I’d like to do a series on problems all of us have from time to time when growing tomatoes. This week I answered a question about catfacing. (Please don’t run through the streets screaming in horror. Franken tomato happens to most of us at one time or another! )Below is an excellent article on possible causes. I am sharing it here. Click on the link below to read his/her take on catfacing. Thanks to The Tomato Bible.

https://www.tomatobible.com/tomato-catfacing/

Pretty ugly, right? There are multiple reasons that this could happen.

For one, many of the largest heirlooms are susceptible to this. You would never see this in retail. They want pretty, round, moderate-sized tomatoes.

A big reason could be the weather. Wide fluctuations of hot, cold, and warm, interfere with the flowers as they develop.

Another reason could be your watering practices. Inconsistent watering, too much, too little. I know it contributes to cracking on thin-skinned tomatoes.

Weather, we can’t control. The varieties we choose are something we can change, as well as how and when we water.

The good news? You will lose a lot of tomato when you trim the icky spots but the tomato is still very, very delicious! Hands down, they taste a lot better than the perfect, plastic ones at the store.

Just know that is isn’t usually something you did.

Blue Beauty and Dancing with Surfs

These tomatoes were part of my dark and unusual choices for this year. I was amazed at the size and coloring of the ‘Blue Beauty’. Very prolific, they all seemed to ripen at once (so far) and the plant isn’t too tall. Labeled as an indeterminate. A cross between ‘Beauty King’ and a blue tomato. This is a Brad Gates Introduction of Wild Boar Farm. He has come up with some doozies! His are the most colorful tomatoes around. It is also one of the first to ripen in my garden.

Where does he come up with these names? These are about the size of a ping pong ball. They grow in clusters and are mature when they turn dark red with purplish shoulders. I liked them and thought they were fairly sweet when truly ripe. In my experience, blue tomatoes need to be really ripe for the best flavor. A tidy little plant, almost 4 feet in my garden.

I enjoy thumbing through the catalogs looking for new varieties every year. The more colorful the better!

Sometimes, in order to get the varieties you want, you just have to buy them earlier than you want, just to get them. I start my selling season on April 15th and no way can you put them out at that time.

Sometimes you want a certain variety such as Beauty King, Blush, Brad’s Atomic Grape, Cherokee Purple Heart, Vintage Wine, or Pruden’s Purple. Unless you grow them from seed you probably aren’t going to find them anywhere.

What about peppers? Try finding plants of Biquinho, Royal Black, Filius, Jalapeno Tajin, or Lemon Drop at a farmer’s market.

My customers who are savvy come early so they can get the more unusual or rare varieties. Naturally, they need to know how to keep them happy. So I school them n the dos and don’ts of what to do.

#1 Available real estate. When you buy a plant check the root ball. It may fill the pot and you will need to transplant them into a bigger pot to keep them growing. One of the reasons that I start some really early and put them into a gallon-size pot. Real Estate is everything for a plant. Below is the same variety of petunia. One was transplanted into a larger pot, and the other stayed in its old container. The difference is amazing.

#2 They need light. You can’t put them in your garage or basement with a lightbulb and consider it good. Even a bright window is not going to be satisfactory for any length of time. They need to go outside and get used to the weather. that being said if it is going to be over 40 at night when you set them out, leave them out. Also, watch out for wind and hail. If you buy a lot, consider putting them in a wagon or a sled or (use your creativity) and bring them out all at once rather than one at a time.

#3 They will need water. The nice thing about a bigger pot is that there is more soil volume and they don’t dry out as fast. In a smaller container, you really need to keep an eye on their water requirements.

#4 They will get hungry. we use a lot of organic amendments in our potting soil so they are set when we transplant but due to leaching (continuous watering dilutes the fertilizer every time you water), they will need more fertilizer be it organic or non-organic. Use the fertilizer you like, organic, non-organic, miracle-gro, or fish emulsion at half-strength every couple of weeks when you water. Light green tomato plants are especially unattractive.

It always amazes me how fast my plants grow. When they are first transplanted they just sort of sit there for a couple of weeks. Then, when their roots are feeling a little more settled, they start to put on growth. I am going to take pictures at regular intervals so that you see what I see in my greenhouse. I will do the same thing with the tomatoes.

There are four pics of the Jalapenos from 3 different dates. the others just represent the beauty of the little plants.

Lettuce is a cool-season vegetable, it grows best in temperatures around 60 – 65°F. Once temperatures rise above 80°F, lettuce will normally start to “bolt” or stop leaf production and send up a stalk to flower and produce seed. The leaves become bitter when this happens.

Romaine types such as Mayan Jaguar and Pomegranate Crunch, Butterheads, such as Tom Thumb and Speckled Amish, and loose-leaf lettuces, such as Buckley and Slo-Bolt tolerate heat better than tighter heading lettuces like Iceberg.

Several things you can do to grow lettuce in summer, at least a little longer.

Mulch Lettuce tolerates a higher air temperature if the soil around its roots is cool and moist. Keeping your soil cool and damp encourages your lettuce to grow longer without bolting. Since lettuce has wide and shallow roots, a thick mulch keeps it happier in warm weather.

Partial shade is one way to keep lettuce growing later into warm weather. Deep shade isn’t good, but a system allowing sun during the morning while sheltering the plants in the afternoon keeps them living longer.

In the long run, when it gets as hot as it is going to get in the upcoming weeks (100’s), there is very little you can do to prevent your lettuce from bolting and turning bitter. To salvage it, harvest it and it will keep n the refrigerator for weeks. Much longer than anything you can buy at a grocery store.

If you are starting seeds during these times, just know that most lettuce seeds won’t germinate as temperatures rise above 80°F, a condition called “thermo-inhibition”. This trait is a carryover from wild lettuce in the Mediterranean Middle East, where summers are hot with little moisture. If the lettuce seeds sprouted under these conditions, they would soon die out and the species would go extinct.

The hot weather looks to be here. This morning I saw that it’s going to over 100 degrees for the next six days. (Unusual for our area) That means I won’t be going outside except to water. (I may stick a picture of myself in my horse’s paddock for her to remember me!) Although most people assume that tomatoes love hot weather. They don’t.

Fruit development slows as the plant focuses on moving water through its system. A heat wave can also keep tomatoes from developing into a deep red, resulting in orange fruit.

Most varieties of tomato plants take a break, even those who are bred for warmer climates. They don’t care for excessive heat any more than we do. When daytime temperatures are up in the 90s and nights are in the 70s or warmer, tomato plants may keep on blooming, but the flowers often fall off and fruit does not set. Pollination doesn’t occur when it it is too hot. Once the flower opens, it has a short 50 hour window in which to pollinate or they abort, dry up and drop off. Don’t worry, they will soon return to normal as it gets cooler.

Here are few things you can do to help them through this time:

Mulch
Adding mulch around the base of your tomato plants can help keep the ground a few degrees cooler and and aids in keeping moisture fro excessive evaporation. Use two to three inches of mulch, things like leaves or grass clippings.

Avoid Overwatering
You might think the plants need more water than normal. They don’t, they need the same amount but more often. In pots, I water throughly every day in hot weather. I soak them until water come out the holes in the bottom of the container. If it’s a smaller pot with very little volume you might need to do this twice a day. (See why I recommend LARGE containers?) Tomato plants need an inch or two of water a week. A deep soaking is better than a little water every day.  The best way to tell if your plants need water is to poke your finger into the soil. If it’s dry more than an inch down, it’s time to get out the hose.