I am growing just a few yellow pear and cherries. They are putting on tons of little green ones right now. Don't ask me why, but I did fertilize with high phosphorus fert, and they are planted in among my tropical milkweed. Wonder if that helps with the pollination, etc.?

Susan

I don't know anyone who's tomatoes are doing very well. Everyone has the same story--great looking plants, no fruit. I think it may be because we had those really high temps the first time they were setting flowers. (wasn't it the end of May?) It was just too hot for fruit set. I have several green ones now, but they are slow to ripen.

Same story for my cucumbers. Didn't even get to make pickles this year. I'll try for fall cucumbers.

But my flowers and peppers all look great!

Robin

Susan, that's an interesting question. But, mine are interplanted with my flowers, so I should have a lot, too! :o(

Robin, I agree, that may very well be the reason for the huge plants with no fruit! I had 2 cucumber plants, but they completely disappeared. I mean, I watered them one night, then in the morning, they were gone! I'm thinking it was either a squirrel or gopher. >grrrrrI can usually get tomatoes well into October, so maybe I'll just have to wait a while longer.

.....sigh.....

HW

Gosh I hate to gloat..
We have a freezer full of tomatoes and more ready to pick and little ones coming on.

I started brandywine, buck's county hybrid, roma, and sweet 100 cherry tomato from seed this year.

One reason for the good luck is the root system. I kept potting them up and never let them get rootbound, and every time I planted them I took off all but the top couple of branches and planted them deep, burying the stems. When I finally got my garden ready, I stripped off the bottom leaves again and planted them deep.

Another factor: this is the first year in this garden spot so I don't have the disease and insects overwintering. That may be a huge factor, because my husband planted some of my plants in last year's garden spot. His plants got enormous, PLUS had good yields, but he has already had to pull them up because of spider mites. The brandywines got some sort of virus which was getting to them even before the spider mites started.

Possibly a third factor, someone already mentioned, is the presence of nearby plants that attract pollinators. As I said, this is the first year in this spot. Just adjacent to the tomato patch, I have a small 125 square foot plot planted with buckwheat and cowpeas for soil improvement. The buckwheat attracts all sorts of bees and other insects to the blossoms.

I forgot to mention that I grew mine from seed also. And when I planted them, I planted them up to the first set of leaves, deeper, like Barton did. Few plants can tolerate this kind of planting, but tomatoes are one of them.

Mine got planted a bit late, but they have little green tomatoes all over them - unless I get hornworms, in which case, I will be raising hornworms instead. Actually, my datura has attracted them more than the tomatoes. So, for those of you who detest the hornworms on your tomatoes, you might want to start growing daturas as an option for the hornworms to lay their eggs on them, because it seems they prefer them.

Susan

Susan, I don't have hornworms and don't know why. I sprayed twice with neem oil when my husband's tomato patch started getting the mites. I haven't used any BT or anything else.

I used to have a datura that came up volunteer when I lived in Yukon; I really liked it and saw the moths but not the hornworms.

Oops, I don't mean to hijack the thread.. maybe I'll start one on the hornworms and daturas later.

P.S. Would you send me some datura seed this fall? I have some things I could trade.

For the first time- I have lots and lots of tomatos. Green tomatos that is. I haven't harvested any, because nothing has matured yet. They were all started from seed, but weren't put into the ground until early-mid June? The beds have a good nine inches of store bought garden soil and I mulched with straw. The soil stays moist for a really long time. Of course, since it is moist, there is as much grass as vegetables.

So for now I am watching the grass grow taller.... Tap.... Tap.... Tap.... waiting for some red tomatos.

Well, I was able to get enough Green Zebras to put with my squash to fry for dinner tonight. I was also able to get about a 1/2 dozen romas. Compared to last year, though, it's pitiful! Peaches, on the other hand, are taking over my kitchen! I made some peach preserves today. I actually liked it, and I HATE peaches! LOL! Now I just have to keep the kids and DH out of it til tomorrow night! LOL!

HW

I have to say this is the worst year I have had with tomatoes only got 4 so far this year last year I was giving them away

I grow tomatoes from seed, too.

I have gobs of beautiful Better Boy tomatoes in the little kitchen garden (Potager). I've been canning and freezing several quarts every other day.

Just grew two Juliette tomato plants this year and they are finally producing. The X-Sweet 100 & Roma seedlings didn't make it for some reason, but I have eight Snow White tomato plants that now have fruit and soon will begin to ripen.

The Kahlman's Pink Hungarian paste tomatoes are FINALLY blooming, but the plants look rather spindly for the size of fruit they should produce - weird.

I have five Beefsteaks plants - only one is finally making "a tomato". They are usually my best producers with super-sized yummy tomatoes.

The Celebrity tomatoes are finally making fruit, but they are small - tastey, but small.

Just set out my Pink Brandywines. They are growing fast in this heat. Hope they will have time to produce fruit before frost.

I had planned to grow some Aunt Ruby's Green German's, but I got sick when it was time to start the, so I wasn't able to get the seeds going. I will grow them next year for sure.

The difference is in the two gardens where they are growing. Here's why I think the Better Boys are producing well while the other haven't yet:

1. Deeper, more fertile soil (lots of rabbit manure & leaf mold got dumped in there and dug into the soil in April)
2. I sunk bottomless containers into the garden soil and planted my tomatoes in them. Every day I fill the containers full of water two times.
3. Planting them closer together so they shade one another.

Who knows!!! I am pretty upset though. It's a lot of hard work to end up with little or no crops. Bummer!

It is the sad result of a year's worth of severe drought and abnormal weather conditions.

But what can we do about it? No use in complaining. Que cera, cera!

~ SweetAnnie4u

Barton, if and when my daturas start blooming, I'll be happy to save some seed. So far, it's just gonna be Black Currant Swirl and Stramonium. The yellows died out, darn it. It's been so dry, and I've been sick with a summer cold this last week and didn't get out to water like I should. I may have some more in a packet that I didn't get planted, too.

Susan

I feel like a piker with only 3 tomato plants: an Early Girl, Arkansas Traveler & Sweet 100. I've been getting the sweet 100s for several weeks now (altho granddaughters are eating them before I can get them in the house) but just a few of the others & now it looks like something has eaten most of the leaves at the top. Any clues? It has been so hot I figured things were slow because of that (got started a little late too) but now I'm afraid they will get even hotter with no shade from those bare stems.

I would guess Tomato Hornworm. They are really common around here. Have you seen any evidence?

HW

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Hornworm

Thanks, hedgwytch. I'll see if I recognize anything. It has been so hot I don't hang around any more than I have to. There are lots of spiders nearby. I was hoping they would eat all the bad guys.

We planted a few extra tomatoes so the hornworms would get their fair share:-). The moth is a pollinator that I want big numbers of here on the property.

I've probably picked 10 or so off my plants and moved them to the ones planted for them. I've even gotten tomatoes to eat from their plants:-).
{{gwi:1093437}}
randy

Hello, Friends. I've been checking in now and then during a busy summer. Annie, I owe you an apology for bailing after promising to help with a spring swap in Stillwater. My dad got sick and so a few things fell through the cracks.

Anyway - tomatoes. Due to some fluke, I actually have quite a few tomatoes this year - well, enough for me. I have about 12 plants - mostly Celebrity - and those are the ones that are producing continuously enough to provide about one a day for my sandwiches, etc., which is all I need them for. I also ended up with one Black Krim plant, though I thought I had planted more. I think I've harvested two tomatoes from that plant, but it has several that have stayed green for a good while. I bring them in as soon as they blush because I have many birds in my yard.

Also have Brandywines that I planted later. They have flowers but haven't started producing yet. I'm hoping for a fall crop on those. My Sweet 100s are in pots on my deck and are hanging in there, producing enough. The pots were an experiment because I ran out of space. I have to water them a lot - about every other day.

I should say that tomatoes are about all I've got in the way of veggies this year. My yard has lots of shade, so I carved out a place in the middle of my back lawn, using the lasagna method to kill the bermudagrass. So my guess is that I may have a microclimate that's kept my tomatoes from burning up. That and heavy mulch and maybe I was lucky with the timing. I tend to plant late. Also used fish emulsion on the transplants right after I put them out, so maybe that helped.

Deer sometimes browse my tomato plants near the top. They tend to get the ones at the edge of the garden.

This is our first season gardening here in Oklahoma. We put out Baker Family Heirloom (a main crop beefsteak/heirloom), Prudence Purple, Sunray VF, Polish Pastel (experimental yellow/orange paste), Mr. Brown's (heirloom beefsteak from PA) and one plant of Juliet. Juliet is producing real well. Baker Family Heirloom is producing very well. Sunray VF was doing okay but today it got decimated by some sort of black, elongated beetle which attacks in groups. Prudence Purple is doing pretty well. Polish Pastel hasn't produced much. But the plants look great and are covered in flowers. I'm hoping for a good fall crop. Mr. Brown's is a flop. The vine are over 10' tall and we've hardly harvested any. Won't grow this one again, at least not planted in the spring.

So far our overall production is much lower than it used to be in NJ, when we planted the same amount of plants. But I'm hoping to get a decent fall crop, if the late blight doesn't finish our plants off.

George
Tahlequah, OK

George, sounds like you had blister beetles. I don't really know of a good way to deal with them when they attack in droves like that. The choice is poison or hand picking and neither is appealing. For some reason we had a bunch last year and very few this year. The spider mites wiped us out though, in one garden but not the other.

The romas are about done and I will pull up the plant this weekend. The brandywines didn't last long. I have one tomato left on the brandywine and it seems silly to keep watering it for one tomato. The "Burpee Bucks County Hybrid" are still productive. This was my first year for them; I will plant them again next year.

I have been surprised how well my Prudence Purple are doing. This might be the very same as what is commonly grown as Pruden's Purple. I just go my seed from an old gent, back in 1984, who spelled it this way. Since he wasn't connected with the Seed Savers Exchange I decided to keep the spelling. Anyway, it's very similar if not the same. Has nice large tomatoes, is known to be like an early Brandywine, and has stood up well to the heat; amazing for such a large beefsteak.

In the coming year I will probably try Sioux or Porter's Pride, just to see if I can find a variety that sets fruit real well during high temperature days. I grew the old Porter (large cherry) back in 1987, in the South tip of Texas, and it was remarkable for handling the heat.

But in spite of the slow down, I have to say that Baker Family Heirloom, has proven itself. We're getting a very respectable crop still, and it's still flowering, just doesn't set fruit when it's over the mid 90's.

Hi, everyone! My pear tomatoes are producing tomatos nicely, but they aren't turning yellow. This is the first time I've ever tried these, so I don't know if they are supposed to turn yellow on the plant, or if you have to pick them and just let the sit out to turn yellow or what.

Any suggestions?

Susan

Hi-I'm in Oklahoma City. Set out 45 plants - mixture of beefmaster, big beef, super fantastic, early girl, and carnival. The early girl and carnival have done nothing - in fact lost several of the plants. Have 30 still going.

The beefmaster made the biggest and best tasting. Big Beef have done fairly well - though some of the plants are producing much smaller tomatoes than last year. Super Fantastic have been small.

I'm gettng about 2-4 pounds per day since mid-July. So it's better than nothing, but way way down from last year. (20 plants and 600 pounds) Probably mostly heat is responsible for lower yields - though they are in a different spot this year from last.

Also had more trouble with bugs (don't use pesticides). Have to pick them when they turn pink or the bugs come on and get busy.

No problem, OKPrairie.
Hope your father is doing well, now.
I got sick and ended up in the hospital myself, so I couldn't have done it anyway. Maybe next year. Huh?
My eldest son moved back from Utah and he is a gardener like mom, so maybe he would be interested in helping me set one up next year. I KNOW he would love the plant trading part of it! (hehehe). He just got a new home and is anxious to get gardens going.

My Kalman's Hungarian Pink paste tomatoes have finally kicked in and are making fruit. Not oodles and gobs, but some, anyway. Anxious to taste-test those. They are weird shaped little buggers. Kind of lumpy looking paste tomatoes. :)
They are all still green, but will post a picture when they ripen.
My Snow White grape tomatoes put out a handful of yummy fruit. Not the bucketsfull like last year. My Beefsteaks made a couple of big tomatoes (my favorites) so far. It doesn't look good for them, unless they come back and make this Fall.
The Better Boy's are still making nice big DELICIOUS fruit. The Brandywines are really starting to grow and look very healthy, so am hopeful for a Fall crop, but do not expect bounties of anything this year.
~ Annie

My dad's doing much better. Thanks, Annie. Hope you are doing better as well.

This morning I brought in another handful of Celebrity tomatoes and was thinking about how dependable this variety has always been in my limited experience. I like trying the heirlooms but always put in some Celebrity as backup, and I can't think of when they have ever failed me - even in this crazy year. I do like the flavor of what's come off the one Black Krim that made it. And it's still producing, too.

Did you get any rain last night? I didn't get nearly enough.

susanlynne48 --I love yellow pear tomatoes and try to grow them every year. I've learned that if you leave them on the vine to turn completely yellow they will get tough, especially in this heat. Pick them when they start turning yellow and let them turn yellow later inside. I am saving all mine and freezing them. This winter I plan on making yellow pear preserves. I've never tried it from frozen tomatoes, but I have so many now that I can't keep up with them. So this winter when it's cold, I plan on making salsa and maybe some stewed tomatoes and okra.(out of the red tomatoes) I am still getting plenty of porters, jetstars and a few beefsteaks. Also getting lemon boys which I really love.I think next year I will go with more jetstars and lemon boys.

OkPrairie,

I got some rain. Couldn't have been much, but rain is like magic - one drop of it is better than a gallon of water out of the faucet! However, by this afternoon, everything had dried up and was wilted and the air was very hot and muggy. Ugh! I had to water at dusk. What a pain.

This afternoon, it rained hard all around this area. I could smell the rain and feel the air cool down a bit, but the storms stayed about 6 miles from here in every direction and I didn't get one drop. So close and yet so far. :(

I know what you mean, Annie. I was about to throw something at the TV Monday night watching Gary England cover the OKC rainstorm block by block while the storm inched toward us. Counties all around us were getting rain, but not us. By the time I was going to bed it had dissipated to nearly nothing. I did get more rain at my house last night, though, and the clouds outside when I came to work looked like they might bless us.

And I picked my first Brandywine this morning. Needs a little more ripening, but I'm anxious to taste it.

River22 do you grow the old (red large cherry) Porter or the larger (pink) Porter's Pride? I'd love to hear your impressions of either.

George
Tahlequah, OK

macmex --I grow the pinkish ones. They are for my husband, he loves them!! I prefer a redder tomatoe. I don't think these porters have much of a "bite" to them. They do have a lovely deep pink though. They're getting harder to find at nurseries around here but we've been lucky the past couple of years. I bought 8 porter plants and half of them have tomatoes with a sharp point on the end and the other half are smaller and egg shaped.

WHY don't I have any tomatoes?
Have cherry, beefsteak and better boy. Past 3 years had tons of tomatoes.

I water them.
They are planted in 6 inches deep of beautiful compost.
They have no hornworms or other bugs.
Have sun- and afternoon shade.
They are surround by flowers- lots of pollinators.

They are tall lush and green but no flowers. Had a few tomatoes earlier in summer- but nothing for over a month.

Any suggestions? ideas as to what the problem might be?

Just a theory; if you have no flowers at all, it might because your plants have too much nitrogen. I buried a cottontail (garden raider) under a hill of pole beans this spring. My beans look great, but have no flowers at all! I'm hoping they will flower soon!

George
Tahlequah, OK

Hey dyanna and george:

Regarding the beautiful plants with no 'maters.

I use a recipe in each hole when I plant the tomatoes:
1 cup bone meal
1 Tablespoon blood meal
1 Tablespoon epsom salt
and 1/2 cup wood ash or green sand.

This recipe has helped me grow great tomatoes every year ... except this year. I still am getting more than anyone else I know, but yields are way down.

I'm blaming the heat at night for the lack of tomatoes. Those planted early still produced well for me. Those that were planted for fall harvesting (in late June) have had nothing but leaves. Noticed this morning that they are finally setting blossoms. Hope springs eternal!

Thanks LadyTom for your recipe.

I put leaf mold, wood ash, and composted manure and a dab of bone meal into my tomato holes this year. That should have produced gobs of big tomatoes.

I agree that the night temps are likely the culprit for the tomatoes not setting fruit. It has been a bit cooler at night lately and the Kalman's Hungarian Pink Paste tomato plants finally started making some fruit, but not many. I am getting a 2nd batch from my Better Boys, though. Yippee!

We got some good amounts of rain here on Turkey Ridge this past weekend and with the cooler temperatures, my herbs and flowers just burst into bushy new growth and lots of flowers! Incredible! Hope the tomatoes I have left will do the same.

Thanks for the recipe. I will certainly try it.

~ SweetAnnie4u