Garden With Me - Tomato overview

This year's tomatoes included:

2 yellow plums

1 sweet cherry

2 San Marzano Roma
1 Beefmaster

And a volunteer cherry tomato from last year's "100"

The prep:

This year we dug out 1/2 of the large raised bed and and added amendments. We also turned the soil down to 3 feet to break up the hard rocky clay - this also gave us more rocks for our walls. The other bed was also worked over from the installation of power and sound out to the barbecue patio 

The results:

It took a while for the plants to set, I threw some fertilizer on them after 2 weeks in the ground and that made them put on a growth spurt that produced big stems and leaves, but no flowers. I also pinched of lateral buds to get the plants to grow taller which they did...they topped out at about 6 feet and lifted their cages out of the ground which I remedied by using some rebar and small trellises like a true DIY'er

The humid weather took its toll on the plants, their leaves mildewed and turned brown.

The Lessons:

The yellow plums are not resistant to a fungus or nematode and die quickly.

In this yard no more yellow plums - love the taste, but dead plants are no fun.
Give the cherry tomatoes more room - they filled their 3 x 3 area and invaded the Mexican sage.

Pay attention to the strains of plants and their resistance to mildew, fungus and nematodes.

Start with fewer plants or learn to make tomato sauce - the 5 plants gave us to many to eat.

Fertilize less but more often for a balance between growth and fruit.

Stagger planting for longer producing season.
Plant bell peppers on east side of tomatoes to keep the peppers from sunburning in the late afternoon.

Garden With Me - The Year of the Tomato - Part 1

This year I decided to try tomatoes, again. For the last two years the plants had fed the local squirrels and birds so this year it was my turn.
I had recently added a couple of more raised beds and had turned the soil under another - turning soil means taking a jackhammer and digging down 2 to 3 feet into the hard clay soil and removing big rounded river rocks that are pervasive here.

Rocks from digging in the yard

The jackhammer, a Makita HM1214C, has really changed gardening in this yard. It is a bit heavy, but with the clay spade it cuts down into the soil/clay and through the rocks...But I digress.
After a trip to the local nursery I had:
- 2 yellow plums
- 1 sweet cherry
- 2 San Marzano (an Italian friend said were the best for sauce)
- 1 Big Beef
Those and an unknown volunteer from the past year were going to supply the crop.
Remembering that tomatoes like their space and our damp mornings I planted them about 3 feet apart and put cages around most of them - 6 plants, 5 cages.

About a week or two in I fertilized the plants, well over fertilized them, and they shot up and soon they were about about 6 feet tall. Unfortunately, while they were doing this amazing growth spurt they were not setting fruit - note to self, be conservative with fertilizer in the future. So, I now had beautiful tall, strong, big stemmed and leaved plants, with no flowers.


Tomatoes after fertilizer

Next: Fruit and plenty of it