Tomato Diaries

Milkweed has been added to my garden. The monarch eggs were still there the day after I found them, and I decided I was comfortable getting a plant so that they could at least have a chance at survival. I realize this decision is probably mostly selfish…really I want the caterpillars to survive so I don’t feel bad about my plants killing them, even though that’s where their irresponsible mom decided to put them. And simply so I can watch them because they’re very cute and cool. I’ve come to terms with the selfishness of my actions and have also promised myself that I won’t intervene beyond getting the milkweed, even if I notice the caterpillars facing grave danger by happenstance or through the invitation of their own great stupidity.

Unfortunately I had to get tropical milkweed because nowhere within an hour of me had native milkweed. This is not ideal- it’s supposed to be bad for native plants and monarchs, and eventually probably everyone. I’m keeping the plants in pots so they won’t spread, and I’m guessing the caterpillars will pretty much eat them all to death anyways. Research has told me the tropical milkweed likely carries bacteria (OE) that negatively impacts caterpillars’ development, and the plant’s ability to grow year-round not only allows this crafty bacteria to strengthen indefinitely, but it also confuses monarchs who are supposed to stop eating/reproducing to migrate in the winter. This could result in a much more infected and ultimately weaker monarch population. Monarchs don’t seem very smart to begin with, so I doubt they even bother to get checked for infections or have mature discussions with partners before reproduction activities. 

But if I cut this tropical milkweed down to little twigs in the fall, then the problems should be eliminated. All the bacteria living on the leaves will die, and the plant will have to completely regrow in the spring, basically forcing the same timeline as native milkweed. Hopefully this works and everything is a-okay, because I have no interest in upsetting the ecosystem or invoking the wrath of anyone fighting environmental crimes. Unless it is specifically Jason Statham from the Meg 2, and me planting tropical milkweed feels pretty small-time compared to the operations of his human nemeses in that movie. We’ll see what happens- if there seems to be any issues, then I will burn all of the tropical milkweed and plant seeds for native milkweed in early spring (note to self- try to remember this).

In other news, 6 of my tomato plants are thriving and I have picked 7 ripe tomatoes! The ripe tomatoes are beautiful and have all come from the same plant, which has grown tall and somehow become a powerhouse of production. There are at least 10 more tomatoes still ripening on this plant and more flowers are still blossoming. I call the plant Fred (Kreuger) because it is impressively resilient, the tomatoes are red- and green-striped, and I forgot its actual name. Whatever it is, I will definitely be saving seeds from it in the fall. I also have heirloom tomato plants- 2 red, 1 yellow- that are smaller and sturdier than Fred with only a few big tomatoes growing. They’ve been slowly growing for weeks, getting heavier by the day but mostly remaining a pale green hue. I’m not sure how long they take to ripen, but hopefully they’re delicious and worth the wait. Of the remaining plants, a handful of yellow cherry tomatoes and red beefsteak tomatoes are ripening and there is only 1 plant that has not grown any tomatoes. I wouldn’t call this growing season a massive success, but it is going better than I feared during its grim beginning.  

There is also a new type of bug freeloading in my garden community: grasshoppers. Apparently they are evil for tomatoes and are now my sworn enemy. I keep finding them on 2 of my tomato plants, and at first I didn’t think anything of it, but then I noticed the grasshoppers were devouring all of the new leaves and flowers before they had a chance to grow. 1 of the plants has no tomatoes because of grasshopper interference, and the other only has 5 small golden cherry tomatoes that started growing weeks ago. When discussing the grasshopper predicament with a wise gardening friend, she told me to “kill them on sight with no remorse.” I have not been able to stomach this, so I’ve been catching and quickly hurling the grasshoppers over my gate with great strength so they are (hopefully) too far and disoriented to find their way back. Part of me hopes that a loyal chunk of the KGB is still here, protecting and incidentally pollinating while also planning secret attacks on the grasshoppers and ensuring tomato vengeance. But another part of me hopes that they’ve mostly left so they don’t eat the monarch eggs and newly hatched caterpillars. Unfortunately, a lot of good bugs and bad bugs have the same predators, and I would rather suffer some grasshopper devastation than have all potential monarchs eradicated along with them.