2012 Tomato Post-morten

Pineapple Tomato

Momotaro Tomato

The tomato plants have been pulled up and composted, to come back next year as soil.

To recap, this year, in my limited space, I grew several Black Krim, several Momotaro, several Pineapple and two Sungold cherry tomato, one in the garden and one on the balcony.

Overall, it was a very good tomato year in that we did not get the usual coastal fog in the summer, not a even a hint. This means, tomatoes, plant and fruits, were happy.

The SunGold on the balcony was a bust, however. It only gets a few hours of sun every day, at the most four hours a day, not enough to produce a health plant. I did get some cherry tomatoes but not enough to warrant the space, as I had it in a 15 gallon pot. I'm not doing this again for 2013.

For next year, I would have fewer Pineapple, perhaps just one plant rather than three. They produce very large fruits that are 'okay' in flavor and not great. I would prefer to use my limited space for another beefsteak, maybe a Sudduth's Brandywine, if the weather holds true to 2012. Also on my wishlist would be a Paul Robeson. So I would keep one plant but add a Sudduth's Brandywine and a Paul Robeson for next year.

The Black Krim were fantastic. They started early and ended late. It stays for next year. The SunGold is always a monster overachiever. It stays for next year. Momotaro is a faithful heavy producer of gorgeous sweet tomatoes. This also is a 'go' for next year. The only negative, and this goes for the SunGold as well, is that it is a hybrid. That means, I don't save seeds as the next generation is unstable.

I'll start seeds in February and March 2013.

Gray skies in the morning

For those who think we have a good life here one block from the beach, our usual morning weather in the summer looks something like this. Or worse. That would be the fog. However, this year, we have had more than our fair share of days without gloom and fog. I attribute this to why my non-cold tolerant tomatoes, that is the Pineapple Tomato, did do better than usual this year. We generally get clearing later in the day.

first pineapple tomato ripens one block from the beach

My first Pineapple tomato begins to ripen, one block from the beach. I harvested it today because it hovers too close to the ground for my comfort. And now that it is almost perfectly ripe, I did not want it snagged by the opposum (yes, you!) who visits our garden plots at night. I'm thrilled with the progress of this tomato because it simply does not do well in our cool coastal climate. After three years, this tomato is the first I have grown. It seems Pineapple develops later than the others I am growing, and there are definitely fewer tomatoes per plant.

At home, it continues to darken with orange tints. The seeds will be carefully saved for next year.

tomatoes one block from the beach

Selected tomatoes from my harvest today. This Momotaro looks simply gorgeous. This year, I have only planted four varieties: Black Krim, Momotaro, Sungold, and Pineapple. I planted seeds the end of January this season. I nurtured them inside on a east facing window and then later I acclimated them on my balcony throughout our colder months.

Momotaro, a hybrid, and Black Krim, a Russian heirloom, do well here one block from the beach. However, Black Krim has peaked. I only have a few left while Momotaro is probably close to its peak. Looking below, the center one is Black Krim. Notes to me for next year: plant more Black Krim. I crave Black Krim's smoky and slight salty taste. These I can eat as is, like an apple. They are best, in my opinion, sliced, drizzled with a good extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with a good salt.

The Pineapple Tomato comes from a tomato I bought at the local Farmers' Market a few years ago. I saved the seeds. The last two years, they did not do well at all. They are not well-adapted to growing next to the beach. This year, we have had sunnier and warmer days. This will be the first year I have tomatoes.This one is just beginning to show its true color, which is yellow with orange mottling throughout.

The Sungold is a hybrid. I have only one plant, as it tends to be an overachiever.

My late summer tomatoes: pineapple

Several years ago, I spied a gorgeous yellow mottled with orange beefsteak tomato at the local farmer's market. It's name was Pineapple, and, naturally, after buying it, I saved its seeds. It turned out, quite frankly, to NOT be a cool weather tolerant type which meant it would be a challenge to grow here in my garden one block from the beach. In the last two years, they did not well. They grew tall, gangly and spindly, bearing few fruits which never ripened, with the leaves spotted with mildew.

I wanted to keep trying. This year, I started seeds in February rather than March. I planted the seedlings in the sunniest warmest corner of my garden.

And there be fruits! I noted these don't yield as much as my hybrids and they aren't as far along as the others. But I'll have late summer tomatoes this year barring a catastrophe. The seeds will be saved again for future years.

Tomato update

Let's see. I have green Momotaro.

These Momotaros grew in a bunch.

I have green Sungold.

I have green Black Krim.

I finally have Pineapple tomato blooms. These are blooming later than all others. Very photogenic, I might add.

I spied a small Pineapple tomato. The first!

Lastly, the Sungold on the balcony in a pot seem to be ripening already. We have had a few, and they are delicious.

Green tomatoes

I've got tomatoes developing on nearly every tomato plant. The one exception is Pineapple, which seems to be just flowering now. This one is most definitely NOT a cooler climate tolerant tomato and represents my little experiment for trying to grow a regular tomato in a cooler climate. To help them, I did plant them in the sunniest warmest parts of my plot. We'll see if we get any fruit at all because in a month or two, we will get the coastal fog flowing in around noon time. And, of course, this doesn't make for optimum tomato growing.

Sungold

Black Krim

More Black Krim

Momotaro

Sungold on my balcony (in a pot)

Starting Tomatoes for 2012

This year, I started my tomatoes from seed on 1/23/2012 and 1/24/2012. I chose these dates taking into consideration that last year, I had started in March, which was simply too late. The year before, I started in December, and that was way too early.
I also chose the tomatoes very carefully, taking into consideration our cool temperature climate; this year, they are Black Krim, Momotaro, SunGold and Pineapple. No others because I find I have too many seedlings each year and not enough space. The Black Krim, a cooler climate tolerant tomato, should be perfect for our one block from the beach climate. As for the Pineapple, I think it won't do that well since it seems to prefer sunnier and warmer places so this is my challenge for the year. SunGold does well, since it is a cherry. The Momotaro does okay but I like this tomato and don't want to give up on it.
I harvested the Black Krim and Pineapple seeds directly from the tomato. The Momotaro and Sungold are hybrids and came from the Kitagawa seed company.
This year, I decided to soak the seeds in water for an hour, a new step but I don't know if it made a difference.
 
Germination rate was 100% except for the Pineapple seeds (50%).


I plant the seeds into small containers.
 As the seedlings grow, I transplant into larger containers. Since I grow the seedlings indoors in my window, I find I need to cold-acclimitize the seedlings before taking them outdoors else they do not grow well. Our outdoor overnight temps drop to 50 F, which I think is pushing the comfort boundaries. The Black Krim have been slowly acclimitized outdoors overnight over a two week period.
Of the six Black Krim seedlings, one has already been given away, one will be given away to a local group, and the rest will be planted in my garden.
This Black Krim has already been planted into the ground.
 
I follow the instructions from here for the most part.