Tomatillos
- Thread starter hooda
- Start date
Lookin' good Hooda
If I had enough garden space, I'd grow purple Tomatillos too. Some of my neighbors grow Husk Cherries as "kid bait" to keep the small children out of the other stuff planted in their gardens.
A good organic option for dealing with slugs is to put a wide band of Diatomaceous earth around the plants you want to protect. It's the crushed shells of Diatoms... very small freshwater organisms that have shells made from silica rather than calcium. It acts like a field of broken glass. When slugs try to cross the line of diatomaceous earth they get cut up and bleed out. The particles are small enough they won't hurt kids or pets, and they just disappear into the soil when the rain washes them in.
If I had enough garden space, I'd grow purple Tomatillos too. Some of my neighbors grow Husk Cherries as "kid bait" to keep the small children out of the other stuff planted in their gardens.
A good organic option for dealing with slugs is to put a wide band of Diatomaceous earth around the plants you want to protect. It's the crushed shells of Diatoms... very small freshwater organisms that have shells made from silica rather than calcium. It acts like a field of broken glass. When slugs try to cross the line of diatomaceous earth they get cut up and bleed out. The particles are small enough they won't hurt kids or pets, and they just disappear into the soil when the rain washes them in.
Nice to see a tomatillo topic, I'm growing purple ones. I'm gorwing them for the first time.
I have four plants, will see how they do
People say they are great for making sauces, so I expect nothing less
Question:
What has to be the spacing beetwen two tomatillo plants? I've planted them in 20 inches spacing.
I've read they are self-sterile, there needs to be unleast two plants so they could produce, but I'm not sure how close should I plant them?
I have four plants, will see how they do
People say they are great for making sauces, so I expect nothing less
Question:
What has to be the spacing beetwen two tomatillo plants? I've planted them in 20 inches spacing.
I've read they are self-sterile, there needs to be unleast two plants so they could produce, but I'm not sure how close should I plant them?
I space them at about 3 feet apart, they get pretty large. Don't worry about pollination, as long as you have a few genetically different plants (not cuttings from the same plant) they will fruit very easily and will be very productive. They're about as easy to grow as it gets.
Thanks for the advice, Avon Barksdale
Melissa told me a month ago that tomatillos get pretty large, and I totally forgot about that
I guess it's not too late to move them and give them more space.
Yes, they seem to be easy to grow. They germinated the same day as tomatoes, and are growing rapidly, they are twice as big as tomatoes. And it seem they can take a lot of water and sun from the day one.
Melissa told me a month ago that tomatillos get pretty large, and I totally forgot about that
I guess it's not too late to move them and give them more space.
Yes, they seem to be easy to grow. They germinated the same day as tomatoes, and are growing rapidly, they are twice as big as tomatoes. And it seem they can take a lot of water and sun from the day one.
I have two plants that are doing great except no pods. They are located beside each other but I haven't had any pod set yet despite very good growth and flowers. All I can think of is that they're not being pollinated - I don't see any bee activity.
I would appreciate any advice since this is my first year growing them.
Thanks.
Bob
I would appreciate any advice since this is my first year growing them.
Thanks.
Bob
How big are they? Mine usually get to a fairly decent size before they set fruit. Maybe they're too young?
The only time I've had problem with fruit set was the first year when I only had one plant and didn't get a single fruit, but I have so many bees (and wasps) in the backyard I'm always worried about getting stung. They're everywhere. It's hard to take a step without almost stepping on one. They seem to like the citrus trees the most.
My tomatillo plant looks like bunk compared to the photos above.
Tall skinny and lanky.
Tall skinny and lanky.
I've got so many chiles coming I thought I'd better get a few Tomatillos going for salsas too. Too late in the season to start from seed so I Got 4 spindly, yellow plants from a local nursery and repotted in a 3 gal. container with water retaining potting mix fortified with a little fertilizer. Amended with a handful of epsom salts and they're greening up nicely.
Before...
After.
Before...
After.
They are looking great now.I've got so many chiles coming I thought I'd better get a few Tomatillos going for salsas too. Too late in the season to start from seed so I Got 4 spindly, yellow plants from a local nursery and repotted in a 3 gal. container with water retaining potting mix fortified with a little fertilizer. Amended with a handful of epsom salts and they're greening up nicely.
Before...
After.
I decided to grow a few Tomatillo plants this year. They grew to 5' tall and produced tons of flowers but I didn't see any fruit for weeks, was beginning to think there was a problem.. Then, about a week ago I saw a husk, and now there are hundreds. You can see 2 different colored leaves here, the plant in the foreground has darker leaves, where the other has lighter leaves.. not sure why, especially since they are in the same soil.
Man I'm jealous, my tomatillos don't have any fruit on them yet... they're a lot smaller than some of your guys' plants, so I guess I'll just wait for now...
Didn't realize how much they bush out so I tried to rig them up with a Florida weave like my tomatoes, I'll probably need to do something different now.
Didn't realize how much they bush out so I tried to rig them up with a Florida weave like my tomatoes, I'll probably need to do something different now.
My tomatillos don't grow up - at all.
They have more of a sprawling habit.
My one is about 5 feet wide, and about 1 foot deep, by about 10 inches tall...
The other one is not as wide, maybe 3 feet in diameter? But the same height.
They have more of a sprawling habit.
My one is about 5 feet wide, and about 1 foot deep, by about 10 inches tall...
The other one is not as wide, maybe 3 feet in diameter? But the same height.
That's weird... are you sure they're not husk cherries?
DatilDaddy
Banned
Tons of flowers for weeks on mine but no fruit. There are many close together. I have no idea what the problem is. 
Also a couple of them developed like a leaf curl and died on the top. (?) No bugs around to cause it.
Also a couple of them developed like a leaf curl and died on the top. (?) No bugs around to cause it.I think you alls pics may have solved my pepper mystery. I think I have tomatillos growing. I have no clue how.. They are very hardy and I have about 8 plants right full of them. Since I wasnt growing them on purpose and have never grown them before, any advice on how to tell when they are ready to be used. What will they taste like? Only thing i can think of is i planted a hot peper mix seed and these were in it!