Charlie – this is so true! I sent you a message via Facebook with a request for permission to reprint this in our local master gardener newsletter. I look forward to your reply.
My 18 plants are doing fairly well. Harvested a few this week and many greenies are still on the vine. Of course, the critters have sampled many but they are now concentrating on the huge acorn crop (yard marbles).
Charlie…My yard is tiny and only gets direct sun about half a day….
No place to start seeds… so I buy seedlings and plant them in 5 gal nursery pots to foil the gophers… they wouldn’t eat the tomatoes…but they’d eat the whole plant before there were any tomatoes.
I need extra plants, because they’re smaller and bear less than ones planted father apart, in the ground in full sun.
This year I have 39! I mostly buy 6-packs, which cost almost the same as one seedling….so I have 18 Early Girls, 6 each Sweet 100 and Sungolds…then I try one or two each of a few other kinds every year, but usually no heirlooms do as well as those three hybrids.
You’d think I’d be swamped… but with the drought and the weird N.CA weather this year, I’m not getting as many as I’d like to eat.
BTW… I’ve grown all the ones you mention except Vita Gold, which I’ve never seen.
Your problems sounds very familiar. I’ve done kind of the same thing but I have a raised garden. Fortunately no drought here. Late planting helped power through our weird weather, Susan sunshine
SusanSunshine Premium Member over 8 years ago
I don’t have squirrels or chipmunks…and my plants are in pots.But even though I water them, they’re stunted by the drought…
I do have to pick my few Early Girls, Sungolds and Sweet 100’s before the birds peck them….
The Black Krim, the Hawaiian Pineapple and the Arkansas Traveler produced 2 or 3 tomatoes each and stopped.
William Neal McPheeters over 8 years ago
The Cherokee Purple interests me, but must I share it with squirrels?
Zen-of-Zinfandel over 8 years ago
And there’s Bob’s Early Girl Red with stink bug claw marks.
Kim0158 Premium Member over 8 years ago
Charlie – this is so true! I sent you a message via Facebook with a request for permission to reprint this in our local master gardener newsletter. I look forward to your reply.
charlie podrebarac creator over 8 years ago
My 18 plants are doing fairly well. Harvested a few this week and many greenies are still on the vine. Of course, the critters have sampled many but they are now concentrating on the huge acorn crop (yard marbles).
SusanSunshine Premium Member over 8 years ago
Charlie…My yard is tiny and only gets direct sun about half a day….
No place to start seeds… so I buy seedlings and plant them in 5 gal nursery pots to foil the gophers… they wouldn’t eat the tomatoes…but they’d eat the whole plant before there were any tomatoes.
I need extra plants, because they’re smaller and bear less than ones planted father apart, in the ground in full sun.
This year I have 39! I mostly buy 6-packs, which cost almost the same as one seedling….so I have 18 Early Girls, 6 each Sweet 100 and Sungolds…then I try one or two each of a few other kinds every year, but usually no heirlooms do as well as those three hybrids.
You’d think I’d be swamped… but with the drought and the weird N.CA weather this year, I’m not getting as many as I’d like to eat.
BTW… I’ve grown all the ones you mention except Vita Gold, which I’ve never seen.
charlie podrebarac creator over 8 years ago
Your problems sounds very familiar. I’ve done kind of the same thing but I have a raised garden. Fortunately no drought here. Late planting helped power through our weird weather, Susan sunshine