As I expected, the first tomato plant to set fruit was the Amateur’s Dream plant in the cage in a sub-irrigated container. The tomatoes look a couple of days old so I am going to say they set probably on May 4th or before.
Amateur's Dream Wins First Tomato of the Season Award!
Now, conventional wisdom says that a tomato will not set fruit unless night temperatures rise above 50°F but I contend that with the advent of Russian tomatoes, this should be amended to say that some tomatoes need temperatures above 50°F and some do not.
Many tomato plants in my area are just now making it outside because night temperatures are finally rising. The setting of fruit is ruled by a complex set of variables of which night time temperatures is but one. I would say that sunlight exposure is more important than night time temperatures. Maybe I am wrong. Hey, sometimes a gamble pays off.
One thing you may notice in the picture is that one of the tomatoes is pleated or cat faced. Cat face can occur, I read, when fruit sets in cold temperatures.
THINNING CARROTS
Thinning carrots, or lettuce or any other plant seems like such a waste to me. These carrots were planted on a strip to minimize thinning. It did not minimize thinning for me! I ate these carrots by the way; they were delicious.
Carrots Interrupted
TOMATO PLANT MYSTERY
On several of my tomato plants, the leader on the main stem has curled severely. I have never seen this before. I hope it is because of the cold nights we experienced recently and not because of some disease. I took pictures of this oddity but I could not get a good representative photo to show you. This is the best I could do without stripping the leaves off the vine.
Curled like a pig's tail
Over and out.
May 7, 2010 at 9:23 am
Congrats! I hope you will harvest plenty of tomatoes to cook up a supper delicious meal. Tonight I am cooking up a soup (like your minestrone) with tomatoes, carrot, potato and onions in it.
Oh regarding that curled up leaves… probably infested by pests. Hope you find a solution soon.
May 7, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Don’t know about the curling tomatoes. Nice to see the fruit developing. I’m trying really hard this year to take more time and not plant things so close they need thinning. I’ve done well with the carrots. Not so with the radishes.
May 7, 2010 at 4:02 pm
How lucky to already have tomatoes starting! I’m just starting to harden off my plants today it’s been so cold here. Very interesting to learn about cat face, I’d never heard the name or what caused it. Our poor carrots are just sprouting now, we never have much luck with them. Could be because the kids are always pulling them up to “check on them”.
I answered your question on my blog. Thanks for visiting! I’ll be back here, great blog!
May 7, 2010 at 7:49 pm
I’m a little concerned about the really cold nights we are expecting this week. Hope it doesn’t shock everything and set the growth way back!! We’ll all be eating good veggies before we know it!
April 30, 2013 at 4:09 pm
i’m curious how this curling tomato vine issue worked out. i have a cherry tomato start, about 10″ high, that is curling just like the tomato in your post here! i can’t seem to find any information online about what this might be or if it’s a problem. it was a little root bound, but i transplanted it into a larger container, which hasn’t really changed anything. i’m wondering if it’s the variety of the tomato? any thoughts you have based on your experience would be so helpful! thanks!
~mel
May 1, 2013 at 12:30 pm
mel,
The curling on the plants turned out to be benign. The plants went on to produce fruit normally. On the final analysis, I was convinced that the curling had something to do with the tomato plant being in a container. Also, I noticed that the fastest growing plants tended to do this more than the other ones. I hope yours go on to produce delicious tomatoes!