Starless - the tomato. Anyone?

[vash]

PPOT member STARLESS gave me some seeds awhile back. I have a coworker that kept seeds.

The resulting plants are less productive but still good. Anyone else still growing them??

[vash]

Wow. Nobody? His seeds he handed out are gone?

[wdfifteen]

I grew them for two years. The first year they did well. The second year, not so much. I think “Starless” was seed saved from a hybrid plant. The genetics deteriorated with successive plantings.

[vash]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I grew them for two years. The first year they did well. The second year, not so much. I think “Starless” was seed saved from a hybrid plant. The genetics deteriorated with successive plantings.

I’m
Finding this. The first year was mayhem. Huge harvest.

[Starless]

Hey there!!! Well, last year was terrible. Almost nothing. But my friend that also grows them, had a huge harvest. I think my soil had something to do with it though as my eggplants did poorly also. This year i have my tomatoes and eggplants in pails and so far look great. We'll see how they produce.

On another note, my father grew them year after year with seeds from the previous years and always had a huge harvest.

[vash]

Cool! I’m feeding them like they are pot plants (think bat poop) So mine are looking decent. Fair amount of tiny baby tomatoes. And I planted them in the ground. The plants are 6-feet tall almost.

[Starless]

I planted mine a bit later than usual as we were having a huge oak taken down and it was going to fall right where my garden is. Have plenty of flowers, so hoping for the best!

[Danimal16]

A couple of tips that may help.
Plant tomatoes in alternating gardens every year. Refresh the old soil (the internet has many recommendations on this).
Every time you go out to the garden make it a habit to gently touch as many of the flowers that you can, this helps with pollination.
Co plant with herbs like rosemary, sage, basil, oregano, thyme, helps keep the bugs away.

Use calcium nitrate fertilizer.

[wdfifteen]

Tomato pollen is spread by wind, so anything that moves the air around the plants is good. If you have hollow tomato fruits it’s a sign of poor pollination, so get out there and blow on your plants!

[juanbenae]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I grew them for two years. The first year they did well. The second year, not so much. I think “Starless” was seed saved from a hybrid plant. The genetics deteriorated with successive plantings.

Experienced the same thing with the yellow, pear shaped cherry variety. Planted them one year and the volunteers that came up in subsequent years lost the pear shape. After like 4 seasons they were completely round again.

[Starless]

Originally Posted by Danimal16

A couple of tips that may help.
Plant tomatoes in alternating gardens every year. Refresh the old soil (the internet has many recommendations on this).
Every time you go out to the garden make it a habit to gently touch as many of the flowers that you can, this helps with pollination.
Co plant with herbs like rosemary, sage, basil, oregano, thyme, helps keep the bugs away.

Use calcium nitrate fertilizer.

I do all of the above. I rotate my crops every year. Right now my tomatoes are right next to oregano, basil, rosemary, parsley, sage, lavender, and thyme. No, this is not a Simon and Garfunkel song.

[Danimal16]

Originally Posted by Starless

I do all of the above. I rotate my crops every year. Right now my tomatoes are right next to oregano, basil, rosemary, parsley, sage, lavender, and thyme. No, this is not a Simon and Garfunkel song.

I have Black Ethiopians this year. All those herbs in the same bed. Those variety of tomatoe produce like crazy; not big but very rich. SO sometimes I just pick about a half dozen, a bunch of Basil with some Oregano and sauce that up, yum!

Oh and another thing I do is cover the raised bed after the tomatoes are done and "cook" the soil in an attempt to rid it of any pathogens.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Starless

I rotate my crops every year. Right now my tomatoes are right next to oregano, basil, rosemary, parsley, sage, lavender, and thyme. No, this is not a Simon and Garfunkel song.

I definitely rotate my planting locations every year. Fortunately we haven't had much trouble with bugs out here and the annual rotations have kept the verticilium and fusarium at bay. I have spent 7 years building up the garden soil with compost, sand, and planting legumes, so I don't use any chemical fertilizers. This year I started planting the tomatoes in rows 6 1/2 feet apart so I can weed them with my tiller.

This has been a terrible year weather wise. Corn and green bean seed rotted in the ground because it was so cold and wet right up until last week. Now it's been in the 90s for four days.

This is the last year for this garden for me. We are moving and I may give up gardening. It is a LOT of work to develop a good plot of land and I don't think I have it in me to start over.

[vash]

I'm off to go buy some calcium nitrate
fertilizer....15-0-0 or something.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by vash

I'm off to go buy some calcium nitrate
fertilizer....15-0-0 or something.

Why? I've read some articles about feeding tomatoes calcium nitrate, and I've also read articles that indicate that excess nitrogen is bad for productivity. Excess calcium is only necessary if there has been a lot of rain or overwatering, in order cure or prevent blossom end rot. I would recommend a balanced fertilizer 10-10-10 or 20-20-20. If you only use calcium nitrate, you're only getting the 1st number. Phosphorus and Potassium are also important.

[Danimal16]

I thought the same thing. I have been using Calcium Nitrate and it has eliminated blossom end rot. But since I started using Calcium Nitrate my tomatoes are far healthier. I do use a balanced in the form of a slow release bone meal and another game changer; humic acid.

[vash]

moot point. 3 stores, nobody carries it. the legit nursery is a traffic jam away and I wasn't mentally prepped for that.

I'll just keep using my stash of fertilizer from the pot growing store. whatever.

not going to google if Calcium Nitrate is a tracked product. hahaha...but it was nowhere to be found.

[Starless]

If all you're looking for is Calcium Nitrate, you could use blood meal.

[vash]

Originally Posted by Starless

If all you're looking for is Calcium Nitrate, you could use blood meal.

awe crap..I have that!

[Danimal16]

The Blood Meal does not provide high levels of Calcium. Use Bone Meal in that case.
You really do not need alot of Calcium Nitrate so a five pound bag goes a long way. I got mine on Amazon.