It's My Standard Practice

[Beekissed]

I wish that my tomatoes could grow up and over my head.

A non-gardening neighbor was once out in his yard planting a tomato. He said that the plant tag said it would grow to 5'. He said, "I don't know, I've never seen a 5' tomato."

I stopped myself from saying, "Then you have never seen my garden." He never did see my tomatoes but 5' is just about their limit. That's if I let them do whatever they want and go wherever they want. Now that I have potted, pampered, trellised tomatoes in my own backyard, some do grow over my head but that isn't with me standing at their soil level.

Steve

Even your cherry tomatoes?? My brother's cherry tomatoes will often grow 12-14 ft tall/long and he has to stretch them out long ways on a full length CP. Mine will usually get 10 ft. tall, so they go up and over the trellis and lop down on all sides. My Brandywines and other indeterminate tomatoes will often top out at 7-8 ft. if I don't keep them trimmed off. Tomatoes are one thing I never have any trouble growing, as far as the vine itself.....some years they can be too much vine, not enough tomato though. I trim them off to force more bloom and production.

Now bush tomatoes will often only get 5 ft or so here....are those the varieties you grow, Digs?

 

[digitS']

Nope, not bush determinants, or, seldom anyway.

I thought my neighbor must have had limited experience in gardens outside of the higher terrain of the Wild West. But, this isn't the Brandywine Valley of eastern Pennsylvania ...

Are you very far from that home of the heirloom, @Beekissed ? Even visiting Washington D.C., I had no idea that West Virginia was so close to the Eastern Seaboard. Later, my son lived for awhile in Pennsylvania and D.C., Cape May and West Virginia were all in his travels.

Steve

 

[Beekissed]

Nope, not bush determinants, or, seldom anyway.

I thought my neighbor must have had limited experience in gardens outside of the higher terrain of the Wild West. But, this isn't the Brandywine Valley of eastern Pennsylvania ...

Are you very far from that home of the heirloom, @Beekissed ? Even visiting Washington D.C., I had no idea that West Virginia was so close to the Eastern Seaboard. Later, my son lived for awhile in Pennsylvania and D.C., Cape May and West Virginia were all in his travels.

Steve

Most likely we have similar weather patterns and climate to the origin of the Brandywine. We also get similar performance from most of the beefsteak varieties, as well as fair production from bush varieties. Just good soil for tomatoes, I figure....not so great for peppers and onions, I'm afraid.

Y'all pretty arid where you live? Tomatoes do love water and we have plenty of that.

 

[digitS']

Less than,

20" yearly.

Most falls as winter snow and rain. A summer storm with 1/4" of rain is thought of as a good rain. Usually, the little 1/10" sprinkles count for nothing but ~ somehow ~ they are recorded. The arid conditions and somewhat high elevation means low night temperatures even on sunny, hot days. Yo-Yo ... This is also further north that any point in Maine but I doubt if that means very much, weatherwise.

Steve