Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Summer Storms & Harvests ⛈️ Storm Survival: A sudden summer thunderstorm after a drought is a mixed blessing. It deeply waters the garden, but intense sideways rain and wind can drown young broiler chicks in their outdoor pens and turn ripening strawberries to mush. 🥔 New Potatoes: If you dig up … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Falling Garlic & Planting Depth 🥀 Why do garlic stems flop over? If you planted individual cloves and the stems are falling over, it usually means the plant is diseased (root rot) or suffering from a severe lack of water during its active leaf-growth stage. (However, see the hilarious exception at … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): The Blossom End Rot Myth 🍅 The Calcium Myth: YouTube tutorials often tell you that Blossom End Rot (BER) is caused by a lack of Calcium in the soil. In reality, the soil usually has plenty of Calcium, but the plant physically cannot absorb it due to environmental stress. 🌡️ The … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Feeding Greenhouse Cucumbers 🌱 The Simple (Visual) Method: Start young plants with pure Nitrogen (Ammonium Nitrate or chicken manure tea). A week later, use a balanced granular mix. Once they start fruiting heavily, switch to Calcium Nitrate to support cell structure. 🧪 The Pro “Tank Mix” Formula: For heavy fruiting, experienced … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Pruning Greenhouse Cucumbers 🌿 The “Jungle” Mistake: If you don’t prune greenhouse cucumbers, they will quickly send out dozens of lateral vines. They will take over your pathways, block airflow, and make harvesting a nightmare. ✂️ The Single-Stem Rule: For the lower half of the plant, pinch off all side shoots … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Harvesting Garlic Scapes ✂️ How Low Should You Cut? Standard advice says to cut or snap only the curly top part of the scape to leave maximum foliage on the plant. However, some experienced growers cut the scape very low on the stalk—taking the top two leaves with it. The lower … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Early Potatoes & Flopping Vines 🥔 The Harvest Formula: To harvest tender, thin-skinned “new” potatoes, wait exactly 2 weeks after the plants begin mass flowering. 🤫 “Bandicooting” (Robbing): You don’t have to kill the whole plant to get early potatoes. You can gently dig into the side of the hill with … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Pests on Fruiting Strawberries 🍓 The Panic: Discovering thrips or weevils when your strawberries are already blooming or fruiting is a nightmare. Heavy chemical pesticides are strictly off-limits right now. 🛑 The “Wait it Out” Camp: Many traditional growers advise against spraying anything during fruiting, especially if kids eat straight from … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): The “Wet Cure” Storage Hack Editor’s Note: This bizarre storage method has gained massive approval across our Russian gardening community. If the hardcore gardening women of Siberia and the Urals swear by it to keep their garlic fresh for a full year, you folks in Minnesota and Wisconsin should probably give … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Mid-June Diary 🥶 The Mulch Trap: Mulch acts as insulation. If you lay down dry mulch (like straw or dry hay) in early summer before the deep soil has warmed up, the soil underneath will remain freezing cold, even during a heatwave. This can cause severe chlorosis and stunt your peppers … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Purple & Yellow Garlic Leaves 🍄 The Worst Case (Fusarium Rot): If your garlic leaves are yellowing and drying out, pull one plant up. If the basal plate (bottom of the bulb) is soft, pinkish, or covered in white mold, and the roots are rotting off, your garlic has Fusarium root … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Pruning Cherries & Blight Prevention 🍅 Pruning “Geranium Kiss”: Yes, the famous Geranium Kiss tomato has potato leaves and MUST be pruned/supported. It produces massive “multiflora” flower trusses. Many growers restrict it to just 2 main trusses because they get so heavy. ✂️ Pruning Indeterminate Cherries: Varieties like Summer Sun and … Read more