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Tomato’s

HarrersHarrers Posts: 48
in Fruit & veg
My tomato plants have a crop of tomatoes ( decent sizes) but are taking ages to ripen up , at the same time there are no longer flowers being formed at the top of the plants and the few that are, don’t produce  new fruits , they are fed with a mix of seaweed food and Miracle grow too , I have removed the plants lower leaves up to lowest fruit to let in light . It is the same with the tomatoes in the greenhouse , it looks like they have suddenly stopped growing- could it be the heat from the recent hot spell. On the other hand my watermelons and peppers and chills are growing well - any advice would be appreciated   A couple of examples of the ones in the greenhouse 
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  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    There’s something very wrong with those tomato plants ... anyone used any weed killer lately!

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    As Dove suggests, but could also be overfeeding.
    Too much seaweed extract or too much Miracle Grow can have the same effect.
    I use seaweed extract roughly every 10 days and tomato food also every 10 days, so they get fed something every 5ish days and just water as needed. If you combine the seaweed extract with miracle grow and feed both at the same time that can cause even more problems.
    Re. not ripening, it's likely due to temperature - over 30c and they wont ripen and around 20c it can take ages for them to ripen - so it's not you, it's the weather.
    Sunlight doesn't have to reach the fruits, it's just warmth that ripens them.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    Those growing tips losing all of their green chlorophyll while the older leaves remaining a solid green is highly unusual.  The only thing I can think of is that severe over-feeding (and the wrong type of feed) may have effectively poisoned them and has stopped the plants from being able to take in calcium.  While a bit of seaweed food won't cause issues, too strong a dose of high-nitrate fertilizers like miracle grow can effectively lock-out calcium uptake by making the soil too acid.  Once fruiting starts, tomatoes need extra potassium rather than nitrogen, which you can see from the NPK ratios on commercial tomato feeds.  If you check the bottom of the developing fruits and any have blossom-end rot, that would also indicate calcium shortage.
    The only other thing I can think of is some sort of virus.
    As for what to do, if you think over-feeding is a possibility, then I would try giving them a huge flood of water which will dilute it and wash much of the nitrate out, then let them dry out for a few days before commencing regular watering again, with a half-strength dose of tomorite or similar tomato-specific feed once a week and see if things pick-up.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • HarrersHarrers Posts: 48
    Hello, thank you both for the tips, I shall try them and see what happens , the 2nd tomato is a variegated one and the first is a furry type - I like to try different tomatoes 
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    They are lovely plants,  are you in USA?  I’ve never seen the seeds for those in UK.
    over feeding will produce lot of green at the expense of fruit, I’ve fed mine twice only through the season, and water bout every three or four days.
    not sure if you can do nothing now this year but maybe bear  in mind for next.
    They may do better in bigger pots with a good compost and less feed. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • HarrersHarrers Posts: 48
    Hi bob the gardener 
    Thinking back - you are probably right , I have overfed them. I don’t know if you have seen plant food - called black gold it’s a seed weed feed  comes in powder form -put in watering can and add water too - I may have been slightly heavy handed - but I have followed your advice and flooded them to hopefully, I will
    let them dry out and see if they slowly start to improve - the plants outside are still green- just the flowers are not setting and seem to fall off the plant once they ha e finished 
  • HarrersHarrers Posts: 48
    Hi Lyn
    No I am in the uk , I was trying to bulk up my own weird tomato seeds to try selling - but I think I will have to try again next year - I particularly like the furry one ,leaves and fruit  are all furry. The variegated tomato seems to grow better outside as my mainly white plant in the greenhouse got burnt during the hot spell - but it did produce a good crop of tomatoes . Abit annoying I overfed the as was a bit heavy handed with the seaweed mix - but you live and learn lol 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I really don’t see the point of a variegated tomato plant. 
    Plants need chlorophyll to manufacture energy and grow and produce flowers and seed. 
    A novelty maybe ... but no earthly use IMHO. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • HarrersHarrers Posts: 48
    I was curious to see to what it looked like to be honest and while it was ok, I do think green plants are better 
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    It's always fun to grow new and weird things, just to see what they are like.
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