Hot Weather Tomatoes

Since the temperature has settled in the 100+ degree range our tomato output has fallen drastically. Most blooms just won't set fruit at these temps. Yet, as an exception to the rule, our Sunmaster and Heatwave plants still have a few tomatoes on them. Two have ripened on Heatwave A (I'm using the A and B designations whenever we have two plants of the same variety) in the last week, and it still has three growing on the vine. Sunmaster B--a plant that we put out in June--has put on a couple of tomatoes as well. That's not many tomatoes, but I'm impressed with any production in this heat.

Heatwave

Sunmaster

Fall Tomato Crop

Just an update on my plans for a Fall tomato harvest. As you may have read on an earlier post, a recent hornworm attack destroyed several of our plants (see: Return of the Hornworm). Our very productive Black Prince and Lemon Boy plants were, unfortunately, among the fatalities. While this ticked me off severely at the time, all is not lost on the tomato-growing front. The two Heatwave and two Sunmaster plants are still growing and doing very well, while the Better Boy limps along in its normal, unproductive manner.

Along with these established plants, I'll soon be transplanting several seedlings in hopes of a Fall crop. For this purpose, I have Black Prince, German Queen, Ace 55, and Lemon Boy plants all starting under the grow lamp. I've grown all of these from seeds, with the exception of the Lemon Boy which is a bit of an experiment. But that's a topic for another day.

Fall tomato plants

First Heatwave Tomato

It's the middle of July, and our Heatwave tomato plant has put out exactly one ripened fruit. While that doesn't sound like stellar production when compared to the others, this plant hasn't exactly lived the typical life of its garden neighbors.

Way back in March, I decided to try my luck at growing an upside down tomato plant. So, I went to the local nursery and bought a very healthy looking Heatwave seedling, with hopes that it would produce well into the Summer. After returning home, I noticed the tiniest of sprouts in the container with the new plant. It was so small that it appeared to have just popped through the soil that day. After planting the upside down seedling (which promptly died) I very carefully transplanted the tiny seedling into a small container and placed it under the grow lamp. Several months later it's now a mature Heatwave plant, with one ripened fruit and several others ripening on the vine. And, as temperatures have cooled into the upper 90s over the last week, a few more blooms have set tomatoes. Not bad for a little bonus seedling.

Mystery Plant

This little seedling sprouted next to a Habanero that I planted last week. I have no idea what it is. I guess it could be another pepper plant or maybe some sort of weed....who knows? I'll just let it grow for a while and see.

mystery plant

My largest Heatwave tomato plant started from a seedling about the same size as the mystery one pictured above. I had bought a normal sized seedling to use in an attempt at upside-down tomato plant growing. As I transplanted it into the hanging basket, I noticed the very small plant growing beside it. I carefully removed it, planted it in a small container, and placed it under the lights for a month or so before transplanting it to an outdoor container. Meanwhile, the upside down plant turned out to be a horrible failure (but that's another story). The bonus seedling has since grown into a large plant with several tomatoes ripening on it at present.

Heatwave tomatoes ripening with basil companion plant

Tomato Shake Up

Better Boy tomatoes certainly haven't turned out better in our container garden this year. Back in February and March I started several Better Boys from seeds, nurtured the three strongest seedlings into to healthy young plants, and set them out in mid-March and April. All looked great for a while, as they grew rapidly for the first few weeks. Then, two of the plants just stopped growing at about two feet while the third sprouted up to about five feet. Soon after their growth slowed, the leaves of the two stunted plants became a mottled yellow and green. Following this unsightly occurrence, their blooms began drying up and falling off. Now, leaves on the five foot plant have also started to yellow, while its blooms are also showing signs of drying out. So far it has produced only three small green tomatoes.

I'm assuming that some sort of early blight infected the plants or that they just couldn't overcome a short stretch of 105 degree weather we had in mid-May.

So, a couple of days ago I decided to pull the plug on the smallest Better Boys, replacing one with a Heatwave and the other with a Sunmaster. While it may be too late for these to produce in the Summer, the mature plants will hopefully provide a good crop in the fall. I'm still undecided on whether to replace the taller plant immediately or leave it a while in hopes that its three tomatoes ripen.