The Great Tomato Massacre :o( (garden-related chat!)...

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dawnnys

Well-known member
Long story short, my two dozen+ 18-inch high tomato plants that I started from seed got plowed under, and I didn't know it for a couple of days. I was able to save 9 of them, but they had been uprooted, but (sturdy little things!) didn't die.

I was wondering if any of you that have had experience with tomato gardening (esp. in the northeast) could tell me if, at this late date in the summer, they would still be able to produce tomatoes? Most of them had/have yellow flowers on them, and look pretty green and healthy again, now that I have had them in intensive care (a bucket of water) for a few hours.

We started them all in "the incubator" in early-July, an area of my garden that was very rich (an old compost pile) and had spent many hours weeding, fertilizing, and just generally tending to them during the past couple of months.

Our first frost is usually the end of October or early November. But I am wondering about the light... I have never grown them inside, and am thinking about just putting them all in pots that I could bring inside if it gets cold before they ripen.

So what do you think? Is it worth a try? Any hints on container gardening? :eek:( This is discouraging!

 
Dawn, I was wondering the same thing. Lived in So. Cal. all my life and never had a problem growing

any type of produce. I had citrus trees, Japanese persimmon, herbs and tons of tomatoes. Now that I have moved to No. Cal. I have trouble growing tomatoes especially. My peppers and basil were doing fine, but we have a problem with deers, they love everything but the basil, thyme, chives and cilantro. The tomatoes were slow starting, had a few buds and tomatoes then well.............you know the story. I would love to grow them inside in the winter. I have a sun room so that would work. I just don't know if they will bloom. In So. Cal you can grow year round.

 
I am the Black Finger of Death to all growing things...but I still read and dream of a garden....

I have read many successful stories of pot-bound tomatotes bearing into the winter.

Florida has an issue with burrowing bugs, so putting them up in pots is a common option. I would think if they get big enough, keeping them indoors in a well-lit area would work.

Keep the dream alive, baby.

 
Oh my. Keeping my fingers crossed that you are able to salvage many..

I think I may have needed some Xanax if I found out something like that happened to my crop:) (kinda kidding)

Deb

 
DawnNys, my DD at uni in the UK has....

got such a yearning for a garden. She lives in a flat (apartment) with a very lots of light coming in a window. She keeps the sitting room warm and grows tomatoes in a pot. They produced, not many, but they produce and she eats them, fairly large ones too. The only problem appears to be the fact that she has not pinched them out so they trail all over the room and anyone wanting to sit in there has to sit in a sort of green house trellis. She says that the smell is better than the actual pickings of the tomatoes and that her other student friends thing she is VERY whacky but they never turn down an invite to supper as she cooks "real" food and they even "eat" real stuff she picked from her windowsill...basil, chives etc...infact apparently one friend suggested his Mum go over and learn how to cook "from the garden" so that his home cooked food tasted good, for a change"....
She is a tremendous cook but on her student budget it isn't very fancy at alll...the poor friend must eat terrible food at home!

 
I had 100+ that grew into seedlings from just one seed packet, and...

I had even purchased about 15 from the greenhouse (as 6" plants), so I was running out of room in my backyard (pretty large, at that!). Hating to just toss them - I asked everyone I knew if they wanted some, but they already had their's - I took them to my aunt's, and she suggested I plant them right behind her small flower graden, adjacent to her land - it had been a vacant lot/abandoned farmland since we can both remember.

Well, I did, and as soon as they got to look like they were really taking hold (sturdy, dark green stems, yellow flowers, 8-10 sets of leaves), and growing like weeds... the owner of the lot (who I doubt even saw them as he was dragging his tractor over them) decided to lease/sell(?) the lot, and hence the plowing under of his land! I know it was a risk I was taking, but who would'a thought!

Rumor has it that he sold the land to a grocery store. Ironic, huh?!

Thanks for your suggestions - I am going to give it a try, and will hope for a WARM autumn. I was able to find 5 more of them, so I have a total of about 10 in pots, and 4 or 5 more crowded in front of the bigs ones in my backyard. I hope this works!

 
I will have to bring some of my plants

indoors this fall because it will get too cold outside for them to finish their crop.

Use big plant holders (I use buckets with holes underneath) and give them extra ligt in form of a plant light and they should be okay! smileys/smile.gif

 
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