Good morning! I was watering this morning and took a few pictures so I could post. This season has continued its near-magical trajectory. I'm still feeding weekly with Tomato-tone organic fertilizer, but I've stopped spraying with the Key-Plex and copper fungicide. I've had to remove a few leaves with spots, but nothing I'm worried about. I also had a small problem with white flies over the last two weeks, but I treated with neem oil and they seem to be mostly in hand. There are still a few, but the population is much reduced. Other than that, I'm still watering every day and spending my mornings pinching off suckers and tying up plants. Last week, I had to extend my tomato cages to 8 feet because of overgrowth. I've topped all the plants at this point, but they're still trying to get up there, and since the sun is better up high, I want to let them get as tall as I can handle it to set more fruit up there. 
So, to the pictures! At top left is my six-year-old son for a little perspective. The tomato he's reaching for is the Kellogg's breakfast, a giant orange heirloom that is growing like it's running from the law. Next to that are the BrandyBoys, still on the vine. These are Burpee's answer to the famous Brandywine heirloom. They are supposed to preserve the taste of the pink Brandywine, but bear much better on more vigorous plants. I haven't tasted them yet, but the vigor and yield is just as advertised: there must be 40 tomatoes on these two plants. Finally, the bottom pic is the green zebra. I can't wait for these little guys to come in. They look awesome. Of the heirlooms, the only one that isn't loaded with fruit is the black Paul Robeson. Sure, it has maybe a dozen tomatoes, but it's nowhere near the others.
Whenever I start to get cocky about my tomatoes, however, I need only look at the peppers to stay humble. I don't know what it is about me and peppers, but I must not have the touch for them. My plants look healthy, but they're dropping most of their blossoms and now the leaves on top are twisted and look unhealthy. Grrr.
Anyway, I hope everyone is having a good season and I'd love to see some harvest pictures when people start picking ...
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Your plants look amazing!! Wish I had some heirlooms that were growing that well. Is copper fungicide an organic treatment? Might consider using it the next time around if it is.
ReplyDeleteHi Jon
ReplyDeleteI'm having the same success with my tomatoes and the same problems with my peppers. You described my symptoms to a tee! Wonder what it could be?
cheers
Charles
Tova,
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yes, copper fungicide is considered organic, as long as you use the label instructions. So you can use it and still grow organic tomatoes.
Chas,
ReplyDeleteWeird. I'm trying to figure this out. For a while, i thought it was maybe thrips, which love peppers and are a persistent pest. But I've not been able to get them under control. So I'm still looking. But it's pretty frustrating considering my love of very, very spicy peppers.
I gave up on peppers after a few tries. I have a ton of white flies which the tomato plants tolerate, but the peppers do not -- it causes their demise. Not sure how you spray anything on the underneath of all those tomato leaves.
ReplyDeleteHey, Anon. Yeah, the peppers had white flies, but I treated early on with neem and they seem to be gone now. You're right: it's a pain to lift every leaf and spray underneath it. On the tomatoes, I use a large pump sprayer that does a pretty good job, but even so, I can't eliminate the white flies totally because I just can't get to all of them. The plants are too big. At least the peppers were little. Still, though, I wonder if the problem was white flies all along? It seems weird, though, because I got rid of the white flies a few weeks ago and the problems I'm experiencing now are with new growth. I dunno. I've seen people grow good peppers down here, so I know it can be done. So far, I'm just not the guy to do it.
ReplyDeleteWe've got the same problem with peppers with the exception of one super hot little guy (I think it's a Thai pepper, but my two-year-old stole the tag). He's on his second year prolific year despite an almost constant whitefly infestation.
ReplyDeleteMy mariachi chili pepper has set fruit, and the big Bertha red as well. I am hoping for the other 4 to start setting fruit this week as. All 4 tomato plants have set fruit and a good number of flowers although I am taking off some to get bigger fruits. The largest brandyboy has cat-faced, but the rest all look good. Whitefly under control with Neem and sticky yellow cards.
ReplyDeleteI'm using Neem oil now, and I seem to be getting better control of the whiteflies. I really have to soak the leaves alot. I've had a few beefsteaks ripen already. Anybody else?
ReplyDeleteThough I'm in North-Central Florida, what made the biggest difference with growing peppers was moving them to a spot where they got some afternoon shade. I wouldn't have thought that it would have made that much of a difference, but it did.
ReplyDelete