Hello from Sizzling SoCal!

[bobrarian]

Hello from Los Angeles! More specifically, the San Gabriel Valley, where it was 108 today, and forecast to be 112 tomorrow.

I've read and learned a ton from TV and GardenWeb over the past two years or so, but I finally decided to join Tomato Junction so I can engage and be part of this great community of fellow tomato lovers. I am a container gardener, focusing primarily on tomatoes because they are so rewarding, diverse, and delicious. I only have a few years under my belt, and am limited by space to a handful of plants, but I am truly a tomato addict and can't get enough of growing and reading about them. I was also excited to recently discover the Dwarf Tomato Project. I have a Tasmanian Chocolate as a fall planting that's doing very well (so far).

What finally drove me to joining TJ is that, ever since reading about the MMMM swap, I wanted to be part of it. And to be part of the conversation, of course. Hope you all are staying cool and safe and sane during this strangest of times.

Bobby

[eyegrotom]

Hi Bobby Welcome to the Junction I am a little East of you in the Inland Empire. It was 116 here today and the same is forecast for tomorrow.

[MissS]

Hello and Welcome Bobby. I'm glad that you decided to join us here. It's a great group of people with a vast amount of knowledge. You are in for a treat joining the MMMM.

[Shule]

Welcome, [mention]bobrarian[/mention]!

I'm curious to know how Tasmanian chocolate turns out for you.

[zeuspaul]

Welcome from 108 in San Diego.

[Whwoz]

Welcome to the Junction from Down Under

[brownrexx]

Welcome to the Junction. It's hot in PA but not THAT hot!

[bower]

Hi and welcome! IDK how you guys take the heat!!! I know when it cools down a little, it's perfect and beautiful eh. And a good time to pamper some tomato pets.

[worth1]

Welcome.
Hopefully it will be called drizzling Southern California soon.

[bobrarian]

Thank you for the warm welcome!  

eyegrotom - It surely is hotter where you are!  Today's high is now forecast to be lower at just 108?!

Patti - re: the MMMM, hope I don't end up with TOO many seeds, although that's probably a good problem to have.

Shule - I'm curious too about Tas Chocolate.  I've heard many love it and have had success, but some had issues with dwarfs and production/disease.  Will aim to share my notes later this year.

Bower - it's not normally this hot!  Here, mid to upper 80s and low 90s is typical in summer, cooling to upper 60s/low 70s at night.  Normally good tomato growing weather.

Worth - Having read many of your wise, witty posts, you convinced me to try Lime Green Salad (as a fall planting).  Impressive spray of flowers.  I lean towards sweeter tomatoes, but have a feeling I'm gonna like it.

Bobby

[peebee]

Welcome Bobby, from 103 or so here in the S. Bay area. Just a quick tip, if you want to be sure a certain member sees your reply, just do the @ icon then the user name, like this [mention]bobrarian[/mention] . If you type even a couple of letters of the name after @ you should see a side menu to pick from. SGV is about an hour's drive from here, have friends there but haven't seen them since this pandemic started. Are you near the Arboretum?
Yes we're all baking in this heat today!

[bobrarian]

@peebee - Thanks for the tip! Glad it's finally cooled off, relatively speaking. Our tomato plants had some of their leaves baked nice and crispy! But it looks like they will survive.

The Arboretum is probably about a 20-minute drive. I'm closer to Alhambra, so far enough away from the foothills and fires. We still have some ash falling. Not much, thankfully. Air quality is bad, and the skies have an orange-brown hue. It's surreal.

Bobby

[NarnianGarden]

Hello and welcome from Northern Europe! Another container gardener here.. I think container tomatoes are the best .. haha.

Have a good time here and in your garden - this heat will pass...

[mikestuff49]

Welcome to the Junction!

[GoDawgs]

Gotta toss in here a hearty welcome from the sunny South, from the great state of Jawja.

[Sue_CT]

Well welcome! The Dwarfs of course are perfect for container growing, but many full sized plants do well, also. You will get a lot of hints from people here who have many years of experience growing in containers. I hope you are not touched by the fires going on around your state. It sounds like some are near you so let us know how you are doing and stay safe. I hope they get some help from the weather to get them under control soon.

[bobrarian]

Hello, [mention]Sue_CT[/mention]! We're staying safe, and live far enough from any threat from the Bobcat Fire. I appreciate the concern. I hope they get some rain up in OR, but here in SoCal, we may not get any real rain until Nov/Dec.

And thank you to all again for the warm welcomes! I know I've joined the right forum.

We are staying indoors this weekend (due to the very unhealthy air quality). Thankfully, I was able to find an air purifier yesterday. They're quite the hot item right now! Kinda reminds me of the early days of this pandemic, when it was near impossible to find face masks, hand sanitizer, TP, etc.

I've probably read most of the posts on container gardening (and growing tomatoes, in general) on here, TV and GardenWeb. These forums have contributed so much to what I know today. My favorite posts are when people share their favorite varieties, the ones they had the most (and least) success with, posts about the best tasting (to them), most productive, best GWR, etc.

Last year was a bust, no small part due to a couple mistakes I made. This Spring/Summer, I had great success with Ananas Noire (13-gal container), which I've grown before and love, and Super Sweet 100 (5-gal). No doubt helped by the great weather. My fall tomatoes have had more challenges, with the recent heat wave and now the falling ash and smoke. It goes to show that even if one does everything right - which I don't - that there are factors completely out of our control that can throw a wrench into the best-laid plans. But that's gardening, and why I enjoy the challenge (and reward)! If everything went right every year, it would be less interesting. I wonder what that says about me.

[NarnianGarden]

I would be so bold as to say that any tomato variety is 'container doable' - perhaps because I do not really have a choice and thus have not been able to make comparisons. For me, it is the choice between a) container gardening OR b) no gardening at all.

Guess what? I much rather have some crop than none whatsoever. As long as there is enough fertiliser, water and sunlight, the plants grow well and produce... and even grow very tall.

[Amateurinawe]

A late welcome from South of uk. Fairly new to site as well but as keen as mustard to learn and share. From one newcomer to another, there are some really terrific people here and so much cumulative knowledge in all different things. But most of all, friendly and willing to share. I am sure you will find this global community a real blast. Welcome