paul@imsvax.UUCP (Paul Knight) (08/28/86)
Tomatoes!
We've had our best year ever with tomatoes, despite the long drought.
Hope some of you will be interested in varieties and techniques which
worked in Maryland this year.
Varieties:
Sweet 100's - They are GREAT cherry tomatoes: Sweet flavor, very
productive, no problems with diseases (so far). From 5
plants, I pick from 50 - 100 per day! The main problem is
keeping down the suckers, which are truly aggressive and
which bear smaller fruit if allowed to become too numerous.
Better Bush - Very productive plum-size, no diseases. I don't really
like them. The texture is like Roma (Italian - kind
of mealy) so they're not so hot eaten raw, and they're
too small to skin and seed for sauces. I cook them
with other stray tomatoes for juice, which is pretty
good.
Beefmaster - Produces huge tomatoes, very tasty and fleshy (no large
concentrations of seeds). A lot of catfacing
(misshapen folding, multiple lobes) before the
irrigation system was installed. Subject to
blossom-end rot.
Celebrity - Good large round tomatoes, no catfacing, some blossom-end
rot. Tends to ripen unevenly. Good flavor.
Both Beefmaster and Celebrity are good for eating and canning. One slice
from a large Beefmaster will smother any known sandwich...
We put in a drip irrigation system this year. WONDERFUL! It's a
plastic hose with little "emitters" inserted wherever you want them, to
release water at a slow rate (1 or 2 gallons per hour). This soaks
down deep, wetting only a tiny spot on the surface, so it doesn't
encourage weeds. The fittings allow attaching 1/4" tubes to run the
water where it's wanted, and it can get pretty elaborate if you want.
It's a great time saver. I just attach the hose and turn it on for a
couple of hours every other day.
Our water comes from a well, so we are concerned about taking too much
from it too fast. This system answers that problem, too. For our 30
plants, it uses less than 60 gallons per hour.
The drip irrigation equipment seemed a little overpriced at our local
"World's Most Expensive ..." hardware store, but it should last for years
and it's already paid for itself in time saved. The brand name is Rain-Go
(I think). If anyone has a mail-order source for this or similar
equipment, I'd appreciate it.
Last year, I bought some tomato cages, but they collapsed from the
plants' weight halfway through the summer. This year, I got concrete
reinforcing wire mesh (6" x 6" grid, like heavy wire fencing) in 50
foot rolls, 5 feet wide. For cutting this stuff, I got a cheap bolt
cutter. I cut off 5 or 6 foot sections, which roll themselves
naturally into a nice cage. Cutting off the end wire (on the bottom)
leaves 6" prongs which provide pretty good support for the cage when
stuck into the ground around the young tomato plant. Some extra
support was necessary during high winds after the plants got big. The
cages are 4.5 feet high and provide great support for the plants. It's
easy to pick tomatoes through the holes, too.
CAVEATS: The reinforcing wire is rusty (painting with Rustoleum would
double the price) and it requires care while cutting.
Tomato diseases - Blossom-end rot is just that - the bottom of the
tomato rots. It's caused by too little water or irregular watering.
It's also supposed to be related to calcium deficiency. Cat-facing is
also related to insufficient water.
Other diseases - Hope I don't find out about them . :-) I try to get "VFN"
rated tomato varieties, and grow the plants in a different place each year.
We got tomato seeds from Burpee and Parks. (Well, the grow-light set-up is
a one-time expense... Nobody really gardens to save money, do they??) :-)
Summary: Sweet 100's cherry tomatoes are super, super, super. The only
reason they make it to the house (and don't all get eaten in the garden) is
their quantity. I have a big bowl of them on my desk at the office -
I give them away and eat them like candy.
Happy Gardening! I enjoy reading this news.group!
--
Paul Knight
God created man in his own image.
Man, being a grateful creature, returned the favor.