This was the worst year I've ever had growing tomatoes. By the middle
of August most of the plants had died. I'm assuming it was some type
of blight that might have gotten them as well as several other things.
I know that I should rotate where in the garden I raise tomatoes but
am wondering if anyone does anything special to their gardens over the
winter time? Mine is already cleaned out and tilled. The only thing
I tend to do over the winter is put leaves on it and then till them
under in the spring.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, try rotating your tomatoe patch to
other locations
in case there is something residual in the soil. Your plants could have
been attacked
by either insects or some fungacide. I add fertilizer, mulch, and sand to
amend my
soil over the winter. Keeping your plants properly watered helps a lot.
You should
try and determine why the plants died, like taking samples of plant to
some local
experts for analysis. Even the manner in which they died can give a clue
to the
cause. It would probably be better if you first composted your leaves and
then put
them into the soil. They may not be fully broken down by spring, and
could have a
negative effect on your plants, like draw nitrogen from them. I use last
year's compost for the current fall season. If you don't want to compost,
at least turn your
leaves into the soil this fall, so they will break down a little faster
for next year.

Sherwin D.

rile wrote:

This was the worst year I've ever had growing tomatoes. By the middle
of August most of the plants had died. I'm assuming it was some type
of blight that might have gotten them as well as several other things.
I know that I should rotate where in the garden I raise tomatoes but
am wondering if anyone does anything special to their gardens over the
winter time? Mine is already cleaned out and tilled. The only thing
I tend to do over the winter is put leaves on it and then till them
under in the spring.

In article ,
(rile) wrote:

This was the worst year I've ever had growing tomatoes. By the middle
of August most of the plants had died. I'm assuming it was some type
of blight that might have gotten them as well as several other things.
I know that I should rotate where in the garden I raise tomatoes but
am wondering if anyone does anything special to their gardens over the
winter time? Mine is already cleaned out and tilled. The only thing
I tend to do over the winter is put leaves on it and then till them
under in the spring.

I had the same problem... and I suspect it was all the rain.

I recently purchased an "old" sweet 100's that was grown in a greenhouse
at a local nursery and was rather large, but unhappy being in a 4" pot
for several months! lol (It was a spring leftover)

it has since had a growth explosion in my main garden bed after I pulled
up all the other vines. It looks very happy and is producing....

Since this one survived the summer being grown indoors and we had an
unusually high summer rainfall, that may very well have been it!

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

In article ,
(rile) wrote:

This was the worst year I've ever had growing tomatoes. By the middle
of August most of the plants had died. I'm assuming it was some type
of blight that might have gotten them as well as several other things.
I know that I should rotate where in the garden I raise tomatoes but
am wondering if anyone does anything special to their gardens over the
winter time? Mine is already cleaned out and tilled. The only thing
I tend to do over the winter is put leaves on it and then till them
under in the spring.

I had the same problem... and I suspect it was all the rain.

I recently purchased an "old" sweet 100's that was grown in a greenhouse
at a local nursery and was rather large, but unhappy being in a 4" pot
for several months! lol (It was a spring leftover)

it has since had a growth explosion in my main garden bed after I pulled
up all the other vines. It looks very happy and is producing....

Since this one survived the summer being grown indoors and we had an
unusually high summer rainfall, that may very well have been it!

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

(rile) wrote in message . com...
This was the worst year I've ever had growing tomatoes. By the middle
of August most of the plants had died. I'm assuming it was some type
of blight that might have gotten them as well as several other things.
I know that I should rotate where in the garden I raise tomatoes but
am wondering if anyone does anything special to their gardens over the
winter time? Mine is already cleaned out and tilled. The only thing
I tend to do over the winter is put leaves on it and then till them
under in the spring.

1) Definitely leave the leaves on top, so that they separate the plant
from the soil. Tomatoes also like being mulched, so the leaves do
double duty. I put them in the tomato patch just before I plant, late
May (until then, the tomato patch is clear). You should have leaf
mulch throughout the season. You can also use wood chips as mulch.

2) Do not ever water from overhead. Place the hose on the ground or
use drip. Do not use sprinklers. Leave some room so that different
tomato plants don't touch. If they are caged, they will indeed not
touch with 8 inches between each cage. I plant some chicory in the
gaps (it is a winter green) so the space is not wasted. Lettuce or
other shade tolerant greens would do well, too.

3) Definitely rotate the tomato patch around. That means away from
patches where peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and eggplants were grown
recently. Nightshade is also a carrier, and a weed around here, so
kill it if you have it. Do not let the plant touch the ground, either
stake or fasten to cage as soon as the plant is in. Collect dead
plants and either discard or mow them into the lawn very far from the
garden.

4) It will help to give the tomatoes some manure, so that you have
stronger plants which can resist infection better. I find that manure
makes beatiful plants that stay healthy through the season and make
better tasting tomatoes, but tend to fruit later. No manure will
produce earlier fruits and plants that catch the blight more readily.
You can put manure in the garden now, but keep the leaves in a place
where they don't get too wet so they will mulch longer next season.

I also give the tomatoes a handful of wood ash per plant (Ca, K,
micros, and better taste), which I usually spread over the mulch at
planting time.
This said, this was a poor year for tomatoes, at least around here, a
cold, relatively gray summer. If it rains too much, tomatoes will
still catch blight. The peppers were also mediocre. There is nothing
you can do, it's the breaks. The many greens I grow were fine.

(rile) wrote in message . com...
This was the worst year I've ever had growing tomatoes. By the middle
of August most of the plants had died. I'm assuming it was some type
of blight that might have gotten them as well as several other things.
I know that I should rotate where in the garden I raise tomatoes but
am wondering if anyone does anything special to their gardens over the
winter time? Mine is already cleaned out and tilled. The only thing
I tend to do over the winter is put leaves on it and then till them
under in the spring.

1) Definitely leave the leaves on top, so that they separate the plant
from the soil. Tomatoes also like being mulched, so the leaves do
double duty. I put them in the tomato patch just before I plant, late
May (until then, the tomato patch is clear). You should have leaf
mulch throughout the season. You can also use wood chips as mulch.

2) Do not ever water from overhead. Place the hose on the ground or
use drip. Do not use sprinklers. Leave some room so that different
tomato plants don't touch. If they are caged, they will indeed not
touch with 8 inches between each cage. I plant some chicory in the
gaps (it is a winter green) so the space is not wasted. Lettuce or
other shade tolerant greens would do well, too.

3) Definitely rotate the tomato patch around. That means away from
patches where peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and eggplants were grown
recently. Nightshade is also a carrier, and a weed around here, so
kill it if you have it. Do not let the plant touch the ground, either
stake or fasten to cage as soon as the plant is in. Collect dead
plants and either discard or mow them into the lawn very far from the
garden.

4) It will help to give the tomatoes some manure, so that you have
stronger plants which can resist infection better. I find that manure
makes beatiful plants that stay healthy through the season and make
better tasting tomatoes, but tend to fruit later. No manure will
produce earlier fruits and plants that catch the blight more readily.
You can put manure in the garden now, but keep the leaves in a place
where they don't get too wet so they will mulch longer next season.

I also give the tomatoes a handful of wood ash per plant (Ca, K,
micros, and better taste), which I usually spread over the mulch at
planting time.
This said, this was a poor year for tomatoes, at least around here, a
cold, relatively gray summer. If it rains too much, tomatoes will
still catch blight. The peppers were also mediocre. There is nothing
you can do, it's the breaks. The many greens I grow were fine.

Hi simyl,
I agree with almost everything you said in this posting, except for the question of what to do
with the leaves. I'm not sure about this, but just mixing uncomposted leaves
into the soil to decompose may remove more nutrients than you are adding. I would
think the best approach is to put her leaves into a compost pile in fall, and use the
resulting composted material the following spring when planting, or use it as a protective layer
around the plants to keep in moisture and discourage weeds. As I
mentioned in a previous posting, I make my compost the previous year to amend the
soil in fall. Storing leaves in a dry place makes no sense and is probably a pain in the
neck. Without the heat and weight of a pile of leaves and green matter, it would take
a long time to compost dry leaves, if you just pile them onto the garden. Digging them
in the soil might deplete their effect, and would also take a much longer time for
them to break down. I do not understand what you are trying to say in your item #1.

Sherwin Dubren

simy1 wrote:

(rile) wrote in message . com...
This was the worst year I've ever had growing tomatoes. By the middle
of August most of the plants had died. I'm assuming it was some type
of blight that might have gotten them as well as several other things.
I know that I should rotate where in the garden I raise tomatoes but
am wondering if anyone does anything special to their gardens over the
winter time? Mine is already cleaned out and tilled. The only thing
I tend to do over the winter is put leaves on it and then till them
under in the spring.

1) Definitely leave the leaves on top, so that they separate the plant
from the soil. Tomatoes also like being mulched, so the leaves do
double duty. I put them in the tomato patch just before I plant, late
May (until then, the tomato patch is clear). You should have leaf
mulch throughout the season. You can also use wood chips as mulch.

2) Do not ever water from overhead. Place the hose on the ground or
use drip. Do not use sprinklers. Leave some room so that different
tomato plants don't touch. If they are caged, they will indeed not
touch with 8 inches between each cage. I plant some chicory in the
gaps (it is a winter green) so the space is not wasted. Lettuce or
other shade tolerant greens would do well, too.

3) Definitely rotate the tomato patch around. That means away from
patches where peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and eggplants were grown
recently. Nightshade is also a carrier, and a weed around here, so
kill it if you have it. Do not let the plant touch the ground, either
stake or fasten to cage as soon as the plant is in. Collect dead
plants and either discard or mow them into the lawn very far from the
garden.

4) It will help to give the tomatoes some manure, so that you have
stronger plants which can resist infection better. I find that manure
makes beatiful plants that stay healthy through the season and make
better tasting tomatoes, but tend to fruit later. No manure will
produce earlier fruits and plants that catch the blight more readily.
You can put manure in the garden now, but keep the leaves in a place
where they don't get too wet so they will mulch longer next season.

I also give the tomatoes a handful of wood ash per plant (Ca, K,
micros, and better taste), which I usually spread over the mulch at
planting time.
This said, this was a poor year for tomatoes, at least around here, a
cold, relatively gray summer. If it rains too much, tomatoes will
still catch blight. The peppers were also mediocre. There is nothing
you can do, it's the breaks. The many greens I grow were fine.

Hi simyl,
I agree with almost everything you said in this posting, except for the question of what to do
with the leaves. I'm not sure about this, but just mixing uncomposted leaves
into the soil to decompose may remove more nutrients than you are adding. I would
think the best approach is to put her leaves into a compost pile in fall, and use the
resulting composted material the following spring when planting, or use it as a protective layer
around the plants to keep in moisture and discourage weeds. As I
mentioned in a previous posting, I make my compost the previous year to amend the
soil in fall. Storing leaves in a dry place makes no sense and is probably a pain in the
neck. Without the heat and weight of a pile of leaves and green matter, it would take
a long time to compost dry leaves, if you just pile them onto the garden. Digging them
in the soil might deplete their effect, and would also take a much longer time for
them to break down. I do not understand what you are trying to say in your item #1.

Sherwin Dubren

simy1 wrote:

(rile) wrote in message . com...
This was the worst year I've ever had growing tomatoes. By the middle
of August most of the plants had died. I'm assuming it was some type
of blight that might have gotten them as well as several other things.
I know that I should rotate where in the garden I raise tomatoes but
am wondering if anyone does anything special to their gardens over the
winter time? Mine is already cleaned out and tilled. The only thing
I tend to do over the winter is put leaves on it and then till them
under in the spring.

1) Definitely leave the leaves on top, so that they separate the plant
from the soil. Tomatoes also like being mulched, so the leaves do
double duty. I put them in the tomato patch just before I plant, late
May (until then, the tomato patch is clear). You should have leaf
mulch throughout the season. You can also use wood chips as mulch.

2) Do not ever water from overhead. Place the hose on the ground or
use drip. Do not use sprinklers. Leave some room so that different
tomato plants don't touch. If they are caged, they will indeed not
touch with 8 inches between each cage. I plant some chicory in the
gaps (it is a winter green) so the space is not wasted. Lettuce or
other shade tolerant greens would do well, too.

3) Definitely rotate the tomato patch around. That means away from
patches where peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and eggplants were grown
recently. Nightshade is also a carrier, and a weed around here, so
kill it if you have it. Do not let the plant touch the ground, either
stake or fasten to cage as soon as the plant is in. Collect dead
plants and either discard or mow them into the lawn very far from the
garden.

4) It will help to give the tomatoes some manure, so that you have
stronger plants which can resist infection better. I find that manure
makes beatiful plants that stay healthy through the season and make
better tasting tomatoes, but tend to fruit later. No manure will
produce earlier fruits and plants that catch the blight more readily.
You can put manure in the garden now, but keep the leaves in a place
where they don't get too wet so they will mulch longer next season.

I also give the tomatoes a handful of wood ash per plant (Ca, K,
micros, and better taste), which I usually spread over the mulch at
planting time.
This said, this was a poor year for tomatoes, at least around here, a
cold, relatively gray summer. If it rains too much, tomatoes will
still catch blight. The peppers were also mediocre. There is nothing
you can do, it's the breaks. The many greens I grow were fine.

sherwindu wrote in message ...
Hi simyl,
I agree with almost everything you said in this posting, except for the question of what to do
with the leaves. I'm not sure about this, but just mixing uncomposted leaves
into the soil to decompose may remove more nutrients than you are adding. I would
think the best approach is to put her leaves into a compost pile in fall, and use the
resulting composted material the following spring when planting, or use it as a protective layer

That is what I said, see below. Put the leaves on top of the soil.

around the plants to keep in moisture and discourage weeds.

1) Definitely leave the leaves on top, so that they separate the plant
from the soil. Tomatoes also like being mulched, so the leaves do
double duty. I put them in the tomato patch just before I plant, late
May (until then, the tomato patch is clear). You should have leaf
mulch throughout the season. You can also use wood chips as mulch.

sherwindu wrote in message ...
Hi simyl,
I agree with almost everything you said in this posting, except for the question of what to do
with the leaves. I'm not sure about this, but just mixing uncomposted leaves
into the soil to decompose may remove more nutrients than you are adding. I would
think the best approach is to put her leaves into a compost pile in fall, and use the
resulting composted material the following spring when planting, or use it as a protective layer

That is what I said, see below. Put the leaves on top of the soil.

around the plants to keep in moisture and discourage weeds.

1) Definitely leave the leaves on top, so that they separate the plant
from the soil. Tomatoes also like being mulched, so the leaves do
double duty. I put them in the tomato patch just before I plant, late
May (until then, the tomato patch is clear). You should have leaf
mulch throughout the season. You can also use wood chips as mulch.

sherwindu wrote in message ...
Hi simyl,
I agree with almost everything you said in this posting, except for the question of what to do
with the leaves. I'm not sure about this, but just mixing uncomposted leaves
into the soil to decompose may remove more nutrients than you are adding. I would
think the best approach is to put her leaves into a compost pile in fall, and use the
resulting composted material the following spring when planting, or use it as a protective layer

That is what I said, see below. Put the leaves on top of the soil.

around the plants to keep in moisture and discourage weeds.

1) Definitely leave the leaves on top, so that they separate the plant
from the soil. Tomatoes also like being mulched, so the leaves do
double duty. I put them in the tomato patch just before I plant, late
May (until then, the tomato patch is clear). You should have leaf
mulch throughout the season. You can also use wood chips as mulch.

simy1 wrote:

sherwindu wrote in message ...
Hi simyl,
I agree with almost everything you said in this posting, except for the question of what to do
with the leaves. I'm not sure about this, but just mixing uncomposted leaves
into the soil to decompose may remove more nutrients than you are adding. I would
think the best approach is to put her leaves into a compost pile in fall, and use the
resulting composted material the following spring when planting, or use it as a protective layer

That is what I said, see below. Put the leaves on top of the soil.

You again miss the whole point. Putting the leaves on top of the soil is not the same as putting
them
into a mulch pile!



around the plants to keep in moisture and discourage weeds.

1) Definitely leave the leaves on top, so that they separate the plant
from the soil. Tomatoes also like being mulched, so the leaves do
double duty. I put them in the tomato patch just before I plant, late
May (until then, the tomato patch is clear). You should have leaf
mulch throughout the season. You can also use wood chips as mulch.

simy1 wrote:

sherwindu wrote in message ...
Hi simyl,
I agree with almost everything you said in this posting, except for the question of what to do
with the leaves. I'm not sure about this, but just mixing uncomposted leaves
into the soil to decompose may remove more nutrients than you are adding. I would
think the best approach is to put her leaves into a compost pile in fall, and use the
resulting composted material the following spring when planting, or use it as a protective layer

That is what I said, see below. Put the leaves on top of the soil.

You again miss the whole point. Putting the leaves on top of the soil is not the same as putting
them
into a mulch pile!



around the plants to keep in moisture and discourage weeds.

1) Definitely leave the leaves on top, so that they separate the plant
from the soil. Tomatoes also like being mulched, so the leaves do
double duty. I put them in the tomato patch just before I plant, late
May (until then, the tomato patch is clear). You should have leaf
mulch throughout the season. You can also use wood chips as mulch.

simy1 wrote:

sherwindu wrote in message ...
Hi simyl,
I agree with almost everything you said in this posting, except for the question of what to do
with the leaves. I'm not sure about this, but just mixing uncomposted leaves
into the soil to decompose may remove more nutrients than you are adding. I would
think the best approach is to put her leaves into a compost pile in fall, and use the
resulting composted material the following spring when planting, or use it as a protective layer

That is what I said, see below. Put the leaves on top of the soil.

You again miss the whole point. Putting the leaves on top of the soil is not the same as putting
them
into a mulch pile!



around the plants to keep in moisture and discourage weeds.

1) Definitely leave the leaves on top, so that they separate the plant
from the soil. Tomatoes also like being mulched, so the leaves do
double duty. I put them in the tomato patch just before I plant, late
May (until then, the tomato patch is clear). You should have leaf
mulch throughout the season. You can also use wood chips as mulch.