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Tomato sweet olive question

Morning
Just been out to check on the greenhouse and found three of my sweet olive tomatoes had fallen off the plant, two still green and one red but not ripe. I checked the rest of the plant and found quite a few of the toms just came off in my hand, snapping halfway between the truss and the fruit. None of them are fully ripe yet, partly for the location and partly for being started a bit late.
I tasted one of them and it was super sweet but the skin is really tough.
I tend to follow the minimal watering technique, which has worked with other varieties in the past but this is the first time I've tried sweet olive. This only seems to be affecting one of two plants.
Any ideas what's causing this early drop from brittle stems, and would the skin be tough as they are not fully ripe, or is this a characteristic of the variety? 
Thanks 
No longer newish but can't think of a new name so will remain forever newish.  B) 

Posts

  • Contact Beechgrove garden with this question they would most likely be able to help they are asking people to send in their questions and problems.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    You do get fruits dropping occasionally @Stephanie newish gardener, and sometimes it can be put down to a wee bit of a shortage of water reaching the fruits properly. I have quite a lot of small fruits which haven't fully developed this year. More so than normal.

    Growing conditions have definitely been more challenging too. 
    I don't grow the variety you have, but I'm growing Sungold, which were great last year. There's been more difficulty in keeping a steady temperature in the growhouse through summer - a week of temps being no higher than 18 in there, then you get a bit of sun and it's mid thirties. It's been like that for several months now. That's part of the problem, no matter how vigilant you are.
    August and into September are always cool here, but it's been more hit and miss so ripening has been even slower. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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