You Grow Girl™

By now you are probably sick and tired of my seemingly limitness posts regarding the tomatoes, but this one is good.

High Park Saturday, Aug. 10

I've read alot of literature about the care and growing of tomatoes, yet somehow until I actually experience problems, a good load of the info goes in one ear and right out... I'm a doer. I learn by doing. I learn quite a lot by reading of course -- but it isn't until I've really experienced something first hand that I totally understand it.

I've had tomato fruit suffer from blossom end rot in the past, so I thought I was a total expert on the subject. I made a concerted effort to be sure not to experience this kind of setback in fruit production this year. Despite my best try I managed to produce two plants with this problem this year. At first I thought it was unusual that the two healthiest looking plants were having problems, yet some of the mangiest looking plants had perfect fruit. Isn't the goal of gardening to produce healthy, lush plants?

After another evening of picking off tiny, diseased fruit, (I remove them because what's the point of wasting energy on sick fruit), I discussed the problem with my friend J. She's new to tomato growing but thought that perhaps the answer might lie in looking at how pot growers deal with cannibus plants. I just want to say as a disclaimer that neither of us have ever grown marijuanna (although I would if it was legal because the plants are gorgeous. I've often thought they would make a nice privacy screen on the deck. But that's enough entry) but we have in the past discussed gardening with growers. You can learn alot from pot growers. Seriously. Like any farmer their lively hood depends on producing a good crop. If you can find an ethical grower who actually cares about their clientel and the environment enough to grow organically or at least without chemical pest sprays then you'll learn even more. And here's another quick lesson I've learned from growers. Some growers are HEAVY HANDED with the chemicals. Something to think about that the next time you light up a joint. I would imagine that getting to know where your pot comes from is as important as knowing where your food comes from. Okay that's the end of my Public Service Announcement.

So she mentioned that in order to move all the energy to the top of the plant where the fruit is being produced, pot growers remove alot of the lower foliage that is never going to produce fruit. Seemed like a good idea. I already remove the suckers for that very reason. Many people remove the top of the tomato plant when it is drawing near the end of the season and they want their existing fruit to ripen. That way the plant isn't putting energy into producing new fruit that may never have time to ripen. I had never made the connection between healthy foliage and blossom end rot. In my mind I had always conceptualised the disease as a calcium deficiency (which it is). But in my mind this deficiency was caused by underwatering, which results in the inability of the roots to absorb calcium through the soil. Sometimes it is a result of there just not being enough calcium in the soil in the first place. I knew there was enough calcium in the soil. I'd been extra careful to cover all the bases this year in terms of fertilizing. After our chat I went inside and consulted my favourite pest and disease book for the millionth time. I realised that I had somehow missed out on an important element in the blossom end rot section. Sometimes plants get nice and big and lush and green (like my two plants). But while they are doing that, they neglect to put any energy into the fruit. Sometimes this happens because the plant has excess nitrogen. But whatever the reason, the end result is fruit with a black, wet-look spot on the bottom (blossom end) that grows larger and larger as the fruit develops -- blossom end rot.

The book did not provide answers but I knew I had two things to do. The first is to not fertilize those plants with fish emulsion again. Clearly they're doing okay for nitrogen. The second is to do like the pot growers and remove some leaves and stems. It was painful and a bit daunting (to my disadvantage I'm a hesitant pruner), but I managed to remove a good portion of the bottom leaves on the plants in question. I can see another advantage in this in that I don't have to be so careful about splashing when watering (which can cause other nastier diseases).

It's been a few days and so far everything is good. The new fruit coming in are disease free thus far. I'm keeping a firm eye on things and will provide updates.

In other news: the 'lemon boy' tomatoes are starting to turn yellow. I expect to be eating the first within the week. I've been enjoying the 'Purple Prince' tomatoes on sandwiches. Truly one of the best tomatoes I've tasted. Yesterday I discovered my first ripe 'Broad Ripple Yellow Currant' tomato. They are so tiny and cute and tasty. The peppers are starting to turn red.