My Grandfather used to water his with sun heated warm water in the evening and he put melon sized rocks all around them to keep them warmer at night.

A long time ago, I planted cherry tomatoes against a white south facing wall. I would tie them up higher and higher as they grew. I had so many tomatoes, they just kept coming and coming until it finally got towards fall and I pinched off any remaining blooms and just let the tomatoes ripen. It was great. I'm sure it was just because it was so warm there against the wall.

The best system I know of is to lay a sheet of clear 4ml plastic over the soil after you rototill it. I also use the dark buckley flume sand available from City Transfer in Buckley. The edges of the plastic should be buried (the last 6 inches), so if you use a 10 x 25 sheet, you will end up with a 9 x 24 foot area. Next and most important, plant the tomatoes at a spacing of at least 3 and 1/2 feet apart. This means you will only get two rows down the long direction. Of course, you must punch a hole in the plastic for each plant. The 3 foot spacing on most packets is not adequate to compensate for the generally larger size our plants grow in the cool climate of the Puget Sound area, unless you get a very compact determinate variety.
The clear plastic will raise soil temps about 7 to 8 degrees. Also, you can let them sprawl on the plastic if you want and there will be much less rot than if they lay on the garden soil.
I also fill old clear one liter pop bottles with tea water and set them under each vine. This acts as a heat sink for keeping the plant warmer into the evening.
Make sure you select varieties under 75 days to maturity on the packet information, since you need to add about 15% to the length of time it takes them to ripen up here.
Make sure you get at least 6 hours a day of full sun.

I stop watering around Sept 1 and remove the little fruits that I know will never ripen.

At the end of the season, you can actually pull up the entire plant and hang it upside down in a cool, dark place (garage or basement) to let the tomatoes continue ripening. Once the plant is pulled out of the soil it will devote all its remaining energy to ripening the fruit.

Start your seeds indoors before last frost in a south-facing window or on a heat mat. I'm impatient, so after I start my seeds I buy a few plants at the nursery. Plant them outside after Mother's Day. Full sun is best, but morning sun is especially crucial, because otherwise the plants don't seem to get warm enough.

I put in plants around the end of April in Wall o' Waters. I've staked them on 6' high pieces of rebar which they have for the most part outgrown. Next year I think I will use row cover on hoops to extend the early heat increase after they have outgrown the WoW's. I'm getting some tomatoes now ( Black Krims, Oregon Spring - the Purple Cherokees are just starting) and the Brandywines are looking large but still green. The guys at the farmer's market have big hoop systems.The key to me is increasing the early heat. They were growing great guns when it was chilly and rainy.

I have been pretty successful at maturing lots of main-season tomatoes the last few summers, and this one looks ok so far, bit not as good as last year. I don't do anything really, except protect the plants when I first set them out in late may or thereabouts.
on the tomato forum there is a string called Tomatoes Anonymous PNW just for people growing tomatoes in our area. It helps me keep tabs on where I stand compared to other local growers... so I know whether it's my fault that I'm not getting any ripe tomatoes or the fault of the weather.

I pulled my first "big" tomato earlier this week. It was an Early Girl. Curious thing about this particular plant is that the top accidentally got broken off when I first planted it...I mean a huge piece, not just the very top pinched off. The "early" tomato grew very close to this injury. I have one other plant that also sustained what I thought was going to be a life ending injury when it was a baby. The stem almost broke very far down. I taped it up and stuck it farther in the dirt covering the injured portion. It also is way farther along than the other plants. I don't know enough about plant cultivation to explain why this happened, but I do know enough about living things to know it will put out some type of growth hormone when injured. Surely this would explain it. It seems pretty brutal to chop tops of plants off, but its worth a try at least on one! :-) I have to say I am just pleased as punch that I even have tomatoes and I do believe now I will have lots..many more are getting close. I had been scared (by some non-gardeners) into believing I wouldn't have time for the tomatoes to ripen. They are by far my favorite garden vegetable/fruit.

The blight can take vines out fast so protect them with a fungicide like copper sulfate. There are other chemicals but I can't remember all the ones that work. The Lycopersicum Pimpenellium? wild tomato is almost immune to blight, ( a parent of sweet 100 ). The fruit is tiny though. Tomatillos are actually much more cool weather tolerant than tomatoes and ought to be tried more in our area. Cascade is a reliable old standard with golf ball size fruit. Would love to hear about the winners and losers in follow ups.
My Uncles vines got hit with blight and then sort of recovered during the dry summer, but this last rain will probably take them down.

Lee Valley (Cdn company that does mail order) sells an orange/red-coloured plastic to put around the base of plants (works on strawberries as well) to speed ripening.

Train to a single leader and stake, remove the apex of the stem above the first leaf after the second flower set, don't replant in the same spot for 3 years, plant cherry/currant tomatoes, never water overhead, don't fertilize heavily.

I also think planting them next to a wall is helpful, the heat seems to drive the ripening.

Some people try planting them under a clear canopy to prevent rain splashing on the soil and infecting the plant with late blight, but I never tried it since my hot, dry yard doesn't have a significant population of that pathogen.

For those of you who live in areas where you are "tomato challenged," let me suggest "Juliet" to your grow list for next year.

Down here in the southern Willamette Valley of western Oregon we are having a rough year for growing tomatoes. I was asking an extension agent about it and she said it was one of the worst summers in years for tomato growing. Many folks having troubles.

Anyway, Juliet is producing tomatoes for harvest every day. They are big grape tomatoes. Not what I would call delicious, but this year I am glad to get them. Sun Gold of course is excellent. Thank goodness I planted them, although they are not as productive as Juliet. The branches on Juliet are just covered with tomatoes.

The only other cherry I have grow as productive as Juliet is "Dr. Carolyn." A big yellow cherry that will eat lots of your garden space if given the opportunity and will go after eating your house next. Wildy productive plant and delicious too. It is not an early, but once it gets going, it won't stop until a hard frost kills it.

To get it you would probably have to be a Seed Savers Exchange member. It might be available at Tomato Growers supply in Florida or Sand Hill Preservation in Iowa.

Mary, still hoping for some big tomatoes to ripen

Thanks to everyone for the follow-up notes. My various cherry tomatoes are beginning to ripen...slowly.

Mary, I was gung ho on Juliet for a couple of years, then "discovered" Sun Gold. I have a couple of volunteer Juliets growing this year, but focus my attention on Sun Gold and Sun Sugar...the jury is out as to which of the last 2 I like the best. Another one I like is Tami G ... sort of an odd grape type that's very crunchy, not juicy, but a good sweet flavor. You didn't mention...what's the tomato problem down your way this year? A weather issue....or ??

Patrick

Just picked the first Brandywines and Purple Cherokees Sunday, the Black Krims weren't that productive but delicious and are over the peak along with Oregon Spring, which is really productive but blighty - the Brandywines are really healthy plants. Get the plants in early with rowcovers or Wall o' Waters so that when it does get hot they have mature enough fruit to take advantage of it.

Greetings,
Although I don't grow in the Puget Sound area, I'd like to add a contrarian thought to the many and varied "formuli" for growing tomatoes in the region. Some time ago, I started putting a few tomato plants in as early as I could, some a few weeks later, and even some as much as two months later (late June). All were plants started in a cold frame in Feb and repoted in mid April, when I set them in a semi-shaded area where they had to "reach" for sun. It has never failed that the early plantings either lagged behind the later ones, or as this year, fell victim to early blight with the late spring rains.

My best plantings have been in June, when I would dig a very deep whole for each of the now leggy tomato starts, and sink the stalk down deep so that only six inches or so was above ground. This year, I think I must be one of the few gardeners hereabouts that still has tomatoes growing, as all those early plantings are now gone, including my own. BTW, I've also learned that there is no practical reason to try to keep a sick plant alive - as soon as I see evidence of a disease or fungus, I yank the plant and replace it with another "leggy" start. That will work well as late as early Aug or so, since these replants will grow far faster than those earlier plantings.

I agree that heat is the key, and anything you can do to increase heat will speed growth and ripening - but I now will forgo the early plantings and all the problems our cool/wet springs bring.
John (in SW Oregon)

My tomatoes, which you may remember from the "Bad year for Tomatoes" thread are finally producing, been getting a few ripe Early Girls with many good size greenies on the plants that I hope an indian summer will ripen. Have also been picking lots of cherry tomatoes.

I just finished a good size greenhouse. I was putting the glazing on the south facing wall during the hot spell in early August. Every time I bent over to put in a screw or make an adjustment sweat would pour down my face and onto my glasses. Very hot. Next year I'll get some early starts in the greenhouse and plant them out along that south facing wall. I have always stuck to Early Girls because of the short season. Next year I will also try some other varieties. Will be intereting to see if it makes a difference.

jb

Hi John...thanks for the very interesting observations. I'm a big fan of planting deep...and I'm impressed by some of your other ideas.

JB.....congrats on the greenhouse...I'm envious! What size did you build? Isn't it funny how we always pick the hottest days to takle a project?!

Patrick

Yes it had to be the hottest days of the year. The greenhouse is 18x52. I had to get a permit for it. The permit expired on Aug 5th so I took the first week of Aug off to try and finish. I am close and they are cutting me some slack.

jb

Here is a link that might be useful: Greenhouse Pics

Hi Patrick,

Late blight down here for starters. For those who planted early, their tomatoes were decimated.

I did not plant early. I usually plant in mid-May and that's when I planted this year. But nothing took off the way it usually does. We had a lot of rain in May that did not go away in a hurry. It seemed to be cool through a little after July 4. While this is common, it was worse than usual. Then the heat kicked in and stayed that way. I don't know why the plants did not grow like crazy. Very strange. Not diseased at all, just did not grow well. People I know in this area are all saying the same thing. So I don't feel like such a tomato failure.

Talked with an extension service person at our county fair and she told me that people up and down the valley were having a miserable summer growing tomatoes. My bigger ones are not as big as usual and some are just starting to ripen.

Blossom drop is another part of the problem I think. With the sustained high 80s-low 90s weather we had for a while, the blossoms just dropped.

A greenhouse, even a mini plastic greenhouse is nice and very useful. I love mine and even bought another. Great way to ease your plants out into the weather or protect them in the cold. I keep mine against a south facing wall.

Mary

I live on Vashon Island and start my tomatoes in the greenhouse so that they can be planted out of gallon pots in the second half of May. I plant in an 18'x4' raised bed covered by a plastic tunnel. The tunnel is built with pvc pipe on a 2x4 frame that can be lifted and moved from one bed to another for purposes of plant rotation. I almost always have my first ripe tomatoes by the first of August. Usually a stupice. For main crop I plant Fantastic from Territorial seeds and for dehydrating both gold and red cherries. The tunnel prevents late blight which requires moist leaves. I water with two strips of irrigation tape. I generally stop watering about the first of September - to hasten ripening and prevent splitting on the cherries. My tomatoes last well into October. I feed myself, my family, neighbors and often the local food bank using this method. Winter vegetables do well under the tunnel once the tomatoes are cleared out.

I planted 40 seedlings of heirlooms under a shop light in late February - Brandywine Sudduth strain, Cherokee Purple, Box Car Willie, Marianna's Peace and several others. They were transplanted into 4" pots and then into the ground with Walls o' Water in mid-April and the first of May. We purchased a greenhouse Jaune Flamme plant from the local nursery and planted it mid-May, as well as 6 Earl's Faux plants from Laurel's Heirloom Tomatoes in So. CA. By mid-July, all WoWs had been removed, plants were all same size, and fruit was setting, even, in the case of the Jaune Flamme, being harvested. The season ended by mid-October, and production, health and flavor were terrific on all varieties mentioned, as well as Sun Golds and Snow Whites. Our raised and in-ground beds were packed, 9 plants where only 6 should have been. I'm wondering if that kept the soil warmer and facilitated the great production in a tough tomato year.

Hell-o Patrick. It is a tough one to sucessfully grow tomatoes here.And after years and years of trying I am happy to announce that I have suceeded.I start my seeds early January on heat mats.After the first true leaves,I fertilize lightly.I also have grow lux lights that I use,and I just keep pinching to form strength and and bush shape.In March I take out into my greenhouse and harden them off slowly,plant into 5 gallon buckets with composted steer manure a sterile soil alittle bonemeal and compost.I feed diluted fish emulsion every few weeks and continue to grow them in the greenhouse.And I can still pick through the fall.I grow all kinds,I do the same thing with my cucumbers. I climb my cukes so they don't take up much room.I expecially like the English long slicers.***Suzanne

Well Suzanne, where's the challenge in growing tomatoes in a greenhouse?...lol...I'm trying to get tasty tomatoes outdoors in a climate they find cooler than they'd like that also turns rainy too early some years. Truly, I'm grinning as I write this...I know the risks of email not conveying the spirit of humor that's intended. I too, love the English cukes & would love to have a greenhouse.

Patrick

I have always had success with tomatoes...until last year. I grow varieties that like our area and reduce watering once enough fruit is on the plant. Last year, my garden was too big and I wasn't able to water it properly at all and it was very dry here. My tomatoes had big brown spots on them. Is this the blight? Also, I had a lot of volunteer plants and they were very poor quality. I am going to be very disciplined this year and only grow a few that I look after well.

This is a reworked note (changes/adds)working off of an earlier 'incomplete' note based on Mary PNW and Jim's comments this afternoon--thanks to both of you, really!

Question: I up a tree when it comes to tomatoes (sweet peppers as well, but lets leave that for another time.) Ie, I don't have another 30 years of calender pages left to sort through varieties that have:

1) "reasonable" taste ..Brandywine is the taste marker for me),

2) are "determinatish" (however both houses I grow in have a line of vertically trained varieties), and

3) medium to short day (55-75.)

At the end of this note I've listed the varieties I trialed in 2005.

The cherry varieties do swell (I continue to prefer Sweet Chelsea/Sweet Million.)

Boa (I), Classica (D), and Peto/Italian Gold (D) have done the best for me to this point inside - all three look great but taste on the insipid side (for me.) The blacks (my first year with them), on the whole, seem to have had more acid/texture=better taste. Let's see how hey perform in 2006.

I trialed 30 or so varieties (see the list.) Most, not all, were quite forgettable when it came to taste. I'll probably repeat on no more than 15 or so.

I grow in two small green houses(8x20 poly covered/cool)and 10x16 glass/heated); and in an outdoors raised bed fenced garden. Outside I used base (24") covered cages and a boxed canopy 2x6x12 open at the bottom-sides for air circulation.
In the glass house I've used shade cloth mid-June to late August mainly because the container cuks wilt down way too much.

Outside my 3 yrs experience has been that the fruit doesn't color up until mid-to-late August, although the box canopy seems to have hastened coloring by 10-14. In the greenhouses the earliest varieties started to color in early July.

I grow all my seedlings/start in February..repot several times ending with gallon containers. I plant the tallish seedlings (20-24") by laying them down so that the first truss pokes/is 10-12 above ground level. Water, early on with warm water.

I hope this makes sense..and thinking/help/ideas will be much appreciated re varieties..culture.

P.S. At this point reality seems to be telling me that unless I can do a better job of capturing sun heat (air and soil temps) I'll just have to settle for a trip back to the farm in southern Illinois/bring back tomatoes (+sweet/hot peppers) that taste...now, as for garlic our Hood Canal location does fine!

Ted Buila
..on the Hood Canal near Seabeck/Silverdale Wa

2005 Tomato Variety Trials
8850 Anderson Hill Rd
Silverdale, Wa

Variety Type Color Source

Extreme Bush-50d det r Victory Seeds
Orange Pixi-52d det o Container Seeds
Sophie’s Choice-55d det r Southern Exposure
Glacier-56d det r Fedco
Red Robin-55d det r Container Seeds
Matina-58d ind r-p Tomato Growers
Zarnitsa-60d det r Southern Exposure
Viktorina-60d det r Southern Exposure
Grushovka-65d/roma? det p Tomato Growers
Dr.Carolyn-65d/cherry ind y-o Southern Exposure
Cosmonaut Volkov-65d det r Fedco
Black Cherry-64d/cherry ind dkr Tomatofest
Gregori's Alti-67d ind p-r Tomato Growers
G-ma Mary's Paste-68d det r Fedco
Cobra-70d/g-house var ind r Tomato Growers )
Bush Champion-70d det r Tomato Growers
Azoychka-70d ind y-o Tomato Growers
Elim-75d det r Tanager
Paul Robeson-75d ind dkr Tomatofest
Classica-76d/roma det r Tomato Growers
San Marzano Redorta-78d ind r Tomato Growers
Debaro Black-78d ind r Tanager
Kellogg's Breakfast-78d ind y-o Pinetree
Mountain Gold-80d det o-y Victory Seeds
Amish Gold-80d ind o-y Tomatofest
Farbio Goldheart-81d ind o Tomatofest
Black Plum-82d/cherry ind dkr Tanger
Moonglow-85d ind o-y Tomatofest
Orange King-85d det o Victory Seeds
Mariana's Peace-85d ind r Victory Seeds
1884 Pink Beefsteak-85d ind p Tanager
New Big Dwarf-90d det r Victory Seeds

I at the end of season used to wrap the unripe tomatoes in newspaper, but it was a pain to unwrap everyday so I just put them in a box in the kitchen, out of direct light. They ripened no problem at different stages. I had lots for me and to share.

Bless you.
Cheryl

Hi all...am a bit north of you, about 800? miles, so it's quite a bit cooler here, and I only try outdoors, no greenhouse. Have gone through a lot of varieties, found two known to local (Juneau) gardners and one other. All of these are VERY good in TASTE, or why else bother [Debararo Black grew well, but didn't taste good, as was predicted].

Drum roll for the present short list of winners: TUMBLER and BALCONI are quite tasty, though smallish, so-called cherry tomato. Local gardners knew or had just found out about these, 2-3 years ago. I grew a variety of short-season, cold-season varieties, from Canada and Russia, etc., even some "Alaskan" varieties, but the best so far was SILETZ, a U of Oregon relative to Oregon Spring? This was about 1.5" diameter, with a really GREAT taste, in between tart/sweet. The BALCONI [I had the yellow version] did nothing outdoors, but I took the plant inside about September and put it in a window and had fresh tomatoes in November!

I grow everything in hanging baskets, to avoid the slug problem--we only have the 1" size here, but lots of 'em. I tried building wooden boxes in the air, but they'd climb up the posts, so only hanging baskets really defeat 'em. Otherwise, you can be out every night with the spray bottle of ammonia water, hunting them down, but new ones move in when they notice the territory next door is no longer occupied!!

My particular site is low sunshine, because of shade trees I planted 30 years ago, and an adjoining building. Also, here, we almost never have nights over 60 degrees, which is what most tomatoes want, so that limits us--long season? Not! Not outside, anyway.

I often give away a number of my trial varieties. One of the good results INSIDE this last year was SWISS ALPINE, but as I am really looking for tomatoes that will grow OUTSIDE, that doesn't quite qualify. But one fellow just grew his one plant inside his 'arctic entry' --I had one of those, almost as tasty as SILETZ, though I think a thicker skin--and I had another report on SWISS ALPINE from someone who put it in a greenhouse, where it was said to be the most productive of all others there [I don't know what others], but again, I'm trying for an OUTSIDE grower that tastes great.

So I envy those of you with warmer temps. If you have any suggestions for this far north, outside, low light/shade, and WET [100 inches a year, some years], do let me know.