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Thursday, August 8, 2013

Tomatoes Aplenty

From the beginning of May up until a few weeks ago we had plenty of tomatoes. Unfortunately, tomato plants do not last forever – and a spider mite infestation took hold of all my tomato vines before I could manage it.


After many years of work with tomatoes it was nice to have a good harvest


One of my Celebrity tomato plants in May


In consideration of the spider mite damage, I decided to pull out all my old tomato vines and let all my other vegetables grow until I could acquire more starts.


Before a trip I picked all the partially ripe tomatoes to give away


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8 comments:

  1. DonnaAugust 11, 2013 at 2:43 PM

    Lost my heirlooms to blight already, but hybrids holding their own. Lots of tomatoes here but all green still...once they start ripening it will be a mass of red sweet delight.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JayAugust 12, 2013 at 1:16 PM

      Thanks for the comment, Donna. I wish I could find an heirloom for my climate that will do as well as advertised.

      Delete
  2. KrisAugust 13, 2013 at 6:22 AM

    Glad you got some nice tomatoes - even enough to give some away. Hard to see your vines lost to mites. Our summer is so cool here (nights in the 40s) has set back most of the veg and I'm getting very little this year in spite of lack of bad bugs. It's always something, no? Yet we persevere... Good luck with the rest of your veg.

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    Replies
    1. JayAugust 13, 2013 at 7:34 AM

      Thanks for the comment, Kris. Yes - it is always something. Wow - nights in the 40s. Where are you gardening? In some climates it can be hard to get a good crop due to the cooler weather more than the heat. Do you grow a lot of brassicas?

      Delete
    2. KrisAugust 14, 2013 at 2:19 PM

      Jay, NE Ohio -- which seems to have drifted toward the North Pole this year. *sheesh* (Actually, the jet stream has dipped down over Ohio so many times this summer we're mostly breathing Canadian air. Would explain the pine scent...heh.) Only Tuscan kale - and even that is hard to keep from the darn cabbage lopers.

      Delete
    3. JayAugust 15, 2013 at 8:05 AM

      Dear Kris,

      I know what you mean about the cabbage loopers. It seems that some insect pests can tolerate the cold better than our vegetable crops can.

      I hope that the Canadian air drifts north this fall so that you can get a decent harvest before the winter kicks in.

      Delete
  3. SwimrayAugust 19, 2013 at 7:27 PM

    I have the same tomato problem every year when our hot weather hits. But this cool summer has kept the mites down . . . But allowed the fungal blights to flourish. I guess that's what is called balance. I still got some ping pong ball size tomatoes, which is all I can ask for.
    Ray

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JayAugust 20, 2013 at 7:50 AM

      Thanks for the comment, Swimray,

      Alas - tomatoes are one of the most fickle plants with very little tolerance to variances in climate and plenty of diseases and pests.

      Delete

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