I find it counter-intuitive as well @tuffnelljohn but have gone to town on mine. All lower stems removed and any foliage covering any toms gone as well. Fingers crossed
I think I read somewhere that the gas released from banana skins help to turn tomatoes red , so I have put pieces of torn up banana skins in the pots of my tomato plants in my greenhouse . I think it has helped them turn .
I have been religiously removing suckers and side shoots but perhaps I may have, erm, missed a few!
Ill remove a lot of the foliage and Ill move the plant pots indoors. Unfortunately I only have one south-facing window - and that is currently occupied by a chilli plant... which is ALSO refusing to do anything!
As long as they have warmth @tuffnelljohn, the amount of sun isn't that important. Even a west facing window is fine. Remove a fair bit of foliage from plants that have a decent amount of fruit, and that will help. It's very easy to miss side shoots, and I am guilty of doing that too, especially with the very prolific variety I'm growing this year. It really does come down to timing, conditions and also a little bit of luck Don't worry too much - just do your best and you should still get a crop of some kind to use.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I agree with @robertmccafferty591yaLSHmp Stop watering them, they'll "turn" soon enough and they will finish ripening inside in the warm. Green tomato chutney is nice to try with the more rebel tomatoes!!
Agree with those saying to remove all stems up to the first truss and also to remove some leaves to allow air to pass through and to focus more energy on to the tomatoes, but disagree with the poster saying to remove all leaves blocking tomatoes. The tomatoes don't need direct sun and in fact direct sun can cause the skins to thicken.
If that was me @robertmccafferty591yaLSHmp, I should clarify - I've removed leaves/stems that are in direct contact with any tomatoes to give them space/air rather than to allow direct sunlight. Mine are shaded from the sun for most of the day (in a mini greenhouse).
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They look very congested.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I have been religiously removing suckers and side shoots but perhaps I may have, erm, missed a few!
Ill remove a lot of the foliage and Ill move the plant pots indoors. Unfortunately I only have one south-facing window - and that is currently occupied by a chilli plant... which is ALSO refusing to do anything!
It's very easy to miss side shoots, and I am guilty of doing that too, especially with the very prolific variety I'm growing this year. It really does come down to timing, conditions and also a little bit of luck
Don't worry too much - just do your best and you should still get a crop of some kind to use.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...