Market Farming

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost AT riseup.net>]

Tomatoes generally need at least 60 night and no more than 75 day degrees
to grow, hold blossoms, and set fruit. Temperatures in the 90s will do
nothing. Even Heat Wave won't set fruit at the higher temperatures. Disease
problems are trickier, but healthy soil is the best insurance against
disease. Chemical nitrogen pushes foliage at the expense of fruit, and
attracts pests and makes plants more vulnerable to disease. If the soil has
plenty of decomposing organic matter and fair humus level, it's likely the
helpful microorganisms are there to combat the bad guys, and it helps
buffer ph and makes certain minerals more available to growing plants. The
problem may be as simple as poor soil structure - low organic matter -
draining poorly or just uneven moisture retention. Credible research has
demonstrated these points for decades. I've ignored these things and cut
corners in the past to my own disappointment. 

paul, tradingpost AT riseup.net
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland
---------------
The outstanding scientific discovery of the twentieth century is not
television, or radio, but rather the complexity of the land organism. Only
those who know the most about it can appreciate how little we know about
it. 
   - Aldo Leopold in  Round River, 1933


*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

>I have had the same problem with my Pricipe this year too.  I will get
>none off of the plants as they are all dead now and where the first one's
>to go.  I bleach my stakes and cages every year...that has to help with
>that stuff...and this year i have all new stakes. And still have disease
>out there???
>
>Courtney
>Herb Thyme
>Middlefield, Oh
>
>
>>------- Original Message -------
>>From : Juanita Garcia[mailto:nitag AT ev1.net]
>>Sent : 6/28/2006 9:20:39 AM
>>To : market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
>>Cc : 
>>Subject : RE: [Market-farming] Tomato problem
>>
>>Good morning!
>
>I'm hoping to get some help from y'all; I've got heirloom Principe
>Borghese tomatoes planted, and this year I've also got some sort of
>fungus?, blight?, something-or-other that is taking them faster than
>they can grow. And...since they're indeterminates, I'd hoped to summer
>them over for a second crop in the fall. Doesn't look like that will be
>happening either.
>
>The symptoms are typical - the leaves wither and turn yellow-y brown,
>starting at the bottom of the plant and working up. The fruits are
>unharmed, but no new blossoms are appearing. Our weather is staying in
>the low 90's, and they will set fruit in fairly warm weather, so "no
>blooms" worries me too.
>
>We are sustainable, and the tomato trellises are one fence away from the
>chicken yard. Any suggestions on a sustainable solution that would stop,
>or at least slow down the disease progression?
>
>Thanks,
>Juanita Garcia
>Leander TX (Zone 8)
>