Can you overwinter tomatoes?

[bobm]

the other project we need to do that will cost something is more cosmetic, but if i stick it out here longer term it will be a nice thing to have done (fill in the front ditch) because right now it's due for work anyways and if we have someone do the part that needs work it might make sense to do it all at once. as they say, always something when you own a place.
[/QUOTE]
Me thinks that you live in a county that has easement rights to that ditch . More likely than not, the County/ State / or Feds. installed the ditch for runoff / flood control for the general area. You would have to go to them for permission to do any type of work there.

 

[Zeedman]

I think I might have used the wrong word. I don’t need tomatoes in the winter, I’m wondering if a tomato plant could be kept alive, probably barren, over a winter. The end goal would be to have huge tomato plants like my great grandma, if that’s possible. I don’t think there is a variety that can have that big of a plant in just one season, so I assume she must have kept the plant Alive year after year. Honestly I don’t know. If it’s possible I would make a large wooden cage (I just got a bunch of free 2x2s that need something to do) and then cover the frame with plastic in the winter. I don’t believe it would be too expensive, I already have most everything already. It may or may not work though.

If the plant height is the most important consideration, it may not be necessary to over-winter a tomato. Giving a new plant an earlier start would be easier, and less problematic. Many indeterminate tomato varieties will easily reach to 6-7' or more in a single season, if they are trained upward, and suckers pruned off relentlessly (maybe to just the strongest 2-3 stems). One of my cherry tomatoes reached 7' last year even without sucker pruning, and would have gone higher had I not pruned it back. In climates with longer summers than mine (which is probably 90% of gardeners) it would not be unreasonable to expect a tomato plant to reach 7-8' or more by season's end.

 

[flowerbug]

...
Me thinks that you live in a county that has easement rights to that ditch . More likely than not, the County/ State / or Feds. installed the ditch for runoff / flood control for the general area. You would have to go to them for permission to do any type of work there.

yes, all roads with ditches along them are regulated and have the easement from the various political subdivisions fed, state, county, township... we do need a permit to do anything and there are fees for most things.

in this particular instance it's going to be interesting because the regulations say that there has to be a swale in there and that means that it's basically going to act like a ditch on top of the pipes and that's the arrangement that has failed in the north hedge already.

we have three ditches and two larger drains going through our property. i'd have never purchased this lot myself.

 

[ducks4you]

I would rather overwinter a tomato plant with the prospect that it might survive until I can plant it next June, than try to keep another gardenia alive!

 

[roger1NP]

Well, talking of which, how do you guys clean your backyards? What exactly snow plows do you usually use? I could find recently best ATV snow plows article with dozen of different models over there, and it seems like Warn 78950 ProVantage 50″ is one of the most reliable blades for ATVs. What would you choose?

 

[ducks4you]

We have used a heavy duty snowblower in the past, and still do, but we bought a Kubota Compact Tractor in 2019, no real snow last winter, and it has a shovel to clear our driveways.

 

[flowerbug]

we just use shovels for the driveway and make a path to the propane tank and to the back door. never plow any other part of the yard as it just melts when it can in the spring.

 

[R2elk]

I normally grow a Gold Nugget during the winter so that I can have an early delight of the wonderful yellow cherry tomatoes.

This year my living room is filled with Northern Exposure tomatoes. I had been lamenting the fact that Burpee's discontinued this wonderful tomato. A fellow BYC member reminded me that tomatoes can be cloned.

Last fall I took cuttings and got them started in the house. This is the first year that I have been having BLTs from my homegrown tomatoes in January.

 

[digitS']

I just looked back at this thread.

@R2elk , Gold Nugget was the "speediest" tomato that I have ever grown! Don't forget about it completely!

It is one that I have imagined that could go in the garden, direct-sown and mature a crop. Your Northern Exposure looks great. I'd post a picture of that moose wandering through town at the start of that TV show but it would just distract from those nice tomato pictures.

Steve

 

[R2elk]

I just looked back at this thread.

@R2elk , Gold Nugget was the "speediest" tomato that I have ever grown! Don't forget about it completely!

It is one that I have imagined that could go in the garden, direct-sown and mature a crop. Your Northern Exposure looks great. I'd post a picture of that moose wandering through town at the start of that TV show but it would just distract from those nice tomato pictures.

Steve

Gold Nugget does great in a large pot. In my experience it is the least cold hardy of any tomatoes that I have grown. Just a hint of a frost will kill it.

Gold Nugget is the only tomato that I have found that will not only bloom but will also set and produce tomatoes at temperatures over 100°F

It gets over 100°F daily in my greenhouse during the summer. I still get a great crop of Gold Nuggets.

Gold Nugget is an open pollinated variety. By keeping it isolated from the other tomatoes, I am able to save seeds to grow more plants. I never got very good germination from bought Gold Nugget seeds but I get 100% germination from my saved seeds.