Update. It has been just shy of 3 weeks. I lost a few peppers, but I expected to lose a few as I learned the ins and outs of hydroponics. The tomatoes are growing like weeds, and I'm starting to train them, so I can hopefully grow them in a screen of green style trellis. The second picture is a close-up of one of my Cherokee Purple tomato plants. A few of the leaves are starting to turn brown. Any idea what this might be? I water/feed all of the plants on the same schedule, and I'm not seeing it on any of the other toms.

Hi. I too planted heirloom toms this year for the first time. I went and bought a couple b/c my plants looked so bad after a few cold nights and so much rain. I decided to plunk them in the ground but they really did look about dead to me. The greened up a little but did not grow. I gave them a fish emulsion feed and they perked up as soon as we had some sun. Now they are going nuts an dbigger than my store bought tom's. They are full of blooms and fruit and I could not be happier. So, I would say give them a good dose of fish emulsion and then another next week. I think if your weather is warming up and sunning up you will do fine. Don't give up. The one thing I learned was that heirloom tom's are sturdier and harder to kill than hybrid plants. :) GoodLuck !! Nichol

Hi, If you are still looking for some ideas on tomatoes, please do not be that concerned about being in Zone 5. I am in an area of the great plains that tends to be Zone 3 some years as in late springs, early frosts of Sept. 1, 40 below winters and I never stay away from long season tomatoes. I have though been working on a tomatoe growing system which fits my needs. Personally, I sprout my seeds a week before I want to plant. Here that is May 1. We usually get a last frost around May 15. Please remember there is a difference between frost and freezing. Tomatoes will take being in hot caps or plastic bags to 28 degrees I have found, but you are so far south that you should never have to push the envelope. Zone 5 usually is wonderful weather May 1 to almost October 1. You can plant late and still harvest. I use coffee cans with both ends cut out as collars around my tomatoes that serve as hot houses with plastic bags on top, protection from wind and cut worms and later as a conservation watering system. You can use black plastic to add to the warmth to speed growth, but it would best be for weeds and water conservation where you are. Last year in a very cold May, I still with Silvery Fir Tree, had ripe tomatoes by August 1st. There is a secret most people do not realize and that is it takes heat to make a tomatoe come to full flavor. Tomatoes taste better in the later varieties, because of the heat they are grown in. Fir is wonderful, but when the later tomatoes come into harvest a month later one soon realizes how bland they are. Even if they surpass the ones in the stores. As for varieties, that is really up to taste as you are in an area that most tomatoes will grow in easily given plenty of sun. Please pay close attention to descriptions as you will find fruity, sweet, acidic as traits, and, only by what you think a tomatoe tastes like will appeal to you. For a full bodied flavor, Beefsteak varieties are nice. Acidic are Sioux, Big Boy (Open Pollinated), Fruity and Sweet, I have found a late season called Rose perfect. A good example of preferences is Brandywine which so many people love. It was the first I started growing and when I bit into it, I found it was that "musty cellar" tomatoe my Grampa grew 30 years ago. It is just not for me, but you might love it. That is the fun of heirlooms as there are hundreds to look forward to trying every year....but please know this too that last year I found mid season Oxheart and Reisentraub take alot more heat to germinate than say Red Pear or Druzba to sprout. I hope some additional insight from another gardening perspective helps your new adventure to be wonderful.

Your plant is obviously highly stressed so there may several things going on with it. Sun scald, tomato leaf roll, etc. If you Google 'green shoulders' you'll find much more info. But basically green/yellow shoulders is primarily caused by high temperatures. The chlorophyll in the shoulders is slow to break down and results in a patch that remains green or turns yellow but not red. Providing some shade for the plants and especially the the fruit helps and can reduce the sun scald too. You can also pick the fruit at color break instead of leaving it on the plant and let it finish ripening indoors to eliminate the problem. Dave