Tomato-please Move If Wrong Forum

[The Skipper]

I tried about 15 varieties of Heirloom Tomato seeds. No luck.

[sbk]

Did you check your seeds in your luggage or carry them on? The extreme cold of the hold may have killed the germ cell inside the seeds (if they didn't germinate).

If they did germinate, I'm afraid most heirloom's are bred for a much cooler climate than Thailand. There are new varieties bred specifically for hot humid climates that should do better. Also, beefsteak type tomatoes won't do well in the high temps and humidity. thats why so many of the tomatoes here are the drier Roma types.

[The Skipper]

They germinated but ended up with a blight, mold or somthing.

[chownah]

Did you check your seeds in your luggage or carry them on? The extreme cold of the hold may have killed the germ cell inside the seeds (if they didn't germinate).

If they did germinate, I'm afraid most heirloom's are bred for a much cooler climate than Thailand. There are new varieties bred specifically for hot humid climates that should do better. Also, beefsteak type tomatoes won't do well in the high temps and humidity. thats why so many of the tomatoes here are the drier Roma types.

Beefsteak tomatoes do well in the Midwest of the US where it is hot and humid....but they also have bitterly cold winters that kill off alot of the soil pathogens and insects which thrive in the tropics and wreak havoc on this delicate variety of tomato.

Chownah

[Sheryl]

I've been struggling to grow tomatoes for 10 years with only limited success. They do better in pots, and (as many posters have already said) the smaller varieties do better.

I live in an unusually humid, rainy place (even for Thailand) and probably this is the problem. When not killed off by the rain, they often succumb to leaf miners. And in the hot season the leaves look burned and they wilt & die...for this, putting up partial shades might help, I'll try it this coming hot season.

Anyone have any advice on the leaf miners? I have them on many things in my garden but the only thing they actually kill are the tomatoes

[h90]

My wife has now two hugh tomato plants with a lot not yet green tomatos on it.

After I failed she made the "just throw some tomatos somewhere in the garden"

As we had different tomatos in that time we don't know which we grow at the moment. But it seems that are the small thai tomatos (like cocktail but not as round as the europeans), but even still green the tomatos are already the double or tripple size of it. But as well the plants are monsters and bigger than I ever see before.

My wife is growing them in the land which is permanent wet (nearly a swamp) in the most dark place so that shouldn't work at all.....

Tomatoes can crack from giving them too much water too.

are european tomatoes able to stay full direct sun all the time in thailand or is that too much?

I think its too much, tomatoes are one of those plants that has been modified to fit the climate, hence I think the need for tomates bred for hot climates with high humidity. They are actually quite fussy plants.

begs the question...are there any locally bred varieties available that can withstand local conditions?...seed packets?, seedlings at garden centers?...

[turnpike]

try googling "upside down tomatoes"

you'll find ways to grow tomatoes upside down in buckets. the beauty of that is you can move them into shaded areas if need be, no weeding involved, and very easy to add fertilizer and water. apparently a variety of vegetables can be grown this way. maybe not so good for large scale production, but for personal consumption they'd be good.

i brought 5 store bought ones (google "topsy turvy upside down tomatoes" to see the exact make) and brought them back from Canada recently. beauty of that is that they were all half price seeing as the garden season was well over at that point. i haven't used them yet, but i've got tomato seedlings started, when i get back from work i'll give it a go. i've had little or no luck, actually no luck, with tomatoes. when i was a kid growing up on the farm, i practically lived on toast and fresh garden tomatoes with a little salt and pepper. fried green ones were good as well.

hope this helps someone

[sbk]

try googling "upside down tomatoes"

you'll find ways to grow tomatoes upside down in buckets. the beauty of that is you can move them into shaded areas if need be, no weeding involved, and very easy to add fertilizer and water. apparently a variety of vegetables can be grown this way. maybe not so good for large scale production, but for personal consumption they'd be good.

i brought 5 store bought ones (google "topsy turvy upside down tomatoes" to see the exact make) and brought them back from Canada recently. beauty of that is that they were all half price seeing as the garden season was well over at that point. i haven't used them yet, but i've got tomato seedlings started, when i get back from work i'll give it a go. i've had little or no luck, actually no luck, with tomatoes. when i was a kid growing up on the farm, i practically lived on toast and fresh garden tomatoes with a little salt and pepper. fried green ones were good as well.

hope this helps someone

Very cool turnpike, seems like it could do well in Thailand. The air flow would help with the fungus problem. I have problems with the small biting red ants invading my pots, this could help that too.

[h90]

the seeds from Thai tomatos in the supermarket (small like cocktailtomatos but not round) worked well. We have 2 plants, highest is 3 meter high, in relative dark, very wet place bringing us constant 3 small tomatos per day, since 3 weeks.

[Jamie]

Generally heirloom tomatoes are difficult to grow no matter where you grow them. Most are susceptible to at least some type of disease and high humidity doesn't help. You would be better off going to a local market finding a tomato you like and saving the seeds. Just make sure if you do save the seeds that you ferment them to kill any possible pathogens that could hinder the seeds growth...also make sure it's not a hybrid or you wont know what you will get.

High humidity is also a deciding factor in the amount of fruit you might get. Since tomatoes are self pollinators the extra moisture in the air can cause the pollen to clump and not travel far enough to pollinate the female portion of the flowers. If you are lacking natural pollinators, you may have to hand pollinate.

Two places that I have had good luck with heirloom tomatoes and will ship outside the US are Tomato Growers Supply Company and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Both are on the web.

[chownah]

I've been doing some research on earthworm castings. I'm not convinced that they are cost effective for use in large plots but many of the sites I've visited have claimed that using the castings helps to reduce or eliminate some plant diseases and pests. I don't know if this is true or not or if it is true which diseases or pests it would help with but I thought that some of you tomato fanatics might want to give it a try. Worm castings work great as fertilizer at least everything I have ever read says this though I have no direct experience with it myself. It would be great if some of you tried it and let us know how it went.

Syduan makes and sells wormcastings so you might contact him/her. Syduan's profile page is at the following link:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showuser=35335

Chownah