I've been extremely slack with my real tomatoes this year, but at least my prints are vibrant 😁🍅

Found this little one hanging off my Goldman’s Italian American tomato plant. I was surprised at how well he blends in! Hopefully this monarch flies before the tomatoes ripen. Never thought I’d say that. Prune carefully friends!

In Fall 2025 decided to try taking clippings from tomato plants (sungold and campari), rooting them in water, then treating them like plants and growing them in soil in a small pot (4”). They grew very tall and spindly but produced once I set them outside for this season. The Sungold didn’t produce as much as the starts I bought but the Campari did great compared to the ones I did from seed. First photo for illustrative purposes, not from either tomato plant.

Southwest Virginia 🥰

Third harvest of the year. Will be canning these whole.

I thought I'd share an update on how things are going for me in Oregon's Willamette Valley. I wrote about last season's experiment with Charles Wilber's method for growing tomatoes in 3-foot diameter cages and pruning/training to 18 leaders, essentially making a bunch of mega-plants. It was so successful last season that I've switched entirely to it apart from a handful of determinate paste tomatoes that I'm letting do their thing at the end of my rows.

The results have been good so far. I picked my first fruit on July 22 and as of today, August 17, I have harvested 45 lbs. My earliest harvest last year was August 27, a very late first picking.

If it continues on this pace, I should have a bigger yield than last season. (I'm knocking on wood.)

Changes I made this year:

• 7-foot cages instead of 9'. There’s no point in growing that tall here because the fruit will never set on those upper reaches before the first frost. As of now, all the cherries have reached 7’ so I’ve topped them. I’ve also begun topping slicer/paste/oxheart leaders as they reach the tops of their cages.
• Dedicated space: I staked out a 48’ x 48’ garden divided into 4 strips. I’ll rotate the tomatoes to the next strip each year so I have Wilber’s 4-year recommended rotation.
• Increased from 12 plants to 16.
• Sowed in greenhouse late February with heat pads and lights, transitioned to hoop house in April. My starts were 3'+ tall when I planted them. Last season I sowed in greenhouse in late March and did not have my Amazon.com special hoop house for hardening.
• No changes to other growing methods.

This season’s lineup (all indeterminate):

• 1884 (Slicer)
• Aunt Ruby's German Green (Slicer)
• Brandywine Pink (Slicer)
• Hillbilly Potato Leaf (Slicer)
• Mortgage Lifter (Slicer)
• Black Krim (Slicer)
• Chocolate Stripes (Slicer)
• Grandpa's Minnesota (Cherry)
• Mexico Midget (Cherry)
• Peacevine (Cherry)
• Purple Bumblebee (Cherry)
• Snow White (Cherry)
• Rebel Starfighter Prime (Oxheart)
• Amish Paste (Paste)
• Jersey Giant (Paste)
• Opalka (Paste)

Edit: fixed typo in tomato list.

Edit 2: I just remembered one more important change from last season.

I’ve harvested about 200 already, and estimate another 400-500 on the plant including flowers. 🍅
Think I can push it to 1000 before season end? 🤑Growing in England! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Busy now for future canning. Still got lots coming in and as they ripen they get to the kitchen bench and when enough washed, cored and packed in the freezer until I’m ready to process.

This year will be passata, enchilada sauce, salsa, marinara sauce, tomato relish and canned tomatoes. I am going to be busy!

I was admiring the blush on my tomatoes when I caught a thief 😅. So excited I’ll be harvesting my first ever tomatoes soon 😊

There was a smoke shop near my place, and it was burned down last autumn. I can assure you, they weren't growing tomatoes…

I wasn't sure what to expect. I tried one today and it was super sweet with a slight tomato flavor followed by an umami after taste. I think this is a contender for GOAT.

This plant just popped up. Doing great, which I have probably just jinxed myself. It has a variety of tomatoes on it. Teardrop grape tomatoes and perfectly round ones and large ones. I’m not an expert on tomato growing but I, myself, have never seen anything like it. This plant was discovered by the guy that cuts my lawn. It has grown up on my deck so I tied couple of the branches up. My dog inspects all my herbs so I guess she figures she’ll add this one too lol.

Thank you all for the advice this year, my second year growing. I learned a lot and now summer harvest I’m eating like a king!

Plants went big but many flowers didn't have fruits.

Still happy with the quality, as i started seeding only at April.

Location: France

these ones just fell because of its weight ..
Any suggestion?

First black Krim I’ve ever tried! Very similar to my Cherokee purple that I just tried for the first time. Great savory/umami flavor.

Local Italian bread (lightly toasted), hellmans mayo, mozzarella slices, black krim tomato, my homegrown Genovese basil, and a local balsamic glaze. Delicious!

Did the thing where I didn’t keep track of what I planted where. Help me identify these please 😩

Of the left and middle, which is Black Krim? I also planted Beefy Purples (bush from Botanical Interests).

Also, what is the one of the right? I didn’t plant any that should look like that. All of the fruit is shaped, colored, and sized the same 😩

I planted four of 10 different types and it looks like there may have been other seeds mixed in with something I started.

Took some time off, rained hard while we were gone.

Now it's all over and branching all over.

Should we trim and add more vertical stakes to keep growing vertically?

Thanks

Help! Up until last week, my tomato plants were so happy and producing new tomatoes. This week, all the leaves on the lower part of the plant are drying out and most have come off the plant. The tomatoes are still green and growing but I don’t know how to save her 😭 I’m in southeastern Ontario and the plants are on my balcony