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Re: Tomatilloes anyone?

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

-=-=-=-Original Message -=-=-=-
From: Johnny Vann <johnnyvann@excite.com>
To: <sqft@listbot.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 1999 3:37 PM
Subject: Tomatilloes anyone?

> This is the first year I have grown Tomatilloes. I have plenty of blooms
and
> have had plenty for about a month. What I don't have is any fruit forming.
I
> only have one plant since my dog ran across the bed and stepped on the
other
> one (bad Charley) and broke the stem just as it was sprouting.
>
> Do Tomatilloes self polinate or do they need another plant for form fruit?
I
> have yet to have a day reach above 80 degrees, do they need more heat? The
> Cucumbers and Pear Cherry Tomatoes in the same bed have started to form
> fruit yet the Tomatillo started blooming first. Am I being too impatient?
>
> Johnny Vann
> Zone 9
> Berkeley, CA

I planted one tomatilloe 3 years ago.  Since then I have not gotten around
to starting any more but every year I find a few volunteers outside my
raised
beds (or in the compost) I transfer these to my raised beds and they go like
crazy.  They flower early on but don't do much.  The tomatoes flower and
start kicking into high gear and the tomatillos finally start producing
their little
husks.   The husks can get fairly large and be virtually empty.  It is not
until
mid to late season (for my garden anyway) they they finally fill the husks
completly and start splitting them.  They are ready to pick when you brush
against them and they just fall into your hand.  If I have a windy day I
just
check the ground around the plant for falled fruits.
I don't know if they self polinate or anything but I have never had to
pollenate them and they were vigrous that first year when I had only one
plant.
They produce quite a bit outlasting even the tomatoes.  They keep longer on
the counter top then tomatoes.  Also a tomatillo relish or salsa is strange
and unusual to most people (at least in my circle of friends) so a nice
fresh tomatilla relish is quite welcome on mexican night.  I have gotten
quite addicted to them and miss them in the off season.  But no matter how
much of a crop I get I somehow never have enough left over to try
to can or freeze.
Don't peel of the husk until you are ready to use them, the green
tomatillo in the dried husk is actually sticky and impossible to keep
clean once the husk splits.
Ground fallen fruits (or veggies?) must be picked up the same day or
the ants have a field day with them.  My ants will walk past a tomato
broken open on the ground to attack a tomatilo with the husk still on it.
I guess they know a good thing when they find it.
I have been able to bring tomatoes and peppers inside at the end of
the season before.  So far this has always failed with the tomatillos.
The fruit (de husked and rinsed) once diced and mixed with a onion
one tomato and a little cilantro make a very tary (I like that...) salsa.
I did try to start them inside last year (grow lights the whole bit) but the
'volunteers' were always larger bigger and more vigrous so I tranplated
them back into the garden and gave my starts away to friends/co-workers.
My plants grow about 3-4 feet tall and don't seem to mind being confined
to a tomato cage or two.  I use the cage to keep them neat and tidy.
The tomatillos never get much larger than golf ball and the plants dont
actually
need the support.  But they will wander into every adjacent sunny square
if you don't stop them.
Pests like aphids may go crazy on my weakest tomatoe plants but they
never seem to (perhaps they hide it well...) go after the tomatillos.
All in all a very nice (zero maintenenace) addition to the garden.
Best of luck.
Ron Souliere ( USDA zone5, Lincoln nebraska)


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