# Reduce Watering By Dry Farming Tomatoes



## Kevin (Jul 10, 2010)

We grow dry farmed tomatoes on a small farm on the coast between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz. The farm is called Struggles Tomatoes - because that is what the tomatoes do - struggle. But in the process of struggling the small amount of fruit they produce tastes really, really good ... We don't water at all. Not sure how this might work in inland locations where there is a lot more heat. Here on the coast we have cool foggy mornings that produce some "rain" under each plant every day. Beyond that nothing. No water at all. No where near the yields of Central Valley "fertigated" industrial tomatoes - but oh so much better.


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## Sarah_Graham (Aug 2, 2010)

water conservation should be done because we are already having some water shortage these days~,~


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## Gloria_Broming (Aug 8, 2011)

Hi

I live inLaguna Beach and am currently dry farming six Early Girl Tomato plants. They have a 100 plus fruit on them collectively, and have had zero irrigation since the week before Memorial day. The plants are starting to stress the first branches are dying off, and a couple of the tomatoes have blossom rot. I am worried that all of the tomatoes will have the same fate. Is there anything I can do without using water to prevent this?


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## Uri (Sep 9, 2011)

I apprenticed on a small organic farm in Connecticut where we dry farmed our tomatoes. On the day of transplant, we watered their beds, covered the beds with black plastic mulch, then cut holes in the mulch and transplanted. And then without watering harvested the most delicious tomatoes I've had. I tried it this summer in my garden in the Los Angeles area, but used straw mulch and watered after transplanting until the plants started setting fruit, then not at all. No blossom end rot, no wilty plants, delicious fruits and as far as I could tell, my plants produced just as much fruit as anyone else's garden at the community garden, if not more. And some of them were watering every few days. That being said, some of them probably also used disgusting synthetic fertilizers while I took great care in building up the health of my soil.


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## Gloria_Broming1 (Feb 12, 2012)

HI

Just wanted to follow up and let you know that despite the the stress and a few tomatoes with blossom rot, we had a killer crop. We had 100s of tomatoes off of 6 Early Girl Tomato plants. 

Planted my cover crop in late November in a new plot for this years dry farmed tomatoes. I am going to branch out and try other varieties than Early Girl.


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