SHOP PRODUCTS
Houzz Logo Print
okiedawn1

First Harvest From In-Ground Tomato Plants

Okiedawn OK Zone 7
12 years ago

The first in-ground tomato plants to produce in our garden this year are SunGold and Mountain Magic. Yummy!

These plants went into the ground in early April.

The container plants continue to produce well, with large yields from Big Beefsteak, Big Boy, Better Boy and Husky Red Cherry, but it is nice to see some of the in-ground plants starting to produce ripe fruit as well.

Is anyone else getting ripe tomatoes yet?

Dawn

Comments (32)

  • miraje
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    No, my Sweet 100s are still a ways off from producing. I have two tomatoes on one plant that are about dime-size and several others that are smaller than peas. I'm hoping they'll take off here in a week or two with some warmer weather.

    Heather

  • mksmth zone 7a Tulsa Oklahoma
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    i have one on an early harvest that is turning pink. too bad bacon is getting so expensive:(

    not tomato but i have some squash that isnt to far off from picking.

  • Related Discussions

    Harvested The First Tomatoes Today

    Q

    Comments (22)
    Julie, The term "the blue stuff" refers to water soluable fertilizer that you buy in a powdered form, dissolve in water, and use to water your plants. There are many brands available....two common ones are Miracle Grow and Peter's. For tomatoes, Miracle Grow has a special Tomato Formula. Ladybug is an organic line of garden amendments and fertilizers based in the hill country of Texas, so Ladybug fertilizer is slower release than a water-soluable fertilizer as described above. Ladybug also has very cute packaging. We aren't going to harass you for growing in Topsy-Turvys, and I consider anyone who is growing anything at all to be a true grower too, whether they're growing in the ground, in containers of any kind, hydroponically, under a light indoors, etc. Because you have to water a Topsy Turvy often, if I were you, I'd likely use one form or another of water soluable fertilizer every day or every other day, but would dilute it to 1/4 the recommended strength since I was using it so often. The reason is that, in climates like ours where you have to water so often, the constant watering leaches nutrients out of the growing medium and you have to provide extra nutrition to make up for all the leaching. In general, I prefer organic slow-release fertilizers, but often they release too slowly to be your plants' only source of nutrition in containers that are watered daily. So, if it were me, I'd likely alternate between 2 or 3 or 4 fertilizers. I'd probably alternate between a Miracle Grow Tomato Food type product and a liquid seaweed, liquid fish emulsion or compost tea type product. Good luck with your Topsy Turvy tomatoes. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Lady Bug
    ...See More

    Will tomato plants regrow after being cut to the ground?

    Q

    Comments (10)
    I haven't read much encouragement on this site about fall planting of tomatoes bigger than cherries. I find that very surprising as many of the regulars here plant fall crops every year and discuss it often. We may not be in AZ true, so planting times and varieties used may be quite different, but many different varieties should serve you well there. Cherry varieties sure wouldn't be the first choice of many of us at any time of the year. ;) One often discussed approach to fall tomato growing is using clones (rooted cuttings) from existing plants rather than starting new ones from seeds or cutting to ground. Easier and gets you much faster results. Dave
    ...See More

    My very first tomato harvest

    Q

    Comments (3)
    Congrats on the harvest. I am a newbie so I can't give tomato advice but I can help with posting pics. This board uses HTML. If you check out my link it has great instructions. It shows how to post pictures and how to change fonts etc. I found it on Gaeden web and it helps a lot. Karen Here is a link that might be useful: http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/neweng/2007014019017474.html
    ...See More

    Harvest and size from tomatoes grown in soil bags...?

    Q

    Comments (4)
    It has been a number of years since I tried this but per my garden notes it wasn't all that great an experiment. I guess my first question would be why? Well actually the first question would be where are you as that would make a world of difference in how well it works. Northern, cooler climates - maybe. Southern, hotter climates - not much. So why? Why not big containers? Why not bigger bags? Why are you doing this? "Should I expect a smaller harvest and smaller fruit on the soil-bag grown tomatoes compared to what someone would get if they a) had good soil and b) had garden space to plant them in-ground?" Definitely yes. That difference in production is a given and so is at least a portion of the smaller fruit size. Stressed plants produce less and smaller fruits. Dave
    ...See More
  • boomer_sooner
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have my first tomato in breaker stage. Its from the Jelly Bean variety. I'll probably pick it in a day or two.

    So far all but one variety have green tomatoes. The dinner plate is lagging behind but has several blooms. Of the 39 plants I last counted over 175 green tomatoes. Looks to be a good year.

  • OkiePokie
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    On my in-ground plants I have one tom on my sungold. You are all taunting me =P I have one container plant that has 20 tomatoes in various stages of growth and I am hoping that a few of them hit breaker stage soon. I had to make a blt yesterday with home-baked bread fresh from the oven, lettuce from my garden, Fresh made mayo, bacon from a pig that a friend raised and store bought toms... I could not hold off any longer. =)

  • soonergrandmom
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I might be able to raise a pig faster than a ripe tomato this year.

  • miraje
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I wish strawberries had a "breaker stage." The second there's even a hint of red on mine, the ants and slugs are munching on them. It's quite frustrating when it happens to the best-looking berries.

  • slowpoke_gardener
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Carol, that was funny, maybe you and mark should go into business together.

    I have a couple large enough to fry but it will be a long time before I eat a ripe home grown tomato.

    Larry

  • joellenh
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    WOW!

    Most of mine also went into the ground in early april...some of mine have small tomatoes but most are a ways away from ripe fruit of any kind.

    I'm betting on my Juan Flammees being the first tomatoes again this year: so far they are the biggest.

    Jo

  • joellenh
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Carol, hahahah!

    miraje I am having a fantastic strawberry year...I wonder what I am doing right with them (I usually have quite the black thumb with many plants). We have tons and tons of ants in our yard and sometimes in our house...I wonder if the cardboard and straw mulch in the paths are keeping them out of my berries.

    The only critter I have found in my berries is pillbugs...those things seem to adore my cardboard. I found one berry with six or seven pill bugs in it. Yuck. I gave that one to Dody.

    Jo

  • dodemeister
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    and i ate it too - yum!!

    i counted all the tomatoes on my plants the other day, and i have 31 tomatoes. some in pots, most in the ground. i got a patio tom the other day, and promptly scarfed it down before the hubs got home. that was in a pot tho....i'm thinking the "early girl" is gonna be the one for the first tomato out of the ground.

    dody :)

  • boomer_sooner
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Birds eat most of my strawberries. :(

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Tomorrow I'll be picking the first regular (as in not bite-sized) tomato from a in-ground plant. It is a Cluster Goliath and the most mature tomato on it is a bit past the breaker stage, probably about at the turning stage. I thought Jaune Flammee' would beat it, but it didn't.

    For pill bugs or sow bugs (or slugs or snails) just sprinkle organic Slug-Go or Escar-Go! around the plants. It keeps them out of my berries. For birds, put bird netting over the berries. The problem with raising strawberries is that every living creature likes to eat them and you have to fight for every one.

  • joellenh
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Today I made 8 12oz jars of freezer jam from the EXTRA berries my kids aren't eating. I picked four quarts today, in addition to the ones we ate fresh. I have no idea why they are doing so well, but I am LOVING it.

    The biggest and sweetest ones are from a bare root grab bag I got from Henry Fields last year...IIRC they were around $4 for 25 plants (but I used a coupon so they were free + shipping). I pinched the blooms on one bed last year, and that is my most productive bed. Bed #2 I didn't pinch and it is doing okay. Bed #3 is on year four and the berries are very tiny. That bed will get yanked and re-planted this fall.

    Do root knot nematodes not affect strawberries? I might have to scrap my whole garden and just become a berry farmer.

    PS fake rubber snakes from the dollar tree seem to help with the birds. You have to move them around every day or two or the birds wise up.

    Jo

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Jo,

    This is going to sound so silly you'll likely think I'm making it up, but I am not.

    You likely have southern root knot nematodes in your soil and southern root knot nematodes do not bother strawberries. It is northern root knot nematodes that damage strawberries.

    Dawn

  • greenacreslady
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I picked one Sun Sugar last week and gave it to our neighbor who tilled the garden for me. There are green tomatoes on the Sun Sugar, Sweet 100, Mountain Magic, and Green Zebra, and blooms on most of the others. Finally got all the rest of the tomatoes and peppers in Sunday (from the Spring Fling). Tonight I planted 2 cantaloupe seedlings (Hales Best), 3 eggplants, basil, cilantro, and planted the seeds for cucumber, squash, zucchini, watermelon, okra, beans, lima beans, and beets (too late for beets???). It feels SO GOOD to finally have a real honest-to-goodness garden again!

    Jo, how large a space are your strawberries growing in? I'd love to add strawberries and asparagus later, and will need to add on to what I already have in order to do that.

    Suzie

  • miraje
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Dawn, where do you get the stuff with the Spinosad in it? I went to Lowes and all they had was the iron phosphate by itself in pellets. I think that's helping with the slugs, but the ants seem to be picking up where they left off.

    I'm having my best strawberry year as far as the number and size of berries goes, but the bugs are getting about half of them before I can pick them.

  • sheri_nwok
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    No tomatoes yet, but I have blooms on the brandyboy, Cherokee purple, lemonboy, earlygirl, caspian pink, German queen that I bought and placed the ground around the last week of April.

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Suzie, It sounds like you're getting close to having all kinds of tomatoes to eat.

    Beets are cool-season so you did plant them at an unusual time. Normally beets are planted 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost, and they germinate slowly in cool soil so it takes them about a month to germinate if the soil is cold. You generally want to time your beet plantings so that your beets mature before the average daily high is exceeding 80 degrees on a regular basis. Normally, with most beet varieties, if the beets mature in hot weather, they will be fibrous, sometimes off-color and just not as high-quality as cool season beets. Still, you never know. I haven't tried harvesting beets in the summer....they might be worth eating. If not, you can plant in the fall for a winter harvest. To plant in the fall, wait until daytime high temps are staying at 80 or below. At my house, that normally means early October, but sometimes late September.

    Heather, I get Slug-Go Plus at nurseries down in the D-FW area. Calloway's Nursery (a chain of nurseries in Texas) carries it and so does Mike's Garden Center (also a local chain, but a smaller chain than Calloway's). D-FW is closer to me than OKC, so that's where I shop. I don't know where you'd find it in the OKC area. Sometimes I have mail ordered it from Worm's Way, which I've linked below. Lots of places carry Slug-Go or an equivalent iron phosphate product, but not as many carry Slug-Go Plus, so you have to look harder to find it. I had to order it online for a couple of years until the stores in the D-FW metroplex started carrying it.

    Sheri, Hooray for the blooms. I think it is pretty good to already have blooms in zone 6.

    Dawn

    Here is a link that might be useful: Worm's Way

  • joellenh
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    So far the pill bugs aren't bothering me enough to spring for the Sluggo Plus, as they have only eaten just a few berries. But it's good to know I have that option if it ever gets worse.

    I did find a berry half-eaten by ants last night, but that was the first one I recall. Maybe my secret is just growing so many that the bugs get a few and I don't even notice, LOL.

    Suzie, I have one round 6' diameter bed that has three tiers, one bed that's about 2'x12', and one that's about 4'x6'. The round tiered bed is the one I pinched blooms on last fall when I planted them, and that is the one that is by far the most productive. FWIW I recall going heavy on the peat moss when I filled that bed because I had a ton of peat left over and very little compost and vermiculite. I think I did about 1/2 peat moss.

    Jo

  • biradarcm
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Dawn, you have something magical when it comes to tomato harvest. I harvest only 3 sungold so far, rest are till green. Most of the plants have green tomatoes and blooms. -Chandra

  • theflyingace
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    hooray for all of you with lovely harvests!

    my balcony lettuce has been doing wonderfully! i've harvested lettuce three times (two nice side salads, and 4 huge meal-type salads), and i just cut the tops off of my cilantro plants (pico de gallo!!!). my peppers are beginning to flower, and my tumbling tom is about 7 inches high (he was smaller when i received him from the swap), and is getting more sun than my royal hillbilly (the tom is in the 60" balcony planter). the royal hillbilly is probably 1 1/2 ft. tall and is growing slowly but steadily. i've already been battling aphids this year (which i promptly annihilated with ladybugs and my own fingers), but i'm hoping i'll have some tomatoes for the fall. we'll see!

  • greenacreslady
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Jo, thanks for that info on the strawberries! Strawberries are at the top of the priority list for additions to the garden ... hopefully this fall.

    Dawn, I had a feeling I might be late on the beets. I've never planted them before, but Larry loves them so I wanted to give them a try. I only planted a small row of them though, so I'll just consider it an experiment :). There are plenty of seeds left to try again this fall. Those beet seeds are the strangest-looking seeds I've ever seen.

    Suzie

  • piscesfish
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    All of my tomato plants are coming along great. My Jellybean hybrid has scads of unopened blossoms on it. One of my Amish Red Brandywine has HUGE unopened blossoms. Even my Black Cherry has blossoms. The one that I thought would be the first to produce was the Freckled Child that I got at the swap. It had 5 unopened blossoms, but since the time I first counted, two of those blossoms fell off unopened. I'm disappointed and hope that it's not something wrong with the plant, which in all other respects is healthy. I think it has probably something to do with this crazy, cold-hot-cold-hot weather. But, should I do something else for the plant? I added the recommended dose of Tomato Tone to the soil when I planted and then fed with TT at the proper interval. If it were blossom end rot, I would add calcium, but it's just blossom drop. Should I add calcium or not? I have a bag of pulverized, cleaned egg shells that I thought about adding around the plant. Should I?

    Also, since my crazy dog killed two of my beautiful tomato plants, I bit the bullet and went to Wal-Mart and bought some replacements. They're not as interesting as the ones he destroyed, but they are heirlooms (I bought a 4-pack of Homesteads). And now, my tomato count is up to 20 plants!!!!! My husband blames all of my GardenWeb friends for causing me to become a "crazy tomato lady."

    Kelly

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Suzie,

    I think you'll still get beets. I just don't know what their flavor and texture will be like. In this crazy, mixed-up-weather-year, I don't even know that beets which were planted on time would have produced fine. After all some of us had temperatures in the 90s and 100s in March and April and in the 30s and 40s in May. Who knows what that sort of weirdness does to any cool-season plant?

    My sugar snap peas were planted exactly on time and have struggled in the erratic weather. They are producing, but they are very heat-stressed and drought-stressed and are not likely to give as good of a harvest as they did last year. However, the onion harvest will be better and the lettuce harvest has been great, but the heat is making the lettuce bolt even earlier than usual. We raised enough lettuce for about 300 servings of "salad", and what we couldn't use ourselves, we fed to our chickens who devoured it gleefully. I guess over the years, it all evens out, but for once I'd like to have all the crops produce well in the same year....but they never do.

    Kelly, Normally blossom drop is a function of the air temperatures being too low or too high. As soon as the weather normalizes (yes, go ahead and laugh at that thought if you wish), the blossom drop should stop. Usually blossom drop is more of an April or early May problem while nights are a touch too cool. It then returns a couple of months later when high temps start getting too high. Since we have had unseasonably cool nights for the last week or so, it isn't surprising you are seeing some blossom drop. I'd leave the plant alone and let it grow and flower normally with no attempted intervention. It will flower and set fruit when the conditions are right for it.

    With Blossom End Rot, it is a complex issue not as strongly related to calcium deficiency as once believed. It is more of an issue with the vascular system of the plant and how it utilizes the calcium it has. Uneven watering is much more a direct cause of BER than a lack of calcium in the soil, so strive to maintain evenly moist soil as opposed to cycling from wet soil to dry soil back to wet soil again.

    I'd throw the eggshells on the compost pile where they'll break down and improve the compost. They often get credit for 'fixing' a BER problem, but they don't break down into a usable form of calcium very quickly so they aren't really the solution people think they are. Once a tomato plant grows and its vascular system is more mature, BER often stops as long as the plant is getting even moisture, and then folks are convinced the eggshells were the reason the BER stopped.

    I was normal when Tim and I got married almost 30 years ago. By 2003, I had 400 tomato plants in the ground and a husband who wondered what had happened to his seemingly normal wife. He's still wondering, by the way, and I can't grow that many tomato plants any more because the deer eat them nowadays if I plant them outside the fenced garden.

    My current dogs don't eat tomato plants, but they'll play ball with green tomatoes. That is our own fault. We always have those lime green tennis balls for "play time", and if you leave the garden gate open, they dogs are likely to go inside and find a nice green tomato ball to bring you to throw for them. I can understand why a dog wouldn't be able to look at green tomatoes and understand that they are not tennis balls. My garden is dog-proof as long as I remember to close the gate securely. Sometimes a dog drops an old tennis ball near the garden gate and looks at me pleadingly. I think it is trying to trade in an old, faded, used-up, flat, nearly fuzz-less tennis ball for a fresh, green tomato.

    Dawn

  • joellenh
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I was wrong about Juan Flammee. Sungold won this year.

    {{gwi:1103472}}
    Jo

  • shankins123
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have picked two little Sun Sugar tomatoes so far - that's in addition to the amazing amount of salad that I've gotten from my garden this year. I have a few other tomatoes set and growing...I need to mulch those plants and soon.

    My onions are all fallen over and will probably be pulled up soon...and the potatoes are beginning to fall, too...have to check those out to see how we're doing :~)

    Sharon

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Jo,

    Hooray for the first tomatoes!

    Sungold ought to be first by DTM, but since DTMs are just estimates, that doesn't hold true.

    Sharon, My onions and potatoes are falling over too. I'm not sure if they're really finished or if they are just sick of the heat. I'm about at the point where I hope they are done, so I can use their space for something else anyway, even though I dread digging potatoes in this heat.

    The other day I went to 'rob' some tiny new potatoes to put in a batch of green beans and I didn't find but two tiny ones. All the others were at least tennis ball sized. So, my red potatoes, at least, appear to be done.

    Dawn

  • Julie717
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My Cherokee Purple, Sioux, Porter and Sweet 100 have a few green tomatoes. Eva Purple Ball and Carbon I'm still waiting on, but they're so leafy it's kind of hard to tell.

  • telow
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have 23 tomatoes on my cabinet right now and I sent 10 large Big Beef tomatoes with my son to Grand Lake with fresh lettuce and green onions and a couple of bell peppers for bragging rights. I planted my tomatoes the 1st. wk. in April and every frost that occurred up until May, missed me. I don't expect anyone to remember what I wrote in the last of March but I mentioned that my tomatoes were getting huge and I had to build special flats to carry them in so they wouldn't fall out. Plus the wind was beating them to death. So I took my chances and planted them. I've been getting tomatoes for a couple of weeks now. The potatoe leafed plants are doing the worst for me...like...Prudence Purple, Brandywine and Bloody Butcher. The most amazing plant in my garden this year has to be Cluster Goliath. We've already eaten 7 or 8 tom. off this one plant and I lost count and got confused at around 40 that are set plus it's loaded with blooms.The other plants that are performing well are Big Beef, Super Sioux, Early Girl and Better Boy. I would love to show you pictures but I don't know how to down load them. If someone would be kind enough to explain it to me in language a 6 year old could understand I will be happy to put up some pics. I've also had bell peppers over 7 in. long which are now canned up in chow-chow. I live southeast of Guthrie and would be happy to meet someone in Guthrie and show them my pictures or have them explain to me how to download them to Ok. gardening.

  • soonergrandmom
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Telow - You could have sent me a care package to Grand Lake because it will be a long time before I see a ripe tomato. My largest is on a Cluster Goliath plant and is about the size of a quarter. Cluster Goliath is an amazing plant, and last year I posted a picture of one of mine that we had counted 42 tomatoes on all at the same time. They aren't big tomatoes, but it sure pumps them out. Because of the fruit, someone on line said it was a cherry, and another said it produced like that because I had pruned it to one stem. Neither of those was true but I'm not sure they ever believed me.

    The first thing you need to do with you pictures is to find a host site, like Photobucket or Flickr and load the pictures that you want to share to that host sight. I use Flickr, but any of them will do. Once you get your pictures copied to the host site, we can talk about posting them.

    Here is a link that might be useful: 2010 Cluster Goliath

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Telow,

    I'm glad to hear you're getting such a great harvest. We are in the midst of a tomato explosion here too. I've been giving them away right and left trying to put off the start of the canning season, but it is about time to drag out the canner and get busy.

    This is my first year to grow Cluster Goliath and it really is a workhorse of a tomato. I'm having a hard time keeping up with the picking of those because I planted 6 or 8 of them.

    It is odd that the potato leaved plants aren't producing well. Maybe they are just late. I love the PL plants because they resist disease a lot more, so often they are still going strong after the regular leaf plants are having foliar disease pop up on the leaves. Now that you mention it, I haven't had many ripe tomatoes off my PL plants yet, but they've set good loads of fruit.

    Carol, I've been sending tomato 'CARE Packages' to work with Tim and Chris, which resulted in a fairly funny little incident. Tim gave his boss a bag of onions and tomatoes. I assume his boss then took a photo with his cell phone and sent it to his wife at work with no accompanying explanation. She assumed it was a photo of onions and tomatoes that he had picked from their garden (a 4' x 4' square bed planted rather intensively) and posted the photo on her Facebook page. Then she found out from her DH that the veggies weren't from their garden after all. We got a good laugh out of that. Apparently, from what Tim said, his boss's tomatoes are about the size of grapes so he'll be waiting a while for them to size up and ripen.

    Chris told me a couple of days ago that one of his co-workers lost his entire garden to baseball-sized hail in the D-FW area a few weeks ago, so I'm going to make a special effort to send him CARE packages weekly because I know how disappointed I would be if I'd lost my entire garden to hail that size....and, of course, they are having to deal with the damaged house, landscaping, vehicles, etc., so I am pretty sure they didn't even try to replant the garden. I'm glad I planted the extra hybrids this year so I'd have tomatoes to give away because a lot of our friends have 'tomato trouble' this year.

    Dawn

  • telow
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    THANK YOU Carol, I appreciate the info and will do it as soon as my daughter gets over here and shows me how to download Flickr. LOL. I love the pictures you guys download and wish you would do it more often. KUDOS to Dawn for the care package to D-FW and I would like to see a picture (s) o
    f her garden or anyone else for that matter. The photo of cluster goliath looked very familiar and I love their flavor. I would have liked to make it to the spring fling to meet you all but my wife was seriously ill and had to have colon surgery of which she is now recovering from. Maybe next time. Im off to water