Tomatillos

[nereo]

I love tomatillos and can't get them for a reasonable price, so I planted a bunch of seeds.

Now with a half-dozen very healtjhy looking starts I'm forced to realize I have no idea how to grow them.  I know they aren't technically tomatoes, but up until now I've just been mentally thinking I'd grow them the same way. Is that the wrong approach?  Any special considerations I should be giving them?

 I know they are in the nightshade family, but already my tomatillo plants look markedly different from my other tomato plants (taller, 'shinier', more 'leggy').

[MudPuppy]

They like warmth and sun like regular tomatoes! You can trellis them if you want or you can just let them sprawl.

[MDM]

We've had better luck using tall cages than allowing sprawl, but either works.  A high trellis might be even better - they do grow long/tall.

Should you get an abundant harvest, roasting, e.g., Oven Roasted Tomatillos - How to Cook Tomatillos Recipe, and then freezing (a 1 gallon Ziploc bag holds the results of a 4 gallon glass baking dish) is worth considering.

[nereo]

Ok.  I've got scrap trellis material sitting around so I'm going to make some in the interim.  Also gives me some ideas where in my raised beds I should plant them (in the back, where they can be backstopped by the trellis) and when (not until the soil temp has warmed up considerably).

My mother has an awesome tomatillo salsa recipe she's passed down to me, so I'll certainly be canning a few dozen tomatillos that way, should my harvest be bountiful.  Then I might try freezing, as MDM suggested.

thanks!

[maizefolk]

I've grown tomatillos a few years in the past (and just put a bunch started indoors into the ground earlier this week). I just treat them exactly like tomatoes and they seem to do fine, although the two varieties I've grown in the past haven't yielded at the same level as actual tomato plants.

Don't know if I should attribute that to poor choices by the gardener (me) or just that there's been a lot less effort put into tomatillo breeding than tomato breeding.

[LostGirl]

I find that they need more heat than tomatoes. I've not had much luck with them side by side with tomatoes, so I stopped trying a few years ago.

[nereo]

My potted tomatillos are getting a bit yellow in the leaves, usually a sign they are starved for nitrogen. Will try some fertilizer. Still WAY too cold to transplant with snow tonight .  Weird year

[maizefolk]

Very weird year.

I made the mistake of transplanting my tomatillos early because they grew so fast under LEDs and were clearly getting stressed from being in small pots.

Hoping they survive the next few days (sounds like I must be farther south than you because I think they have a chance) and debating whether I'm going to put them under cardboard boxes every night during the polar vortex.

[nereo]

... well unless your forecast is calling for 2-4” of snow overnight you have it better than we do, gardening-wise.

Best of luck to you and your plants.  I covered my only ‘active’ bed with a thick sheet of XPS insulation, which I hope will be enough. 

[MudPuppy]

When will your temps bounce above freezing again?



I pulled up some of my John Wayne cherry tomatoes because they're too small to withstand this (being only a light frost of 32 here) still. I hope they don't mind being moved from where they sprouted and into a dixie cup of dirt under an LED light. They're my favorite plants because they demand to live!

[RetiredAt63]

Peppers are super slow as seedling so I start them early.  I've learned the hard way not to start tomatoes (or tomatillos) too early.  Nothing like planting out spindly 2' tall plants.  I also learned the hard way that in my area the traditional May long weekend (Victoria Day) planting date is too early.  End of May/beginning of June for the really tender things.

[maizefolk]

Peppers are super slow as seedling so I start them early.  I've learned the hard way not to start tomatoes (or tomatillos) too early.  Nothing like planting out spindly 2' tall plants.  I also learned the hard way that in my area the traditional May long weekend (Victoria Day) planting date is too early.  End of May/beginning of June for the really tender things.

Fortunately I was still hardening off my peppers when the forecasts started looking crazy. So they've been rescued and taken back inside until we get back to somewhat more sane weather.

But yes, learning the same lesson you already knew the hard way.

[Frugal Lizard]

I had good results last year with planting them in a really sheltered spot and using some straw bales to make a temporary hot bed.  My salsa verde recipe turned out so good that I have to triple the recipe.  Only one jar left.

[chaskavitch]

I had good results last year with planting them in a really sheltered spot and using some straw bales to make a temporary hot bed.  My salsa verde recipe turned out so good that I have to triple the recipe.  Only one jar left.

Any chance you'd share that recipe with us?  We're growing tomatillos for the first time this year and I'd love some vetted recipes to try out.

[MudPuppy]

This thread I making me want to grow tomatillos

[Frugal Lizard]

I had good results last year with planting them in a really sheltered spot and using some straw bales to make a temporary hot bed.  My salsa verde recipe turned out so good that I have to triple the recipe.  Only one jar left.

Any chance you'd share that recipe with us?  We're growing tomatillos for the first time this year and I'd love some vetted recipes to try out.

  There is a problem with me and sharing recipes.  I don't follow them really well and I rarely record my changes.  But when I am making it I kind of remember the changes when I get into it.  I started with a recipe that based on being safe to can ie with enough acid.  It has quite a bit of lime juice.  It wasn't the first one that came up. If I remember I will try to post it when I get canning in August. 

[lhamo]

I bought two plants last week -- it has been unusually hot here so I decided to wait a couple of days to put them in containers.  I'm going to grow them on my upstairs deck, which is much warmer than the garden beds (sun on concrete tiles all day = gets really hot and stays warm well into the evening).

I may go back and get more, actually....

[Missy B]

Also you need at least 2 tomatillo plants to get fruit, they don't fertilize themselves. I usually try to grow 3 in case something happens to one.

[nereo]

Also you need at least 2 tomatillo plants to get fruit, they don't fertilize themselves. I usually try to grow 3 in case something happens to one.

Had not realized that, and now I’m ecstatic I planted three (and all are - to date - thriving).  Man, I really should have read up on that earlier.

[Frugal Lizard]

I am hoping to plant mine out tomorrow (ie - play hookey from paid work and garden all day)

[horsepoor]

Also you need at least 2 tomatillo plants to get fruit, they don't fertilize themselves. I usually try to grow 3 in case something happens to one.

And also, if you're sick of tomatillos and don't want any more fruit to set, you can yank out all but one.  The nice thing is you don't have to wait until they're ripe to use them, so you can just harvest everything off the yanked plants and the toss them in the compost heap.  Yes, they are beyond prolific around here and I wish I could just grow one!

I've never tried trellising them.  They tend to grow more bushy for me.  This year I'm trying this Queen of Malinalco instead of the standard green tomatillo.  https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/new-items-2020/queen-of-malinalco  Really looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

[nereo]

The first of the off my tomato plants are flowering, but for whatever reason the other two look to be about a week or more away. Weird since they were started on the same day in the same soil and are in essentially the same Sunny spot.

As for an over abundance - I’m hoping to load up my pantry with tomato salsa which could easily use up 10lbs. It would be a nice problem to have.

[chaskavitch]

Our tomatillos are being DESTROYED by (possibly) three stripe potato bug larvae.  My husband has been out there squishing larvae and snipping sad mostly-eaten leaves every morning, so hopefully they survive.

[RetiredAt63]

The first of the off my tomato plants are flowering, but for whatever reason the other two look to be about a week or more away. Weird since they were started on the same day in the same soil and are in essentially the same Sunny spot.

As for an over abundance - I’m hoping to load up my pantry with tomato salsa which could easily use up 10lbs. It would be a nice problem to have.

Genetic variability.  If you want an earlier strain save the seeds from that one.

Are they inbreeders or outbreeders? You can get a good idea by looking at the flower structure.  And seeing if they get insect visitors.

[nereo]

Wow!
This has been the very first week of sustained daytime temperatures above 80ºF (26ºC) and night-time temps that remained above 15ºC.  I've also seen my tomatillo plants effectively double in size essentially overnight.  Two are now in flower, and the third has buds. 

Cucumbers have also shot up.  For weeks they've been healthy but very small, with very little topside growth.  Suddenly they are putting on large leaves and the stems have gotten thick and robust.

I'm chalking it all  up to warmer soil temperatures.  Unforutnately I never put a temperature probe in the soil before, so I can't say for sure, but it's certainly gone from a scraggly garden to one that looks ready to produce.

[Frugal Lizard]

Tomatillos are coming along nicely!

[NaN]

Nice. Same here. :)

[Raenia]

Paging @Frugal Lizard for that salsa verde recipe now that it's August :)

[Frugal Lizard]

Paging @Frugal Lizard for that salsa verde recipe now that it's August :)

I can't find it!!!!!!

[Raenia]

Paging @Frugal Lizard for that salsa verde recipe now that it's August :)

I can't find it!!!!!!

Noooooooo!!!

[Frugal Lizard]

ETA https://heartbeetkitchen.com/wp-json/mv-create/v1/creations/20/print   This is the recipe I used this year. It doesn't have enough lime ji
juice for my taste but the colour is lovely and texture is perfect.

The need to find it is building....
https://growagoodlife.com/roasted-tomatillo-salsa/  this seems the closest to what I remember.  I recalled googling safe hot water bath canning tomatillos