September 4, 2017

It is a bit frustrating that this is the second year in a row that I have not had tomatoes for the full season.

Next year I am going to try a few new things. First will be grafting my favorite toms to root knot nematode resistant root stock and the second will be to grow hybrids that are resistant to RKN. I have found a hybrid that is also resistant to hot and cold temperature swings. There are great hopes for this one because for the last couple of years we have had late freezes and above normal heat.

The root stock that my favorites will be grafted to are also hybrid. It must be noted that the seeds are from Johnny' s Selected Seeds and all of these hybrids were created through trial and error hybridization. No GMO's.

I have started some tomato seedlings and plan to practice grafting the tops back onto the bases.. There are a number of things to be careful with: the base stem needs to be the same diameter as the top, most of the leaves need to be removed so there is not too much water draw by the top, humidity needs to remain high (a closed plastic container tall enough to hold the plants), and they need to be kept in a warm dark place until the tops begin to grow.  If successful this would be my preferred plan and I could grow all of my favorite tomatoes. This may take some practice.

Most all of the hybrid tomatoes are determinate but I am going to try some Indeterminates also.  

This past year it was my plan to have a 2 month delay of my first tomato planting from my second. It was hoped that the first planting would harvest out before the heat and start the new growth and flowering process while the second would be harvested through the heat. This did not work. Because of this it is back to the drawing board.

Besides the use of the hybrids I may even try some shade cloth over a tomato bed. A 25% or 50% may be enough to keep the air temperature  down. Last spring just before the heat broke I registered 106 in the garden. This was brief for about an hour before it dropped back down to a chilly 103 until late evening when it cooled into the upper 70's. It would be my hope with shade cloth  lengthy exposure  over 95 could be prevented. This is the temperature where tomatoes and most other veggies start to go dormant. Can I achieve 10 degrees cooling? No idea. One thing to note, May and June usually have our lowest humidity readings (single digits), so with very little moisture in the air the shade should provide some cooling. 

There is the possibility that fabric might contribute to some warming but there are a number of reasons to keep the covers on and most are related to insects. Two of the worst are thrips and leaf hoppers. Thrips is a vector for tomato mosaic virus and the leaf hoppers are the vector for Western curling disease. If either one of these pests were to inoculate tomatoes with these virus',  the only thing that can be done is pull the plants. The fabric helps prevent  leaf hoppers and thrips from making contact. I am surrounded by native vegetation and this is where these pests reside. In extremely dry springs they migrate to the garden where there is moisture. 

So to say the least next year will be once again filled with mystery and discovery.