I think mine are a bit small for this time of year, but still they seem happy..
they are only about 13-15" tall!

I have the hav-a-hart traps, but the city won't take them anymore and it is a $500 fine if you are caught relocating them yourself. The city said I could pay for a licenced trapper to come out to get it. I am going to call the fish and game commission tomorrow and see what they say. :o(

My maters are doing fine but remember that I was very late getting started and in my usual zeal to try new maters I've planted way to many plants, didn't really leave enough room for the herbs and peppers, and okra that is still producing from the summer...pictures in a month or so unless we get that freak frost that has never happened here.

Katkin, sorry to hear about your raccoon problem. I was just thinking about how I'd had no raccoon problems for several years, then I went out to the garage last night only to find a bag of catfood tipped over with the bag slightly gnawed in the center...saw the small young rascal scamper out the side door :-( Looks like I won't be able keep the garage doors open to vent the car engine's heat any longer. I'm just outside Weedon Island State Preserve and that's where mine come from. I've trapped them and take them back into the preserve but this time of year with everything so dry they'll just come back to our neighborhood again looking for easy pickings...moved the catfood inside the laundry room. I was up early this morning on the puter and also heard a rat in the attic, that's also not unusual when the dry season starts but I'll have to do something about that problem quickly before I have gnawed electrical and cable lines up there :-(

I must admit I have lost more seedlings than have survived. Still I plod on! I have been dilligent with dusting, amending planting medium, using Insecticidal soap spray and just daily being a watch dog. This is the finest least bug ridden bunch of t'mater plants I have ever had! I must admit it is time consuming but I am loving every growing minute of it!!

Denise-I don't know what Zac wants either! He and the Mr Stripey from Kristi seem to be my pickiest plants. And I am determined to tame them and get some fruit from them. 1/2 the time they look like they are going to croak! I just smack em and ignore them and then they get another growth burst. Interesting about your fruit. I am just getting some blooms...will have to see if they set fruit. I am spraying Tomato Flower/Fruit Set Spray on all the fruit blooms and so far seems to be good...will let you know! (Who said obsession??? LOL LOL ha ha ha all the way to the NUT House!)

Cora-what a cool surprise it would be to find ripe tomatoes when least expecting it! YAY for you!

Corrie- I am so sorry. I know how badly you wanted to get a great crop going!

GOod luck to everyone! I am enjoying many seedlings from shared seeds. It's way cool fun! CAn't wait to eat them!

Oh yeah, I planted a few more seeds today...WHAT?? DO I LOOK NUTZ??? Tony-get the men in the white coats for me!

white coat my rear!
I'm coming with a net! LOL

Ok, study at the feet of the master....
I'm following your lead and planting more tomorrow.

I guess the trick to our fickle weather is to just keep a constant supply of backups
until the weather settles in to something more stable.

Some years you win and some you don't win right off the bat. ;-)

Cindee, you're truly obsessed. Oops, that funny coming from the guy that woke up at 3:00 A.M. and could not fall back to sleep thinking of ways to improve the garden ;-)

You mato heads are entertaining. Trust me, there is life after being hauled away in a net by some guys wearing white outfits.

Tom is the instigator from what I can see. He sends out seeds and sits back and enjoys seeing how everyone deals with the bugs, the weather, the water, the diseases etc etc.

I will say, my volunteers were usually my best most productive most trouble free matos of all. It was difficult to tell who they were for the longest time but they were the best, like the ones growing in the fence.

Direct sowing is as close as you can get to a provoked volunteer system, so, perhaps try that method and ignore em all. Most mato plants are and will be killed with kindness and usually from being planted too close together.

I am proud to say, I am OVER IT, and only have two mato plants intentionally growing at the moment.

Keep up the fine work and efforts, time to go watch Desperate Housewives, (almost as good as desperate mato growers)

Later
Tony

I don't have signs of fruit yet, it's still a little early down here, but I have a bunch of very vigorous plants, several flowering now, and a few that are disappointingly not so vigorous.

I've been a little surprised at the lack of pests this year. I've been fighting snails all over the yard, but haven't had much trouble with the tomatoes, so far. Even the one that seemed to have snail damage is looking great now.

I did have one that was eaten to the ground, one that you had had good luck with cindeea, the husky red cherry. That was a disappointment because I figure if someone else has luck with it, I should be able to do it. But I missed the caterpillars until they had done crazy damage. My bad. The little plant is still alive, but I took its cage to put on a larger plant since it looks like that one might not ever get big enough to need a cage. Dammit.

The other one that surprised me was red robin, a cherry that looked great in the pot, but is still the same size it was in the pot. Wondering if I should have done it in a container.

The black cherry is big and happy, as is the green zebra, an unnamed yellow, the cherokee purple, the sungold you sent me cindeea, and several others.

One that has been a disappointment is my roma, which did really well last year, so I put in two this year, and both are looking pretty puny this year. I gave a bunch of people that one, I hope it's doing better for some of y'all than it is for me!

I check them pretty regularly at night, but I'm thinking my battle with the caterpillars simply hasn't started yet. I did see a blue jay hanging out on one of the cages, and since he doesn't eat tomato leaves, I'm hoping he was picking caterpillars.

susannah

susannah, I don't get the whole thing with the Red Robins. They are #1 one of the toughest for me to get to grow from seed and #2 if I do get any kinda plant, they are this minature teeny plant f-o-r-e-v-e-r! Does anyone have any experience with these guys even producing fruit?? Too bad abbout the HCR, Sus, it's always one of my hardy favs.

Tony, you are RIGHT! Tom is a real enabler...3am, bah!! I dream in Tomato Wallpaper!

Red robin produced a lot of good fruits. It never got over a foot tall, ever. I had em in a small pot as well as in the ground. They were no different than any other tomato with respect to hardiness.

Find something new to dream about, matos will give you nightmares.

The tomato plants I got from the Swap were only a few inches tall at first. Thanks to you who traded me some. :-) You should see them now! It's only been about three weeks and some of the plants are almost two feet tall, seriously!

They are beginning to develop blossoms. How exciting it will be when I taste those first yummy fruits! Don't want to 'count my chickens before they're hatched' but I'm anticipating!

P.S. I always remove the new shoots between the main branches but haven't as yet on these plants. Do all you guys do this?

I remove those suckers for a while and then I just get lazy and quit. Did you know they are clones of the mother plant and you can plant them and get new plants? Just stick them in the soil and water them and they'll root. If you leave them on the mother they produce tomatoes.

Tony and Cindee, :-p Always glad to do my part ;-) I love a challenge, looks like I'm going to have to try some Red Robins! Are they as productive as the Tumbling Toms? The TT's have been my favorite ones to grow as gifts....

Well, we're certainly not breaking any size records with the ripe tomatoes that are trickling in. We have some bigger beefsteak types on the vines, but still green. Beginning to withhold water to encourage some quicker ripening. Pics of red tomatoes below are Rutgers on top, Stupice in the middle and Tiffany on the bottom. The green ones are Red Brandywine, Crnkovic and Cherokee Purple.

Tom, I am anxiously awaiting my Tumbling Toms from you. I have 3 small plants going so far and can't wait to test these guys out.

cfldoc-WOWZER beautiful fruit already!!

Bluesky, glad to hear some of the seedlings I gave you are doing well. Good luck!

Katkin, I keep wanting to try the closes, just to say "I did it". Thanks for reminding me!

I have always found the fall crop a big challenge. Tomatoes
like it warm and a cold front stalls everything.
Mortgage Lifter is my fall crop with Sweet 100s a never fail. I mist bt. on the maters and brassicas on a weekly
basis. I got lucky this year. It seems that in Ft Pierce
central east coast just when things are going good we get a late season tropical storm but not this year. Paloma was
just not meant to hit us garnders.

Katkin, that's interesting about the shoots becoming new plants! And they are true to type, right? I many have to root some.

Cindeea, yes, they are really 'taking off'! Did you give me the 'goose creek' plant? If so, remember how tiny it was? I potted it up a few sizes and it's getting new leaves and is now about 3.5 inches tall. The Roma plant is about eight inches tall. The other varieties are almost two feet in height and are starting to blossom. :-)

i have jetsetter and sungold. healthy plants, lots of green fruit. i've noticed in the past that fall tomatoes ripen soooo slooooooow that they're more susceptible to problems like splitting, insect damage, etc. so, even tho there are fewer such problems in the fall than spring, you end up with little net improvement when growing this time of year. what's more, i've never thought the fruit was quite as tasty.

and it's been a very cool fall.

still, fresh tomatoes in december are pretty cool, no?

Bluesky, yes, the Goose Creek came from me. that is a very special tomato! I got the seed from Treefrog, it is not avail to purchase. I have 3 or 4 plants of my own growing strong!

Oh, Ill Man, don't shot holes through my cloud!! I am so excited about having bug free healthy toms for a change. I have them in full afternoon sun and they are somewhat protected from wind. I am praying for a great crop with all the effort I put into them this fall. Wish me LUCK!!

Cindee

I notice that you like Yellow Pear. They are great in salads or oven dried. This season I am growing Yellow Submarine, it is a strong grower, potato leaf, looks similar to Y.P. but bigger and I think better flavor.
I am also growing Ildi, a yellow cherry ,similar shape, looks pretty in the pictures and early in the season too. A lot of blooms not too many fruit. I will try it again in Spring.

Here is an update for Tom since he is going to be taking reviews:
The cherries and small tomatoes they were of course the most successful, since they had no cracking or splits that the bigger tomatoes have due to temperature fluctuations and other reasons.

Good producers this season were Florida 91, Paul Robeson, Arkansas Traveler.
The bigger tomatoes are still on the vine ripening slowly. I am looking forward Zapotec, they look strong.
The bi-colors like Orange Russian, Pineapple,etc. are few here and there.

It is my first season growing Goose Creek, it is a small plant, good for containers. Pretty and tasty tomatoes. I will save seeds and grow again in spring.

Willy

Cindee,

On the top left is Florida 91, the right is Goose Creek. On the bottom left is Yellow Submarine, middle is Sungold, and the right is Ildi.

Best,
Willy

I've tried for two years in two diff gardens to grow Goose Creek with no success. The seedlings/plants die while other types next to them do great. Same thing this year, I have 1 plant left (2 others died) and it's looking ill.

I wonder if it doesn't like zone 10. or is it me?

cfldoc
I am in awe of your tomatoes.

I'm taking notes ;-) I have thirty five plants this season and other than giving the eight large indeterminates room I've crowed out the others and won't do it again. Problem, next season I'm designating only sixteen spaces to maters, nine of which will be large indeterminates. So, which maters get the other seven spaces? I'm thinking Goose Creek, Cherokee Purple and Indian Stripe, none of which I've grown yet...but that doesn't leave any room for the cherries, oh no!!!!!

Willy, thanks for the family portrait!! Goose Creek, Florida 91 and Sungold are all in my growing collection and new to me so it is great to see their fruit in person(sort of! LOL) Naplesgard gave me Yellow Pear last year Willy, and I am hooked on it's mass production, durability, staying power, long shelf life of the fruit and their yummy flavor! I eat a lot of salads, and this one is a MUST on my salads. For small yellow I am also trying Yellow Canary, Galinas, DrCarolyn and so far the Dr C's are a bust for me. I cannot seem to get them to grow-even yours, Tom. I don't know what it is.....I am jinxed! Tom, I love the rabbit pic...cute.

Denise, last year, also, Treefrog sent me Goose Creek and none of them took for me. This time I have managed to get a few growing and have kept them alive...so far!! It is amazing the seed I went through to get the 30 some plants I have!! I keep trying!

Cindee,

I start them all in the expandable peat cubes that go in the six-pack starter cells, then after a few sets of true leaves pot up into my mix. I have not had any trouble with the tomatoes, did get one particular pepper seed from TGs that had a zero germination rate but other than that only an occasional one seed here and there that doesn't germinate. I'll send you a few to try if you'd like....

Cindeea and Everybody,

Thanks again for the 'goose creek' plant! It's now in an 8 inch pot and is growing in height and putting out new leaves. Probably about 4.5 inches tall.

I just read on here that someone didn't have success with this variety in zone 10. Ooh! I hope that's not the norm. I wonder if they container grew it. Maybe it got nematodes if it was in the ground. I'm keeping mine in large containers. Cindeea, you're in zone 10, right?

Thanks guys for sharing all those pictures of 'mouth-watering' maters! Hopefully, I'll be picking some by the end of December or early January.

Sheri :-)

My tomatoes are looking pretty bad, the 10 inches of rain we got a few weeks ago wreaked havoc. But my "Patio" tomatoes have come back strong and blooming wonderfully.

My "Celebrity" and "Better Boy" are not looking to hot. Some in pots and some in ground and all looking bad. 1/2 of them are yellowing like crazy, the other have have some kind of mushy leaf problem. The leaves get real mushy (loose there rigidity) then just die. Fungus? I wish someone had an answer.

Did someone say 'PATIO' ? Those are my most fav plants to grow.

Wanna see my little Patio and its roots?

I planted it wayyyyy too late, but its now on its way. Hoping it does well.

{{gwi:976058}}

Jealous of the red tomatoes there....

Nice Tony! I'm with you, when all else fails Patios and Husky Cherry Reds can always be counted on to stay healthy and produce in Hydro or containers.

Wow Mistiaggie,

Your post wasn't there when I started my post...looks like you're hiding some illicit drugs back there somewhere, or are they all truly just maters ;-) Nice container garden, when did you start, what potting mix are you using, how are you fertilizing and what are you using for pest control?

mistiaggie
great tomato garden but awww...love your doggie.

zone 10B and your tomatoes are this far along??? you have the ultimate green thumb!!

I only have one tomato that looks as good as all yours do and it was shaded by a palm tree. I'm going to try more shade next fall and see if that makes a difference.

((Misti))) Nice to see ya gal! I remember your post a while back when you started your containers. Man-Oh-Man your plants are doing great!!! I only have a few green yellow pears so far, but am getting a lot more flower sets now that it's heated up again. I am also using the Blossom/Fruit set spray this year. Please tell me the varieties in your photos, if you know them...how's Chris? Still hunting elusive Ghost Orchids??

Tony, love your clay balls! lol I tried 'Patio' last season and they died. I have a beautiful NOID coming up where one was planted. It is getting really elongated blooms on it. Could this be a Patio??

I'm with cindeea on the patios.
I've tried them a couple of times, and they just will not grow for me.
What is you guys secret?

it's called Early Girl bush and I stuck it in a pot.

I am worried though because we have raccoons across the street in a bird preservation area and last year I had to have one of these trappers come ($300!!!!) because they were pooping all over my backyard(neighbor had cat food out all night and they were using my yard as a toilet!!!)and take FIVE of them away. I also finished fencing in the backyard so that hopefully helps some.

I hate raccoons, they are everywhere and we can't kill them and if this little tomato plant brings them back , I'll have to say goodbye to it.

I eat a tomato or two every DAY ,love them, so cross your toes and fingers the raccoons don't come back.

teeka

I'm not sure on the size of the containers, but they are quite large. Some vary to smaller sizes, but at least 10+ gallons. They contain multiple plants. I thinned some of the seedlings and gave them to coworkers but I'd say that most of the containers have at least five plants growing in them.

Soil mix..i think it was a top soil mix with something else. I can't remember. We mixed in some granules fertilizer and Chris fertilizes his more than I do. I need to do mine this weekend. Mine are in full sun. Started them on Labor Day. I have one pot that never came up, Great White was the tomato, so I started over and now they are coming up Lemon Boy and Black from Tula. Oh well, nice mix!

Baloo say hello. That's 'my' doggie. We are dogsitting for friends while they are traveling.

Cindeee /Corrie. I would never say Patio is worth growing as a tasty tomato, so dont feel bad about it not growing for you.

Focus your efforts on some other variety for a better payback / return on investment.

I simply like the Patio PLANT for how it grows and looks, thats all.

As to what you may be doing wrong......

My experience is most tomato plants are killed out of good intentions. Try an experiment and see. Plant some tomato seeds in a spot in the yard far away from anything including a hose, water etc. Do not fertilize it and simply ignore it. At the same time, plant a few seeds in your absolute BEST most cared for area and compare results.

Do drive the tomato stakes in the ground at the time of planting the seeds or seedlings so as to NOT damage the roots of the growing plant.

I have had tomato plants grow between the rocks and pavers and within other bushes that were perfect in all respects and got that way on their own, without care. The ones I babied were pitiful in comparison.

Watching Cindeeee go through all these gyrations gives me a good picture of how I used to be, glad I an over it.

Watching Cindeeee go through all these gyrations gives me a good picture of how I used to be, glad I'm an over it.

Hey there buddy, them's fightin words...I'll protect my sis, I'm not over it either ;-)

Realization is 90% of the battle BUB!

Last year the birds discovered my tomatoes when they were only slightly ripe. I noticed several had holes in them or chunks eaten out.

I decided to be proactive! Wrapping pieces of nylon stockings around them while still green helped for a while. But you know what? Soon I began seeing holes poked through the stockings! And then they say 'bird brains.'

I also tried putting some little pieces of screen over the green tomatoes, but this didn't work too well either.

Do any of you guys have any other suggestions for protecting tomatoes from the hungry birds?

Thanks,

Sheri

We wrapped the plant cages in chicken wire for a while and it worked but we got tired of the hassle of unwrapping the cages and getting cut up every time we wanted to pick tomatoes. Cindee says she's had good luck with the nylon bird protection netting from HD so I might give that a try...I've just found it easier to pick early and let the fruit ripen indoors, flavor has been just as good.

Tom

I use the cheap bird netting too. I built a frame over where I grow the tomatoes that I can hang bird netting or change it to shade cloth late in the season for the heat.

I don't feel so bad about "patio" then. ;-)

I'm looking for the nuclear tomato.
The one that the name looks like:
VFFNTRUQANHHTIP

and still tastes good! LOL

Corrie,

That would be Beefmaster :-) Best tasting, good producing mutant with a pedigree for resisting pests....

Thanks for the help re: 'hungry birds.' I'll probably try that netting from HD.

Those birds MUST have been real hungry! They started pecking on the UNRIPE maters. Yikes!

thanks Tom
Now I'm on a hunt for Beefmaster.

I saw Mr. America at HD the other day, and didn't buy it.
Wanted to look it up first.
Wouldn't you know, it has all this after it's name: VFFTNSW

Now I have to round up some more old 10gal pots.
I don't know if our long growing season is a blessing or curse.

I swore, this year I wasn't going to get as nuts as cindeea! ;-) (((cindeea)))

Bluesky,

Hate to say it, but cats are your best defense. Mine wear bells so they can't catch birds, which saves the birds, but the birds still know they're there.

I have no trouble with birds eating my tomatoes. And for racoons and possums, I have dogs. Big dogs. No trouble there either.

Susannah

Well, I had to PRETEND to be a dog last night! Little rascal showed up again in the back after dark and was definitely eyeing my maters...I know my neighbors think I'm nuts, barking like dog on a scent for 2-3 minutes :-(

Tom, Bro, Thanks for the protection from Tony's hate for tomatoes. But fear NOT he cannot disuade me. First of all, I am having way too much fun. Tomato seeds are sooo cheap, plus friends like you, denise, treefrog, Willy and Silvia, and many others are so willing to share. I have a feeling I will keep playing with tomatoes for years to come. Even tho I swore to my neighbor...oh hell, he even TOLD me, "Ah, you're enjoying it too much, you'll keep us all in tomatoes for years to come!" And he is prob right! lol

I am getting pretty excited about one NOID re-seeded plant I have which is growing pretty fast it has very long flower buds on it. I made a clone of it today in case it's a GOOD one. The Yellow Pear is well over 6 feet now, loaded with flowers and green fruit. I am topping it off at the last flower sets, I don't need a plant too tall for me to reach the fruit! I made up a basket yesterday of some of my mini plants: Tumbling Tom, Red Robin and Yellow Canary. If they all fruit at once it will be so pretty and tasty!!

now now Cindeeee, you know you dont need protection, just because I dont care for a raw tomato doesnt mean I would ever attempt to convince anyone from not growing them. I did and still do enjoy the challenge of it all. Someday someone has to discover a breakthrough method for growing matos and this can only come from experimenting as you/we/me do and have done.

Its fun. Your enthusiasm is like looking in a time machine mirror set to a couple yrs back is how I view it.

Keep it up, you ARE having a blast and that's all that 'maters'.

Hi Susannah,

I love kitties.

We do have some of the neighbors' cats around but they seem to prefer the front yard.

I'm thinking maybe it wasn't all birds but maybe iguanas! We do have them around from time to time. Read that 'neem oil' might repel them. Any experience with this? Thanks.

Sheri