@DonShirer

Unfortunately, both links for TODD7 do not work/

I clicked directly on both links in your post , got a pic of a chicken falling on its head and the following message:

404
We can't find what you're looking for.

I would like to download and use your TODD7,

@BetNC
      Dropbox strikes again! I have had trouble with them in the past, but I was able to download the two files this year so I thought all was ok. There is no way to send you the files by tree-mail, but if you send your email address to [email protected], I'll send them to you by email.

I've pared my plantings down to Better Boy, Rose and Mortgage Lifter.
Last year's crop didn't do well, for whatever reason. I think it was just
a bad tomato year as many of my friends complained of the same
thing. Also, I'm letting my veggie garden area rest this year, so will
have to work my tomatoes in among my flowers. We'll see how they
do.

Cherokee Purple, Mortgage Lifter, Brandywine and a few other types.

Three in large pots this year...all orange. Orange Ox heart, Big Rainbow, and Old German. Probably won't last long in pots as they're indeterminate.
The only spot I have for in ground has Park's whopper that I planted late last summer...still blooming/bearing fruit, but still infested with spider mites, so I won't plant anything there for awhile.

ctcarol said:Three in large pots this year...all orange. Orange Ox heart, Big Rainbow, and Old German. Probably won't last long in pots as they're indeterminate.
The only spot I have for in ground has Park's whopper that I planted late last summer...still blooming/bearing fruit, but still infested with spider mites, so I won't plant anything there for awhile.

How large are your pots? I have a backup Sun Gold in a tall 15-gallon tree pot. I would have given it away. But I either planted two Sun Cherry and one Sun Gold in the beds. Or I planted two Sun Golds and one Sun Cherry and mislabeled one of them. But two Sun Golds are a must. So, one Sun Gold which I thought was an extra is in a pot at the end of the trellis.

Anyway, I plan on covering the big black nursery pot with some carpet padding. It's supposed to provide something between R6 and R8 insulation value. Our summers are brutal here. I hope it makes it.

My pots are about 5 Gal. and no way to trellis beyond large cages. Indeterminates will outgrow them quickly. I can only hope to get tomatoes before the heat shuts them down, and replace them later, or plant in my front flower bed, where the neighbors would all enjoy them, and I wouldn't get any.

ctcarol said: I can only hope to get tomatoes before the heat shuts them down, and replace them later, or plant in my front flower bed, where the neighbors would all enjoy them, and I wouldn't get any.

Gone are the days when you could sit out there with a double-barreled shotgun loaded with rock salt protecting your garden.

Oh, how I long for the good old days.

thisisme2 said:


Gone are the days when you could sit out there with a double-barreled shotgun loaded with rock salt protecting your garden.

Oh, how I long for the good old days. :rofl:

Haha, as a fan of Clint Eastwood movies, I too long for the good old days.

In California, the good old days are gone for good...

Deeby said:In California, the good old days are gone for good...

For sure, no more get off my lawn, it's get off my cactus.

My first year growing tomatoes in containers, I had them all in 5 gallon shop buckets (think those cheap $2 orange Homer buckets from HomeDepot or medium blue ones from Lowe's or dark blue ones from Walmart).

While the 4-5 foot determinant hybrids performed well , the one indeterminant failed miserably. I got 3-4 good size tomatoes from Big Beef that first year! But they were tasty, so the next year I grew it again: in a 20 gallon gro bag!! Production was excellent, and the fruit was just as tasty as the year before.

FYI subsequent years were various trials:
BotH INDETERMINANTS AND DETERMINANTS
mature height, production and taste differences between 5-gal buckets and 2 cubic feet Earthboxes (no differences for taste but indeterminates -taller than 5 foot - suffered from less height and lower production in buckets BUT the short indeterminantes - think dwarves and those that naturally didn't exceed 6 foot- were NOT affected)
INDETERMINANTS ONLY
Earthboxes versus 17 inch patio planters or 20 gallon gro bags for indeterminants: no differences in taste regardless of type of growing condition, no differences between Earthboxes and planters for height or production but increases in both height and production with gro bags.

Summary: you CAN grow either determinants OR indeterminants in 5 gallon buckets. Buckets work best for a maximum of~4 foot determinants, naturally short indeterminants and/or dwarves. many colors, etc fruit are available, not just round, red tomatoes. Technically, dwarves are short-internode indeterminants; the plants are bred to be short but their fruit is full-size. In addition to the renowned Dwarf Project, there are other sources for dwarves, especially from far-flung places like Japan and China. There is even a dwarf named Tie-Dyed Fred and another (from Japan I think) that its yellow fruit develops a rosy star on its bottom when ripe.

Hmm. Sounds like I need to try the grow bags, but how to support the vines in a grow bag may be an issue. I may just have to resort to larger pots.

Sometimes I just plant the tomato in a two cubic foot bag of potting mix, with drainage holes poked in the bottom, stick in a cedar stake, buy some avocado green yarn (it matches the leaves and looks nice) and get tons of tomatoes. At the end of the season I throw the whole shebang in the trash. Cheap and easy!

ctcarol said:Hmm. Sounds like I need to try the grow bags, but how to support the vines in a grow bag may be an issue. I may just have to resort to larger pots.

I got this from Costco last week for about $6, it was on sale. I think it's 27 gallon. My husband drilled some holes for drainage.
https://www.costcobusinessdeli...

@BetNC Thanks for the great info. I have been planting in 5 gallon buckets for a couple years. Production has been low. Since most of mine are indeterminants, I will find bigger containers this year.

ctcarol said:Hmm. Sounds like I need to try the grow bags, but how to support the vines in a grow bag may be an issue. I may just have to resort to larger pots.

Its not a problem. The 20 gallon gro bags were large enough that my standard support system for tall/heavy producers worked perfectly for the two indeterminants I grew in them (Big Beef and Jasper).

My support system:
a center PVC pole (I chose to have mine cut - for free- at the store where I bought them: HomeDepot) Mine are 3/4 inch diameter and 8' tall. Uncut lengths are 10' long.
a generic tomato cage (the largest, 3-ring galvanized, again from HomeDepot)

Set up at planting: at 2 heights (halfway up the cage and at the top of the cage), tie the center pole to the cage: at each level, make 2 ties forming an even cross or X. tie to one end of the cage, circle around the pole and tie off at the other end of the cage

For extra stability (for windy conditions or large indeterminants with heavy fruit and/or production), set-up tie-downs. At each major compass point (N, S, E, W) use a sturdy rope (I used clothesline from the Dollar Store) tie one end to the top of the cage and the other to a heavy object or permanent structure ) I used cement blocks, neighboring Earthboxes and the heavy 4x4 end post of a near-by stair).

Each year, I have a theme for my Tomato Jungle (all grown in some type of container/gro bag). This year, the theme was "Around the World".

Seedlings are currently being hardened off (Picardy, a 5' indeterminant heirloom from France, failed to sprout). I will grow:
Mountain Princess, an 18" determinant heirloom from West Virginia
Ballada, a 1-2' determinant OP from Moldavia
Kecsmeni Jubileum, a 3.4' determinant OP from Hungary
Quebec 309, unknown height determinant OP from Canada
Jasper, a 6'+ hybrid cherry from England

I just planted the following 8 heirloom tomatoes:
Abe Lincoln
Box Car Willie
Big Rainbow
Mortgage Lifter,
Carbon
Black from Tula
Black Brandywine
Aunt Ruby's German Green

My first tomato flower. Carol chykis big paste