What kind of tomato harvest are you having this year?

[JDgreen227]

I planted 36 sets between the end of May and the second week of June, Mid-Michigan had the hottest, driest summer ever recorded but by frequest irrigation I kept my plants growing, have been harvesting Brandy Boys and Better Boys and Early Girls for the past month. The harvest will be down quite a bit but I am happy to get what I get.

HOWEVER, this is the worst year for hornworms I have experienced since gardening during the last twenty years. The four year old kid next door loves to come over and pick off the worms, have no idea what he does with them and I am not going to inquire :laughing:

Been finding a LOT of ripe fruit that has been nibbled on, I swear we must have picked off at least ten worms per plant on the average this year and are still finding the darn things. One attachment shows maybe 5% of the worms we have found, and the other shows a small worm with the eggs from one of those parasitic wasps...too bad the wasp eggs didn't show up two months ago, this week was the first time I have seen any on worms.

 

[Deere Dude]

I don't know about worms, but our patch had a problem with chipmunks nibbling on the tomatoes, just enough to mess them up. My wife read they do that because of the drought we had. I got rid of them and so far so good. Will dusting help for worms?

 

[JDgreen227]

I don't know about worms, but our patch had a problem with chipmunks nibbling on the tomatoes, just enough to mess them up. My wife read they do that because of the drought we had. I got rid of them and so far so good. Will dusting help for worms?

I have always used an all-purpose Sevin chemical spray for all our veggies but it does not seem effective as far as worms go, at least on tomatos.

 

[oldnslo]

Other than the dogs thinking they make nice shade the tomatoes are doing reasonably well. I watered them wit ha soaker hose at least twice a week and kept them dusted with the Sevin Powder. Living in the middle of corn and bean country the farmers help control the bugs also. Canned 14 quarts and have given away at least twice that many.

 

[Tig]

Just a garden, but the early tomatoes were black on the bottom. Lately they have been fine.

 

[troutsqueezer]

Near Sacramento, Ca. 50 plants, 8 varieties. Record crop. No horn worms, second year in a row where they didn't show up. I use drip watering, turns on everyday for two hours. No blossom end rot this way because the moisture is steady and the drip rate does not saturate the soil. Best performer: Ultimate Opener. Next best: Sungold. Third best: Costoluto Genovese.

A small part of this year's crop.

Country Taste variety, big dudes. Taste good too.

For some reason, the plums came out numbered this year.

 

[jbooth]

As far as my tomato crop. Can you say fried geen tomatoes. Been hot and extremely dry in KS. too. Years ago when I gardened a lot, the old fellow with whom I worked with (he owned the land) He suggested we needed bird roosts close to the plants so they could set on the roosts and watch for the worms. It worked wonders. I see in your pictures that you have a fence for the birds to land on but some simple roosts close to the plants might help also.

 

[johnk]

I also had a bunch of hornworms punching holes in my tomatoes. I used a hand sprayer with Sevin. You have to make sure you spray thouroughly under the leaves etc. Did the trick...

 

[grnspot110]

Out of 14 (full sized) plants & 6 (patio) plants, I've ad plenty to use, but none to can. The drought & heat have hit us hard! I've been watering all summer, but the heat is hard to manage. ~~ grnspot

 

[cqaigy2]

A small part of this year's crop


Now that's a nice crop!