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help me with surprise tomatoes - how to care for them

post #1 of 10
7/27/12 at 8:10am
Thread Starter 

I had been cleaning up my terrace, emptying pots that had been infested with some annoying bulbs that i just couldn;t kill (they keep reproducing their secret underground bulbs) and just dumped the contents all into a big pot.  Other garbage, weeds, etc ended up in there, and someone must have thrown the remnants of a salad, or a piece of tomato into it. 

Anyway, i found two nice tomato plants growing.  I moved them to a real pot and now there are 5 or 6 tomatoes on them, and several other flowers.  The tomatoes are still small and green, but they sort of look like the beefsteak type (italian version i guess) - ridged, but low and wide. 

 

I never had any luck growing vegetables even when i buy the plants already started!!! so what a surprise that these are actually growing and producing. 

 

What do i have to do besides water them?  I repotted them in bagged dirt they sell for terraces, that is supposed to be already fertilized and all.  They seem healthy enough so far.  The plants are in the full sun.  I water thoroughly every night.

 

I vaguely remember as a kid, my mother plucking out any sprouts that grew between the branches, in the fork formed by two branches,  saying they sucked the nourishment away from the plant, but i'm not really sure of this, it was sooo long ago.  It might not even have been tomatoes. 

 

Any suggestions?

"Siduri said, 'Gilgamesh, where are you roaming? You will never find the eternal life that you seek...Savour your food, make each of your days a delight, ... let music and dancing fill your house, love the child who holds you by the hand and give your wife pleasure in your embrace.'"
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post #2 of 10
7/27/12 at 8:05pm

Water in the morning instead of at night ... are they in a well drainable pot or do the pots hold water?

Other than that just make sure the dirt in the pot is damp not wet (put your finger into the soil up to the first joint to test) and that they get plenty of sun

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post #3 of 10
7/28/12 at 7:59am
Thread Starter 

Thanks highlander. 

Sun is no problem - my terrace is like the sun's anvil out there, i can't even attempt to traverse it by day!

 

I always heard watering was better at night because the plant would have time to absorb the water before the sun dried it up, and the spray that can end up on the leaves make lenses that burn the plant.  What's the advantage of watering in the morning?

 

The pot has good  drainage. 

 

I don;t have to pull out any branches? just let nature take its course?

"Siduri said, 'Gilgamesh, where are you roaming? You will never find the eternal life that you seek...Savour your food, make each of your days a delight, ... let music and dancing fill your house, love the child who holds you by the hand and give your wife pleasure in your embrace.'"
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post #4 of 10
7/28/12 at 9:04am

I agree with Highlander about the watering.Try to water early in the day because your tomato plants ,stems and leaves need to be dry before the sun goes down.If your tomatoes are wet at night you might have a problem with fungus or mold or mildew.

And about plucking the so-called suckers,: if your containers are large enough for more root grow I would leave leave them alone since they will grow into more stems,leaves and possibly more tomatoes.If you let them grow the plant will need more nutrients and will grow more roots to make up for it.

Every smoker quits smoking sooner or later!

Only the smart ones are doing it while they are still alive.

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post #5 of 10
7/28/12 at 2:08pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks berndy,

that makes sense.  My pot is not so big so i will cut the suckers.  and the watering in the morning, now that i know why. 

"Siduri said, 'Gilgamesh, where are you roaming? You will never find the eternal life that you seek...Savour your food, make each of your days a delight, ... let music and dancing fill your house, love the child who holds you by the hand and give your wife pleasure in your embrace.'"
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post #6 of 10
8/14/12 at 9:48am

I just stopped to check on your tomatoes.

How many did you harvest so far ?

Did you have any problems ?

Every smoker quits smoking sooner or later!

Only the smart ones are doing it while they are still alive.

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post #7 of 10
8/15/12 at 1:33pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by berndy View Post

I just stopped to check on your tomatoes.

How many did you harvest so far ?

Did you have any problems ?


Hi Berndy,

how nice of you to stop by!  I'd offer you a tea and cake - or maybe some caprese considering the topic - but i can't figure out how to stick it into my computer. 

Anyway, i have five tomatoes growing on two plants. Not bad considering the pot was too small and they just grew on their own.  One was harvested by my granddaughter of 4, who wanted to taste it (is it ready yet? is it ready yet?) and it wasn't bad, though i'd have left it longer.  The others are green. 

Unfortunately it had been watered in the evening for a long time before getting your post and the bottom leaves all yellowed and most are dry.  But the tomatoes are still there and the stalks are still strong, so hoping to be able to eat them soon. 

take care

"Siduri said, 'Gilgamesh, where are you roaming? You will never find the eternal life that you seek...Savour your food, make each of your days a delight, ... let music and dancing fill your house, love the child who holds you by the hand and give your wife pleasure in your embrace.'"
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post #8 of 10
8/16/12 at 1:05am

Hi Siduri,

I wouldn't worry about the bottom leaves being dry. That's normal. When the leaves get older the plant starts using the nutrients from the older leaves to feed the new growth points. If too many turn yellow, you might have to put some extra fertiliser.

Highlander and Berndy were talking about fungal diseases. Powdery mildew is visible as white powdery spots on the leaves, downy mildew causes leaf drop.

 

Removing the suckers can be a good idea to direct the plant to put the energy into the tomato, not the leafy growth points.

In commercial (greenhouse) growing they are normally removed to manipulate the plant to grow into a specific shape, they are connected to some twine to keep them upright and lowered every so often to be able to harvest them. The lower leaves have by then gone totally dry and fallen off and harvesting still takes place from the top.

It's a bit difficult to describe. I can try find some pictures.

 

Good luck with your growing exercise!

Life is too short to drink bad wine
---Anonymus---

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post #9 of 10
8/16/12 at 8:19am

It seems that your tomatoes are under lots of stress since you are growing them in tiny pots without enough dirt to hold sufficent moisture you might have to water twice a day ,during the day to get them to produce a bit more .

Every smoker quits smoking sooner or later!

Only the smart ones are doing it while they are still alive.

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post #10 of 10
8/16/12 at 9:53am
Thread Starter 

Thanks for all the advice.  next year i'll try to plant them!

"Siduri said, 'Gilgamesh, where are you roaming? You will never find the eternal life that you seek...Savour your food, make each of your days a delight, ... let music and dancing fill your house, love the child who holds you by the hand and give your wife pleasure in your embrace.'"
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