I have many varieties, but 2 are competing for 1st to ripen: Orangegold and Sweet Baby Girl.
I live in the Pacific NW, zone 8
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Been harvesting Early Girl for about 3 weeks in Kentucky…from small transplants put out in early April. Yellow and black cherry tomatoes are a ways off…but look promising.
I misplaced my seeds of Black Krim, and it may be too late now. I have a heirloom meaty Italian with few seeds…name unknown to me…ready to plant in the garden…these should mature in early October before frost here.
I love Celebrity, but didn’t do any of them this year.
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I have a question, since we are talking about tomatoes, how do you supply calcium to the tomatoes? I spread some dolomite lime at transferring time, but I have heard it takes long time to make calcium available to the plants. So the dolomite lime may not be available this year, what is the best quick fix without buying another bottle that can last for next 10 years?
Get a pint of Maxi-Cal and apply by foliar spray. It’s sold at many garden stores and also online.
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6 pH is not a problem for tomatoes in my experience…but 4.5 is.
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I’ve read in a few places that most soils have enough calcium to prevent BER. The problem is when the tomatoes get a large amount of rain or water and can’t take up enough calcium quickly to keep up with the rapid growth that comes behind tomatoes getting a lot of water. I’ve been experimenting with burying deer bones in the bottom of my raised beds to provide a very slow release source of calcium, just in case my soil is low in it. So far this year, even with all the rain we’ve got, I’ve only lost two tomatoes to BER, and those were off the same plant (Dark Queen).
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After a bad slow start this wet spring, I got tomatoes from Big Beef and 4th of July on July 9. The plants are still not very vigorous, tho, and the fruits are sparse and not well-sized.
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All of my beefsteak tomatoes are the size of golf balls due to all the rain.
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Early Girl may soon be ripe!
This heirloom tomato is still growing and will be neat to compare to the hybrid
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Love these giant beefy old heirlooms! Thanks @39thparallel for the plants! Dont recall what these are now. They make a great BLT! Every other day we are picking a dozen of these large tomatoes and hundreds of cherry and other tomatoes for fresh use. We have had to freeze some when they kick it up on production but we like to eat them all fresh when possible. Nothing more satisfying then eating fresh cucumber, tomatoes, watermelon, fried summer squash, fresh fruit etc. We are truly very blessed!
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That big heirloom ruffled tomato, Mark Twain, is getting bigger!
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My cherry tomatoes,because of our cold,late,wet spring,are late,but finally producing fairly well.
I have volunteers,that are getting blooms,too.
Really leggy,though.
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NOT a good year for toms. Cherry tomatoes are doing OK, but Celebrity is sick, and I actually had blossom end rot for the first time ever on one of my plants. A cold spring was part of it, and I just don’t know for sure about the rest, although I must need calcium. This fall after I turn in compost I’ll plan on soil tests. Pretty disappointing right now, though.
Nope, pretty crappy year.
I’ve read in a few places that most souls have enough calcium to prevent BER, but if a tomato gets too much water it can prevent the plant from taking up the calcium in the soil and you get BER. You might be unlucky enough to have calcium deficient soil, but don’t be surprised if your test comes back with acceptable levels of calcium. Also, some varieties are just more prone to BER. One of my Opalkas has lost several to BER but the tomatoes on either side of it haven’t lost a single one to BER.
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Haven’t noticed any blossom end rot in Kentucky this year. Birds pecking, rabbits eating…but not blossom end rot.
If they are leggy, you could try pushing them sideways and layering soil on top of some of the stem. I just got 3 more plants, rescues from a store that were alive but marked down 90% off. I planted them in unused soil so lots of room to grow, and planted them sideways.
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