Friday, July 1, 2011

Tomatoes

I've been a complete failure at keeping this blog updated. I hope to change that....

Spring did not go as this gardener had planned. Some family issues held me back and what was turning out to be a promising year quickly fell to being a not-so-great year. Many of my starts died from neglect and the greenhouse was completed  a month late. I have vowed to not dwell on something I cannot change and am just making plans for next year.

This bed is where I planted several varieties of tomatoes: Roma, Golden Nugget, Cherokee Purple, Pineapple, Sweet 100's and Early Girl. They are a month behind schedule so I think that they are actually looking pretty good, but won't be able to produce much fruit before Fall arrives.

I decided to try the string method for supporting the plants. On some like this Roma it is working very well.


On the Golden Nuggets, however, it is not. You can see in the center where the string was started around the main stalk, but on the right you can see that the branches are even bigger. I think this plant would have been better suited for a cage.

My first Roma Tomato. I apologize for the poor photography. My camera is headed to the shop for a cleaning and the little one I am using has scratches on the lens.

These are Early Girls. I can already tell this is one I will want to plant more of next summer. They seem to double in size every other day, and I am one who likes quick progress.

Golden Nuggets

Sweet 100's

On the end of the bed I thought I would try putting three tomatoes in cages and then plant in between. That doesn't work very well and the other two should have stakes.
Most of the plants have fruit on them. The Cherokee has some flowers and the Pineapple have nothing. By the end of summer I should be able to determine which ones I want to plant next year.  What are your favorites?