Q: How do I care for my tomato plants in the hottest part of the summer? At what point do they start to produce tomatoes again?
Tomatoes can continue to thrive in hot summer weather, but they will stop producing when the daytime temperatures exceed 90 degrees and the nighttime temperatures exceed 70. They won’t (necessarily) die when the heat is on, but they do take a break.
During this time, regular watering is essential so that when production starts again, the plant will be healthy. Remove any brown leaves and low-growing suckers. Dispose of damaged or rotting fruit to dissuade rodent activity. Continue to pick ripe fruit as it appears and watch for pests, particularly hornworms.
This only applies to indeterminate varieties. Determinate varieties, such as Roma-type tomatoes, will produce only one large crop all at once, then they are done for the season. If you’ve harvested your Romas already, go ahead and pull out the vines to make room for something else.
Q: Is it true that you can’t save seeds from hybrid varieties of tomatoes?
I’ve always been told that seeds from hybrid tomatoes will not produce plants that give the same type of tomatoes or that the results will be unpredictable. In our experience, this has not been the case (at least not consistently). Saved seeds have given us plants that were very similar to the parent plant.
Occasionally we will get “wild type” tomatoes as volunteers, but they’ve all produced good fruit. “Wild type” is a term that refers to an original variety, which in the case of tomatoes would be plants with lacy-looking leaves that produce tiny “currant” tomatoes.
So go ahead and save those seeds! You’re likely to get the same type of tomato, or even something better!
Q: We are growing eggplants in our raised bed garden, and they are doing fine – the plants are about 3 feet tall and are producing nicely. However, we found a volunteer eggplant that has been completely ignored in the corner of our yard and that plant is over 6 feet tall and is absolutely loaded with fruit. How is this possible?
It doesn’t seem right that the plants that you’ve doted on all summer are only average while the one you’ve ignored has done so spectacularly. Don’t take it personally! We’ve seen some really nice volunteers pop up in random places, usually near the compost bin (which makes sense). Just remember to save some seeds from the monster plant.
Los Angeles County
mglosangeleshelpline@ucdavis.edu; 626-586-1988; http://celosangeles.ucanr.edu/UC_Master_Gardener_Program/
Orange County
ucceocmghotline@ucanr.edu; http://mgorange.ucanr.edu/
Riverside County
anrmgriverside@ucanr.edu; 951-955-0170; https://ucanr.edu/sites/RiversideMG/
San Bernardino County
mgsanbern@ucanr.edu; 909-387-2182; http://mgsb.ucanr.edu