- Hi, thanks for joining us for The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South.

I'm Chris Cooper.

There are hundreds of   varieties of tomatoes,   big, small, red,   purple and orange.

Today, we're gonna talk about   some you might want to try.

That's just head on   The Family Plot:   Gardening in the Mid-South.

- (female announcer)   Production funding for   The Family Plot:   Gardening in the Mid-South   is provided by,   the WKNO Production Fund,   the WKNO Endowment Fund,   and by viewers   like you, thank you.

[upbeat guitar music] - Welcome to The Family Plot.

I'm Chris Cooper.

Joining me today is Alainia Hagerty.

Alainia is the owner of Tomato Baby Company.

All right Alainia, let's talk about those tomato varieties.

So I'm sure you have a lot of favorite varieties.

But before we do that, let's talk about the difference between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes.

- Your determinate tomatoes will put on their fruit all at one time.

So like, if you were canning and you wanna make sure you had ample supply to do your canning at one time, then you would wanna do your determinate varieties.

- Okay.

- Your indeterminate varieties, most of the home gardeners do these because they're gonna... For what you've put into planting 'em, you're gonna get your return all season long.

- Okay.

All season long.

- All season long.

- This one is good.

- And a lot of people do determinate varieties because they want something more compact because they're container gardening, but I encourage you to do the indeterminate varieties, and then prune 'em back.

- Okay.

- They'll live through it.

- They'll live through it.

- They'll live through it.

- All right.

So you wanna start telling us about some of the tomato varieties that you like?

- Okay, there's a lot of different spectrum...

There's a huge spectrum of flavors.

- Okay.

- You could try 10 different kinds and every member in the household would find a different variety that they liked.

[Chris chuckles] So I encourage people to try different kinds before they choose or plant only one kind.

- Okay.

- Most of what's available to us in the big box stores is just a few varieties, when there's thousands that we could try.

[Chris chuckles] Whenever you're getting 'em, buying your varieties, try to buy named varieties.

Often they're tagged, we find them in the stores as red beefsteak.

That's not the cultivar, that is the shape and the color they're telling you.

- Okay.

- If they say Roma, red Roma.. - Which I've seen.

- That's the shape and a color.

- Okay.

- We wanna know which red Roma was it.

- Right.

- Was it San Marzano, was it Opalka?

Because that way, you know what to reject or what to retry the following year, based off of how it produced and how it tasted.

- It's good, okay, it's good.

- You'll still be limited with what you can find until you start.

And nowadays, there are so many different online vendors that are selling many varieties.

And of course, we get the seed catalog so you can start your own.

- Okay.

- Or find a grower that's doing that already for you.

And then you open up a whole world to all the different kinds that you can't normally find.

- I like that.

So you're encouraging folks to try more than just the one.

- Yes, they taste different.

- Right, okay.

- And they're gonna produce differently.

- Sure.

- You can grow hundreds of tomato types beside each other and they're gonna look different, and they're going to grow differently.

- Okay.

- So, as well as we know, they were gonna produce differently.

- Right.

- Some do better in the cooler temps that we would see in the northern states.

Brandywine is one of these.

- I'm familiar with that.

- There's some that do better in the late season, or they do better with a little bit more heat.

- And by that time, it will be a lot hotter.

- Yes.

- Later in the season for sure.

- And the ones that say they're heat resistant, - I've seen those.

- Generally they're only talking about a few degrees.

[Chris chuckles] - Okay.

- Tomatoes will set the fruit, and sometimes above 90 degrees, the pollen is not as viable.

- Okay.

- There's heat resistant varieties they are saying that at 95 degrees, they'll set fruit up to 95 degrees.

- Okay.

- That five degree difference isn't enough to only include that in your garden.

- Okay.

- So try them all.

- Try them all.

- Worst case scenario, you can always self pollinate.

- So let's talk about some of your favorite varieties.

- Okay.

We start with colors or we starting with reds?

- We're gonna let you start wherever you wanna start.

- Okay.

- How about that?

- Some people like sweet tomatoes.

- Okay, all right.

- I've got a couple of sweet tomatoes,   - Giant?

- Watermelon.

Yes, watermelon is   giant sweet tomato.

Dad's Sunset is a good   orange that would be sweet.

Kellogg's Breakfast,   those would also be sweet.

- So lemme ask you about this,   so what makes it sweet though?

- The sugar content and also the...

Sometimes the acidity to it will make it, if it's not as acidic, it'll make it taste sweeter.

- Okay.

Do you prefer the sweeter tomatoes?

- I'm more the acidic.

- So you acidic?

Okay.

- Yeah.

But these are good too.

- But they're good, okay.

- But some people come, and actually will request the sweet tomato.

- Okay, got it.

- These are some that I've tried that do.

If you're trying to grow Roma tomatoes or for canning - Okay.

- And you don't want as much juice, you'll want a thicker fruit with not as much gel or seeds.

San Marzano is a   good tasting one.

- Yeah, I've heard of that.

- Then you've got   some bigger ones   with Pink Fang.

[Chris chuckles]   That's a new one   I'm trying this year.

- Okay.

- I'm trying to get closer   to the oxheart size.

Now, the oxheart tomato, is essentially the same shape as the Roma, but it's like a Roma on steroids.

[Chris chuckles] So it's a strawberry shape.

But it's got the same setup   where the seed cavities   is on the outside.

- Outside, okay.

- So if you wanted   to remove the seeds   and have a thicker paste.

Now, I've never met an   oxheart that I didn't like.

[Chris chuckles] - Good, good.

- But they're big and you're not gonna get as much fruit.

- Okay.

- So, if you're, again going for the Roma shape, for the paste and tomato types, try the oxhearts.

- Okay.

- But keep in mind, you'll have to plant more of those.

- All right.

- But they have a lot more flavor than the typical Roma.

- Got it, okay.

- Some oxhearts would be   German Red Strawberry,   Wolford's Wonder, Russian 117.

Now, good general purpose tomato.

- Okay.

And what do you mean by general purpose?

- You're gonna get a lot of 'em.

- Okay, so a lot.

- A reliable production.

- Okay.

- Maybe not the best tasting tomato, but it's reliable.

- It's reliable, good, okay.

- Stupice.

Now, it's a smaller one.

- Okay.

[Chris chuckles]   - But you're gonna   get a lot of 'em.

- All right.

- A lot of people   have trouble growing,   maybe they don't   have enough sunlight.

They want at least six   hours of direct sunlight.

- Okay.

- If you're not getting   that, try Stupice.

That's probably one that   I think you'll get some.

Those are cherries.

- Good, okay.

- Other general purpose,   Big Zac, Beefmaster.

- Beefmaster, how   about that?

Okay.

- Now, most people like   the big tasty tomatoes.

- Yeah.

- They're like, "I want a big tasty, tomato."

- Sure.

- This is what I got for you.

- Okay.

- Aussie, Brandywine.

- Okay, there's Brandywine.

- And it is a little sweet too.

- All right.

- Italian Tree tomato.

- Italian Tree tomato.

- It's huge.

It's another potato leaf   like your Brandywine.

- Okay.

- But they're good taste   and they're big fruit.

Mexico, Neves Azorean Red.

You ever seen   those in the store?

- Okay.

- Five different people can sit down and they will each say, one of the different ones was their favorite.

They taste different, plus our taste buds are different.

So experiment, try different types.

- I like that, you want us try different.

- Yes, it's not just a few you get in the store.

- Just little variety, okay.

- Color tomatoes.

- Yeah, let's do it.

- Your purples or your blacks.

There's one called Black   and it's about egg-shaped.

- Okay.

- Cherokee Purple.

- Know Cherokee Purple.

- Know that one.

- Purple Calabash.

[Chris chuckles]   I like those.

- Okay.

- Now, those are the   ugliest looking tomatoes.

- Oh, goodness.

- But if you don't   mind it being ugly   and you just wanna taste   a really good purple,   it's a really good purple.

Yellows and oranges,   Dad's Sunset,   Kellogg's Breakfast.

- Oh, Kellogg's Breakfast.

- Persimmon.

- Got it.

- Now, green tomatoes.

- Okay.

- My mom likes these.

- Green tomatoes?

- They're ripe when they're still green.

- They're ripe and green.

- And they're green.

- Okay.

- They are gonna have a little bit of a yellow blushing at the shoulders, maybe a little bit of a pink blushing at the bottom.

- Okay.

- And they're gonna be a little squishy.

- So that's how you can tell when they're ready?

- That's the only way you tell when they're ready.

- All right, okay.

- My mom likes those.

- Okay.

- But do not plant a whole garden of those.

- Okay.

- They have a tart taste to 'em.

It's not gonna taste like a regular tomato.

- Okay.

- But mom likes 'em a lot.

- Hey, I'm going with mom.

- Ananas Noire is base green.

We talked about that   one, it's a sweet tomato.

- Okay, I see, all right.

- But it's really   unique looking.

Your striped tomatoes.

- Okay.

- These can be the most colorful, neatest looking tomatoes.

And if you like to grow tomatoes, maybe you don't like to taste tomatoes.

[Chris chuckles] There are some people out there that do not like to eat them, but they like to grow 'em.

- But they like to grow them.

- These are for you.

- Right, we know some of those people, don't we?

- Yes.

[Chris laughs] Striped ones, splotch ones.

A well-know one   would be Big Rainbow.

- Big Rainbow.

- Yellow and you'll   get some pink   splotches on the outside.

You can slice 'em and   you'll have that pink   starburst in the center.

- How about that?

- Okay.

- All right.

- Pineapple.

- Pineapple?

- Hawaiian Pineapple,   but they're a little different.

- Okay.

- Hawaiian Pineapple's   got more striping,   pineapple has more   splotches and they're huge.

Little bit of sweet,   they're fruity.

Pork Chop.

- Pork Chop!

All right.

- Cherry tomatoes.

- All right.

- There's big cherries, little cherries.

- Okay.

- You've got your salad bar size... - Which I like.

- That would be about like a quarter, and then there's the little mini marbles that, served together, they just look excellent.

- Okay.

- If you like the little bitty ones,   try Matt's Wild Cherry.

If you can't grow or think   you can't grow tomatoes,   try Matt's Wild Cherry.

- Okay.

- If it ever makes once,   I had 1 going   for like 15 years.

- How about that?

Okay.

- So you like that one,   White Currant is   a yellow version.

These are your   little wild cherries.

- Okay.

- Salad bar size about like a quarter, black cherry.

That's different   than your normal.

And it's good, it's purple.

I.

Candy.

- I.

Candy.

- That's your salad bar size.

- The names are cool.

- I know, you can't help but get interested.

- Yeah.

So again, try all of these if you can.

- Yes.

- Just try a variety.

- Yes.

- That's what you're asking.

- Find named varieties.

- Named, okay.

- Find a selection and try different things.

- Just try different things.

- As soon as you find out what you do like, then you can start comparing them.

- Sure.

- And talking tomatoes with your friends.

- There you have it from Alainia, a tomato expert.

Try them, try them.

Thank you, that was good.

I can tell you excited about this.

- I do, I can't help it's 'cause I'm biased.

- Try them y'all.

Try them, thank you much.

[upbeat country music] - When you have a couple of beautiful blackberries like I have behind me, and then you have one that looks like this, your gut instinct is to say, "This blackberry's dead, let's take it out and replace it with something."

But before you do that, do a little investigation, and try to determine whether or not it's truly alive or dead.

It may just be a different variety, and it may take it a little bit longer to come out if this one was planted quite a bit later than the two behind me.

So let's do some checking here.

And a good way is to...

Without doing a lot of damage, is to cut into the bark just a little bit and try to determine whether the cambium layer is brown or green.

This one is brown, so this twig is dead.

Let me go right here, check this stem right here.

It's also dead.

I'm going down to the main trunk now.

Dead.

This plant is dead.

Now, I will show you what live tissue looks like.

Look at that, green healthy.

If I had found any of that down there, I would've given that another chance.

With a lot of even ornamentals around the house, they look really really bad after the winter but give them a chance, you know?

Don't rush, and I'm speaking from experience 'cause I've done that, and I've taken some plants out that I should have left.

[upbeat country music] - All right, here's our Q&A segment.

Y'all ready?

- Yes.

- These are great questions.

Here's our first viewer email,   "What can I do to prevent   my picked green tomatoes   "from ripening so quickly?

Before they die in then fall,   "I pick all the green tomatoes.

"However, when the tomatoes are   picked, they begin to ripen.

"They simply ripen   very quickly.

We can't eat them fast enough."

And this is Nevin from   Bartlett, Tennessee.

All right, Nevin, we have a local tomato expert here, and she's gonna tell us how to do this, right?

- Okay.

I would vary the cultivars when you're planning.

When you're choosing the plants for your garden, you can choose a early season of 60 to 70 days of ripening, your mid-season would be like your 70 to 80, 90, then you've got your late season that will develop the fruit within 90, 100 days of your blossom set.

By varying 'em in the garden planning, you'll also be thinking of that final pick right before the frost.

So you could ripen a few quickly by putting them in a brown paper bag.

Putting bananas or apples, ripening fruit with them, the ethylene in the bag will help them ripen faster.

That'll get you the first ones.

Now, you've got your early season, mid-season, late season, and hopefully that'll space them out to where you can use them.

But if you get caught with too many... [Chris chuckles] - Which is the case.

- Which is the case, put them in the freezer.

You may not have time to process and can 'em, but you can just take them whole, it's a natural seal, they won't split and leak, and just put them in the freezer and then you'll have them whenever you're cooking, soups, sauces, spaghetti sauce.

- That sounds so good.

- It's easy.

- "It's easy," she says, Mr. D. - Very easy.

- Easy.

- You know, I've never had that problem.

[Chris laughs] I always fry 'em and eat 'em green before they had a chance to become red.

You know, fried green tomato.

You know, that's odd, I've just never had that problem.

[Chris laughs] That's good deal.

- All right, Nevin, a natural seal.

Put them in the freezer, how about that?

Thank you, all right.

Here's our next viewer email, "I have a weeping cherry with a serious shot hole problem.

How can I keep my cherries from   getting shot hole disease?"

And this is Claire from   Mount Airy, North Carolina.

All right, Mr. D., we know a little bit about the shot hold disease here.

- Ain't that Mayberry?

- Mount Airy?

- Yeah.

I've been there.

- Okay.

- Yeah, I've been there.

[Chris laughs] That is where they did all that filming.

There are two 'causes of the shot hole   on the leaves of cherry trees.

One is bacterial leaf spot,   which will basically 'cause   the spots on the leaves   and they'll turn   dark and fall out,   and it give the shot   hole appearance.

And then the other   is cherry leaf spot   which is caused by   a fungus disease.

I noticed on the new   fruit spray guide that UT put out last year, and I just saw that the other day.

They have included cherry with peaches and plums, they're stone fruit.

And if you follow the spray guide, if the tree is small enough that you can spray it, it will take care of the fungal leaf spot.

However, it won't do anything with bacterial leaf spot.

There are some antibiotics that might help with that, but I don't recommend it.

Thing about it, the cherry trees can tolerate a lot of that kind of damage.

So, I would basically try to control the fungal leaf spot, but not worry about the bacterial leaf spot, I don't think.

Some difference to some of the varieties are more susceptible for the bacterial leaf spot than others.

So you might wanna... You know, if you're swapping up and go with a different one but.

- Right, yeah.

So yeah, resistant varieties is something that I always tell people about.

You gotta practice good sanitation.

You gotta get those diseased leaves up.

- Yeah.

So that's something to check out before you plant your cherry 'cause... - Yes.

- But if you got a cherry tree growing, I don't recommend you cut it down then.

- No.

- You know, George Washington had a problem with that idea.

[Chris laughs] - Yeah, I don't recommend doing that.

But yeah, anytime you have wet, warm weather?

- Oh.

- Yeah.

- Both of those - Yeah.

- Bacteria and the fungal, they like warm, wet weather.

- Right, and the symptoms are gonna be the same.

- Right, right.

- So, yeah, that's gonna be a tough one.

- Yeah.

- And if your tree is too big, it's gonna be tough to spray it, so.

- Yeah.

- It can deal with the damage like you said.

- They tolerate a lot of that.

- They'll come back.

- Yeah.

- The leaves will come back.

Just pick them up when they do fall off.

All right Claire, hope that helps you out there.

Here's our next viewer email.

This is an interesting one.

"I have a peach tree that my daddy planted years ago "and has never been pruned, that I know of.

"Three years ago, "I got about 10 5-gallon buckets of peaches off of it.

"The last few years, my peaches have had worms in them, "plus a clear thick jelly type stuff on them.

"What kind of fertilizer,   pesticide, et cetera,   "do I need to use to keep   the worms out of my peaches?

And how do I need to prune it?"

And this is Janna.

All right Janna, we just gonna sit back.

We're gonna let Mr. D. have this one, 'cause I know what he's gonna say, so.

What is that worm you think?

- Well, the worm is the plum curculio, that may be the least of the problem right now.

But I mean, it is a very serious problem.

- Sure.

- But I mean, number one, it hadn't been pruned.

You don't prune it and the peach varieties that we have now, the improved varieties that we've been developing over the years, for over the last 100 years, I guess, are not designed to be not pruned.

If you don't prune 'em, they will prune themselves.

And I'm surprised that you haven't had a lot of limb breakage.

If you had fruit, if that tree had been loaded down with fruit, you would've had a tremendous amount of limb breakage - Right.

- On that peach tree.

The plum curculio 'causes   the worms in the fruit.

It also where the adult   female lays the egg   for the plum curculio.

There will sometimes   be a drop of sap...   You know, juice comes out.

I would severely   prune the tree,   open up the center of the tree.

- Okay.

- Thin it out,   you know, get all   the hanger downers   below your waist   out of the way,   and open up the   center of the tree,   make it look like an   upside down umbrella.

And that probably means if it hasn't been pruned in a few years, a chainsaw might be involved.

- Oh man.

- We may be talking chainsaw.

And you're probably talking about taking out about 80% of the tree - Wow.

- To do that.

And then, put it on a regular spray program.

We haven't even got to the fertilizer yet.

- Yeah.

- It don't take a whole lot of fertilizer.

You need to do a soil test.

The pH needs to be   around 6.0, 6.5.

So lime to get   it to that point.

Fertilizer, doesn't take   a lot of fertilizer.

Rule of thumb, 2 pounds   of triple-8 per tree,   per year of age   up to a maximum of   twelve pounds for a   six-year-old tree or older.

But, if you don't   need the P and K,   you don't need to   put it out there.

- Okay.

- You know, so I don't recommend doing that every year, but that's a general rule of thumb.

- Okay.

- Soil test, don't guess.

- Don't guess.

- What months could she prune?

Or, what months could be prune?

- First, I'd start pruning about a month before my average last frost-free date, depending on where you are.

- Right.

- Okay.

- In your late winter... - Yeah.

- You don't wanna prune within 48 hours of when a hard freeze is forecasted.

Let that hard freeze get out of the way because it may do some pruning for you.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- And then go out there and then you know take out the... You know, any dead wood, any freeze damage that you had over the winter that's apparent, you can go and take that out, get that off the tree.

But a lot of problems, and I have seen trees like that.

I have gone out and and worked them.

And it's a job.

You just have to roll your sleeves up, but you can...

If you thin out the limbs and open up the center of the tree, bring it down.

If you got anything over 8, 10 feet tall, bring it down where you can manage most of it from the ground or a short ladder, and then, fertility's right, put it on a spray program and... You know, I would recommend, if you're in our neck of the woods, getting you one of these.

you know, one of these, "Disease and Insect Control and Home Fruit Plantings," and it's gonna recommend that, on peaches, plums and cherries,   that you do a delayed dormant   spray with a oil emulsion.

And then at bloom, go in   there with a fungicide Captan.

Do not apply any   insecticide during bloom   - Yeah.

- 'Cause you will   stop the pollination.

And then when all the petals   or most of the petals   have fallen off,   we have three different   choices of fungicides.

Captan, Sulphur,   or Chlorothalonil   are the three   different choices.

Don't use all of them,   pick one of them.

- Yeah.

- And you might wanna   mix 'em up a little bit.

- Yeah, okay.

- I'll try it.

- It's probably a good idea   to help prevent resistant   to kind of mix them up a   little bit from time to time.

But one of those   fungicides plus malathion.

Malathion will take   care of plum curculio.

- Yeah, plum curculio.

- And then you do that   every 7 to 10 days.

If it's dry weather, you   don't get any rain at all,   wait about 10 days.

If it rains, it'll erase   your protective spray.

So, pretend like you didn't spray.

- It's a lot of work.

- Yeah.

- But, 7 to 10 days, spray schedule, up until before harvest, and then follow the pre-harvest interval on the insecticide and fungicide that you use.

But that... You know, that's some work.

- Yeah, it's a lot of work, and we'll have that publication of course on our website.

- Yeah, you need good info.

- Good info, it is good info.

Thank you, Mr. D. Yeah, Ms. Janna, that's gonna be a lot of work, all right?

Thank you much for the question.

All right, here's our next viewer email, "I have been battling bishop weed in my flowers.

"I have tried pulling and mulching and it just comes back.

"Can a careful application of   weed killer kill bishop weed,   or do I just have   to accept it?"

And this is Linda   from Lancaster, Ohio.

You have any thoughts   about that, Alainia?

Now, understand it's already in her flower bed.

- So she's worried about her flower.

- She just wants to be careful about using maybe a chemical.

- You may have to hand... put on your weed killer, which could be tedious - Yeah.

- But if you pull them up, you could be damaging the roots on your flowers, and apparently, they keep coming back each year.

So you're gonna have to get that weed killer on the leaves, let them carry that weed killer down to the roots and then hopefully, that'll damage roots enough that you won't have to deal with them popping back up again.

- That's good, that's good.

I noticed another   name is goutweed.

I know about goutweed.

It's a perennial,   grows by rhizomes,   spreads by rhizomes,   very difficult to control.

If you pull it up, you better   make sure you get all of it,   'cause if you don't,   it's gonna come back mad.

- It will come back again.

- All right, it's gonna   spread all over the place.

Mr. D., I know that   you can use glyphosate   you know, read and follow   the label of course.

Triclopyr, something   else you can use,   read and follow the label   because it does translocate   down into the roots.

- Yeah.

- It's gonna be multiple applications.

- Yep, right.

Multiple applications but I like your idea of... - Painting.

- Hand doing it, and I'll give you an idea of a way you can do that without... A pretty safe way you can do that.

Rubber gloves, put rubber gloves on, and then cotton jersey gloves over the rubber gloves.

- Okay.

- And you're gonna simulate a rope wick applicator.

You dip that and then you just wipe it on the leave.

- I like that.

So it's the wipe technique or the painting technique.

- Right.

And I mean you can use a brush, - A sponge.

- But you're gonna have dripping and stuff like that, but if you do that... - I like that.

- And just rub those leaves and you can get really into it.

- I like that a lot better than the paint brush.

That's very hands on, and you feel like you're really getting in there just about pulling them.

- Put it on the leaves you want it on and... - Yeah, just protect your... You know, of course your plants, your desirable plants of course.

- Put it on those nice healthy leaves.

[Chris laughs] - Oh, yeah.

- 'Cause they will very rapidly translocate, they will go to the root and kill the plant.

But it is tedious, and it will be... One time won't do that.

That'll be all summer long, but eventually, you will take it out.

- It will play out.

- Eventually it will.

Yeah, so thank you for that question.

It'll be tedious but it will work.

- Yes.

- Over time.

Just be careful, read and follow the label, all right?

Thank you for your question.

Hey Alainia, Mr. D., that was good.

That was fun.

Thank you much.

- Thank you.

- Remember, we love   to hear from you.

Send us an email or letter.

The email address is   familyplot@wkno.org.

And the mailing   address is Family Plot,   7151 Cherry Farms Road,   Cordova, Tennessee 38016.

Or you can go online to   familyplotgarden.com.

That's all we have time for today.

Thanks for watching.

It's spring and time to put in the garden.

At familyplotgarden.com, we have over 1,000 videos that show you how to do all sorts of gardening things.

We have videos about planting, fertilizing, bugs and diseases.

Go take a look.

Be sure to join us next week for The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South.

Be safe.

[upbeat country music] [acoustic guitar chords]