I grew a Juliet three years ago (one of those years when I couldn't start seeds and was limited to buying seedlings). Except for half a dozen tomatoes which were either eaten by hornworms or knocked off the stem by my clumsiness, every single blossom became a perfect tomato. What I'd call a foolproof variety. And no blossom end rot whatsoever.

So I think something else may be going on with your plant. (What size pot are you using?)

No, Juliet isn't the best-tasting tomato, but they dry well. I have been happy cooking with them: both the fresh toms and the dried ones.

This post was edited by missingtheobvious on Tue, May 27, 14 at 20:01

My pot is very wide across but not so deep. We have been in the high 90's up til today. I water every morning. I also have the pot mulched with redwood bark, like all my potted plants. Soil mix is part Kellogg's potting mix, some compost, and small ground up wood chips from a Bradley pear we removed.
I have used MiracleGro and a veggie fertilizer. Growth has been spectacular with tons of green tomatoes.

If you can calculate the volume of soil in your pot in cubic inches, dividing that number by 368.8 will give you the volume of soil in gallons. [There are 368.8 cubic inches in a gallon.]

I am growing a Juliet, small plum shaped cherry tomato. She is growing really well, full of small tomatoes, but I am having to pull SO many off due to blossom end rot, I may never see a ripe one.
I grew it one season... that was it. Large production of thick-skinned berries. Rather worthless in taste dept but were blemish-free. BER will probably go away with a bit of time, but the insipid taste will not.

Reggie

>> There are 368.8 cubic inches in a gallon.

231 in a liquid gallon, 268.8 in a dry gallon (obs.), and what is that all about?

agree wit cwie on the conversion

on BER: To my experience, it is an early season problem and should correct itself later. HOPEFULLY !

Oops. Apologies for the typo. That should be 268.8 cu. inches per gallon.

Garden containers are measured in dry gallons rather than liquid gallons.

not sure about all the advanced math...but I know I have found a 15 gallon nursery pot is a nice size (or larger) for indeterminates. Some do well with bush types in a five gallon work bucket. Providing a well-drained mix is critical. Much info on container growing threads. Place is area with max sun.

BER can be much more difficult to control/prevent in containers so yes, it is far more common in containers.

And containers that are too small or filled with less than ideal mixes as yours is or that require daily watering only compound the problems by compounding the inconsistent soil moisture issues that is its primary cause.

Personally, even given ideal growing conditions I'd "send Juliet far away" :) but with the growing conditions you describe it will be difficult, not impossible, but difficult to eliminate the BER issues.

Determine the size of your pot first, then strip off all the already symptomatic fruit, then reduce the watering to at no more than every other day and even then water only when your finger stuck deep into the soil comes up dry, and cut the MG to no more than 1/2 strength weekly for the next couple of weeks and see if that helps.

Good luck.

Dave

Juliet F1 was bred by the Known-You Seed Co in Taiwan and they also bred the variety Santa, which was the first true shaped grape tomato made available to the public by Andrew Chu in FL.

Juliet F1 is not considered a grape variety by most folks.

What most folks don't know is Juliet F1 available now was an improvement, ahem, of the original Juliet F1, whatever that means, but those who had grown the original said they didn't like the improved one at all.

I grew it once, and that was enough for me.

Literally many thousands of other varieties to chose from that taste better, etc. IMO.

Carolyn

I grew Juliet last year, and was very disappointed until I decided to oven roast them with olive oil, garlic and oregano. It was delicious to eat! But I would not grow it again, and didn't this year. I had some BER with it as I do most of my growing in containers.

Hi Kathy,

I'm wondering if you might be able to figure out some way to set up a capillary wicking system at this late stage. I've done that a few times when it turned out the pot/plant combo was getting dry too fast. Each set up is different but since you say your experienced, I'm sure you could do it.

A science experiment !

This post was edited by plaidbird on Wed, May 28, 14 at 21:46

Thanks for all the responses! I measured the pot and looking at it now, it is probably not large (deep) enough. It is almost 20 inches across, but--eek, only 10 inches deep. It looked so big when I put the tiny plant in it.

I am thinking Juliet is like carpet/landscape roses or Stella D'oro daylily--bought only by those that don't know any better! I really don't think it is drying out too much as I am making sure it gets enough water. One day I didn't water it enough and the leaves curled. I have been really careful since then.
Is my potting mix really not so good? Compost I made, a few shovelsful mixed with Kellogg's potting soil and some wood chips. I read an article that seemed to indicate plants did better with wood chips mixed into the soil. I read it on GW somewhere.
Nevertheless, I will not sweat it if Juliet doesn't perform. I will be much more upset if the others don't--Black Prince, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, Sungold, and a yet to be identified self-sowed cherry from last year.

And if I get any J's, I will roast them in olive oil!

It is almost 20 inches across, but--eek, only 10 inches deep.
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Your pot definitely has good volume. (about 12 gallons) IF it is filled almost to the brim, should be fine for any single tomato plant. Tomatoes will grow lots of fine lateral roots, if they have no place to grow tap root.
edit
CONTAINER SIZE:
(10)*(10)*(3.14) *10 = 3140 cu-inch >> : 3140/268 = 11.72 Dry Gallons.

This post was edited by seysonn on Thu, May 29, 14 at 3:25

Wood chips, no matter how small, added to a soil mix will tie up the nitrogen that would otherwise nourish your plant.

Of course being a tomato plant your Juliet needs more phosphorous and potassium (for flowering and rooting) than nitrogen (for leaf growth).

The container is too small, should be 10 gal. at least for production, but the biggest setback is the mix.

Get rid of the mgrow and add some OMRI listed fish fertilizer to your soil mix and you can begin to address the problem. And do you have a container under the pot? Its best to water less while the plant is young, letting the soil dry out a bit between waterings and making sure to water evenly but not so that it remains soggy.

I have some customers that adore Juliet tom toms. Good luck!

For anyone still looking at this post, her is the infamous Juliet. She looks so healthy, is about 3 1/2 feet tall.

She does look amazing--thanks for posting the pic so we can stop speculating.

Lots of green growth. If it were mine I would do some pruning just to redirect some of its energy to ripening fruit. Or just wait it out--I've seen alot of BER and blossom drop in other tomatoes in the beginning of the season, esp. during heatwaves which the 90's is around here. But like someone said above Juliet is usually foolproof...

I think your mgrow was poss. too high in nitrogen. I would get some fishbone meal scratched into the top to give the roots some phosphorous which will definitely help the fruits ripen.

Cheers!

Lots of green growth. If it were mine I would do some pruning just to redirect some of its energy to ripening fruit.
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That has been exactly my thoughts before you (vinemaple) posted.
Then I know of some experts who would probably say : Don't touch it!, It can cost you production.

This post was edited by seysonn on Sat, May 31, 14 at 6:04

BUMP

I might grow one Juliet IFF I can get a plant at the nurseries. I think Bonnie sells the plant. They call it Juliet Grape Roma.

I want it mainly for putting on the grill/roasting and using with pasta. Sauted with some garlic, added some basil, oregano ... it should be fine. I grow plenty of other varieties for fresh eating.

I am well aware that it has thick skin. That is a plus to me, as it can have a longer shelf life. Also being a Roma type it is good for canning whole.

I hope to have changed some minds. lol

Sey

Any Juliet growers in 2015 out there ?

Lets hear from you. How about some pictures !

Sey

Yes, I grew Juliet in 2015 and will grow it again next season. My one plant purchased at the nursery grew huge and had no problems with blossom end rot or leaf spot or yellowing that my other tomato varieties had. Not a delicious tomato but not bad either, I gave a lot away to friends and they all liked the flavor. In November my plant was still huge and vigorous but it was obvious I wasn't going to get any more tomatoes off of it so I took a cutting...the second clone of that cutting is now growing in my office. Juliet is a hybrid and I don't want to purchase a whole pack of seeds or or have to depend on finding a plant somewhere next season so I hope my cloning technique works and I have a healthy plant to put in my garden at the end of April or so....I'm far from an expert tomato grower but I don't think it is a good one for pots. My plant was 3 times the size of my other tomato plants and I let it sprawl all over the place and it seemed to like that. Here is a link to one of my posts a few months backhttp://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3439450/juliett-still-producing?n=14

Very good, rhoder

When is your approx. plant out date ? Feb, March ?

I will try the get seeds locally first. If not I'll get the plant. Last year Bonnie was selling them in our area. So I will get it one way or the other.

Sey

I grew two plants and won't do it again. The single reason being that there was TOTAL fruit drop. Not necessarily a variety problem in itself, but i suspect it doesn't fit in with the one-size-fits-all methods I like to use in a harsher environment. Since there are a zillion other varieties to try it's off the list.

It did completely reject nematodes though, a huge problem here.

Taking Juliet out of the mix for a second....many beginners stick with a variety because it produces. I get that. I would like to encourage novices to spend a bit of time on this site and search for some varieties that really taste good, and will grow well in your area. You will be over the moon...after you do this. Of course, you will certainly catch the "tomato fanatic disease" which is so prevalent here. haha

Seysonn, the local master gardeners recommend planting tomatoes after May 1.

Thanks rhoder. March 1st is when I sow.

@fireduck. ... I like Juliet for its size (as a variety) in place of San Marzano and Roma with BER problem. I want to grow it for use as cooked (sauce , on the grill) . If I have extra I will can whole. I can adjust the taste in cooking with herbs and spices. I will grow another similar variety called RIESENTRABE (large grape). So we shall see how they compare.

Sey

Seysonn, I look forward to swapping notes with you about Juliet. Assuming my clones survive until the spring. It is dangerous to tempt fate by assuming ANYTHING in my garden...