This spring I installed a new trellis for my indeterminate tomatoes. I planted Sweet 100s, Yellow Pear and Sun Sugar right next to the hog wire trellis and have continuously trained the plants to create an arch of tomatoes! I took this photo on August 8th and the back trellis is almost complete covered with tomato branches.
I have not done any pinching this year on my indeterminate tomatoes, but did pinch the new growth at the bottom of the determinate plants to focus on upward growth. Both varieties of Roma that I planted have become very leggy and almost look like they could be indeterminate plants. Was that the lack of pinching?
The Sun Sugar tomatoes are loving the fresh air I have created for them in trellising.
Both the yellow and red Roma tomato plants are producing and enormous crop this year. The Yellow Pear and orange Sun Sugar plants are also prolific. The Sweet 100 tomato plant was not really producing or flowering and dying from the top of the plant down. I had inspected the plant and found no bugs, spots or mold. Frustrated, I pulled it out of the ground this morning. I love Sweet 100 tomatoes and have always had great luck with them, but this year I will be buying them at the farmer’s market! BooHoo.
The Early Girl plants are climbing up the trellis quite a bit, even though they are determinate plants.
I planted all the tomatoes April 1st in really great soil, so I decided not to add fertilizer and see what happens. I have just cut back a bit on the water cycle extending it to every 5 days from 3 days. My leaves may start to yellow, but the tomatoes become more flavorful when they struggle just a bit. (it is like raising teenagers; the less you do for them, the more they do for themselves!)
I drove up to Napa yesterday and did not stop at the market arriving with no groceries and really nothing in the refrigerator. I had harvested tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley and green beans, so for dinner I just sautéed a few different types of tomatoes with garlic, chopped parsley, salt and pepper in some olive oil.
Viola! Dinner for one.
