How are your tomatoes doing?

dormouse · Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 7:14 am Post subject: How are your tomatoes doing?

Tough year for anything that likes the sun. Havn't had a ripe tomato yet. How is everybody elses? Wondering if I should cut back on feeding as days are generally so dull.

medieval knievel · Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 10:16 am Post subject:

i don't know if we even have any unripe tomatoes yet!
though we've not been pinching out the side shoots, but there are a fair few flowers.

Maeve Drogheda · Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:25 pm Post subject:

I have lots of tomatoes NOW but for a long time no fruit on the plants at all. They really need some heat and sun. Usually I have lots but this year lots of flowers but actual tomatoes, they only started to come on in the last week or two.

dormouse · Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:28 pm Post subject:

Lucky you

What varieties and when did you sow them Maeve?
Thanks

The Garden Shop · 2012-07-03 13.03.43.jpg

My tomatoes have started to put on some fruits towards the bottom of the plants now too. Their still flowering on the top but should develop fruits soon

Tomato plants require sun to grow and develop shoots and leaves, but:

Tomatoes require heat more so than sunlight for their fruits to ripen, and the temperature has been warmer lately, even though sunshine has been lacking.

breezyacre · Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 12:47 pm Post subject:

Yes just to add my tuppence worth have very healthy looking plants but very little fruit formed yet. I do have lots of flowers. plants are about 4ft high now with about 5 trusses of mostly flowers. Am wondering if I should pinch out the growing points now and leave it at that many trusses and concentrate on getting some fruit developed. Incidentally I have just started feeding.

dormouse · Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 10:02 pm Post subject:

I'm very new to this but I would imagine it would make sense at this stage of the so called summer to do that on at least one plant in the hope of getting something to eat as soon as possible. I've stopped most of my plants now at 6 or 7.

Maeve Drogheda · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 12:29 pm Post subject:

Dormouse,

In answer to your question I am growing Principe Bourgese, they are an italian plumb tomato, I experimented this year and saved seeds from last years tomatoes to see if I could grow tomatoes successfully from my dried seeds and it has worked, not all that well but is that because of the seeds or the summer.

I am going to do the same again this year and dry the seeds from these tomatoes and cucumbers, and my friend is going to swap seeds from a tomato called gardeners delight which she finds easy to grow and great flavour. Some of the tomatoes have turned orange so I may be lucky yet.

dormouse · Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:11 pm Post subject:

Thanks for letting me know Maeve, I just saw this. Been away and just got back. Cant wait to get up to the plot to see how my plants are doing!!

mcgrueser · Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 6:04 pm Post subject:

Mine have been wiped out by blight, or some other disease at least. Combination of too tightly packed, too wet and not enough ventilation probably done the damage! They were in my tunnel. Have a few cherries still in greenhouse but major disaster for overall crop...

dormouse · Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 9:32 pm Post subject:

Bugger. Can you take slips from your greenhouse toms and try them in the tunnel? You might get a late crop if you stop them at a few trusses and the weather is kind??

yaut · Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 11:37 pm Post subject:

My tomatoes are suffering from the same thing that mcgrueser has mentioned.

It's my first year of gardening and due to inexperience I've planted my tomatoes way to close to each other. And now everything just turned into jungle Sad

plants are struggling to set the fruit while fighting the diseases Sad

so far I've eaten one of these:

I know it's not very picture perfect but that's what I'd call "organic" Cool

...and about a handful of these:

here's the rest that I'm afraid are gonna rot on the wines:

cucumber is especially affected by this mold/fungi/blight whatever it is. dead tissue areas on the leaves spread very quickly and leaves just die off, great battle from the plant to grow some fruit:

I'm removing the most diseased leaves but it's fighting a loosing battle after all.

Summer has been cold and wet but it doesn't stop this butternut squash to get out of its enclosure:

mcgrueser · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 12:54 pm Post subject:

Can't really take slips, Dormouse, because they are just bush variety cherries in the greenhouse.

Though you have given me an idea. I might go across to see if my uncle has any big slips that i can "rob"! I'll bring him over something so that it's sharing...

mcgrueser · Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 11:09 pm Post subject:

Cheers for the idea yesterday Dormouse about taking slips from another tomato. I went over to my uncle who is growing them and his needed a clean up and I needed the cuttings so it was win win... I'll have to keep you updated on if it will be a success though.

Thanks

dormouse · Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 10:57 pm Post subject:

No worries, do let know how it goes.
Cheers