Spoon Tomatoes

[lynnee]

A while back, I started some of Baker Creek's "Spoon Tomatoes". They are itty-bitty cherry tomatoes, smaller than a holly berry. After yesterday's R&R, their edema and leaf curl got worse.



I thought the plants didn't like Koolbloom or Calmag, so today I did another R&R. Woops! These delicate guys really hate having their roots disturbed or out of water! The whole operation had them out of water for maybe 10 minutes.



Fortunately, they are well on the way to recovery some 5-6 hours later.

[scarfguy]

Lately, I've had some tomatoes do the same thing. One day they looked great and the next day they looked like crap.  Mine never recovered.  Wish I knew what caused the severe leaf curl.   I switched to RO water a few months ago.  I'm thinking they aren't getting enough calcium.  The bottle says how much to use BUT not how often.   I started using 3ml/gallon of Cal-Mag twice a week.  We'll see if that helps or hurts.

[Shawn]

Some are some temperamental ...  So hard to say what causes issues at times.  I know I had the same happen with a few pepper plants.  Lets hope they recover.  Just do not do any R&R's..  unless you really really have to.

[lynnee]

Okay, I did some research on Spoon tomatoes, and learned that they are indeterminates. That explains why they always want to reach for the sky in my Bounties. They grow fast, straight up, even though the stems and leaves are thin and delicate.

Supposedly you can make Spoon tomatoes into a bushy container plant outdoors, but I have no idea how to accomplish this. My conclusion is that they are a very poor choice for AG gardens.

My Spoon tomato went outdoors a few hours ago. We'll see how it does. It actually looks happier than it did in the AG.

I filled its slot in the Bounty with an AG Anaheim pepper pod. It should do fine sharing with the 25-day-old AG Banana pepper. Fingers crossed.



Transplanted Spoon Tomato at 25 days:

[lynnee]

If you can enlarge this photo, it will illustrate why the Spoon tomato isn't particularly popular. It is very spindly, and isn't a heavy producer. Mine finally has blooms, but a dozen or so current-sized tomatoes is barely a snack.

[scarfguy]

Yes, I'm discovering that there is quite a variety among the tomato species as to size, shape, and density. Some are much better for AG candidates than others. That's why this AGA is so valuable - to share this type of information.