correctly; the growth process is simply interrupted. But after a little rest, the plant is ready to start producing again.

To root-prune trench-planted tomatoes, take a long kitchen knife and make a cut down along just one side of the buried main stem, 1 to 2 inches away from it, going down 8 to 10 inches. If the tomatoes are planted vertically, cut halfway around the plant, 1 or 2 inches from the stem and 8 to 10 inches deep. If a knife doesn't work well for you, try a spade or a shovel

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The link below sounds a bit far-fetched, but who knows.

Here is a link that might be useful: Red mulch to increase yield
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nancyjane_gardener
13 years ago
Solidago
I'm thinking a comedy vege-growing blog is in order! LOL
I'm in No CA, near San Francisco and this is a VERY strange year for gardening!
I'm usually knee deep in all sorts of veges by now, with the neighbors and co-workers locking their car doors and turning on the motion detectors on their porches!
I've gotten some zuks and crook necked squash (not too many), a couple of cukes and a handful of sungold tomatoes. I'm just now seeing some reg tomatoes forming!
We are just starting to hit 80*, when it would normally be around 90*!
We had NO spring at all! Rained up til June!(usually stops in April or so) and very little summer at all!
I'm confused how to procede with a Fall/winter garden. You should do OK with that, though, with all the rain you get.
Good luck! NT
solidago1
Original Author
13 years ago
you want comedy? Take a look at my sweet peppers. I should have grown them in those shallow ceramic bonsai dishes, and trained the stems with wire. The peppers are so small they are almost cute, except for the water and fertilizer I've applied.

Truly...Oregon is no cornucopia of produce...in spite of all of the agriculture.

I don't know which enterprise would be less profitable...growing tomatoes here or standing on a street corner and selling dollar bills for 50 cents apiece.
t-bird
13 years ago
"I got plenty of zucchini, but who doesn't?"

Well - if it makes you feel better, I'm here in the glorious midwest, with loads of sun and fine temps - and I haven't got a single zuke to show for it.....

Had too many last year - so planted only one.....guess he was lonely.....
nygardener
13 years ago
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your tomato's a fruit.
instar8
13 years ago
More bad news, my golden friend...i think they're just not that into you...who can understand the vagaries of hortosexual attraction?? All that master-gardening...maybe it comes across a little...desperate??

Time to just move on...to the fall garden! Nice down-home sweet peas, poppin to please...snowpeas and snappies and big lush broccoli, bok choy... just beggin for some hot Asian action...wok on!

Still time for some French and frisky haricot vert...you can leave the blossom end on! Spinach will put the blush in your cheeks, and all those green leafies for endless twists on the tossed salad...kale for soul-warming soup.

Then maybe your wayward fruits will see what they've been missing out on...if not...COMPOST 'EM ...;~)
solidago1
Original Author
13 years ago
Instar,

I think you're right. Time to start looking for some good dipping sauce recipes for fried green tomatoes. Know of any?
instar8
13 years ago
I was never a huge fan of FGT, I still haven't watched the movie, even...but remoulade seems to be the way to go on Food Network, kinda makes me want to try it again. Nice light tempura-type batter, some panko...

Remoulade Sauce stolen from Tyler Florence:

* 2 cups mayonnaise
* 2 tablespoons cornichons or sour gherkins, minced
* 3 tablespoons capers, minced
* 2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
* 1 1/2 anchovies, minced
* 1 tablespoon ketchup
* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

But I think I'd add horseradish too...

My tomatoes are frigid

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dianasan

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My tomatoes are frigid

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dianasan

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