Greetings from Zone 6B. Today was perfect tomato growing weather. It
was about 75F for the high and will be in the 50's tonight. May 5
wasn't as kind.
Around 2:00 AM on the 5th, we had the worst hailstorm I have ever seen
in my mear-half-a-century on this planet. Size wasn't the issue. It
was duration. Here in Tennessee I have seen it hail for 3-5 minutes
many times but this storm was different. We had hail for at least 15
minutes. Fortunately, the wind only served to clear some of the
detritus known as the Bradford Pear. I had 16 tomato plants in the
ground which ranged in size from 5 inches to 18. They all experienced
some damage and some were reduced to but a single leaf. Here is the
lowdown, 9 days after "the storm". I am trying something new this year
I call "bucketing". Here is how it goes. Plant as deep as you can,
usually 8-10 inches here. Use a large breed of plant. Once the plant
reaches 12-15 inches tall, take a 1-2 gallon plastic nursery planter
and put it next to the plant. Strip off the bottom leaves of the plant
to the level of the top of the planter.
Cut the bottom off of the planter. Fit the planter over the top of
the plant. Fill planter with compost. Voila, increased root volume.
So far this looks like an effective method.

Storebought plants indicated by *
Bucketed plants indicated by #

Kentucky Beefsteak - planted 3/22 - 27 inches - trellised plant - one
of two growing tips broken by hail - first buds did not set fruit -
waiting to see on second - this looks like it will be a very tall
plant

Jeff Davis - 4/2 - 12 inches - wispy plant with 1 bud set and 1 green
tomato about 1/3 inch dia. - little storm damage

Russian Black# - 4/2 - 15 inches - lush plant with first bud set -
bottom of plant denuded by storm

Hawaiian Hybrid - 4/11 - 12 inches - this plant gets none of my tasty
homemade compost as an experiment - 16 inches - splindly plant with
first bud set - little storm damage

Tropic - 4/2 - 14 inches - very stocky plant absolutely wrecked by
storm - re-growth has been vigorous - 2 tomatoes on first bud set -
1/2 and 1 1/2 inches

Neptune - 4/2 - this plant was a weak seedling with choriosis due to
overwatering - lean plant but with lots of secondary growth - caged -
has two bud sets just developing

Mortgage Lifter# - 4/11 - 14 inches - lush plant developing first bud
set - bottom denuded by storm but has really filled out since
bucketing on 5/7

Super Sioux - 5/11 - seedling

Neptune2 - 4/22 - 12 inches - average plant with first bud set

Husky Cherry Red* - 5/1 - 4 inches - extremely stocky dwarf plant
taken down to one large leaf by the storm - recovering nicely

Russian Black2 - 4/22 - 4 inches - a very weak plant that was almost
broken by my mishandling then trimmed down to a stem 4 inches long
with a nub from where I had pruned it before the storm - believe it or
not it now has a 3 inch growth from the side where the nub was

Patio* - 4/26 - 10 inches - another extremely stocky dwarf plant but,
oddly, virtually no storm damage - several bud sets - 3 green tomatoes
1/2 to 1 in.

Mortgage Lifter Red# - 4/19 - 14 inches - Lush, powerful looking
plant, prettiest one I have, imho. Bottom was denuded by storm but
has responded nicely to bucketing. This plant is caged and since it
is so powerful looking, I think will allow it to have 3 main stems
from the bottom rather than my customary two.

Super Sweet 100# - 5/1 - 6 inches - another sad story - i hate cherry
tomatoes but my wife wanted some so....i waited until sunday on a
beautiful weekend to get a plant and everything was extremely picked
over. Wound up with a sad little plant that was actually growing up
the side of the cup. You could hold the cup up to the light and see
the roots. It responded nicely to being transplanted and was looking
really great at about 10 inches when the storm reduced it to a single
leaf. It now has two nice new shoots and is growing very rapidly.

Brandywine*# - 4/19 - 24 inches - leggy potato leafed variety with
lots of foliage - lost one of 3 growing tips to storm but is
recovering nicely - has two new bud sets

Bullsheart - 5/11 - seedling

Ponderosa Red - 5/11 - seedling

Mystery Plant - 5/14 - seedling - found growing next to mortgage
lifter plant. probably a Juliet since that what was planted nearby
last year and they are notorious for self-seeding - i hate them too
but i had to see - moved it to my seedling bed

I think I should be on track for my average first ripe tomato date of
Jun 4 but the storm has probably lowered my early production
considerably. I hope some of you will post so I can see how your
tomato plants are growing. I will try to post again every month or
so. It has certainly been an interesting growing season so far.

Lee Hall
Middle Tennessee - Zone 6B
"He who hesitates is lost, and vice versa."

On 14 May 2003 17:25:02 -0700, (Lee Hall)
wrote:


I think I should be on track for my average first ripe tomato date of
Jun 4 but the storm has probably lowered my early production
considerably. I hope some of you will post so I can see how your
tomato plants are growing. I will try to post again every month or
so. It has certainly been an interesting growing season so far.


Our theoretical last killing frost date (Pennsylvania's
Northern Tier, and in the mountains) is still two weeks into
the future, so most of my tomato plants are still indoors -
in 6" pots. They are being taken out to the front porch
each day for sun and air, and brought in at night. They're
growing way too fast though, and I may have to plant them
out this week-end in WalloWaters.

One of my Early Girls was planted out in a WalloWater two
weeks ago, and another Early Girl was planted out in a
WalloWater one week ago.

It's been very cold here the last two weeks and very damp -
really almost no sunshine. The Early Girls outdoors in
their WalloWaters are beginning to get mold on the top of
the soil (all that cold dampness, no sun). I'll have to
remove the WalloWaters in the daytimes and put them back at
night.

My Red Robins (miniature tomatoes) in 6" pots are thriving,
lots of blossoms.

Pat

Black Prince ripening followed by Stupice and Fireworks. Still the first tomato
to ripen in my garden is the Japanese oxheart -- which was the centerpiece of
our salad last night :-)

/z.

Pat Meadows writes:

Pat On 14 May 2003 17:25:02 -0700, (Lee Hall)
wrote


I think I should be on track for my average first ripe tomato date of
Jun 4 but the storm has probably lowered my early production
considerably. I hope some of you will post so I can see how your
tomato plants are growing. I will try to post again every month or
so. It has certainly been an interesting growing season so far.


Pat Our theoretical last killing frost date (Pennsylvania's
Pat Northern Tier, and in the mountains) is still two weeks into
Pat the future, so most of my tomato plants are still indoors -
Pat in 6" pots. They are being taken out to the front porch
Pat each day for sun and air, and brought in at night. They're
Pat growing way too fast though, and I may have to plant them
Pat out this week-end in WalloWaters.

I grow extra which I usually give away.

Then a couple of weeks before the frost free date I look
at a long range forecast and if all seems good, plant. Then
if they survive the two weeks, I go ahead and give away the
spares. So far no problems in the five years I have been
doing this.

Pat One of my Early Girls was planted out in a WalloWater two
Pat weeks ago, and another Early Girl was planted out in a
Pat WalloWater one week ago.

I used to use those, but then had a very rainy spring, and
had a lot of semi rotted plants. Decided it was not worth
the effort.

Pat It's been very cold here the last two weeks and very damp -
Pat really almost no sunshine. The Early Girls outdoors in
Pat their WalloWaters are beginning to get mold on the top of
Pat the soil (all that cold dampness, no sun). I'll have to
Pat remove the WalloWaters in the daytimes and put them back at
Pat night.

Sounds like a lot of work.

Pat My Red Robins (miniature tomatoes) in 6" pots are thriving,
Pat lots of blossoms.

Good luck.



--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in rec.gardens.edible...)