Hi from Alabama

[EdieJ]

Hi there! Hoping to find other deep-south gardners. We moved here from North Central Ohio a couple of years ago and got a garden put in last year. To say it was not a resounding success would be putting it mildly. I knew I would need to start much earlier than we did in Ohio but I really wasn't prepared for the searing heat and more bugs than I ever knew existed so we barely got started getting tomatoes when all heck broke out. Except the cherry tomatoes. Those, we had coming out our ears until that freak sudden deep freeze in October killed everything. The thing is, I have to grow a family heirloom this year specifically for seed (family expectations can be a heavy burden sometimes.) If I can't get a decent crop I don't know what will happen since the few places that used to carry the seeds no longer do - Mortgage Lifter Estler's which is in NO WAY related to Radiator Charlie who copied the name. Any way if anyone here has tips for dealing with the heat I'd surely love to hear them.
Thanks,
Edie

[Sue_CT]

I have Estler's Mortgage Lifter seeds in somewhat limited supply, but I could share a few if you needed them in the future. Carolyn Male sent me some about 5 years ago and every year I try to save some from the plants I grew out of her seeds. The last 2 years the writting faded or washed off my markers so I could not save seeds since I was not positive of each plants ID. But the ones I saved from 3 or 4 years ago are still good. Crossing my fingers I get a good batch saved this year to replenish my supply. I was also told a couple of venders are planning to make it available again commercially, so I would keep checking.

[MissS]

Welcome to the Junction EdieJ. We are so very happy to have you here and yes we do have many many southern gardeners here. Estler's Mortgage Lifter is a great tomato. I am sure that you can find the seeds here and many many more to fill your garden. Seeds fly around here in abundance. Seed starting for you is right around the corner here, so jump right into the forums and get going.

See, someone has already offered you some! That was fast.

[Rajun Gardener]

Welcome Edie, you found the right place for tomatoes!!! You might even meet your neighbor here, we have folks who live your way. If you put your location in your signature it will let people know more about your growing conditions and you'll get better advise/recommendations/tips. Your location can be a vague as you feel comfortable. For example, South/North Alabama, 50 miles south of Montgomery.

Enjoy and Glad to have you!!

[EdieJ]

Thank you Sue and MissS. I found my way here via GardenWeb/Houzz. The seeds I am planting came from plants I grew our last year in Ohio from the last seeds my Uncle Bob Estler saved before his death. So I am really feeling a lot of pressure for these. But I am so glad to hear that some folks are still growing them and really excited to hear that they might be commercially available again at some point.
Typically in this area of Alabama up in the mountains, plantout is about the middle of April. I might try to push it up a week with floating row covers and some kind of heating at night if needed. As much as I enjoy having a whole rainbow of tomatoes because I have not had luck with bagging blossoms, this year will be ML only. None of our close neighbors garden. So dealing with heat & bugs will be my focus this year. Last year was a real shock to my system!

[EdieJ]

Thank you Rajun Gardener! I tried to add my zone but apparently I didn't do it right. I'll get it one of these days!

[Rajun Gardener]

Good for you for saving those original seeds!! If you need someone to grow a few seeds just to make sure the original is what's going around just offer. I'm sure people would love to help you keep the originals going and send you back plenty of seeds. We are all Tomato Junkies and always thrive to keep heirlooms alive and well!!

[pondgardener]

[mention]EdieJ[/mention]
Welcome! We are a growing site and look forward to reading about your garden efforts and ideas. And as Rob suggested above, feel free to post as much information in your signature to educate others about your growing conditions. As you can see from mine, with limited precipitation, I have few disease problems and have vastly different start dates for many different vegetables because of my altitude and location. So my input may not be as practical compared to others who have similar growing conditions as yours. I hope your garden is especially fruitful this year...

[MissS]

EdieJ, what a treat to have someone from the Estler family here on the forum. With seed from the original source you will have many of us wanting to have some. It would be quite interesting to grow out what we all have been saving as Estler's Mortgage Lifter next to what you have to see how close that they really are. Crosses and mutations happen from time to time, so one never really knows after years of trading and growing it out.

[EdieJ]

I have more seed than I can plant out but I want to see what kind of germination % I get. If the first round comes up well I would be happy to share the excess seeds I have.

[eyegrotom]

Welcome to the Junction

[Whwoz]

Welcome to the Junction from Down under

[goodloe]

Welcome to The Junction!!

[PlainJane]

Welcome!

My gardening life underwent a dramatic shift when we moved from New England to N. Florida a few years back. I’m still adjusting.

Timing of seed starting and planting out is completely different. Still fine tuning that one. On the other hand, I can grow outside 12 months a year. Not much is happy here in July and August except okra and eggplant; everything else is a lesson in getting creative.

More disease pressure, for sure. I have been experimenting with bleach and neem sprays to keep my organically grown tomatoes going long enough for harvesting.

Different/more bugs. I order yellow sticky traps (Seabright Labs) by the dozens. I cover my cukes with insect barrier cloth to evade the local army of pickle worms.

I grow most vegetables in containers to avoid the horrible soil and nematodes. Only things in the ground are the fruit trees , blueberries, etc. The trees get most of the worm compost I make. Tomatoes are grown in a soilless 5-1-1 mix. Other veggies are grown in whatever bagged soil I can get locally at a decent price, supplemented by homegrown compost.

Another unexpected bonus here is far fewer hungry critters. No chipmunks. No turkeys, deer, coyotes. So far, the possums and raccoons have left things mostly alone, and the squirrels are unaggressive. In NE, the critter battles were unending.

Good luck!

[Ginger2778]

Thank you Sue and MissS. I found my way here via GardenWeb/Houzz. The seeds I am planting came from plants I grew our last year in Ohio from the last seeds my Uncle Bob Estler saved before his death. So I am really feeling a lot of pressure for these. But I am so glad to hear that some folks are still growing them and really excited to hear that they might be commercially available again at some point.
Typically in this area of Alabama up in the mountains, plantout is about the middle of April. I might try to push it up a week with floating row covers and some kind of heating at night if needed. As much as I enjoy having a whole rainbow of tomatoes because I have not had luck with bagging blossoms, this year will be ML only. None of our close neighbors garden. So dealing with heat & bugs will be my focus this year. Last year was a real shock to my system!

Welcome! How cool is that, Mr. Estler was your uncle! Many of us have grown Estler's ML, a very fine tomato.

[hdrider]

Welcome EdieJ, I am in Wisconsin right now but winter in NE Mississippi about 20 miles away from Hamilton AL.

[SusieQ]

Welcome! I'm thinking you've found the right place.

[wxcrawler]

Welcome to the Junction, Edie. My retired parents recently moved from Gulf Shores to the hills above Ft. Payne, Alabama. Going from the Gulf Coast to 1600 feet above sea level in NE Alabama is big change for their tomato starting and growing. I'm a Meteorologist in Tulsa, OK, and my dad is depending on me to help them with a start date. I think we're gonna shoot for a last frost date average around April 20, and go with that this year. I imagine it'll be some trial and error over the next few years to get it dialed in. One thing I'm going to envy at their location is it looks like the morning lows during the summer should get down to the upper 60's most of the time. I'm hoping that will extend their season through the summer. My tomatoes are usually spent by mid-July in my Tulsa heat and humidity. Welcome again, and good luck this spring.

Lee

[EdieJ]

Hi Lee. I'm on the other side of the TN River (Guntersville Lake at this point) from where your parents live but yep we are over 1300 feet almost straight up.
Yes we had a lovely spring last year, and I was so stoked to have a great harvest. And then... 100's, drought, more insects than I even knew existed. Total shock to my system. Even with daily watering, spraying with Daconil, Neem Oil, bT, and a couple other bug sprays (but NOT Sevin!) we pretty much lost everything except a couple of plants (Big Zebra and KBX that were in a homemade box) and a bunch of cherry-types. Go figure! So I hope this summer is better than last.

[AZGardener]

Welcome to the junction EdieJ!