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I see some of you are mentioning flowers already, and can see from the lovely pic above that
indeed some tomato plants are already producing lots of flowers!
I have been used to growing tomatoes in NJ and we wouldn't get ripe fruit until around mid-July.
I am now in Northern VA and some of my tomato plants already have flower buds.
I guess it is okay to leave these on even though the plants are only about a foot to two feet high right now?
Or is it taking energy from the growing plant to leave flowers on right now?
My tomato plants are already huge. A friend told me she heard you should pinch off some of the branches without blossoms to keep the nutrients flowing to the flowers. Is there any truth to that? I have lots of flowers at this point.
Yes it will help the fruit grow stronger and larger. You should also do this with all fruit and citrus plants. I always remove about twenty five percent of the fruit when it is first starting.
Another thing that can improve your yield/plant is to remove the suckers from your plant. Sucker= at the junction where a branch comes off from the main trunk of the plant, a little shoot will appear, pinch them off, they are sucking at the plants vitality and produce nothing.
Thank you. I " desuckered" yesterday. I hadn't heard that term before, but once I read your description they were easy to spot. I have my first little tomatoes now!
Thank you. I " desuckered" yesterday. I hadn't heard that term before, but once I read your description they were easy to spot. I have my first little tomatoes now!
You're quite welcome. I will confess that the main reason I plant a garden is to eat the results, I tell friends that there is a N.C. Statute that states "You must subsist on a tomato sandwich diet for at least two months out of each year." I certainly try to live within the letter of my made-up law. Don't know about other parts of the country, but, here in the south, Tomato Sandwich = Dukes Mayonaisse, a thick slab of tomato on white bread, with salt and pepper optional, it's one of the few things we don't put sugar on.
I never had a tomato sandwich but I know what you mean about enjoying ripe tomatoes. I have been hovering over mine and I can't wait to taste my first one. I have a few tomatoes on some of them but not enough to cover my two months yes. I think next year I will plant more tomatoes and will sure start earlier than this year. I am just struggling with the soil. I had some raised beds built but they were filled by top soil so it's still hard to manage. I think I will remove some of it and put some nice soil to make it easier to plant.
We planted our tomatoes and zucchini two weeks ago this past Wednesday. From nice plants about 7 or 8 inches high they've nearly doubled in size and now some show signs of flowering already. The yellow zuchini has a flower on it already too and its still hugging the ground.
We had a heat wave after a week of non stop rain. I sprayed them with copper fungicide spray to protect against the blight. I'd say its been good growing weather but
isn't this too early? I'm used to seeing them start flowering at about 2 feet in height in mid June, not late May and only at about 16 inches. Its not just one variety either, its different cherry tomatoes and different large tomatoes. Is it all just good ground and good weather? I don't think I've over fertilized either other than using a good amount of composted cow manure and a light scattering of espoma tomato tone and epsom salts.
As for eating tomatoes, theres a few ways. One is slice up a big beefsteak tomato or two and eat it as a side dish to steak off the grill. Its like getting another cut of beef as a side dish. Or you can grill up a cheese sandwich and put a thick slice of tomato in it. Or you can have the BLT on toast. Two slices of bacon for flavor but a thick slice of tomato and just a little mayo. Or on a grilled burger, tomato, onion, thousand island dressing and tomato. And a little lettuce just to be classy, but not mandatory.
My dad would eat tomato sandwiches, just bread and tomato. He also ate cheese and pineapple sandwiches which I think might have been a coal regions or great depression thing.
I never had a tomato sandwich but I know what you mean about enjoying ripe tomatoes. I have been hovering over mine and I can't wait to taste my first one. I have a few tomatoes on some of them but not enough to cover my two months yes. I think next year I will plant more tomatoes and will sure start earlier than this year. I am just struggling with the soil. I had some raised beds built but they were filled by top soil so it's still hard to manage. I think I will remove some of it and put some nice soil to make it easier to plant.
You could try mulching your plants with grass clippings, it shades the roots and also adds nutrients to the soil.
I see some of you are mentioning flowers already, and can see from the lovely pic above that
indeed some tomato plants are already producing lots of flowers!
I have been used to growing tomatoes in NJ and we wouldn't get ripe fruit until around mid-July.
I am now in Northern VA and some of my tomato plants already have flower buds.
I guess it is okay to leave these on even though the plants are only about a foot to two feet high right now?
Or is it taking energy from the growing plant to leave flowers on right now?
You want your tomato plant to grow, first. Removing flowers and suckers early will cause your plant to grow more, giving more of the energy to growing.
The opposite is true for when your plant is ready to produce fruit. Removing limbs that have no flowers (but keep removing the suckers), will give more energy to producing fruit.
The above works for most plants; like Strawberries and peppers.
I have been removing suckers from tomato plants but didn't do that from the peppers, I guess I have to start doing that next year. I sure see the difference in the main stem, it looks a lot stronger. I noticed that the heirloom tomatoes take longer to flower and form fruits. I had a bunch of baby tomatoes on Roma and cherry plants and just found one on the heirloom today and I am really excited about it.
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