Ugh.
[sigh] North-central Californians have been blessed by a cooler-than-normal summer, until now.
Tomato & Zuchinni plants out in the back have been doing amazing so far this year!
I must (finally!) be doing something right - the tomato harvest the last two years has been minimal - at best! Last year I only got maybe a total of 10 pounds of tomatoes from 12 plants.
None of this year's tomatoes are ripe yet, but just one plant - and I cut back to "only" 8 tomato plants this year - already has THIRTY large (and still green) tomatoes on it!!!
What have I done differently this year, that might have helped produce this (hopefully) abundance of tomatoes? I say "hopefully" because one never knows what one may have until the tomatoes are in the kitchen.
Could it be:
1. Planted tomatoes next to my west fence, so that they are shaded during the hottest part of the afternoon?
2. Bought started plants this year, rather than starting from seed (the big box stores - I bought these at Lowes - tend to stock varieties that will do well in the area the store is located in)?
3. Finally found the right variety of tomatoes to plant for my area (see #2)?
4. Finally have just the right mix of fertilizing/watering that finally did the trick?
5. After watching a couple of YouTube videos, have been doing a bit of tomato pruning? Could this be it??
Hrmmmmm. . .
LOL. Probably "none of the above".
It has been SIGNIFICANTLY cooler (so far) this summer than it has been my last two "garden years" (now going on three garden years).From my research last year, I know that tomatoes just don't like consistent temps much above 90, and they also prefer cool nights. By this time last year temps were already consistently in the 100's.
Have had both cooler days and cold-ish nights so far this year - as least until this upcoming week - temps are predicted to be 101 to 105 every day for the next week, starting tomorrow (Tuesday).
Here's hoping that my (seeming!) beautiful crop of tomatoes don't perish with the heat.
Anne
