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majorrich's avatar

What did I do wrong with my tomato's this year?

Asked by majorrich (14741points) September 18th, 2009
19 responses
“Great Question” (0points)

Usually my Mother (the real gardener in the family) likes to plant the garden. This year, my brother had her during the planting season, so I put them in just like we always have. Problem is, we got LOTS of fruits, but only a very few turned red. I tried fertilizing, pruning, even talking to the ghastly things. (I don’t really like tomatos)...All for naught. Any ideas of what I did wrong?

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Answers

dpworkin's avatar

Where are you? In many places in the country including in the Northeast and the Midwest, tomatoes were blighted this year. It may not have been your fault at all.

majorrich's avatar

Oops, I am in Central Ohio.

dpworkin's avatar

My friend in Indiana had blighted tomatoes this year. She’s a farmer.

erichw1504's avatar

Not enough lurve.

SpatzieLover's avatar

Not enough sun.

jonsblond's avatar

We live in central Illinois and our tomatoes were blighted as well. It’s the first year we ever ended up with more peppers than tomatoes.

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aprilsimnel's avatar

One of my pals in New Jersey lost her crop as well. It’s just a bad year for tomatoes, sounds like.

SpatzieLover's avatar

I must’ve been lucky…mine are red & plentiful, but I plant in pots

laureth's avatar

I grow tomatoes on my patio in SE Michigan. It was a bad year for tomatoes – too cold and wet. Great year for peas, though!

marinelife's avatar

This was a much cooler summer than the norm. Tomatoes need heat to do well.

deni's avatar

Over here in Pittsburgh almost no tomatos turned out this year. The great tomato famine!

LJC's avatar

Here in Western NY I grew tomatoes on my balcony in pots which is a bad idea in the first place, but it was all I had. They actually ended up doing ok, enough to eat through most of the summer. I started them from seed indoors, and really early too, that may have something to do with it.

rooeytoo's avatar

Are tomato blights an air-born type disease or something that results from the weather conditions? What exactly is a blight and why would it only affect tomatoes???

@majorrich – Sorry don’t mean to hijack your thread, it just seemed like a good opportunity to learn something new!

jonsblond's avatar

@rooeytoo Here’s a great link with info for blight. It also affects potatoes.

rooeytoo's avatar

@jonsblond – wow, that was very comprehensive and understandable. Thanks for sending it!

gailcalled's avatar

Here in Eastern NY I also grew tomatoes in pots, but the rains came for 40 days and 40 nights. That meant no sun, of course. I harvested two tomatoes and now have two new ones the size of a dime; since we’re due for frost soon, that’s it. I figured each of my tomatoes cost me $20.00.

PandoraBoxx's avatar

@gailcalled, me too. I had all heirlooms, and lost every one of them.

gailcalled's avatar

@PandoraBoxx: My plants were also heirlooms (heart-shaped, which were snazzy) and my sis insisted I save the seeds. So I got to eat the outsides; then I soaked the seeds and the jelly glop for three days, changing the water often. Then I carefully dried and stored the seeds. Apparently these plants are like blue diamonds.

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