pie-and-jam primitive not having luck with tomatoes

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11592445

Oh my.

grasswire (34,637 posts)

many tomato blossoms are not turning into fruits

It's my understanding that indeterminate tomatoes do not require pollinators. Many -- probably half or more -- of the blossoms on my sungold maters are not converting to fruit. What's up with that? I'm used to seeing full bunches.

I suppose this means the pie-and-jam primitive won't be making any tomato pies this year.

Viva_La_Revolution (25,816 posts)

1. too hot maybe

over 90deg. some of them stop setting

NRaleighLiberal (22,974 posts)

2. No tomatoes require pollinators (perfect flowers - pollinate upon opening) - so something else...

Could be the plant is setting what it can handle as far as available nutrients (you never get all blossoms set), though could be impacted by heat or humidity (yet that is much more of an issue with larger fruited types).

Arkansas Granny (13,241 posts)

3. Many tomatoes will not set fruit if the temps are too high.

When it cools off a little, they will usually start getting fruit again.

grasswire (34,637 posts)

4. thanks everyone!

It's probably the heat, then. I have them growing in containers, staked up against a white wall that gets a lot of heat. I'll be sure to do a lot of feeding to sustain the growth. The two sungolds I have eaten thus far were sooooooooo good.

^^the Great Barack Drought and Heat Wave of '12 must've hit Oregon too.  Didn't know that.

sinkingfeeling (25,161 posts)

5. Has it been above 75 degrees at night? Tomatoes will not set in excessive heat.

HopeHoops (38,258 posts)

6. Determinate or indeterminate, they still need pollinators. How's your bee population?

They're not the only ones. Flies, moths, butterflies, hummingbirds, and even random beetles and spiders will pollinate. Our yard is full of clover so we're flooded with bumbles and honey bees this year. Any sign of blossom-end rot on the fruits that do set? If so, their feet are too wet. It's been a weird season.

BlueToTheBone (1,429 posts)

7. It may be the heat. Last year

I had tomatoes that ripened in November because fruit set in September.

[BattleHymn]

I suppose this means the pie-and-jam primitive won't be making any tomato pies this year.

I'm not sure the Great Barack Drought hit Oregon.  I suspect she probably carries her tomato plants around with her all the time, with some of those hanging tomato planters incubating in between the layers of all of her coats.

If her tomato pies look anything like that cherry pie that she was so proud of, then she best just stick with pulling her wagon around, and talking to herself. 

[JakeStyle]

My tomatoes have been pretty bad this year, rock hard and very small.  My dad says he's having the same problem in his garden in CO.

[GOBUCKS]

Poor addled grasswipe Judy used the word "maters" just to irritate decent and civilized people who would never, ever, use such a repulsive term.

Since she squats in an abandoned bodega, the intended site of her imaginary, ill-fated pie shop, it's unlikely she has even one square foot of soil in which to plant a tomato vine.

Instead she claims her vine is in a flower pot, set against a whitewashed wall of the old bodega building. It would have to be out back, in the alley. If in front, it might attract the attention of the city police, as a clue to a vagrant living inside the abandoned building.

Sitting in the alleyway, her tomato pot most likely does double duty as a urinal for the local winos. That may explain her less-than-stellar crop.

Poor addled grasswipe Judy.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x86326

[Skul]

Poor addled grasswipe Judy used the word "maters" just to irritate decent and civilized people who would never, ever, use such a repulsive term.

Since she squats in an abandoned bodega, the intended site of her imaginary, ill-fated pie shop, it's unlikely she has even one square foot of soil in which to plant a tomato vine.

Instead she claims her vine is in a flower pot, set against a whitewashed wall of the old bodega building. It would have to be out back, in the alley. If in front, it might attract the attention of the city police, as a clue to a vagrant living inside the abandoned building.

Sitting in the alleyway, her tomato pot most likely does double duty as a urinal for the local winos. That may explain her less-than-stellar crop.

Poor addled grasswipe Judy.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x86326

Probably explains why her Sungolds are golden, and have a certain "twang" to their taste. 

[Mike B the Cajun]

Probably explains why her Sungolds are golden, and have a certain "twang" to their taste. 

^5 and   

[franksolich]

Hey, thanks for the link and the memories.

grasswire Donating Member (1000+ posts) Fri Mar-11-11 04:15 PM
Original message

I'm opening a pie shop.
   
Just clinched the deal with the property owner today.

It will be structured as a "social enterprise" with all profits donated to music programs in the local schools.

It will not be just a pie shop, but a music venue where local students and local acoustic musicians may play together and play for each other and play for others to hear.

The location is so perfect. It is a very small historic community intersection blocks from where I currently live, and it sits on the old trolley trail that is currently being restored as a hiking/biking trail that connects to other trails that ring the city. At this intersection was the trolley stop and the ticket office throughout the first half of the last century.

Oh god the space is so perfect! It once was an old grocery. The bones are excellent. They even have a very old cooler cabinet with glass doors that will be perfect to display pies. The original plate glass windows are still there, and original corner door. Renovation is already underway.

The business model will allow me to solicit startup funding and corporate sponsorships -- as I am totally on a shoestring.

(I'm writing all this because I know that there are others who would like to start up a business but have no capital. Social entrepreneurship is a global trend. Check it out. It can be a way to start up.)

Many of you know my commitment to pie. I'm doing test kitchen this month on a lot of recipes for the perfect product. King Arthur's lemon meringue was a fail last night. Unfortunately.

grasswire Donating Member (1000+ posts) Fri Mar-11-11 05:30 PM
Response to Reply #1

4. me too
   
Actually I was thinking of my picker friends today. There's a pile of old metal signs in a corner of the space. Marlboro, Chesterfield...that kind of thing. And a couple of Coca Cola signs nailed to the old door. Heh.

grasswire Donating Member (1000+ posts) Sat Mar-12-11 12:02 PM
Response to Reply #7

14. the thought of having my mug in a camera's viewfinder ...
   
....is scary. I would hate for the old boyfriends to see visual proof of my aging skin. Ha!

Thank you for the kind words. I have to admit this is my destiny. It has to do with my grandfather, who started community bands in tiny towns on the Saskatchewan prairies. I'm paying homage to his enduring love of music by supporting local musicians and music students. I can't teach music, and I can't even really play music. But I can make pie and support those who can teach and play.

grasswire Donating Member (1000+ posts) Fri Mar-18-11 01:41 AM
Response to Reply #31

32. thanks so much to each encouraging person!
   
As I was reading this thread again, words from the old tune came to mind regarding C&B:

"...where never was heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day....."

What a great bunch of peeps!

Now, somewhere--not at this campfire on Skins's island, though--the pie-and-jam primitive later blamed you-know-who for obstructing her dreams, as the pie-and-jam shoppe never happened.

franksolich apparently has powers even he doesn't know about.

[Skul]

Well, coach, sir, you did teach KKKarl everything he knows. 

[GOBUCKS]

I'm writing all this because I know that there are others who would like to start up a business but have no capital.

Yep, poor addled grasswipe Judy demonstrated to her fellow DUmmies how much you can get done without considering capital.

As the jug-eared muslim would say, she didn't build that pie shop.

[miskie]

Damn.. no tomato pie, or tomato jam. How unfortunate.

[franksolich]

Yep, poor addled grasswipe Judy demonstrated to her fellow DUmmies how much you can get done without considering capital.

As the jug-eared muslim would say, she didn't build that pie shop.

I was always bothered by the second sentence in her comment:

Just clinched the deal with the property owner today.

Of course, when I first read that a year and a half ago, the first thing that popped into mind is "she's a primitive; 'just cinched the deal' means she inquired of the property owner."

I'm sure it didn't involve any signed paperwork.

And it's a good thing too, because signed agreements are difficult to get out of, and I have no doubt we would've since heard much about that.

[jukin]

I like fried green tomatoes and the only way to get green tomatoes these days is to grow them. We have 5 pots of them and they have been kicking ass. Too many to use and are giving them away to friends. Of course we water and use the evil Miracle-Gro.

I once gave an evil plastic shopping bag of tomatoes to a leftist. The first question was if I used organic fertilizer. When told that I used Miracle-Gro the primitive leftist made a "yuck face" and I took the bag back. the bitch asked why and I told her I didn't want her to compromise her principles. Later on my wife said she really wanted that bag of red berries bu couldn't ask me for it.