Hello friends! I will be showing some of my garden here..please forgive my English, it's not that good..

We are currently in "winter" with 29° C..

Here are some tomato plants (not the best photos but well!) :
White Cherry, my main producer, with loads of ripe tomatoes.. Flavor just ok, I'm wondering if the Snow White it's better..When taking the picture I saw spider mites on the plants That's why all the other plants have some DE sprinkled, but tomorrow I will be trying a mix of DE, Permetrin and soap that I read about on Tomaville.. any other suggestions?
Next one it's my Cherokee Purple, looking good I think..
This one it's Indigo Rose.. the first antho tomato developed I think.. the flavor it's not that good according to many but let's try ourselves
Rosella Purple with some flowers
Tiny tim in a 3 gallon container
Mexico Midget in a 10 gallon grow bag.. Waiting (I'm)patiently for my first ripe one!

Josetom wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 12:16 pm White Cherry, my main producer, with loads of ripe tomatoes.. Flavor just ok, I'm wondering if the Snow White it's better.

Your plants look great! I haven't grown Snow White, but I've grown Super Snow White a few times, and it's one of my favorites.

those white cherries are looking good! Is all of that white stuff made up of spider mites?!
Also if you get 29C in winter what kind of temperatures do you get in the summer?

Frosti wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 3:57 pm those white cherries are looking good! Is all of that white stuff made up of spider mites?!
Also if you get 29C in winter what kind of temperatures do you get in the summer?

Hi @Frosti! The white dust is Diatomaceous Earth that I sprinkled after seeing some Spider mites..
In summer we have min 30°and max 39°.. right now we have an unusual hot winter.. those climate change people aren't joking!

Also, what cherry it's the one on your profile pic?

You are so very lucky to be growing tomatoes in winter. Not so for me.

For spider mites I mix 1 tablespoon of Dawn dish soap to a gallon of water and spray both the top and the undersides of my leaves. You will need to repeat this every other day for 10 days. If they are very stubborn then I will use some Flea and Tick Shampoo for Dogs and spray the plants with that.

DE will also work but you need to use a duster so that you get and even coverage and can get it on the underside of those leaves where the mites are.

MissS wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 8:17 pm You are so very lucky to be growing tomatoes in winter. Not so for me.

For spider mites I mix 1 tablespoon of Dawn dish soap to a gallon of water and spray both the top and the undersides of my leaves. You will need to repeat this every other day for 10 days. If they are very stubborn then I will use some Flea and Tick Shampoo for Dogs and spray the plants with that.

DE will also work but you need to use a duster so that you get and even coverage and can get it on the underside of those leaves where the mites are.

@MissS , thank you for taking the time to answer.. I don't think we have Dawn dish soap on my country.. It has something special about it? Flea and Tick Shampoo I can buy

3% Hydrogen Peroxide mixed 1:1 with water works to control mites. Spray foliage top and bottom about once a week.

https://www.seedsandsustenance.com/home ... is,alcohol)%20and%20kills%20every%20egg.

Another concoction to wipe out spider mites, although I haven’t tried this one.

karstopography wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 8:24 pm 3% Hydrogen Peroxide mixed 1:1 with water works to control mites. Spray foliage top and bottom about once a week.

https://www.seedsandsustenance.com/home ... is,alcohol)%20and%20kills%20every%20egg.

Another concoction to wipe out spider mites, although I haven’t tried this one.

You're very kind @karstopography , thank you!

@Josetom just try using one of your higher quality dish soaps. Do not spray your plants in the direct sun or they will get sunburn. Just spray at eary morning or later evening or on a cloudy day. The soap is to suffocate them.

MissS wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 8:17 pm For spider mites I mix 1 tablespoon of Dawn dish soap to a gallon of water and spray both the top and the undersides of my leaves. You will need to repeat this every other day for 10 days.

Does this also work for aphids? I have both mites and aphids on my tomato plants right now, and it would be nice to zap them both with one thing.

@Josetom, thanks for bringing diatomaceous earth to my attention. A mechanical insecticide sure is interesting!
The white cherry from my profile pic is the F1 of a cross with a wild tomato. Looks pretty, but has too much wild aroma to be considered a good tasting tomato. I'll work on improving the taste of that line over the years. Here is the link to the thread about it, if you want to know more about it.

Seven Bends wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 8:56 pm

MissS wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 8:17 pm For spider mites I mix 1 tablespoon of Dawn dish soap to a gallon of water and spray both the top and the undersides of my leaves. You will need to repeat this every other day for 10 days.

Does this also work for aphids? I have both mites and aphids on my tomato plants right now, and it would be nice to zap them both with one thing.

Yes it does work on aphids!

Some quick pictures of today
Cherokee purple, some fruits affected by BER, I'm going to be more consistent with watering
My first Rosella Purple!
Dwarf Eagle Smiley going well
Mexico Midget, ripening very soon I hope
Anyone into carnivorous plants? A Drosera Capensis

First Cherokee Purples
Delicious Caprese Salad!
Indigo Rose growing well, my Eagle Smiley died from some kind of wilt

Looks great! How’s the weather been? This is your winter, isn’t it? Is it warm enough to grow basil? How much longer do you think your tomatoes will produce fruit?

Hi @karstopography ! The weather has been very hot.. technically it's winter but not much of cold temperatures.. I believe it's warm enough for basil.. my tomatoes I believe, as you have correctly say before, will produce fruit until November if disease (mites -.- ) doesn't kill then first.. how are you tomatoes going? The pictures I have seen are very beautiful!!! I'm trying that recipe that you have linked with peppermint and H2O2, I hope it works!!!

Other thoughts:

I am having lots of BER with my container tomatoes.. Rosella Purple and Wilfred.. So I am really concerned that I went " all in" with the Dwarfs..

Growing under lights right now:

Maglia Rosa x 2
Blush
Tasmanian Chocolate x 2
Purple Heart x 2
Pink Passion
Uluru Ochre
Sweet Sue
Wherowaki
Karma Purple Multiflora

My Cherokee, although it's a "bigger" plant, because of his rapid growth it's more resistance and productive than his little brother Rosella..I believe I will have more indeterminates next year's .. I will try the trick with the sheets for my pots and will try "ollas" or watering stakes of ceramic for containers

Josetom wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2023 6:05 pm Hi @karstopography ! The weather has been very hot.. technically it's winter but not much of cold temperatures.. I believe it's warm enough for basil.. my tomatoes I believe, as you have correctly say before, will produce fruit until November if disease (mites -.- ) doesn't kill then first.. how are you tomatoes going? The pictures I have seen are very beautiful!!! I'm trying that recipe that you have linked with peppermint and H2O2, I hope it works!!!

My tomatoes are essentially feral now. The foliage looks reasonable well. The nighttime temperature appears to have been a little too hot for fruit set, with the exception of some of the cherry tomatoes. I’ve removed eight tomato plants. The remaining tomato plants I’m keeping alive for now with water and some light applications of fertilizer, but no real pruning or any other caretaking or attention is being given. The idea is that I’ll keep the best of the remaining plants going in some capacity into the fall when the weather turns more favorable for fruit set. But, the remainder of August and the first half of September stands in the way, if standard past August and early September weather is my guide.

There’s actually a smattering on tomatoes on the vines besides the remaining cherry tomatoes which have more fruit. I just picked a handful of those cherry tomatoes, Rosella and coyote mostly. Some of the bigger type heirlooms have been attacked by fruitworms. If I get one or two slicers a week inside to finish ripening until October, that will be a victory. Maybe a few plants will rebound well enough in the fall and give me a decent fall harvest.

karstopography wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2023 7:07 pm

Josetom wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2023 6:05 pm Hi @karstopography ! The weather has been very hot.. technically it's winter but not much of cold temperatures.. I believe it's warm enough for basil.. my tomatoes I believe, as you have correctly say before, will produce fruit until November if disease (mites -.- ) doesn't kill then first.. how are you tomatoes going? The pictures I have seen are very beautiful!!! I'm trying that recipe that you have linked with peppermint and H2O2, I hope it works!!!

My tomatoes are essentially feral now. The foliage looks reasonable well. The nighttime temperature appears to have been a little too hot for fruit set, with the exception of some of the cherry tomatoes. I’ve removed eight tomato plants. The remaining tomato plants I’m keeping alive for now with water and some light applications of fertilizer, but no real pruning or any other caretaking or attention is being given. The idea is that I’ll keep the best of the remaining plants going in some capacity into the fall when the weather turns more favorable for fruit set. But, the remainder of August and the first half of September stands in the way, if standard past August and early September weather is my guide.

There’s actually a smattering on tomatoes on the vines besides the remaining cherry tomatoes which have more fruit. I just picked a handful of those cherry tomatoes, Rosella and coyote mostly. Some of the bigger type heirlooms have been attacked by fruitworms. If I get one or two slicers a week inside to finish ripening until October, that will be a victory. Maybe a few plants will rebound well enough in the fall and give me a decent fall harvest.

How many years you have been growing tomatoes? I wish you the best with your summer tomatoes.. I hope they survive I have been reading your reviews, anyone in particular that you liked for the heat?

@Josetom not all that many years and certainly not as many as some here on Tomato Junction.
As far as the heat goes, this summer has been different than last summer. Last summer, Beefmaster(hybrid), Hoy (open-pollinated) and Big Beef(hybrid) all did reasonably well in the summer heat, especially Beefmaster. Beefmaster and Big Beef bounced back even better in the fall to produce a good fall crop.

I didn’t get Hoy to the transplant stage for this year. I didn’t start Big Beef. Beefmaster has been a disappointment on size and fruit quality. Beefmaster does still have a couple of green unripe fruit even now, but they aren’t the size I grew to expect from last season.

This season, Dester has been strong. It has some ability to set and ripen reasonably good fruit in the heat. Big Zac kept nice sized fruit in hot weather. Pineapple has good heat characteristics.

We haven’t had any rain to speak of in a long time. The heat and humidity this summer hasn’t really relented for long enough in my opinion to allow the potential hotter set tomatoes to get any momentum. Even though the Gulf of Mexico sea breeze influence keeps the highs from getting too much above 95° F if even to that number, the high pressure in place most all summer has kept things a few degrees above last summer. Those few degrees have worked against the tomatoes.