SHOP PRODUCTS
Houzz Logo Print
jon_e_gw

Expecting too much from tomatoes?

jon_e
13 years ago

I got a late start this year. I haven't had a garden in three years owing to a move to a house in the middle of the woods, and not much free time. This year I did three raised bed "square foot" gardens, 4' x 12' x 12" deep. I planted late - tomatoes, peppers and cukes went in around the 15th of June, while summer squash got planted on the fourth of July.

My tomatoes, consisting of three heirloom plants and a half-dozen each of Celebrity and Juliet, were about 6-14" tall when planted. The Celebrity plants are about 5' tall, the Juliets are about 5-1/2' tall, and all three heirlooms are pushing 9' and still growing.

I have no tomatoes.

Actually, I do - the Juliets have a couple clusters of green tomatoes, and one of the heirlooms ( I think it's called Orange Blossom) has a half dozen small green tomatoes. I am worried, given the growth rate of these plants, I'm not going to get any ripe tomatoes at all. First frost here is sometime around Columbus Day, although I have seen early frost in late September.

So I am expecting too much from these plants, or should I expect them to eventually stop growing and start producing tomatoes? The plants are the healthiest I've ever seen a tomato plant - all green, no spots, odd colors, bugs, curling leaves, nothing bad. Except no tomatoes. I drove past a neighbors garden today and the plants were all short, spindly things about three feet tall, loaded with ripe and ripening tomatoes. I wish I had that right about now.

Comments (8)