This year I'm growing Verde Puebla tomatillos for the first time. I've never run into a named variety before. I've seen the purple kinds, the huge kind, and the regular kind, but never really a named one. I haven't a clue what it will be like, but I figure if Fedco sells it then it is probably good for my area.
So far they are growing well, but it seems they aren't quite stabilized or I have a mutant. I have two different looking plants in my garden. One is tall and stately. It doesn't branch as much as the other one. Its leaves are a lot bigger. I like how it looks alot, but tomatillos set fruit at each of the branches so more branches means more potential fruit.
Tall plant setting some flowers
But just potential fruit. So far the tall one has started setting fruit, but the short multi-branching one is not. It is flowering like crazy, but a lot of the flowers fall off without setting. I'm wondering if it just doesn't have enough leaf surface to set all those fruit. It will be interesting to watch them this year to see which is better. I can always save seed, but the seed would be crossed with one another so it would be a crap shoot what parent they would take after.
Nice photos of tomatillo plants.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you posted on tomatillos today. I was going to send out a cry for help. My tomatillo looks similar to yours. Flowers by the dozens. They bloom and then I see nothing after they fall off. They had been attacked by cucumber beetles that I dutifully squashed and then disposed of their eggs. All in all the plant looks terrible. Trying to figure out if I should yank it out.
ReplyDeleteThat big plant looks like the giant tomatillo that I grew last year. It didn't set a lot of fruit, but the fruits were so large that it didn't matter. It will be interesting to compare the plants as they grow.
ReplyDeleteLou Murry, thanks, I kept trying to get the top flower photo in focus. I didn't quite succeed. I need to get my husbands camera out again and try to remember how to use it.
ReplyDeleteJohanna, I love tomatillos because they are my trap crop for cucumber beetles. I pick them off constantly, but my cucumbers don't have any on them. Tomatillos are pretty hardy plants. They can take quite a beating and recover. I often leave them in when they get eaten like that and still get a crop from them - not as good as I would have, but still something. At the old house I have a couple that were very much attacked and since I wasn't there to take care of them everyday they got a bit ragged, but they seem to be growing now. I hope yours recover.
I hope both plants produce well for you. The flowers are quite stunning.
ReplyDeleteMy in-laws grew tomatillos last year and they were delicious!
ReplyDeleteOh man, mine are nowhere near yours ! It will be interesting to see what's up with the mutant.
ReplyDeleteI hope I didn't plant mine too close together. This is my first year growing tomatillos and I have no idea how big they get.
What do you do with tomatillos? Salsa? Anything else they're used in?
ReplyDeleteI've never grown tomatillos, but your plants are quite interesting. I wonder which will produce the more fruit?
ReplyDeleteMy tomatilloes are flowering also but not fruit setting. I don't want to hand pollinate everything but I just get nervous that the insects aren't doing their job!
ReplyDeleteI have a tomatillo plant this year and it's growing by leaps and bounds. Flowers all over the place that bees have been busy pollinating. This is my first tomatillo planting ever and I'm pretty excited. Thank you for the informative post!
ReplyDeletemichelle, That would be fun if it were a giant one.
ReplyDeletemomma-s, thanks
meemsnyc, I haven't grown them to eat in quite a while. Last year I grew pineapple tomatillos that aren't even the same species despite the name.
miss m, if you cage them they stay in bounds, but if you don't they can spread and take up a lot of space. I think mine are about 18" apart.
Karen Anne, Salsa, green chili, stews, enchiladas. I think it goes especially well with chicken.
GrafixMuse, I'm hoping the tall one since I like the stately look. But I'll be happy with either as long as they set a lot of fruit.
Thomas, I'm worried about that here too. I don't see a lot of bees in the garden. My old garden was designed to bring them in. It was always buzzing with bees, but this one just has the summer veggies. I did plant a bit of cilantro for the flowers but it will take a while for that and the dill to bloom. They are tiny right now.
Kalena Michele, I'm shocked how huge the one plant is. It is as big as my tomatoes almost. I don't think of them as getting that big - at least this early in the season.
I have not grown tomatillos since I moved to this area. I like them but not enough to grow them because I am the only one in the house that would eat them and I have my limits on how much of anything I am willing to consume!
ReplyDeleteI hope the tall stately one is a good producer, that you save seeds from it, and it breeds true. :D
kitsapFG, my husband won't eat most of what I grow so I just don't worry about it. I hope I have way too many tomatillos for me to eat though. I can always give them away. And I'm growing a lot of dried beans so they will be great together in the winter.
ReplyDeleteMy tomatillos show some internal variation too. And the green ones are flirting with rust right now.
ReplyDeleteI still hope to have enough for lots of salsa.