No sunscald problems here. And we get quite a bit of hot sun here in Charlotte too. I do plant these plants about 14 inches apart, and having three stems worth of foliage seems to be enough to keep sunscald at bay.

My tomatoes after 18 days are coming along nicely. I am letting them dry out for as long as possible between waterings to help tone them and to slow them down. Plant out date is the first week in April, weather dependent. The roots are coming out the bottom of the pots already.

https://youtu.be/yddA4ejd-3E

For those who are not aware, Actinovate is a Monsanto product. I realize that doesn't concern some, but I also realize that is not always common knowledge for those who may have concerns.

I didn't know it myself.

I believe it is a naturally occurring bacteria, no? No GMO here I don't think.

I was all excited, and then I googled it. Apparently not. Actinovate is a brand name, and it's their product… though I think they acquired it.

Update... plants at three weeks old and taking a look at the roots to see how things are doing.

And here they are at 4 weeks since sowing... I will take them outside mid next week for hardening off. Plant out date around the first week of April.

My 45 plants have been moved outside to harden off. March 25th. I will plant them in the garden in 5 days.

I will be growing a new crop of 30 plants for three friends, and then when those move outside to harden off, I will sow my Fall crop of 30 plants... almost 18 consecutive weeks of indoor gardening. I will be pooped out by the time they are done.

That is nice, NC

I moved mine out yesterday ( Mar 29). I gave them some direct and some dappled light and around 3 pm put them in the cold frame overnite. Gotta continue the drill for about 5 days and then get set and plant out.

Luckily, for the next 15 days the lows will stay above 43F. Pretty much on target.

Sey

I planted mine in the garden yesterday. Before putting in the hole, each root ball was dipped in a bucket of Fish Emulsion and Actinovate. The rows of plants were side dressed with Tomato Tone, which I scratched in. I had to harden off fairly quickly, because I am leaving for a mini vacation today, so I could not leave them not in the ground for 5 days. But, the weather was perfect for a plant out... rain the day before, cloudy and little wind. Of course, they look like lost kids today, but in a few days they will settle in and start growing. I will start installing the three twine drop lines when I get back into town. And also plant all of my other crops too.

Have a nice vacation , NC

I am not planting out yet. But I will spray my plants with Daconile today. I want to have a preventive program rather that wait and fight.

My soil temperature is not quite warm. I checked it yesterday. It registered 49F. With lots of sun and warm air temps it should get better before plant out.

Sey

My 7b is warmer earlier than your 7b.

Those dang zone designations!

I know . I have lived and gardened in zone 7b in GA (north Atl). But one thing is relevant: Both here in PNW and GA we have almost the same LFD and FFD and similar winter cold. .

There is another zone designation called "Heat Zone". As you can see in my user name extension ours is "ONE". Probably yours is 5 or 6. Heat zone "1" means the summer highs reaching 85F is rare, maybe one day in average. But with heat zone 6 probably you get over 60 days when highs reaching 85F and exceeding.

So calling USDA zone number GARDENING zone is wrong, IMO.

Sey

UPDATE:

Second day of hardening off went well. I gave them a little more sun. In the cold frame they stayed cozy at about 45F the night before. They are back in their motel again. hehe

Sey, you treat your babies much more delicately than I do... My hardening off process consists of putting them outside on my patio table with an umbrella over them. If it gets too sunny or windy, so be it. Toughen up or get burned! I think I get this mentality from growing annuals commercially and realizing that sometimes less is best. But that is what makes this hobby so fun... so many ways to get to the desired end.

Frost is coming tonight and then in four more days. Forcasted for 31 degrees tonight and 28 degrees for Saturday night. Here is what I came up with to protect my 45 plants. I hope it works.

you should look into Espoma fertilizers, preferable Tomato tone or Garden tone. it has everything your plants need including beneficial bacteria colonies that helps the plants roots and prevent diseases. save time and money by not having to use additional disease control products. :)

I do use Tomato Tone... I don't think it has any influence on foilar diseases like blight.

I am using Actinovate for the first time too this year.

Well, the plants survived the first freeze... down to 31 degrees. Sat night, in four days will be the real test when they are calling for record cold at 27 degrees!

My son crawled under the plastic yesterday and strategically placed stakes to raise the plastic into tee - pee shapes. The forecast for tonight is for thunderstorms and 60mph winds! If I cant get the rain to shed off the top, it will collapse and damage all my plants. As far as the wind, I just have to hope that the sides stay put and the wind does not have an entry path into the space. If it does, it will be a big mess.

So, already into the 2016 season, and I am seeing the good, bad and ugly.

How did it go, NC..?

Sey

It stormed like crazy... over an inch of rain and 50mph winds. I laid in bed at 4:00am just listening to it and just imagining the damage being done.

But, it actually held up well! The water mostly drained off and the sides stayed secure to the ground. I feel lucky. And now, Still calling for record cold of 27 degrees for Saturday night.

Tonight is the big freeze... forecasted for 27 degrees which would set a record by one degree for this day.

We had a freeze last night and a chance for another tonight. We get close again Tuesday and then begin the big warm up. Looks like the last two weeks of April will be warm and then maybe a cool down in May. I will probably plant out as soon as I am able in the next two weeks. I gambled a bit that I could maybe plant early and it is forcing my hand.

Hoosier, after tonight, the 15 day forecast looks like clear sailing for me. It is 9:00pm and the heater and lights are on and the plastic is sealed. It should be below freezing between midnight and 9:00am. That's a long time!

Here in Tn. they called for a hard freeze, but it never happened. Perhaps in certain areas, but I think 33 or so was the lowest here. I should be grateful, but online, my weather app, the news... all raising alarm bells. I think I did more damage covering things than if I'd let them alone lol. No Toms out yet, so no problem there.

It's finally over... like rgreen says, it was not quite as bad as they said it was going to be... it got down to 30, not the 27 that they forecasted. Some damaged leaves and a Strawberry Orange Oxheart that got snapped off due to the plastic flapping in the 30 mph winds over the last 4 days. No frostbite! The Oxheart will be fine, as I prune to 3 stems anyway, and there are three nodes still left, assuming they all send out laterals. In addition to the electric space heater, I also used a propane heater too. As I had to use the small 1 pound propane canisters, I had to change them out every three hours... Midnight, 3:00 and 6:00. I'm whipped.

Four Weeks after plant out. All plants now pruned to three leaders. 20 days after the last frost. Soil drenched with Actinovate, Cow manure, Magnesium Sulphate, Tomato Tone, Miracle grow Soluble.

Now to back off on the food a bit and try to keep up with them.

That is amazingly good news, NC .

Mine planted about 20 days ago just have buds, not even flowers yet.

Sey

We have had some prime growing weather since the frost... mid 70's to low 80's and sunny with low humidity. I am saying a prayer that the Actinovate drench will keep the Fusarium away. Maybe, maybe not.

While on the morning garden walk I found a few aphids on some of my plants. I have never had aphids before at this location of eight years. I think they came in on some plants that I bought from a local grower, whose plants, this year, looked really bad. I mixed up a batch of Malithion which I have had for about 15 years. That knocked 'em down.

I have never seen aphids on tomato plants.I had them on eggplants once and I used Neem Oil spray. I get a small sprayer bottle, adjust it to jet spray and just wash them off the plant.

Sey

I was going to use Neem, but I had this old bottle of Malithion with just enough left for the job. I use a 3 gallon backpack hand pump sprayer. It was supposed to have stayed overcast all day, but as soon as I began spraying, the clouds parted, and it was bright for the rest of the day.

I don't think I will get the aphids back, as I have never had them bother me before.

Six weeks post plant out and all is fairly well. I have more flowers this year than maybe ever before. Some of the trusses have close to 30 flowers. I do have a nagging feeling that last years fusarium will rear its ugly head before too long though.

ncrg,

looking really good. Jealous of your Cuostralee tomatoes as it is one of my favorites! I have 2 in the ground, but am about 3 weeks behind you.

Happy gardening!

Thanks nugrdnut. I grow Cuostralee every year. We are having 7 days of rain and cold temps here, so, I sprayed fungicide yesterday to try to keep the diseases at bay.

LOOKING GOOD, NCR

You planted out on March 29. I started on April 5 ( 4 plant that day) and continued on till April 18th. But even my earliest ones are way behind yours. They are big and healthy with flowers bu no fruit set is yet visible.

Here is how my garden looked like 2 days ago.

Sey

Your plants look nice, Sey, for not having a whole lot of sun... at least compared to here in Charlotte. Do you cage them eventually? Did you get a good look at the red/black grape tomato that you sent me seeds for? How does it taste? Have you grown it from seed before? I have one growing and I gave one to my Dad, up in West Virginia... a much different climate.

I am pleased with the large amount of flowers this year, but I don't know what to attribute it to.

Yes, NC, ... my plants look fine but low temperature and sun exposure are the factors.

About the red/black grape, I got the seeds from store tomato ( OP ). so this is my first year growing it.

BTW, my plant is acting like a dwarf in size. It is the smallest of non-dwarfs. And has no buds / flowers yet but it seems to be growing faster now.

Sey

Ncrealestateguy, what type of fungicide do you use?

I use a rotation of Daconil, Mancozeb and Copper and now I tank mix Actinovate into every mix except when Copper is on the rotation. Copper is known to combat bacterial diseases, so I don't want to put Actinovate in the tank because it is a beneficial bacteria. If I need any insecticide, then I just tank mix it into whatever fungicide I am using that week.

Sey, we'll have to compare notes on the grape tomato as the season progresses. Mine has only been in the ground for less than two weeks, so it is too early for me to tell much. How did it taste from the store?

Ok, Nc. We'll do.

On the fungicide I also alternate between Neem, Daconil, and Copper. My goal is prevention insurance policy. I have never had any problems, other than Grey Mold at the end of season when the rain starts and it starts getting cold. plus plants grow too much foliage by then. and I give up pruning (laziness !!) I did Clorox spray last year. Seemed to work.

Sey

My husband said we do have some Copper bottles.

Interesting Find !

I was in HD yesterday. I notice a spray, that said it is organic and triple action. Sounded like Neem Oil spray. But when I read more, it has Sesame oil instead ( 5% ?) . Haha. I can make my own.

I think what oil does is to provide a thin layer, shielding the foliage.

What do you think ?

Sey

WOO - HOO! I harvested two black beefsteaks yesterday, 5/29. Which is normally when I plant out. So, a 60 day large beefsteak. The first time I have harvested before mid June. And the first time my first tomato was not a grape or cherry. This variety is an unknown that a friend of mine and myself bought as a Watermelon Beefsteak, but turned out to be a purple/black. It has been the best overall plant of mine ever since... 4 years running. It is early, produces until frost, is my most disease resistant plant and is a nice dark green color.

But, disease showed up last week... septoria and a little of early blight. Some of the septoria is high up on the young growth. So, I have to stop that sh__ now! So far, no sign of the fusarium that I had bad last year.

Any guesses as to the type of tomato?

NC ,.. congrats !!! 60 days for a beefsteak ?! That is nice. At about 45 days the largest tomato that I could find in my garden is pea size. Temperatures make a big difference. So far our lows have been in 40s and now are climbing to low 50s.

Sey

Sey, the only thing I've really done differently this year from the past is that I have drenched the seedlings twice in the pot with Actinovate, and then I drenched them once while in the garden. Could this make a difference? My Cuostralee, which is noted as an 85 day tomato will be harvested in about three more days... which will be about 65 days. And my Indian Stripe will be a 65 day tomato too, which is advertised as an 80 DTM.

Anyone else see tangible results using Actinovate?

Maybe you have just discovered something, NC.

Actually most published DTMs are lower than what happens in most climates.

One theory can be that Actinovate gives the plant's root a shot in the arm. That causes it to fight the disease and be vigorous as well. To find out one can do a side by side study just to test the theory.

Sey

Any guesses as to the type of tomato?

+++++++++++

nc, it has a very nice dark purple color, darker than most so-called black beefsteaks that I have seen.I like the color. It looks like Cherokee Chocolate.

I found this image (Cherokee Chocolate ) in Google search.

Here is what I have after 9 weeks in the ground. I have also planted about 20 new plants that will act as my Fall harvest. I harvested six tomatoes today, and a total of about 15 so far... Cuostralee, Persimmon, Indian Stripe and Black From Tulas. Some disease is around, but is under control. Sweet 100s are 10 feet tall and Sun Golds are 8 feet tall and Green Giants are about 8 feet. I have noticed that some of my tomato flowers are turning brown and dropping. Not from heat, but some fungus.