I don't have a pan big enough

[dmb90260]

Last year I had a couple tomatoes close to 2#. I used more worm juice this year.


Heirloom Beefsteak, 2 pounds 6 oz.

[BillandMarijo]

Congrats on the huge Tomato. Forgive my ignorance what is worm juice?

Marijo

[dmb90260]

Congrats on the huge Tomato. Forgive my ignorance what is worm juice?

Marijo

I have a "worm ranch", a tiered plastic container to raise worms. I feed them some table scraps and paper. The by products are worm castings and liquid. Full strength the liquid will ki8ll plants and weeds. Cut 5-1 it is a great fertilizer. Cut 15-1 it wipes out many of the pests that eat your plants. My plants gets the juice during the early growth period and randomly later.

[rebapuck]

I considered the worms for composting some years ago. But the directions didn't make it sound too maintenance free. Almost like having pets.

How easy is it to just go off for a week or two and leave them?

[CAJUN LADY]

Congrats on the huge Tomato. Forgive my ignorance what is worm juice?

Marijo

I use liquid "Worm Poop" on my orchids. They love it! You can buy it from Home Depot.

[CAJUN LADY]

Last year I had a couple tomatoes close to 2#. I used more worm juice this year.


Heirloom Beefsteak, 2 pounds 6 oz.

Beautiful tomato Dennis!

[Gaston]

Darn that's one huge ugly tomato
but I bet it sure taste good seems like the ugly ones always taste the best

[dmb90260]

Darn that's one huge ugly tomato
but I bet it sure taste good seems like the ugly ones always taste the best

They were wonderful until mildew hit and has killed most of the plants but I will have seeds and a more proactive approach to mildew next year.

I was in Home Depot a couple weeks ago and found this guy with a couple beautiful heirloom tomatoes asking the worker bee what was wrong with his tomatoes. I interrupted and told him they were safe to eat.

[doug hodder]

Nice 'Mater Dennis....I love the heirloom ones. I've got a customer that has gotten almost 500 tomatoes from their garden this year. (not heirlooms) I get bags of them regularly.....man, there is nothing like a home grown...those hydroponic and store bought ones are just flavorless in my opinion. I can't grow them...too many pine trees and the deer clean house. Doug

[dmb90260]

Nice 'Mater Dennis....I love the heirloom ones. I've got a customer that has gotten almost 500 tomatoes from their garden this year. (not heirlooms) I get bags of them regularly.....man, there is nothing like a home grown...those hydroponic and store bought ones are just flavorless in my opinion. I can't grow them...too many pine trees and the deer clean house. Doug

My best one this year has been a Roma that I have taken over 30# from so far.l There are some more but that #@#&^*$^%^# mildew has just about killed it. I had planned on donating the excess to the food bank until they started dying. I have plenty for me now but no more until next year. In '08 I had tomatoes well into Nov when i stripped them.

[PanelDeland]

Freeze a few at least.I know many people who look at ya weird when you say that but then they haven't had one in the mid-winter.I usually wash and just toss them in the freezer.Then when it's cold rainy and dreary out,I toss it in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds and the skin slides right off.Toss it into a pot of stew or chili and it sure is nice to have that home grown taste in there.

[chorizon]

I had one "buddy" at work that has had a phenomenal amount of excellent tomatoes. He's been bringing them to work and giving them away.

I get my tomato plants from the local Lowes and have never seen the same type of plant from year to year. Needless to say, my tomatoes don't ever do squat. I'm still refining my technique.

Here's the rub...my green thumb buddy lives only a half-mile away and has this verdant garden. We share the same soil, same rain, same shade conditions. Our gardens are identical. The difference is he swears by tomato seeds he gets "through-the-mail". I've pressed him to see if its Gurney's or someplace like that, but to no avail.

Now here's the point. Do the successful tomato growers out there just start off with plants they buy by the dozen at the Big Box, no matter what variety. Or do y'all start with seeds "from-the-mail" or culled from previous years harvest, and plant only your favorite strains (correct?) of tomatoes?

So far, I think I've been spending about $10 per tomato out of my garden...not a very good ROI. Help!!!

[DRYVEM]

Joshua, try this link for your seeds. Good stuff.

http://www.territorialseed.com/

Barbara

[dmb90260]

I do mine from plants. I look for heirloom on the label. I have picked them up at Walmart -Lowes -fancy garden shops, anywhere. I did start some from the last year's seeds but I started them too late and they were too small when planting season was here. I will seed some of this years crop and start them much earlier.
I have ordered some seeds from http://www.seedsavers.org/Content.aspx?src=buyonline.htm for some Christmas gifts.

I think using worm castings and worm juice has been a major plus for the tomatoes. I got the "worm ranch" through an LA County program http://ladpw.org/epd/sg/wk_scheds.cfm See if a local agency offers composting help and they may have the worm stuff too.

If you see ANY signs of mildew on the leaves, remove them immediately and throw them away. Do not compost them. This stuff got to my zucchini and my neighbor lost his cantaloupe to it.

[Gaelen]

y'know, Dennis, I'd only need a couple of them to make 6 jars of spicy tomato-orange jam .