Urgent Tomato Thread!

[scooterbug44]

True.

Right now their containers are too small, and they have little bugs everywhere...white ones, green ones, brown ones. They're organic tomatoes & I'm trying to keep them that way, so what do I do about the bugs?

I know Eastern Lake Nursery here has some anti-insect soaps to put on edibles, don't know if it would be "organic" enough for you. They also suggested I spray the plants before they "fruited" so it wouldn't be on the fruit & get consumed.

The scooterbug method of gardening is that if you plant enough stuff, something will eventually survive..........

 

[GraytonBound]

The scooterbug method of gardening is that if you plant enough stuff, something will eventually survive..........

I tried that method last year.....
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nothing survived

 

[NoHall]

True.

Right now their containers are too small, and they have little bugs everywhere...white ones, green ones, brown ones. They're organic tomatoes & I'm trying to keep them that way, so what do I do about the bugs?

You obviously know to get bigger containers. Nothing smaller than the half-barrels. That's about a 30-gal. container, though. I personally recommend finding yourself a little patch of ground.

Since the soil is so sandy there, let me give you my recipe for a built-up bed. (I got this from a client of mine, who got it from a friend who had rooftop gardens in New York City. We built his beds a few years back, and he has had wonderful vegetable gardens ever since.)

For the walls of the bed, I use synthetic railroad ties, which are about 6"x6". I don't use real ones for two reasons: They rot and they contain creosote. Lowe's used to carry Everlast timbers, which are compressed plastic and asphalt. Loved them, but they were terribly heavy and don't seem to exist anymore. Now they have another type that are hollow, heavy plastic (like the Rubbermaid mailboxes, plastic kid toys, etc.) You cut them with a circular saw. Whatever you get, get 3 8-foot sections and cut one in half to form an 8' x 4' rectangle.

Put down a thick layer of newspaper (2-3 sheets deep) in the bottom to prevent weeds from coming through. (I don't like plastic or fabric; by the time the newspaper breaks down, the weeds will be gone. Newspaper also lets excess moisture drain out where plastic won't.) Fill bed with about 20 40-lb. bags of topsoil (I use the cheapest kind,) about 2 cu. ft. of peat moss, a couple of bags of Black Hen chicken manure (cow manure will work in a pinch, but either way don't use FRESH manure--see pee-pee post above!) a sprinkling of green sand and a sprinkling of bone meal (available at feed stores and the like.) Mix it up. Plant.

As for your bug problem, I googled organic insecticide tomatoes (no quotes) and got a gazillion results. I'm all about Sevin, myself...oh, well.

Good luck!

 

[scooterbug44]

My containers are definitely too small (yet the tomatoes are growing better than in the ground) .............if I transplant to a bigger container will it mess up my 'maters?

Does anyone recommend mushroom compost for tomatoes? I'm not a manure fan - don't want to introduce anything the various critters in my yard may take offense to.

 

[GraytonBound]

WOW! Sounds like some great advice. We have railroad ties but don't want to use them for the reason you mentioned above. Will look for the plastic ones, thanks!

So, SJ, now I have a better attitude. There's still hope for me

 

[Teresa]

You obviously know to get bigger containers. Nothing smaller than the half-barrels. That's about a 30-gal. container, though. I personally recommend finding yourself a little patch of ground.

Since the soil is so sandy there, let me give you my recipe for a built-up bed. (I got this from a client of mine, who got it from a friend who had rooftop gardens in New York City. We built his beds a few years back, and he has had wonderful vegetable gardens ever since.)

For the walls of the bed, I use synthetic railroad ties, which are about 6"x6". I don't use real ones for two reasons: They rot and they contain creosote. Lowe's used to carry Everlast timbers, which are compressed plastic and asphalt. Loved them, but they were terribly heavy and don't seem to exist anymore. Now they have another type that are hollow, heavy plastic (like the Rubbermaid mailboxes, plastic kid toys, etc.) You cut them with a circular saw. Whatever you get, get 3 8-foot sections and cut one in half to form an 8' x 4' rectangle.

Fill with about 20 40-lb. bags of topsoil (I use the cheapest kind,) about 2 cu. ft. of peat moss, a couple of bags of Black Hen chicken manure (cow manure will work in a pinch, but either way don't use FRESH manure--see pee-pee post above!) a sprinkling of green sand and a sprinkling of bone meal (available at feed stores and the like.) Mix it up. Plant.

As for your bug problem, I googled organic insecticide tomatoes (no quotes) and got a gazillion results. I'm all about Sevin, myself...oh, well.

Good luck!

Nohall, where ya been all our lives? I don't know what we did without you. You are a definite keeper.
now keep up the good post work.

ps. I am not going to do the tomato stuff, but I will have someone else here do it! and will use your recipe!

 

[NoHall]

My containers are definitely too small (yet the tomatoes are growing better than in the ground) .............if I transplant to a bigger container will it mess up my 'maters?

Does anyone recommend mushroom compost for tomatoes? I'm not a manure fan - don't want to introduce anything the various critters in my yard may take offense to.

If you transplant, do it in the cool of the day (evening) and leave as much dirt as you can around the roots--try to fool the plant into thinking it hasn't been moved. Water the heck out of it.

I recommend mushroom compost in many cases, but not for tomatoes. I don't think it would hurt them; it's just not as good as manure. The bagged manure that you get at Lowe's or Home Depot doesn't smell any worse than potting soil.

Tootsie--I like you so much!!!

 

[Hop]

what about lime...pop always used it and a mix that sounds about like what you suggested...he claimed it gives a ZIP...

 

[NoHall]

what about lime...pop always used it and a mix that sounds about like what you suggested...he claimed it gives a ZIP...

I just did some research:

"Tomatoes will grow with a pH range of 5.8 to 7 [14 is alkaline, 0 acidic, and 7 is neutral], and although they are adapted to slightly acidic soil, they will grow best near the 6.5 pH mark." http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache...+soil"&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=safari

Lime is usually used to correct acidic soil and raise the pH. But in the case of planting tomatoes, a little bit of lime sprinkled in the hole also helps to prevent blossom rot. (Mix it in with the soil in the hole; don't let it contact the roots of the plant.) Something to do with the way it absorbs calcium from the soil.

The soil up here tends to be slightly acidic anyhow from all the pine and oak, so using a little bit of lime probably didn't affect the pH at Pop's house too much. I haven't seen tomato cages out there in a while--is he still growing 'maters?

Back to the homework and Beethoven...

 

[Smiling JOe]

True.

Right now their containers are too small, and they have little bugs everywhere...white ones, green ones, brown ones. They're organic tomatoes & I'm trying to keep them that way, so what do I do about the bugs?

Not all of the bugs on the maters are harmful. Some actually protect the maters.