RE: tomato plants

I will try your method with the legumes Kavita....if I can't find moong, I'll use one of the others etc...I do have cages on most of my plants...they really help...going to try the sand mixture you mentioned and also the compost next time. Will also see if I can find Shultz tomato food at OSH gardening supply(is it better than miracle grow?)....going to cut back on the watering too ...its very dry here tho (unlike your area) haven't had any rain since last spring..so I'll keep an eye on that. The nitrogen in the rain water must really be helpful  I would imagine.
Thanks for the advice :)

Kavita Kalpit Jain <kavita_j@hotmail.com> wrote:
any legume will do. moong, kidney, black eye, fenugreek, any lentil/beans
etc.
they wud be in asian/chinese/indian store. uwajimaya or indian grocery
stores types.

haven't watered them in last 1 month at all.
but we live in seattle so... :)
rains haven't started that regularly yet still i don't water and they r
doing fine.

From: Johnny
Reply-To: veggie@plantideas.com
To: veggie@plantideas.com
Subject: RE: tomato plants
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 11:26:48 -0700 (PDT)

Those are some great ideas Kavita..and it sounds like they are working great
for your tomato plants..:) thats super!
I'm not familiar with moong beans...are those available in the regular
supermarket?
Also how often do you water your plants?
Thanks for sharing! :)
Johnny

Kavita Kalpit Jain wrote:my tomatoes were finally a great success after help from this group.

will share what all i implemented -
caging
less water
mixing sand in soil to make it sandy loamy soil
sprinkling moong beans around the roots for nitrogen fixation
Shultz tomato food
some organic fertilizer.

they came out awesome.

i have abt 8 plants and each one is 3 feet wide now.

kavita

From: Johnny
Reply-To: veggie@plantideas.com
To: veggie@plantideas.com
Subject: RE: tomato plants
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 05:49:13 -0700 (PDT)


Hi Mary,
Thanks very much for writing, and for the information....its very helpful. I
will try adding some compost next time, as you mentioned, and see if that
helps produce more tomatoes...will also check out some sites on the
internet..also will try pinching the first & second flowers as you
suggested..and less water.
With the suckers I've pinched, I've been able to grow some new plants and
just lately got a couple cherry tomatoes from them.. hopefully there will be
more coming along soon.
I live in the San Fernando Valley ... this is my first vegetable garden with
tomato plants, so this is kind of a new experience. I did have a few cherry
tomato plants a couple years ago, but thats about all...This summer was
really hot here especially in August..its just lately that the days have
cooled down a bit. Hows the weather in Costa Mesa lately? my tomato plants,
like yours, seemed to like the heat except when it got up over 100
degrees....then I noticed mine declined a bit.They are all located in the
patio area that gets quite alot of sun in the afternoon hours. I have been
watering them every morning and sometimes in the evenings as well if the
soil looks kind of dry on the surface...next time I'm going to try mulching
also to help with that (if) I use containers again (especially) etc.....so
you found that less waterin! g works the best? I know thats very true with
house plants also....I wonder if I've been giving my tomato plants too much?
The types of tomato plants I grew are: Celebrity, Early Girl, Roma, Sweet
100, Patio, Cherry, Better Boy, Champion, and a couple others (which names
escape me at the moment)...overall I did get quite a few tomatoes total thru
July & August..(they made some great salsa)..but it sure seemed like I
should have gotten alot more...maybe its because of the containers and the
root systems not having quite enough room to expand? .I also grew burpless
variety cucumbers...got quite alot of them.. (they are still doing well
....odd shapes tho...got a few straight ones, but the others seem to grow in
kind of a 1/2 moon shape....(or a U) ..not sure why?.. also have yellow,
green, and red bell peppers which seem to be the most productive. I found
that corn does not grow in containers (at least mine didn't LOL) after
months of pamper! ing they just didn't make it...they are perfect for
halloween tho....they now look like the dried out kind you see hanging on
front doors as ornaments LOL .!
I had
them in very large nursery pots....oh well, next time maybe I'll try
planting them in raised beds in the backyard. I've been thinking about doing
everything in raised beds next spring.
I've been curious about growing heirloom tomatoes and have read a little
about them. I was thinking maybe next spring I would try planting some from
seed and see how they do. Did you grow your heirloom variety in containers
this year? Are you growing any other things as well? Was also wondering
where you get your tomato seed and if you've ever used fish emulsion? I've
read that it really works well especially w/tomatoes....I may try that next
time.
Look forward to hearing from you again Mary,
& thanks again,
hope your plants are doing really well,
Johnny


"mg026307, mg026307" wrote:
Johnny, I too live in Southern California (Costa Mesa). I have grown
Tomatoes in pots and have had the same issue. I usually grow heirloom
tomatoes from seed. I use compost and organic material. My experience has
been that they like the heat and not too much water. I have had the best
luck when I have pinched off the first or second flowers and making sure
there are not too many "suckers". If you are new to tomatoe growing I have
also found alot of the online tomatoe growing sites have been helpful. they
provide a lot of information about disease and production. I hope this
helps. Since we are in the same area I would like to know more about what
you are growing and where abouts you are.

Mary:-)






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