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Tomato failure - what should I do now?

josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
in Fruit & veg
I've had good tomato crops before but they have been dismal this year.  They were late going in because of the drought.  Once they got going I tied them to sticks and started pinching out the side shoots.  Other jobs distracted me for a while and they grew like crazy, overnight it seemed.  There weren't a great lot of flowers, and the fruit only started to form when other people were eating theirs.  There aren't many compared to previous years, they still aren't ripe, and lots of them are turning brown at the stalk end.  I've heard of blossom end rot, this is at the other end.  What is likely to have caused this?  Half the foliage is wilted and brown.  Would it be best to pick the few sound fruits now and see if they'll ripen indoors?

Posts

  • strelitzia32strelitzia32 Posts: 758
    If the plants are wilted and brown, sounds like it could be blight? If you post a couple of photos I'm sure someone will be able to diagnose. If it is blight, then yes, take the good tomatoes now, ripen them indoors, and bin the plants affected.

    What variety are you growing?
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    Thank you, I have picked all the fruits that looked worth while and put them along the windowsill.  I can't post photos, and I don't know why.  I know how to do it, I've done it before, but lately my computer just won't.  I can't remember what varieties they are.  One red fruits and one yellow, both of which I've grown before successfully, and an orange-fruited one which was new to me.  I won't compost the plants or the damaged fruit.

    I've brought in a few of the discoloured ones; they are firm and seem sound except for the browning of the skin.  Will they be safe to eat, always supposing they taste OK?
  • strelitzia32strelitzia32 Posts: 758
    Blight is a fungus, so I wouldn't eat any tomato that's got it. I'm always wary about mould and fungus, the spores are there even if you can't see the colony yet.

    If it is blight, the skin will be soft and mushy though - is that what yours are like, or is it more like "hard" small brown pinprick spots?
  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    Hello @josusa47   My tomato plants are the same this year - dismal.  I live in the South of France and have been growing tomatoes for over 30 years. We can't complain about light and heat!!  Just one of those years I suppose.  We, unlike Blighty, had a very cool Spring which was great for the garden, but the heat came all of a sudden and the plants went into shock and stopped growing for a while.  I have strangely shaped green peppers and smaller aubergines - plenty of tomatoes, but with the cooler nights, the plants are tiring.  Yesterday, I made green tomato sauce and green tomato conserve (the link is on the recipe thread).  Also Tunisian Aubergines which is really delicious as now I have a glut peppers and aubergines.  You can ripen your tomatoes between sheets of newspaper in a box (carton or wood).  The tomatoes usually rot at the other end as this is due to irregular watering.  I also plant Indian Marigolds and Basil at each end of the rows to keep mosquitoes etc. away.

    Hope this helps. 
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    Thanks everyone for your advice.
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