late start this year

[habitat-gardener]

I can't believe it's the second half of August and I still don't have any ripe tomatoes!! My plan was to start planting at the community garden in mid-March, and I had seedlings ready to go, but I was also trying to get tons of natives in the ground and relandscaping the whole yard around the house. So I ended up planting tomatoes mid-May to mid- June. That was pretty late for this area, though mid-May is when the local independent garden shop recommends planting tomatoes. And the eggplants and peppers went in even later.

Oh, wait, I did pick one tomato! It was a cherry tomato from Golden Balcony Miracle last week, from a half-barrel planted near the house!

Anyway, I have lots of greenies, and the first frost is not expected until at least November. I just hope the leaf-footed bugs stay away!

Not having nightshades to pick, however, has allowed me to appreciate other crops! I had a huge crop of goji berries from the bush that I planted 2 years ago. I wasn't going to pick them, because it's so tedious to pick hundreds of small soft berries, but I finally did, then froze and dehydrated them. I also had bumper crops of delicious Himrod and Venus grapes from vines I planted 2 years ago. It was more than we could eat, so I gave a bunch away. And then we had grapes at home as well.

The cucumber plants I started from seed all failed! Probably it was too hot when I planted them, though I did shade them. But the purchased seedlings are doing well now, and I'm picking some every time I go to the garden from 2 plants.

Most of the bush beans and pole beans I planted in mid-March died from a surprise late freeze, and then the next batch was hit by an early heat wave. But I've been picking Red Noodle beans regularly. They love the heat! And the Willow-leaved colored lima beans are coming along. I planned to start more bush beans for the fall, but I don't know if I'll get around to it.

Finally, my perennial kale (aka tree collards) plants have survived the summer. I've been growing this plant for 15-20 years in many different gardens. I wasn't sure it would grow well in this hot-hot-summer climate. As long as I spend time picking off harlequin bugs all summer, it does pretty well. We enjoy eating it with peanut sauce year-round.

[slugworth]

Game of inches.
I still have a few tomato plants that never had blossoms, right next to plants that did fine.

[slugworth]

Some of the fused blossom tomatoes would even shock a hemorrhoid doctor.
Lots of scar tissue.
I am already planning my garden for next year.

[Gardadore]

Things do seem later this year in terms of ripening. Think I chose varieties well in terms of early, mid and late. Finally have gotten a good crop of ripe but there are still several varieties full of tomatoes with not one ripe yet. As early ones begin to die back due to our lack of water it is nice to anticipate new varieties coming on. Been a really challenging summer keeping them watered. If the tomatoes aren’t ripening they are at least still growing so will be getting more large ones once they do! Eggplants not as good as last year but should improve once we get rain and a little cooler. Keep feeding both with Neptune’s Harvest Rose and Flowering fertilizer once a week in between the watering which has helped.

[MissS]

My tomatoes went in late too. Mid June. I am just now starting to get a few ripening for me. The others a very loaded up and are now dropping blossoms while their fruits ripen. Once I harvest the first flush I am hoping that there will be time for them to produce a second one.

[Paulf]

We are about 4 weeks later than normal (in this location results over a 17 year period) We are getting some tomato harvest but due to the high temperatures both day and night the numbers are way off. About 1/3 of the plants do not even have fruit yet. Some blossoms are wilting before fruit set. With cooler temps forecast perhaps the tons of greenies will begin to ripen and the loads of blossoms will set. Now all we need is for an early frost to ruin the entire season.

[DriftlessRoots]

I got my tomatoes in at the usual time but they were late to start producing and ripening and now they're coming to an early end. I believe I have whiteflies and it looks like they are killing any new blossoms. Treating them isn't practical at this point. So, when what's on the vines now ripen that's it. Looked at my notes and last year at this time I had canned 59 pints of sauce, passata, juice, etc. (I do pints because there is only the two of us.) As of today I've got a couple trays of Amish Paste on the table ripening which might translate into a dozen or so pints. Did I stock up on lids and get some more jars over the last year anticipating a good year? Yes, I did. Here's to 2023?

[AKgardener]

My garden is done for the year I only had 4 plants left to ripen and they just started to turn color beginning of August but we have nothing but rain for weeks and temperatures dropped so I had to pick them green as well!! I am also planning my garden for next year.. doing all odd varieties next year is just a fun exsperment year with Snow White tomato, dark galaxy tomato
Wolverine tomato,pink Siberian tomato.groovy tunes tomato,dark striped micro , Mongolian tomato:)
It’s gonna be a relaxing year for me

[indysun]

Miss S, why are / did your plants drop blossoms?

[bower]

We had it all for early and late this season. Plants started extra early. Spring was so cold, they had to go in late. Then the heat kicked in suddenly and well before schedule, it was enough to delay ripening past the normal time from setting. But once they decided to go ahead and ripen, it's been a deluge of fruit with pretty good set overall (none of those low clusters were worth the time though). No sunscald in spite of the crazy amount of sun and heat, so I'll be doing the same arrangement in the greenhouse next year. The humid heat has its own set of foliage griefs, and some plants are extra susceptible but none are really immune, and this year the humidity has been extreme and persistent, so there's a big chopdown waiting to happen. There are half dozen plants I could have cut down already but letting them stand to ripen those last dozen fruit if they can. Not for much longer though.
I expect our main crop to be over early with a majority of fruit ripened on the vine this time.
Then I'll probably keep a few good plants and let them set up and linger into the fall for occasional maters.

[karstopography]

Apparently, timing is challenging no matter where one is located. Getting a garden accomplished and actually productive seems to be a dicey system with lots of moving parts and variables. It’s a wonder we ever get it right.

Glad the OP habitat-gardener got some delicious red noodle beans. My Asian long beans all got mowed down by the bad, bad bunnies. I did get a very nice productive period of really good cucumbers this season which was nice as last year’s was a mostly a bust.

I partially dodged some late-ish frost, but my bush beans did take a big hit. The second planting of those was able to produce well and long before the heat obliterated those.

Thank goodness we all still have some reasonable hope even if the gardens haven’t necessarily met all our early desires or expectations. This was, all things considered, likely my best year ever in the garden and that tends to somehow make me worry about future gardens and will they ever be as good!

[MissS]

@indysun I have found that once my plants are loaded and I do mean loaded, that they then drop their blossoms in order to grow the fruits that are already set. Once some of those mature and ripen and are off of the plant then the plant will resume setting more fruit. It seems that they will only allow as much fruit as they can handle at one time. Sometimes I have also found little tiny pea sized tomatoes that will just sit on the plant for weeks and not grow at all but once I harvest some of the mature tomatoes those little tiny tomatoes start to grow and bulk up just fine.

[DriftlessRoots]

Apparently, timing is challenging no matter where one is located. Getting a garden accomplished and actually productive seems to be a dicey system with lots of moving parts and variables. It’s a wonder we ever get it right.

This times ten.

I should add that for the first time in recent memory our beans are doing great so it makes up for a low tomato year. Usually they are devastated by bean beetles by this time and I've seen hardly any this season.

[karstopography]

@indysun I have found that once my plants are loaded and I do mean loaded, that they then drop their blossoms in order to grow the fruits that are already set. Once some of those mature and ripen and are off of the plant then the plant will resume setting more fruit. It seems that they will only allow as much fruit as they can handle at one time. Sometimes I have also found little tiny pea sized tomatoes that will just sit on the plant for weeks and not grow at all but once I harvest some of the mature tomatoes those little tiny tomatoes start to grow and bulk up just fine.

This has been exactly my experience. A given plant will only hold so many developing tomatoes and will apparently refuse to set any new fruit or developed any new fruit until some of the ripening fruit are removed one way or another. Then those pea sized tomatoes caught in a torpor might suddenly spring to life once X amount of fruit has been removed.