That is amazing. Tried it? What do you do with all of tomatoes? Do they go to market?
That is NOT my tomato plant! I wish. Thatās the Disney tomato tree. I just searched and uploaded a photo because linking to it, the photo can disappear for anyone reading the thread in the future. Photo shows basically what Iād like to try (smaller scale and outdoors though).
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Drew, I have onions, leeks, various brassicas, peppers, lettuce and some ornamental groundcover, I am trying to propagate . I am going to plant all cold tolerant plants outside with some protection after this frost and then Iāll plant in the greenhouse the rest of my tomatoes, which are small right now. I am planning to start some melons and watermelons in the beginning of April (which is a month earlier than usual) because I have a warm soil now. I general I like this setup a lot better and the hardening should be a breeze.
Sounds good! I have some onions going, not too much, I canāt be around much this spring and summer. I have projects out of town going on a lot this year.
Darvin, I have too many tomato plants this year, so I am going to prune them to 2-3 stems, to restrict them. I am also planning to low the stems down when they grow too long, so they do not flip over. When we lived in the apartment I planted tomatoes in the ground under the balconies. One year the currant type of tomato grew so big, that it went up to the second floor balcony and all around it and up to the third floor! But it produced only currant size fruits and overall mass of the fruits was not really that much. By now I prefer smaller and more manageable varieties. Good luck with your tomato tree.
Need to up-pot soon
a shot from last season of Black Icicle and Butternuts horizontally
WOW! So many varieties that I have never heard of. Tomatoes are the main crop in my Alaskan greenhouse. Iām looking forward to growing them in Phoenix.
In case somebody does not know this rooting trick: when the plant is about 15", strip off all the stems and leaves except for the top couple, lay the rootball and stem horizontally in the soil and cover with a couple inches of soil. Roots will grow out of the stem and form a great root system. The plant will be shocked, but after a couple of weeks, it will outgrow a plant with just the original rootball.
Does anyone have any good spray recommendations to keep disease at bay? Most of my plants do well, but my all time favorite Paul Robeson, always get hit with something and starts turning brown from the lower leaves on up. My other black tomatoes like Black Krim and Cherokee Purple donāt have this problem but I also get it with my Green Zebras.
Iāve been spraying Daconil and I think thatās been helping but my plants still die early.
I usually grow several varieties of rare tomatoes, but I decided to take this year off. I would normally have started them from seeds in the greenhouse a month ago. If you click on my profile you can see a photo of some that Iāve grown in the past.
I actually donāt like tomatoes (I wish I did - and Iāve tried!). I just give them away to friends, family, and coworkers. I just grow them because I enjoy it 
Iāll be growing āMomotaroā this year. Trialed it in-ground a few years back and really liked it. After a short run with āStupiceā, which is pretty tangy, Iām going back to something with some sweetness. This will be my first year growing it in an EarthBox.
Yes definitely. When I plant tomatoes I always plant with about 2/3 of the plant below ground to develop a better root system.
Itās tough to grow heirlooms, youāre doing OK. You could try copper too. A liquid copper. You have to start before any signs of problems. Another product to try is Mancozeb.
Bart, mulching heavily, removing the diseased leaves and spraying - all helps. If you are doing all these things regularly your plants should survive through the summer. Exceptions are the late blight and verticulum wilt, there is no cure for them. I also noticed that some varieties are more resistant to foliar diseases than the others, I just do not plant the most susceptible tomatoes again, no matter how good they were. My most resistant varieties last year (very wet and bad disease pressure) were Black From Tula and Malachite box.
A small update about tomatoes. We had 3 nights in 28-26 F, and some light snow and temperatures below 40s during the day. My tomatoes, peppers and other plants were outside in makeshift greenhouse with the soil warming cable. I put an additional row of cover on the top, and I did not open the greenhouse for those three days. My temperature sensor died, so I did not know what temperature I had inside. Anyways, yesterday I opened the greenhouse and I was surprised to see that the plants not only survived the freezing temperatures, but they also noticeably grew in the last three days! Especially peppers! Perhaps I made it too cozy for them, l do not want them to grow so fast! I went ahead and planted all the other tiny tomatoes planted later. We still have numerous freezing days until the beginning of April. This is how they looked yesterday, you can compare them with the pictures in the previous post.
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Bart,
Early blight and Septoria are a pretty big deal here. Late blight is still an east coast disease to us (so far).
Fungicides are an early season necessity here (before symptoms like Early Blight and Septoria show up). Most folks wait till they see the āfireā before they react, which is way too late.
Chlorothalonil is a good fungicide, but it very easily burns tomato foliage. Still, spraying chlorothalonil cautiously and very carefully. at observed rates will bless your harvest considerably compared to your neighbors.
Thanks for the suggestions folks!
I grow my tomatoes on woven landscaping fabric, mostly for weed control but it also helps to keep the dirt from splashing back up on the plants. At least I think it does.
I space them four feet apart in all directions for maximum air circulation but I havenāt removed any of the dead leaves before. Iāll try that this year.
Thanks for the tip on that fungicide. I havenāt heard of it before but Iāll look for it. I always start spaying Daconil as soon as I put the plants in, but those few varieties always get some sort of ābugā as the season progresses, and out of the 20 or so varieties I grow, all but three a heirlooms.
Most of them do great and produce fruit until the first frost, but a few always die early.
Bart,
Daconil is the same thing as chlorothalonil. I didnāt mean to suggest they were two different things.
Yes, I myself am not impressed with it. it may be the difference between home products and commercial. As mentioned copper and Mancozeb handle the same problems. So Iām trying a liquid copper this year. i never tried Mancozeb. I heard it is the best product against the blights. I may add both to cover the whole season.
Mancozeb directions:
Controls Anthracnose, Early blight, Gray leaf spot, Late blight, Leaf mold, Septoria leaf spot - Mix 3 to 5 tsp. per gal. Start applications when seedlings emerge or transplants are set and repeat at 7 to 10 day intervals throughout the season. Do not apply within 5 days of harvest. Do not make more than 7 applications per season.
Hananaha!
The more I learn the less I know!
Iāll have to check the label for mancozeb. It has a 66 day PHI for grapes which is what I mostly use it for
Yes, that is long, but yes correct. Same stuff! Funny you have it, try it! I am going to buy some now myself as last year was a particularly bad year. I still got decent yields, but it would be nice to have a little more control. Septoria got out of control and took a few plants out early. Although that one does allow plants to yield for a long time before infection takes them.
Hereās the Bonide label online