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Garden Gate:  Heirloom Tomatoes  |
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earthmamaT
True Blue Farmgirl
96 Posts
Tammy
portola
California
96 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 28 2010 : 09:47:29 AM
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I hope some of you farm girls can help me. This year I went to the expense of buying heirloom tomato plants from our organic nursery. Guess what NOTHING ~ not a tomato one. Not even a flower. The plants look good but the are not growing well or producing. So my question is if you have any advice on growing heirlooms? I do garden and have always had success but the heirlooms are not be cooperative THANKS
Tammy ~
"Be the change you want to see in the world" Gandhi |
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City_Chick
True Blue Farmgirl
509 Posts
Christina
Omaha
Nebraska
USA
509 Posts |
Posted - Jul 28 2010 : 09:52:00 AM
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When did you plant them?
I'm no expert but Compost is my best friend in the garden and my heirloom tomatoes always seem to need more than the rest. I also plant carrots around them. Be careful not to over water. We had terrible rains last year and I only got about 3 tomatoes in late September from 10 plants. The poor things were drownding.
Christina
Farmgirl Sister #195
City Chick & Friends Chapter Mama
http://thecitychicks.wordpress.com/ |
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earthmamaT
True Blue Farmgirl
96 Posts
Tammy
portola
California
96 Posts |
Posted - Jul 28 2010 : 10:02:04 AM
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We didn't plant till the last week of May. We are at about 4000 ft elevation and were still getting snow until the 3rd week of May. Maybe I didn't compost enough... 
Tammy ~
"Be the change you want to see in the world" Gandhi |
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Fiddlehead Farm
True Blue Farmgirl
4562 Posts
Diane
Waupaca
WI
USA
4562 Posts |
Posted - Jul 28 2010 : 10:26:26 AM
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I planted the last week of May also and all heirlooms. I have them loaded with tomatoes right now! I don't know what is up with yours. I grow mine up strings and prune them. Right now some are over 6 ft tall! I used all new soil with Llama and Chicken poo. I also had all heirlooms last year and they did great until getting the late blight. I grow mine from seeds, started indoors in March. My compost pile had a great crop of last years heirloom tomatoes that I threw in-mostly cherry tomatoes...it looked like a tomatoe forest.
http://studiodiphotosite.shutterfly.com/
farmgirl sister #922
Happy to be a "Raggedy Ann" in a Barbie World! |
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earthmamaT
True Blue Farmgirl
96 Posts
Tammy
portola
California
96 Posts |
Posted - Jul 28 2010 : 11:03:17 AM
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Diane ~ How wonderful that your tomatoes are doing so well!!! I am not sure what happened to mine. I am not a novice at gardening, just heirlooms . I wonder if the plants themselves are the issue. I think I will contact the nursery where I purchased them from to see if anyone else had issues.
I was gone for 4 weeks due to a family emergency and my husband did not feed them, just water. That may be the whole problem!
Tammy ~
"Be the change you want to see in the world" Gandhi |
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vegetarian farmer
True Blue Farmgirl
249 Posts
Jane
Freedom
pa
USA
249 Posts |
Posted - Jul 28 2010 : 11:31:58 AM
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Hi Tammy. I grow only heirloom and also have no problem. I do not feed during the growing season at all and i have huge plants and tomatoes so I think your husband not feeding them is not the problem. What are the types of tomatoes you have planted, there are hundreds of varieties some are more productive that others. Some heirlooms only produce a few fruits. More than likely something happened while you were away that made the blossoms fall off. You might not have noticed. Maybe the plants are not for your specific elevation. Do you have bees? An heirloom tomato is an exact copy of the parent plant so maybe the nursery did sell inferior plants to begin with. It is very weird. I can't believe not one blossom.
http://hardworkhomestead.blogspot.com/ |
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earthmamaT
True Blue Farmgirl
96 Posts
Tammy
portola
California
96 Posts |
Posted - Jul 28 2010 : 11:49:56 AM
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Hi Jane ~ The only heirlooms I could find were called Access ?? I never heard of them before but we were told they were good to grow in this area. We do not tend bees but I have seen a lot of them in this area... The puzzle continues~
Tammy ~
"Be the change you want to see in the world" Gandhi |
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natesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1735 Posts
angela
martinsville
indiana
USA
1735 Posts |
Posted - Jul 28 2010 : 12:38:07 PM
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I found out that my heirloom tomatoes weren't growin and producin good due to the manure I was usin. I was told that they tend to dislike cow, but love everything else. We switched to horse manure, which we luckily get free from a friend, and mine did great this year. It's the first in five years by the way. Try mixin horse, rabbit, or chicken manure with water, about a cup in a 5 gallon bucket, and let it set for 3 days. Then put a cup in a waterin can and fill with water and water your tomato plants. If you start seein flowers come on stop usin the mix. Fertilizin while flowerin will make the flowers drop off. See if that helps.
Farmgirl Sister #1438
God - Gardening - Family - Is anything else important? |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22944 Posts
22944 Posts |
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Ms.Lilly
True Blue Farmgirl
826 Posts
Lillian
Scotts Mills
OR
USA
826 Posts |
Posted - Jul 28 2010 : 4:42:26 PM
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Tammy- I have grown only heirlooms for the last 5 years and before that it was a mixture of heirlooms and hybrids. There is no difference on how you grow them. A tomato plant is a tomato plant. I have 2 ideas for you. First is your elevation, the higher your elevtion the cooler it is in the evenings. Tomatoes don't like cold feet. Each year I plant between 50 and 80 tomato plants and can everything from sauce to soup out of them. This year I have 55 plants in the ground and 2 in the greenhouse (these are my ones I use for saving seed) we have had such a late and cool summer here (I am a little higher up too) that I only have a handful of tomatoes on my plants. My plants by this time are usally 6 feet tall, this year 2 feet tall. Our average over night temp has been in the low 40 most of the summer and it shows in my tomato plants.
Second, if you over fertilize your tomato plants they get too much nitrogen then they will only produce leaves no flowers. You can easily check your soil with a soil tester available at any store with a garden section.
Also tomatos are not picky about the "poop" you put on them they like it all cow, horse, bat whatever you have available. Just remember if you use cow or horse manure, make sure it has been sitting and breaking down for a looooooong time (years) or you will have weeds galore from it. Trust me I know from experience!!!!
I don't know your garden setup, but if you are able to put a hoop house over them for the rest of the season you may get a few tomatos.
Sorry I didn't have better news for you. Hope this helps.
Lillian |
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Room To Grow
True Blue Farmgirl
974 Posts
Deborah
Kingston
Georgia
USA
974 Posts |
Posted - Jul 31 2010 : 4:53:59 PM
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I planted heirloom seeds this yr too...My tomatoes are giant...and so many tomatoes. My squash died...and my cucumbers took over half of the garden.
Deborah
we have moved to our farm...and love it |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Jul 31 2010 : 10:51:37 PM
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I have only grown heirloom tomatoes for some time and had no problem...in fact they do better than any I had planted in the past. I did start mine inside from seeds though. I haven't heard of Access...maybe just the variety that was the problem. I have alot of green tomatoes but won't have alot to pick until late August here. (at 5,500 ft) I had to replant twice because of late freezes..this is a weird year!! I hope you can figure out what the problem is...good luck!
Jenny in Utah
Proud Farmgirl sister #24
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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Marlies Schmitt
Farmgirl in Training
36 Posts
Marlies
Nampa
Idaho
USA
36 Posts |
Posted - Aug 01 2010 : 11:37:18 AM
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I planted Heirlooms and they are finally doing well. We had a cold, windy, wet spring and it didn't get really warm until two weeks ago. I put a lot of Organic Chicken Compost Tea from Merrill's in Idaho on them. My friend uses organic blood meal and bone meal on hers and they are also starting to look good.
There are also some great organic tomato food time release granules you can put on them. I forgot the manufacturer.
Good luck! I really love Heirlooms because they taste so much better, are juicier, and they are non GMO or hybrid. Thanks for helping keep these Heirlooms alive.
Duck Lane Winery |
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patchworkpeace
True Blue Farmgirl
478 Posts
Judy
Jackson
Michigan
USA
478 Posts |
Posted - Aug 01 2010 : 1:28:59 PM
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I hear you, Tammy, my heirloom tomatoes aren't doing as well as in years past either. I really think it is the year because with the exception of the late blight last year, tomatoes grow well here. We had a lot of rain early, then only one rain the entire hot month of July. Ours have always loved a lot of mulch, but one year we did over-mulch them and had some gorgeous leaves and few tomatoes. Good luck to you, if your soil tests out good, it just might be the year.
Judy
Success is measured not by the position one reaches but by the obstacles one has to overcome to reach it. Booker T. Washington |
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delicia
True Blue Farmgirl
917 Posts
delicia
cincinnati
ohio
USA
917 Posts |
Posted - Aug 01 2010 : 1:34:47 PM
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I planted only heirloom's this year and do not have 1 tomato, no flowers nothing. I am using the string way as the supports. They are in horse manure and just are growing up but, nothing else. I have always had big boy's and better boy's and had ton's of tomatoes. It is really disappointing.
delicia |
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Garden Gate: Heirloom Tomatoes |
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Heirloom Tomatoes
