2013 is not looking like a good tomato year

[kellyst]

Most years i think Ohio is ideal for tomato cultivation - but things aren't looking good this year. Much cooler and much more rain than normal has meant my tomatoes are about 3 weeks behind where they were last year, 2 weeks behind a normal year. Then a straight week of 75 degree nighttime low weather has slowed fruit set. Even my early varieties this year, Mountian Princess and Glacier, are no where close. Siberian Pink Honey has been the only producer so far, and it looks like Korol Gigantov will be coming in second.

Ok, sorry for the rant, i'm just venting some steam because I usually have more tomatoes than i know what to do with by now.

[Steve in PA]

Mine are late but quite full of green ones right now. It only bothers me because I wanted to be delivering them to the food bank by now.

[MNMamaBear]

I'm in zone 4a, in SE Minnesota. Ours are late too, we had a long, cold, wet spring which delayed transplanting. We had a 2 week stretch of very hot weather and now it's cooled down again - on Saturday, the high is supposed to be 72! All the plants have been full of little green tomatoes for a while now but they're just not progressing very fast. We've got Amish Paste, large red cherry, and German green. I am hoping that they start ripening soon!

[mamagoose]

Our early Oregon Spring's were beautiful and loaded and starting to ripen in June when the plants began dying. We still don't know what that was all about. We were able to harvest/save a fraction of the fruit from those.

One of our small cherry plants outside are finally turning now. If it wasn't for the Golden Nugget plants in hanging baskets in the greenhouse, we would have been practically tomato-less so far this summer.

I always grow several varieties and sizes of tomatoes, but now I will plan for more variation of planting methods next year to feed us through one like this!

[Bearsfan]

I guess I don't feel so bad now, mine are just flowering and I still can't get rid of that leaf curl. I hope we get an extended summer.

[olivehill]

Be patient. A couple years ago we had a very similar pattern, with everything quite late. They came on eventually and in full force, just took a while.

[ChristieAcres]

I got tired of relying on the weather, so had DH build me a hoop house over my tomato bed. This just happened to be the rare summer I didn't need one?! In our normally cool wet climate, tomatoes are a challenge every year.

[SoINgirl]

I have had some green ones on there forever it seems like. My plants aren't even getting very big. They are talking about temps getting down into the fifties this week.

[Appalachia]

We've had a LOT of rain here in NC this year... my plants look rough and I've lost 2, but still getting plenty of fruit to put up. I think yours will come along with a little time.

[BarbadosSheep]

we have had rain every day for well over a month. My tomato plants are all dying. The leaves get all spotted, and then turn black and fall off. And this is at my house and my neighbors, 10 different varieties of tomatoes. Just too much water and not enough full hot sun guess. I am keeping the green ones picked off and letting them ripen on the porch so they don't rot on the vines. So discouraging.

[DarleneJ]

Originally Posted by kellyst

Most years i think Ohio is ideal for tomato cultivation - but things aren't looking good this year. Much cooler and much more rain than normal has meant my tomatoes are about 3 weeks behind where they were last year, 2 weeks behind a normal year. Then a straight week of 75 degree nighttime low weather has slowed fruit set. Even my early varieties this year, Mountian Princess and Glacier, are no where close. Siberian Pink Honey has been the only producer so far, and it looks like Korol Gigantov will be coming in second.

Ok, sorry for the rant, i'm just venting some steam because I usually have more tomatoes than i know what to do with by now.

I can commiserate. We just moved to Ohio in January and put in a "first year" garden. My canning tomatoes just aren't growing. Not much foliage and for the most part they've stopped producing blossoms. I have at least four different varieties and although some look better than others, none are acceptable.

I hope as some have said, that they will come on later. I so much wanted to get some canned for the winter.

Here's to a better 2nd half of the summer!

[copperhead46]

I'm in N/E Oklahoma and we're in the same boat. I am thrilled to be having this rain, but it sure has played hell on the tomatoes and okra. Last year we went on vacation on June 18th and took two cases of ripe and almost ripe tomatos with us, when I came home July 5th my son has tomatoes all over the table, and 4 trash bags in the freezer. I have only picked a bushel in the last week, quite a difference from last year, but, they do seem to be coming on. Different story on the okra, haven't picked enough for supper yet.

[Elffriend]

I'm in zone 5, Ontario and picked my first tomato today, a Silvery Fir Tree. I looked at last year's garden diary and this is about two weeks late. We've had plenty of rain this year (droughts the previous two years) but it was cold this spring. My tomatoes went in the 3rd and 4th weeks of May and in the 1st week of June we had a couple of nights with frost warnings. Right now the plants are loaded with green fruit and I'm hoping for a good tomato year.

[vicki in NW OH]

Yes, most years Ohio is tomato-growing heaven. It is raining once again this morning. We had a week of higher temps, but now it has been cool this week and will be so for at least the next week. I do have ripe cherry tomatoes, and a Brandywine is showing a bit of color. I didn't plant early tomatoes, usually there is no need to do so. Just have to wait and see how many ripen.

[kellyst]

[QUOTE= I didn't plant early tomatoes, usually there is no need to do so. Just have to wait and see how many ripen.[/QUOTE]

Vicki,

I'm kind of with you. I always plant a couple late and mid-season varieties, but mostly late season. I'm rethinking this strategy for next year - maybe I need it more balanced.

[chickenista]

I am also in that corridor of rain.
But we had 3 days with no rain! 3 days!!!!
But we have had a little over 3 inches since 1:44 am.

Carp!
It is wreaking havoc on the tomatoes.
The plants themselves are waterlogged and what fruits are there are suffering blossom end rot. Too much rain. Plenty of calcium in the soil, but they just can't take it up. I am figuring it for a loss.
And what fruits are there and looking ok won't ripen because of lack of sunlight.

My cukes are a loss. Produced like crazy! Cukes and vines everywhere! But the fruits were too watery to have good flavor or to pickle. Those I am going to rip out and replant..
if it ever stops raining.
And my rosemary bushes are dying. Dying right in front of me. Too wet. Arrgghhhh!

[EDDIE BUCK]

After over two weeks of rain,and at least a half inch or more per day,my tomatoe's,cukes and squash looked like a complete failure.However after a week of dry weather and constant spraying with a fungicide to keep the blight from spreading farther,the tomatoes and cukes are producing like crazy.Not the squash though,but I do have two later plantings that hopefully will produce some.

[Danaus29]

I was late getting mine in the ground (too cold for too long in May) but I've got loads of green ones and picked my first cherry toms from volunteer plant yesterday. They'll be going into a pasta salad with my single purple pepper later today.

[RomeGrower]

We're in zone 7 and ours looked awesome as they grew 7 ft. tall, but they're not fruiting well and what we are getting are smaller. Cherry tomatoes have done okay though. We've had 15" more rain than average so far this year.