Traveling away from garden for 2 weeks? Advice???

[SunshineAndSoil]

Hey everyone,

I am going to be vacationing away for 2 weeks tomorrow, and I don't know what to do. It will rain a few times while I'm gone, will that be enough water? One of my relatives will be coming a few times to keep house and I can ask him to water the plants as well, so that's not a big deal, but my tomatoes are fairly well along, with little green tomatoes on them and everything, and I don't know what will happen when I don't harvest them right when they become ripe. The harvesting of tomatoes is a bit complicated for my relative, I think.
What should I do?

 

[Chuck]

Hey everyone,

I am going to be vacationing away for 2 weeks tomorrow, and I don't know what to do. It will rain a few times while I'm gone, will that be enough water? One of my relatives will be coming a few times to keep house and I can ask him to water the plants as well, so that's not a big deal, but my tomatoes are fairly well along, with little green tomatoes on them and everything, and I don't know what will happen when I don't harvest them right when they become ripe. The harvesting of tomatoes is a bit complicated for my relative, I think.
What should I do?

What is your location? What type of tomatoes are we talking about. Cherry? Salad size or big tomatoes?

 

[SunshineAndSoil]

I'm in growing zone 7(southern Virginia). I am growing both cherry and normal sized tomatoes, I'll have this problem for both.

P.S. I love how fast people respond to posts in this forum!

 

[Chuck]

I'm in growing zone 7(southern Virginia). I am growing both cherry and normal sized tomatoes, I'll have this problem for both.

P.S. I love how fast people respond to posts in this forum!

Tomatoes have 3 stages of color until ripe. The first fruit is a uniform light green color. The second stage is the white color and the third is the final color stage.
The smaller the tomato the faster it reaches final color from fruit set.
The white stage is a very very light green color, almost white. At the beginning of this stage it will take approximately 2 weeks until it starts to turn into its final color. After final color they will stay on the plant for about a week until they get soft or the birds eat them.
From first blush of color, it will take 1-2 weeks to reach final color. Having said all of this, if you will saturate your plants right before you leave on vacation, the plants shouldn't need watering for about a week. My tomatoes are in 5 gallon buckets and here in Texas where it is a LOT hotter than where you are, I water my tomatoes on average every 4 days. If they were in the ground probably about every 7 days. So, if it doesn't rain, they should only need watering one time until you get back. Tell your relative and leave him a note, to saturate your plants 7 days after you leave. Don't worry, if you have decent drainage he cannot possibly hurt your plants by giving them too much water. To make a long story short, if you can make your relative understand to water your plants in 7 days and really water them, your plants will be fine.

 

[SunshineAndSoil]

Well, in that case, he might not need to water them at all, because I checked the weather and it will rain heavily at least two times while I'm gone, so that should be enough.
Thank you!

 

[Chuck]

Well, in that case, he might not need to water them at all, because I checked the weather and it will rain heavily at least two times while I'm gone, so that should be enough.
Thank you!

Your weather man must be a lot better than mine. He doesn't know what it will be like 4 days from now.

 

[SunshineAndSoil]

I use "weather.com". I would guess that it isn't SUPER accurate, but it's better than nothing.

 

[Chuck]

I use "weather.com". I would guess that it isn't SUPER accurate, but it's better than nothing.

I forgot to mention this. This is the time of year for tomato hornworms to arrive so you should spray Bt on your plants right before you leave. One spraying will last at least a week and it would help to not have any worms for at least a week as one mature worm can to MAJOR damage.

 

[SunshineAndSoil]

Okay, what is "Bt"?

 

[Chuck]

Okay, what is "Bt"?

Bt (Bacillus thuringensis) is a soil bacteria which kills only caterpillars. It is the best worm killer on the market and it is totally harmless to people and pets. Stores sell it as Bt Worm Killer, Bio Worm Killer. Just look on the label for Bt.

 

[headfullofbees]

Your weather man must be a lot better than mine. He doesn't know what it will be like 4 days from now.

Mine evidently doesn't have a window to look out.