Hello,

It is my first year to grow tomato. It is beefsteak and I plant one in
a 20" planter. I used "Whiteney Farm" organic all purpose plant food.
I read that using organic fertilizer I don't have to worry about
overfertilize because it is regulated by the microbes or sth machnism
like that. I bought a tomato cage from HD which has 4 rings and 3
stalks. Now, the tomato plant grows to almost the tallest ring but I
haven't got any flower not saying fruit. I'm wondering whether I
should prune the plant, ie cut some tips? When, where and how? My
plant may only get 4 hours afternoon sun. It is the best I can do with
my location. How bad will this affect the flowering and production?

Really anxious. Some tomato plants on HD shelf start to bear green
tomatos. I guess their living condition may not be as good as my
tomato. It is much crowded there and the plant is much shorter. Though
the finding is encouraging, it also makes me wonder whether I miss sth
in growing my tomato.

Thanks for your advice!

Frank

Four hours of sun is way too short.

"Frank" wrote in message
om...
Hello,

It is my first year to grow tomato. It is beefsteak and I plant one in
a 20" planter. I used "Whiteney Farm" organic all purpose plant food.
I read that using organic fertilizer I don't have to worry about
overfertilize because it is regulated by the microbes or sth machnism
like that. I bought a tomato cage from HD which has 4 rings and 3
stalks. Now, the tomato plant grows to almost the tallest ring but I
haven't got any flower not saying fruit. I'm wondering whether I
should prune the plant, ie cut some tips? When, where and how? My
plant may only get 4 hours afternoon sun. It is the best I can do with
my location. How bad will this affect the flowering and production?

Really anxious. Some tomato plants on HD shelf start to bear green
tomatos. I guess their living condition may not be as good as my
tomato. It is much crowded there and the plant is much shorter. Though
the finding is encouraging, it also makes me wonder whether I miss sth
in growing my tomato.

Thanks for your advice!

Frank

On Mon, 17 May 2004 23:50:48 GMT, "FDR"
wrote:

===Four hours of sun is way too short.
===
==="Frank" wrote in message
ogle.com...
=== Hello,
===
=== It is my first year to grow tomato. It is beefsteak and I plant one in
=== a 20" planter. I used "Whiteney Farm" organic all purpose plant food.
=== I read that using organic fertilizer I don't have to worry about
=== overfertilize because it is regulated by the microbes or sth machnism
=== like that. I bought a tomato cage from HD which has 4 rings and 3
=== stalks. Now, the tomato plant grows to almost the tallest ring but I
=== haven't got any flower not saying fruit. I'm wondering whether I
=== should prune the plant, ie cut some tips? When, where and how? My
=== plant may only get 4 hours afternoon sun. It is the best I can do with
=== my location. How bad will this affect the flowering and production?
===
=== Really anxious. Some tomato plants on HD shelf start to bear green
=== tomatos. I guess their living condition may not be as good as my
=== tomato. It is much crowded there and the plant is much shorter. Though
=== the finding is encouraging, it also makes me wonder whether I miss sth
=== in growing my tomato.
===
=== Thanks for your advice!
===
=== Frank
===

Yep about half the sunlight the plant should really be getting.
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

Frank wrote:

Hello,

It is my first year to grow tomato. It is beefsteak and I plant one in
a 20" planter. I used "Whiteney Farm" organic all purpose plant food.
I read that using organic fertilizer I don't have to worry about
overfertilize because it is regulated by the microbes or sth machnism
like that. I bought a tomato cage from HD which has 4 rings and 3
stalks. Now, the tomato plant grows to almost the tallest ring but I
haven't got any flower not saying fruit. I'm wondering whether I
should prune the plant, ie cut some tips? When, where and how? My
plant may only get 4 hours afternoon sun. It is the best I can do with
my location. How bad will this affect the flowering and production?

Really anxious. Some tomato plants on HD shelf start to bear green
tomatos. I guess their living condition may not be as good as my
tomato. It is much crowded there and the plant is much shorter. Though
the finding is encouraging, it also makes me wonder whether I miss sth
in growing my tomato.

Thanks for your advice!

Frank

Many growers recommend pinching out the suckers that grow between the
main stem and larger branches to put more energy into the viable portions.

I grow tomatoes on the west side of my garage where they get 4 - 6 hours
of full sun daily.*** They don't do as well as the plants that get more,
but
i get plenty of tomatoes every year anyway.
Be patient about the blossom thing.

Dorothy
*
*
*
*

il Mon, 17 May 2004 23:50:48 GMT, "FDR" ha scritto:

Four hours of sun is way too short.

Yeah, tomatoes are definitely day duration dependendent. How about
rigging up some mirrors to shine into the shady area? It does work
but even better if one could get them to track the sun. :-)

--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]

Pruning tomato bushes is a tradeoff. If you prune the later fruit
(flower) clusters the earlier clusters will ripen sooner. However, the
total yield from the plant will be reduced. If you have several plants,
you might prune one or two and leave the rest for production. Pruning
will not initiate flowering or fruit production.

When pruning, you don't cut the tips of the vines. Look for the main
stem. It will branch out occasionally. At the branch, a leaf will form
between the branch and the main stem. This leaf will eventually turn
into another vine which will bear fruit. However, the point at which it
joins the stem is weaker than the main branches and these vines are
subject to breaking off. These vines are the ones to prune. The easiest
way is to just break off the leaf that forms at the junction. They are
generally brittle enough that you can just bend it enough to break it
off, and you don't need pruners.

If you do enough work in your tomatoes your fingers will turn black. It
will wash off, but even when your fingers look clean, washing your hands
will turn the soap yellow or green for a couple of hours. It's just a
thing that tomatoes do, and doesn't really hurt your hands or the plant.

The best way to choose tomato plants at a garden center is to look for
good color and no wilting and the thickest stems, not the tallest
plants. Tall skinny tomato plants have probably been crowded together in
their growing area. They will recover once set out, but it will take
them a bit more time to bear fruit (possibly a week or two depending on
how crowded they were).

More sun is better, but the plants will produce with 4 hours of sunlight.

Frank wrote:
...the tomato plant grows to almost the tallest ring but I
haven't got any flower not saying fruit. I'm wondering whether I
should prune the plant, ie cut some tips? When, where and how? My
plant may only get 4 hours afternoon sun. It is the best I can do with
my location. How bad will this affect the flowering and production?...

writes:
My
plant may only get 4 hours afternoon sun. It is the best I can do with
my location. How bad will this affect the flowering and production?

Having grown up in sun country, I was very concerned about my garden
location as there is no place in it that gets more than half a day of sun
because of surrounding trees (though this year the top third of my 30-foot
plus magnolia tree is gone, thanks to winter storms).

What I have learned in my own garden is that sun does not seem to be as
much a factor as proper watering. Proper watering means soaking once a
week or so so that *all* the soil is wet, not just around the plant.
Water placed directly around the plant dissipates into the surrounding
soil pulling it away from the intended plants which is why soaking is
important. I can assure you that in eastern Washington, the plants needed
that thorough soaking with that terrific drainage.

Something I see often with folks is that they will water half an hour or
maybe an hour if they are feeling generous. I use surface watering
(soaker hoses or drip) and water for a minimum of four hours. The
generous watering not only wets all the surrounding soil, but it provides
a good atmosphere for all the critters working underground to keep the
soil in premium condition for optimum growing. After watering, you should
be able to dig down and not find dry soil.

Tomato plants are among those that need good drainage which means ample
moisture but not wet feet. Sunshine matters, but daylight matters more
than direct sunlight. With four hours of direct sunlight per day, that
should be enough as long as the rest of the day they have daylight;
filtered light through trees is okay for the rest of the daylight.

Always remember that what the roots take up matters more than any other
single thing, that means fertile soil and water. The sunlight is the
stimulant, so to speak, that utilizes everything else. Tomatoes are
amazingly hardy, perhaps one of the hardiest of the edibles. Give them
good soil, water and sunlight and they will thrive. :-)

Glenna

On 17 May 2004 16:45:37 -0700, (Frank) wrote:

It is my first year to grow tomato. It is beefsteak and I plant one in
a 20" planter. I used "Whiteney Farm" organic all purpose plant food.
I read that using organic fertilizer I don't have to worry about
overfertilize

Looks like Whitney Farms 'all purpose' is a balanced 5-5-5 (N-P-K)
formula. Tomato-specific fertilizer is generally a little heaver in
the Potassium department, but it should be OK.

I bought a tomato cage from HD which has 4 rings and 3
stalks.

It should be illegal to sell those. They are *way* too small and
flimsy for healthy tomato plants. Try and rig up some other support
for your plant.

I haven't got any
flower not saying fruit. I'm wondering whether I
should prune the plant, ie cut some tips?

You 'prune' tomato plants by removing 'suckers' that grow in the 'V'
of larger branches. Opinions differ on the wisdom/necessity of this.
Do *not* cut the tips of branches.

My
plant may only get 4 hours afternoon sun. It is the best I can do with
my location. How bad will this affect the flowering and production?

Considerably and negatively. Tomatoes like "full sun", which means at
least 6 hours a day. More is better. Your plant may produce a few
tomatoes, but full sun would make a world of difference.

In article , Frogleg wrote:
On 17 May 2004 16:45:37 -0700, (Frank) wrote:
I bought a tomato cage from HD which has 4 rings and 3
stalks.
It should be illegal to sell those. They are *way* too small and
flimsy for healthy tomato plants. Try and rig up some other support
for your plant.

We had some a couple years ago that stayed short and bushy... would
fit fine in such a cage -- my tenant used one, why I don't know. The
cage was redundant cuz the plant was so stiff it could take a 60mph
wind without flinching. Last year we just let them grow any which way
and if they wanted to fall over on the ground, that was fine. Those
are the ones that grew the 12 foot long vines -- I'd like to see a
cage for that size, haha

The two I have out back right now -- one is stiff as a board, the
other flops around in the wind. Different varieties. Stiff plants hold
up better here (high winds most days rip up apart plant that flops
around much).

~REZ~

writes:

We had some a couple years ago that stayed short and bushy... would
fit fine in such a cage -- my tenant used one, why I don't know. The
cage was redundant cuz the plant was so stiff it could take a 60mph
wind without flinching.

Sounds like a determinate, maybe a Roma type? Determinates don't keep
growing and growing; they are a specific height.

Glenna

On Tue, 18 May 2004 19:47:46 -0700, (Glenna Rose)
wrote:

writes:

We had some a couple years ago that stayed short and bushy... would
fit fine in such a cage -- my tenant used one, why I don't know. The
cage was redundant cuz the plant was so stiff it could take a 60mph
wind without flinching.

Sounds like a determinate, maybe a Roma type? Determinates don't keep
growing and growing; they are a specific height.

If a tomato needs any support at all, those wretched dime-store cages
won't help. Their drawbacks include lack of stability, as well as lack
of height and structure to "contain" a fruit-heavy plant. I really
hate 'em, and the way first time gardeners are tricked into buying
them.

Frogleg wrote in message . ..

If a tomato needs any support at all, those wretched dime-store cages
won't help. Their drawbacks include lack of stability, as well as lack
of height and structure to "contain" a fruit-heavy plant. I really
hate 'em, and the way first time gardeners are tricked into buying
them.

True. I use them now for the peonys, and I use rebar cages for the
tomatoes (you have to have a serious cutter to cut that kind of wire).
Even these are smallish. The yellow pear, for example, grow to 8 feet,
and rebar is only 5 feet.

In article fc.003d094101c629923b9aca0095ac54f9.1c62998@pmug. org, (Glenna Rose) wrote:
writes:

We had some a couple years ago that stayed short and bushy... would
fit fine in such a cage -- my tenant used one, why I don't know. The
cage was redundant cuz the plant was so stiff it could take a 60mph
wind without flinching.
Sounds like a determinate, maybe a Roma type?

Didn't look like a Roma -- had smallish round fruit (mostly tucked
"inside", you had to know to look to see them, tho there were lots),
good flavour raw, almost none when cooked; rather high proportion of
"tomato snot".

Determinates don't keep
growing and growing; they are a specific height

Ah, that's good to know. Specific height is better for me, since right
now I only have specific places to put them

~REZ~

.............. rather high proportion of
"tomato snot".



OK everybody, lets stop using the term "tomato snot". I'm going to
have to be eating those things in a couple of months and I want to
be able to enjoy them!!!! :-)

Steve

I think tomato pruning is very uncritical, especially if the plants
are vigorous.

Removal of suckers is a good rule of thumb, but sometimes my caged
plants get so dense that I have to remove entire major branches.

Tomatoes will sustain radical pruning. Not necessarily recommended,
but indicative of tomatoes toughness.
DaveH



On 17 May 2004 16:45:37 -0700, (Frank) wrote:

Hello,

It is my first year to grow tomato. It is beefsteak and I plant one in
a 20" planter. I used "Whiteney Farm" organic all purpose plant food.
I read that using organic fertilizer I don't have to worry about
overfertilize because it is regulated by the microbes or sth machnism
like that. I bought a tomato cage from HD which has 4 rings and 3
stalks. Now, the tomato plant grows to almost the tallest ring but I
haven't got any flower not saying fruit. I'm wondering whether I
should prune the plant, ie cut some tips? When, where and how? My
plant may only get 4 hours afternoon sun. It is the best I can do with
my location. How bad will this affect the flowering and production?

Really anxious. Some tomato plants on HD shelf start to bear green
tomatos. I guess their living condition may not be as good as my
tomato. It is much crowded there and the plant is much shorter. Though
the finding is encouraging, it also makes me wonder whether I miss sth
in growing my tomato.

Thanks for your advice!

Frank