7 Common Mistakes Tomato Gardeners Make || Black Gumbo

I'll cover 7 of the most common mistakes tomato gardeners make, including showing you some of my own examples. Come learn with me!
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Black Gumbo shares our suburban, backyard, sustainable gardening efforts. We work a small-scale teaching garden, much like the typical Zone 9a backyard garden and raised beds, the kind of gardening accessible to all. We also grow lots of fruit and berries. We tend to take the slice of life approach and hope you will enjoy our family, our dog, our cooking, our adventures, and occasionally some commentary and advice. We love family, joy and friendship, and we invite you to enjoy these things with us!
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[@tennesseenana4838]

Glad to see you're OK. I've watched the weather and flooding around Huston and thought about you. Thanks for the info about tomatoes. When I was watering yesterday, I saw my first tomato for this year. It's small and green, but it's there and there are more flowers on the plant. YEA!

[@rock5138]

I live in the deep south as well, and some of my plants are already showing signs of early blight in the humidity.

[@yvonnew.116]

Wow.. the tomato is so wild 😂😂❤

[@markward7467]

I use 20 gal grow bags for my non dwarf tomatoes and yes, 1 plant per pot and determinate do better in containers vs indeterminate in my experience in terms of production. For indeterminate I single stem so they are planted only 18" apart and they do great in my raised bed. I like that just for being able to grow more varieties

[@terryberg2077]

You could also make "Pickled Green Tomatoes" with the green ones hanging to low!

[@justinhupfer4614]

And please don't forget about those Fried Green Tomatoes

[@debbybrady1246]

I won't go smaller than 10 gallon pots for my tomatoes. Too hard to keep watered and fertilized. Yes, air flow is very important. I learned the hard way about spacing.. I heard that determinates don't need pruning - wrong. They need air flow too. I have already pulled out Cherokee and Bradywines...too many bugs. I'm making tomato sauce today. Stay cool, neighbor.

[@markward7467]

In cold climates, using kozy coats I am able to plant & get vigorous growth 3-4 weeks BEFORE last frost and I leave them on until nights are regularly 45+ Then I move the kozy coats over early zucchini, squash, bean & cucumber transplants. Gives me a solid 3-4 weeks of extended growing season here in Zone 6

[@glenleeper2299]

You're so helpful! Last year's tomatoes never looked so good!

[@davidward1259]

Scott, just a FYI. With the KZbin changes they made today, if I like any video it does not stay liked. That is not good for anyone. The change is where they moved the comments to the side of the screen. If I like, go full screen, and then go back to normal screen, the like is always gone. Not just on your channel either. Just wanted to give you a heads up in case you had a way to let them know we average folks may not have. And Yes I liked you video, no less than 5 times.

[@PatricesProjects]

Good tips. Perhaps the members of the Vegetable Gardening group at Facebook could benefit from some knowledgeable gardeners like you... but apparently the moderator doesn't want them knowing that they haven't a clue about plants.

[@j.b.6855]

You are correct Scott. In 5b near Chicago the tomatoes went in on Mothers day. Mine are maybe a foot tall or so. Tomorrow I plan on putting the strings on the trellises and attaching them to it. I tend to let cherry tomatoes have more main stems. Limiting main stems is a way to get bigger tomatoes. but with cherry tomatoes I want quantity over size. If you do end up with a tomato plant with blossoms/tomatoes make sure to remove them when planting it. Stressed tomatoes will do better and put more into growth if they are removed.

[@rikkibiermann465]

Very informative. Thank you. Rikki Biermann, Pretoria, South Africa 🇿🇦

[@jeffsherwood9151]

Glad u doing ok with bad weather there I let mine get away had lots of rain here in North Carolina

[@Dee.C]

Hope you and the family have faired well through the storms . It has been close here a few times .

[@lannylancaster62]

Great information. Gardening is science and sometimes art, but mostly it tending.

[@patriciaduffield2319]

My major mistake is forgetting to put at least 4 feet between seedlings!!! Next year is year 5 of following you. Going to put on calendar - 4 feet between each tomato! I do prune. Florida 9b

[@WhatWeDoChannel]

I enjoyed this! Up here in the Toronto area, I’m putting my tomatoes 🍅 in the ground this week. We count on our tomatoes going through the summer here. I’m growing modern highly productive and disease resistant determinate varieties! I will be trellising with the Florida weave.

[@chandlee3968]

I’m trying a new variety to me called Florida 91. It’s bred for the hot Florida climate and we get extreme summers here in Mississippi so I’m hoping it will good for my area. Going to be comparing it to my Celebrity, Red Snapper, Early Girls and Bella Rosas. Great looking garden sir!

[@657449]

Morning greetings from New Jersey. I love your videos since they are short and to the point.

[@lynnerskine3346]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise.

[@akersquarteracre8002]

Great vid Scott. What varieties are you growing this season? Have you tried the Everglades yet? Mine are out of control this year in a very good way here in Florida.

[@georgehughes8535]

Hello sir , we live right on the border , Weslaco . We are originally from TN and have grown vegetables since very young. Only started gardening down here a couple of years ago and are struggling with the tomatoes. Big and beautiful plants , just no fruit . Could you please advise on variety and planting times . Thank you .

[@ScottHead]

Check your county extension office and see if they publish a planting chart. That will be your best guide. Other option is to look up the average last frost date for your area and plan to have plants ready to go outdoors around that time. For me it’s around March 1 but for you it will be earlier.

[@barbkenas5663]

Good basic info 🍅🍅🍅

[@GreenThumbGardener65]

Very valuable info! Thank you!

[@WILLITGROW]

great tips scott and they also look good.

[@JasonPeltier]

great vid, Scott... can you take some of the humidity away from us down here?

[@ScottHead]

Man its terrible.

[@OnlyInTexasEst1850]

Mine are slowing down since it's in the mid 90s. Did you do cucumbers or okra? My peppers are doing well and my green beans look sad.

[@ScottHead]

Just tomatoes, peppers, herbs and fruit this spring but I still have carrots from the winter and my sweet potatoes are doing well in the heat, they come up every year. Tomatoes are producing well but the end is in sight with temps already in the 90s.

[@stackingstowbuk1260]

Thank you for the great advice, i live in las vegas are there any varieties that like the heat, thanks Don

[@ScottHead]

Florida Everglades (a small cherry type), Carbon, and Edox.

[@metalrabbit09]

How are your purple cherokee tomatoes doing? I think I heard you say you put it in a container, and thats of particular interest to me. Thanks.

[@ScottHead]

I have one plant in the ground if I recall. All my in ground tomatoes are doing well except the Amish Paste variety which had to be removed because of wilt.

[@ashiya7646]

My tomato got cracked at the stem. How can I save it? It's still a light green color. Should I use it or not? It's in a 5-gallon bucket. I enjoy watching your videos. I have learned a lot from you. I am using the fertilizer that you mentioned; it's really good. Thanks. I wish I could visit your backyard garden. I come to Houston more often. I'm from Beaumont, Texas.

[@ScottHead]

It should heal if it’s not too severe. Just give it time.

[@ashiya7646]

Thanks

[@thedirtygardener]

Scott, do you prefer the cages over the single leader? I’ve been doing lower & lean for three years now because I was frustrated by the indeterminate outgrowing the cages. I’d like to know your thoughts on which you prefer.

[@ScottHead]

I rotate between several types of support for the sake of teaching on my channel. I prefer a single leader up a string with the ability to drop and shift as it grows but it’s very labor intensive. Some years I don’t have the time to devote to labor intensive methods.

[@ffs6158]

More space is better, because good God if you do everything else right you're gonna have an 8-10 ft tall/3-5 ft wide bush in 3-4 months when its 115 degrees and you don't want to be out there everyday pruning.