Thought I'd bring this back up.
So the tomatoes are doing well based on my less then stellar track record of growing them. Thanks to everyone for the advice.
SF

Mine are okay, but not great. iI have had about five ripe so far - all from Glacier. These are small and only slightly better than what we get at Safeway, which is dim praise indeed. The next flavorful ones are still at least two weeks away.

I grow several varieties of tomatoes every year. This year I have 2 Italian sweets (small roma looking, great flavor), 2 Glaciers, 1 sungold, 1 roma, 1 sweet million, 1 early girl, 1 bush early girl, and 1 stupice. I get lots of sun at my place and water all plants by hand. They are doing exceptionally well this year thanks to the great weather.

DV's tips are spot on, plus to quicken the end of season ripening...don't water at all.

I've been trying to keep my girl from watering them...she sees all those big fruits on them and can't help herself from thinking they are about to die if she doesn't water them thoroughly. Thanks to Dave, she now believes me

Anyone grow many peppers? I know this is not a good climate for them, but I have a few plants, two of which actually have a nice pepper each growing on them. I never water them, either...am I doing it right on those?

I figure I'd water them if they start to severely wilt but we get enough moisture here in the air overnight and in the mornings that they haven't wilted at all yet.

Fish on...

Todd

P.S. I have an heirloom Roma of some sort in a bucket and it not only has 24 fruits on a plant that's about two feet tall, it adds one to three every day. The biggest ones are nearly maximum sized, about four inches long and pretty thick throughout. Never been fed, and hasn't been watered since it was first planted a couple of months ago.

Todd,
I grow jalapenos, this year three varieties...regular, mucho nacho, and mammoth. The mammoth is a new to me, but the plant is healthy. Fruit comes on in August. Favorite way to eat them is to cut them in the half length-wise, scoop out seeds, fill each half with goat cheese, wrap each half in bacon.....grill slow and low. Wash them down with ice cold beer and life is good.
Snake

Snake,
That pepper recipe sounds great. May have to try that next year.
SF

SF,
They are really good, but don't wait until next year. I get my goat cheese at Costco or Trader Joes, jalapenos you can buy at markets if you don't grow any. The trick with the bacon is to par boil it first so it's fairly cooked but still pliable to wrap the pepper. I usually use a toothpick to keep it all together. I place them on a mesh grill that sits on my barbecue grill. Dipping sauce is a sweet red pepper jam that Pasta & company sells.....stuff goes well on anything, even hamburgers.
Snake

I don't have any problem with eating peppers...I want to find out if I am growing them correctly!



Fish on...

Todd

you can water them once a day Todd depending on heat will determine how much... a good option is to install a soaker hose into the garden bed and then just grab your hose, connect to it, and turn it on for a bit....

this way you arent watering the foliage, and leaving beads which can cause severe burning depending on how much sun you get...water in the morning, so the plants can suck it up and use it during the day...

I water my jalapenos daily and they get lots of sun. I also hit them will Miracle Gro mixed with water occasionally. I have 10 plants in the ground and two in pots, they do equally well.

BTW, my two beds of walla walla's are rocking. Beer tempura batter, deep fried onion rings very soon.

As an organic option to Miracle Gro for veggies we're gonna eat, we amend with organic okara (soy pulp). Picked a couple of 5 gallon buckets for *free* at the local plant in February. When you see how big and healthy your veggies get by comparison, you'll say "Holy soy shizl!" too. Don't have to worry about the Monsanto effect either....

I'm starting to see more significant growth of my plants, and I stopped picking off the flowers that they said to do early on, along with the suckers, to promote better plant growth. I'm not watering them as heavily either, but a soaker hose runs through them on the way to other plants on the next terrace level.

I am NEVER concerned about growth on my tomato plants, and I do not understand the idea of picking off blooms. If we don't get fruit on blooms by August 15th its unlikely they will mature.


I want to repeat someones earlier advise about Late Blight. If you h get a hard rain on your toms after mid August there is a good chance you will be wiped out by late blight. Tomatoes need to be covered to keep off late summer rains. If late blight hits you will lose all your plants almost overnight.

As much as I would like to have shown pictures of my wanna be vegie garden this year.... I'm just to emmbarrased to even show what a pitiful effort it has become... Nothing more than a damn fool weed patch is what I have to show for this year.

Strike Zone's wife must be related to mine. Caint even keep a cactus alive in the freakin desert, cause a cactus doesn't ever have to be watered... right?.

I was told by a master gardener from WSU Skagit CountyMaster Gardener Program that the blight is in the soil and gets splashed up onto tomato plants by the rain or watering. She said to prevent this put some plastic on the ground under and around the plants. I haven't tried this because I grow all my tomatoes in a green house so I can't say that it works for sure.

blight can also be in the water, so if you gather your own rainwater, pay attention...

blight is a fungi, its spores spread throughout the air, just like all other molds and fungi... but it can also be in the water...

and, it can also be in the soil as you said...

you never want to splash any plants with dirt, if you are splashing your plants hard enough for dirt to end up on the leaves to cause blight, then you are watering your plants way too violently....

people think that "it will make them tougher" well, it can and does the exact opposite, you will get less fruit and it wont be as good...

as far as greenhouses, you can get every single type of pathogen in a greenhouse as you can in outside... they are EVERYWHERE... they are on you right now, as we speak...

treat your plants with respect, and they will reward you with their fruits...

i just proved this to my GF this year, by not gardening this year and letting her do it.... guess who won the comp?


chuck the Miracle Grow and go and get some organic "house blend" hydro nutrients from your local hydro store, and thank me later....

Sounds like you know your stuff.
I don't have any problems with blight because all I grow now are Sungolds. By growing them in the greenhouse I have a steady supply into November.

Now that's what I call Harvest!
(I once heard the Evangelist Ernest Angley say that at an African Missionary Gathering. It was hilarious. I used to enjoy laughing at him)

This is Dad with a bowl full of Black Japanese Triffle


This is another really cool one call Indigo Blue or Blue Cherry

This is a favorite - German Queen

These have done really well this year. We have 3 or 4 of these plants around - Campari