fall garden...2nd tomato harvest?

[salty87]

here's a previous thread about my garden
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=312736

the summer was hot and long in central texas, serious drought and one of the hottest summers on record for austin. the garden fared pretty well. we had to pull a few things due to bugs...one of the bell pepper plants, spinach, crook neck squash, tomatillos. we managed to get fruit off of them but the bugs eventually won those battles.

the rest of the garden did great...tomatoes, jalapenos, herbs, watermelon, all sorts of peppers.

the better boy tomatoes stopped producing fruit for much of the summer heat wave but they survived and produced a bumper crop of tomatoes which haven't ripened yet. the plants were newly planted in the spring and i'm thinking the fall crop was bigger because the plants were already mature.

do the tomatoes taste different from an older vine?
is it common for people to tear these plants out and start over in the spring?
if these tomatoes don't ripen before we start getting freezes, can they be harvested early?

i'd like to keep the plants going if they can take it.

 

[BWR1953]

Re: fall garden...2nd tomato harvest?

Down here in central FL, we can have tomatoes growing right up until the end of the year, but they must be protected from frost. Anything 40 or below and they just sorta stagnate. If you don't want the hassle of covering them, you can harvest them green and cook 'em up! Fried green tomatoes are awesome.

To protect my tomato plants in the summer, I simply install a sun shield made from a couple of stakes and an old sheet. Keeps them happy and producing... same thing with the bellpeppers.

Too much water can split the tomatoes, so I use a plastic sheet over them during the rainiest season here.

Best of luck!

 

[rbh]

Re: fall garden...2nd tomato harvest?

you guys sure are lucky, your growing season sounds great.
are last harvest of tomatoes first week in october, as the temp went below zero C. (minus 8 c)
The kitchen was just full of beefsteaks and romas as well as peppers.
there is no substitute for vine ripened, green house veggys, YUCK
rob

 

[Kiwi Phil]

Re: fall garden...2nd tomato harvest?

Do you guys know the difference between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes.
This may help explain things.

Determinate tomatoe varieties grow to fixed mature size and ripen all their fruit in a short period. Can be nicknamed ?bush? tomatoes, compact, growing to 4-5 feet, . After this first flush the plant diminish in vigor.

Grow them when you have a disntinct season and want a large amount of fruit in a short time (season).

Indeterminate tomatoes also fruit over a season, but will go on for much longer, and grow longer vines, and continue to fruit. Growers will grow them maybe 12' high vertically (supported), then bend them 90 degrees and grow them horrizontally, and keep them fruiting for very long periods.

For varieties, look up the net.

Cheers
Phillip

 

[salty87]

Re: fall garden...2nd tomato harvest?

the tomatoes i'm growing are indeterminate. the main stalks have gotten to be very substantial. the late season harvest is at least twice as big as the first harvest when the plants were young. i'm going to try to get them to survive the winter. can't wait to see what the tomatoes taste like but i don't have much of a choice about that.

we had a light freeze last night. i covered things up with blankets. will take a look a bit later when it's warmed up some outside.

thanks

 

[mike64]

Re: fall garden...2nd tomato harvest?

Do you guys know the difference between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes.
This may help explain things.

Determinate tomatoe varieties grow to fixed mature size and ripen all their fruit in a short period. Can be nicknamed ?bush? tomatoes, compact, growing to 4-5 feet, . After this first flush the plant diminish in vigor.

Grow them when you have a disntinct season and want a large amount of fruit in a short time (season).

Indeterminate tomatoes also fruit over a season, but will go on for much longer, and grow longer vines, and continue to fruit. Growers will grow them maybe 12' high vertically (supported), then bend them 90 degrees and grow them horrizontally, and keep them fruiting for very long periods.

For varieties, look up the net.

Cheers
Phillip

Interesting, I always wondered what would happen if you dug up a tomato plant toward the end of the season and tried to keep it going indoors. I didn't know about determinate/indeterminate varieties.

 

[BWR1953]

Re: fall garden...2nd tomato harvest?

For someone who lives alone like me, an indeterminate variety is the way to go. Usually only 1 or 2 tomatoes ripe at any given time, but continues through the season.

The determinate varieties are great for folks who want a couple bushels of ripe tomatoes at once.

 

[j_martin]

Re: fall garden...2nd tomato harvest?

You can pick the green tomatoes at freeze time and store them inside. They will slowly ripen as long as they are not blemished, bruised, or bug bit. Store them at room temperature, not refrigerated.

hope it helps
John

 

[salty87]

Re: fall garden...2nd tomato harvest?

You can pick the green tomatoes at freeze time and store them inside. They will slowly ripen as long as they are not blemished, bruised, or bug bit. Store them at room temperature, not refrigerated.

hope it helps
John

this is my plan of attack. i pulled a few off the vine a few days ago. one or 2 have started to turn red. i've read that tomatoes release some sort of gas as they ripen and that encourages others to ripen as well. so far, so good. i've got them in a paper bag in the closet. there are about 30 more tomatoes still on the vine and no more frosty mornings for at least the next week.

thanks

 

[mike64]

Re: fall garden...2nd tomato harvest?

this is my plan of attack. i pulled a few off the vine a few days ago. one or 2 have started to turn red. i've read that tomatoes release some sort of gas as they ripen and that encourages others to ripen as well. so far, so good. i've got them in a paper bag in the closet. there are about 30 more tomatoes still on the vine and no more frosty mornings for at least the next week.

thanks

I've heard if you throw an apple in the bag with the tomatoes it helps them ripen, because apples release the same gas that makes tomatoes ripen.

 

[BWR1953]

Re: fall garden...2nd tomato harvest?

Tomatoes don't actually ripen after being picked while green, but they do change colors. Even though they may turn red, they won't be as sweet and tasty as a vine-ripened tomato from the very same vine.

Saw that bit of info on either Gardening by the Yard with Paul James or may have seen it on Good Eats with Alton Brown.

 

[j_martin]

Re: fall garden...2nd tomato harvest?

Tomatoes don't actually ripen after being picked while green, but they do change colors. Even though they may turn red, they won't be as sweet and tasty as a vine-ripened tomato from the very same vine.

Saw that bit of info on either Gardening by the Yard with Paul James or may have seen it on Good Eats with Alton Brown.

Vine ripened is best, of course, but rot ripened is better than nothing, and usually better and much less expensive than store bought.

 

[salty87]

Re: fall garden...2nd tomato harvest?

in 4-5 days the tomatoes have ripened. they're not quite as good as ripened on the vine but they are MUCH better than store bought and the price is right too.

i think i like this method better than vine ripening. we have 3 times as many tomatoes as we did in the summer. this way we can control how many ripen at a time. i put 4 tomatoes in a paper bag and 2 are more ripe than the other 2. i'll start a couple more this weekend and they'll be ready for thanksgiving snacking.

 

[rbh]

Re: fall garden...2nd tomato harvest?

leave the tomatos on the vine and put them in a sunny window inside