Almost the identical scenario here. Saved seeds, same varieties for years and years and they have always done well. Incredibly wet and hot summer. I just picked my first ripe tomato last week. Some fruit low on the plants, nothing in the middle, and now some blossoms on the tops. Trying to keep them going long enough so they ripen. Hopefully enough to eat, but most likely not enough to preserve any. Can't ever remember a year like this.

Steve

The last 3-4 years have been cold, wet and sunless yet they were far more productive than this year. This year has been unbearably hot. My plants are tiny and so are the few fruit on each plant.

I have cherry plants with only two fruit on them. Roman Candle has set one fruit. Brandywine 2 fruit, Mortgage Lifter 3 fruit, Tiffen Menonite 0 fruit. Most of my 46 varieties are 1/3 their normal size. All have stopped flowering.

Not here in the Hudson Valley. Most of my plants are about 6' tall and loaded with fruit. Some problems with Septoria leaf spot and what appears to be early blight, though. If not for these, I'd be sure to harvest 30 pounds per plant. Even so, I've already picked more than all of last year, and the tomatoes are just starting to ripen.

I had to pull a Gregori's Altai yesterday because I wasn't able to stop leaf spot from reaching the upper leaves, and it had what looked like fairly advanced early blight as well, with discoloration on some fruit. It had 45 green tomatoes on it, mostly large, weighing more than 30 pounds. But it would have defoliated and declined soon, and brought the rest of the plants with it.

My problem is MAJOR cracking on all of them. Too much rain. I'd rather have a drought summer... Almost 20 inches since June 1st... I've had to toss pounds of them so far.

Hey, Newyorkgardener....I was in the Hudson Vally last week, everything looked great (always does there)..from what I heard there was not a lot of rain..but maybe now you have had some...Martha/zucchini

My heirlooms (mostly Brandywine) are doing fair this year, better than last. The cherry toms are doing fine. Wilts/blights are worse than usual. Several plants have dried up.

The heat is worse than average, here in zone 6. I am watering every two days instead of twice a week.

Hi zuke ... look me up if you're in the area ... always happy to see fellow gardeners! We've had a droughty summer, but our well is deep and so far has provided enough water for irrigation.

On balance I'm happy with this season. I've been picking a few to a dozen nice fruits a day, enough to keep me in gazpacho and salads. It looks like the plants should make it another month, anyway.

But I was spoiled my first year growing (2006). I had one Brandywine plant, it got 7 or 8 feet tall, and bore dozens of fruits, some weighing nearly 3 pounds! We've had the weather for another year like that, but I think the garden needs some fallow time to get rid of the spores that gained a foothold during last year's long, cold, damp season.

Hi zucchini.

I'm in ontario as well, in MIlton, and i can't say i'm having the same experience. With sunlight limited to 6 hrs/day and plants spaced way to close for anyones liking i'm getting a good harvest. I don't know what your location has been like weatherwise, but i only lost some possible fruits to the extreme heat we've had, yet overall it has been a much better year than last. My plants are only now starting to show the beginnings of some diseases on their lower foliage but have been healthy so far, some of them are reaching 8ft tall now.

Your tomatoes'low production could have many factors. Do you fertilize(how?), are the plants diseased, and arte they properly watered?

Actually,
I am doing quite well at having a high yield locust, yellow jacket and mushroom farm, cleverly disquised as a tomato garden with no crop. ;(

d

col_sprg_maters,

We're growing the same things! Only I have grasshopper nymphs everywhere in place of the locusts and no mushrooms.... But plenty of yellow jackets! In fact I am sporting a swollen had compliments of a yellow jacket. I shut the shed door and apparently there was one on the edge of it.

I ate my third ripe tomato today. Saved the seeds from it too. Even my cherries are sulking because of the heat we have had.

Betsy

Sorry to hear about that. Been having a monster year so far. Smart pots!!!!

My heirlooms are also doing poorly - the san marzano redorta had lots of early blight. I lost one plant. Marglobe growing nicely though. Hillbilly not even a flower. Striped german just flowering and looks healthy but no fruits yet - didn't plant till the end of june though. Hybrids doing great - beefy boy and enchantment - no disease at all and loads of tomatoes. I'm growing in eastern LI

lordstanley,

I've looked at the smart pots and they look like they are a very cool thing to have, however, I have plenty of space for an in ground garden so I don't consider them an option. I do think they would not make a difference since the problems we have had include a cooler and wetter then normal spring, followed by long strings of days in the upper 90°'s. To add insult to injury, we had a cold front go through and we went from 94° to 52° in a matter of hours. This morning when I got up it was 50° outside!

Ah well, such is gardening. *sigh*

Betsy